From this article you will learn how to stop blood from the finger, how to do it correctly and in what cases it is necessary nevertheless to consult a doctor.
Contents of the article:
- What to do with a bleeding in the cut of a finger
- What to do when a finger is punctured
- With bruises, abrasions and finger crushes
- With bitten wounds
- When the finger is amputated
- When the doctor's help is clearly needed
Minor injuries, including cuts, abrasions, scratches of hands, very often occur both in everyday life and at work. Because of such minor injuries, it usually does not make sense to see a doctor, so you need to be able to help yourself and others.
Hands can rightly be called leaders in minor injuries and more serious injuries. This is quite logical, because a person performs a huge number of tasks with his hands. In the risk group for finger injuries include certain professions, including cooks, butchers, machine operators such as milling or carpenters, and others associated with direct contact with sharp, pricking and cutting tools work. Such professional injuries can be very serious, right up to amputation - finger cutting, crushing of bones and soft tissues and deep cuts.
Fortunately, in everyday life, injuries to the hand and fingers are limited mainly by small cuts, abrasions and scratches. A feature of the structure of the hand and palm is the absence of large vascular trunks, the damage of which can lead to serious bleeding. Exceptions are the palm surface of the hand and the inner surface of the wrist - there are quite powerful vessels, nerves and tendons.
Arterial vasculature of the brush In the case of a cut in the finger, bleeding is mostly insignificant - capillary - from small suction vessels that drain from the main trunks hidden deep in the wrist and palm canal. However, it is important to know the algorithm of first aid in such wounds, because any wound or cut, even minor, can be the entrance gate to infection.
It is conditionally possible to distinguish five types of finger injuries:
- Cuts are deep and superficial. Such injuries are inflicted by sharp objects: a knife, scissors, a piece of glass. The wound has an even edge and a different depth. Bleeding can be easy or more pronounced, depending on the depth of the wound and other factors.
- Punctures - violations of the integrity of the skin and underlying soft tissues, inflicted by thin sharp objects in depth - a needle, an awl, a nail. Bleeding from such injuries is insignificant, but deep damage - the wound channel - is an ideal breeding ground for microbes.
- Bruised and smashed wounds - are applied with blunt hard objects such as hammers, stones, axes. Such wounds are characterized by ragged, uneven edges, the presence of extensive hematomas - blood clots and bleeding of varying intensity, depending on the depth and area of the wound.
- Bitten wounds are applied by the teeth of animals and even sometimes by humans. They have uneven ragged edges and a characteristic form of wound channels - molds of teeth. Bleeding can be of different intensity depending on the depth of wounds and the number of bites.
- Amputed wounds are the heaviest type of injury, characterized by the complete or partial separation of a finger fragment. Such injuries often occur in production and in everyday life: when firewood is chopped, meat is cut, work with chainsaws and "Bulgarians".Given the depth of the lesion and the trauma of the deep vessels of the finger, bleeding in this case is very intense.
Next, we will talk in more detail about the features of stopping bleeding and providing first aid for each type of finger injury.
Scheme of a cut wound of a finger Cuts of a
Cuts of different depths are the most frequent kind of finger injuries, so every person should know how to stop a blood cut. The easiest way to stop bleeding is to apply a pressure bandage - a fairly tight bandaging of the finger. Usually imposing a tight bandage for 5-10 minutes is enough to stop capillary bleeding from a shallow cut.
Less frequently is the application of a hemostatic tourniquet - with deep cuts and ineffectiveness of the pressure bandage. To do this, it is necessary to tie the base of the finger tightly with a piece of bandage or fabric. The criterion for the concept of "tight" is the stopping of bleeding. It is important to remember that the hemostatic tourniquet should not squeeze the finger for more than an hour in winter and two hours in summer. To do this, you need to write on the hand of the victim time overlapping the harness - hours and minutes. For deep cuts enough and 15-20 minutes, then it is necessary to slightly loosen the tourniquet and see if the wound does not cut. If bleeding is possible to leave - the tourniquet can be removed.
Haemostatic tourniquet finger Along with stopping bleeding, it is necessary to carry out wound treatment - disinfection. It is important to remember that for open wounds - including cuts - do not use strong alcohol solutions such as tincture of iodine or zelenka directly into the wound. An open wound surface suffers additional trauma - a chemical burn - and heals less. Alcohol solutions lubricate only the edges of the wound after stopping bleeding. Peroxide of hydrogen is ideally suited for washing open wounds - its bubbles carry microbes and fine particles of impurities such as sand or shavings to the surface. Instead of peroxide, you can use antiseptic solutions for the mucous - chlorhexidine, miramistin, mucosanin, povidone-iodine and others.
After stopping bleeding and disinfecting the wound on the finger, a sterile bandage should be applied and leave the injured arm at rest. It would be ideal to put something cold on top.
Punctures
Punctures and finger nicks can be attributed to the lightest injuries. Punctures most often do not give significant bleeding, so first aid will be simple - disinfection and the imposition of a sterile bandage. By the way, it is for punctures that primary treatment with alcohol solutions is not only acceptable, but desirable.
Contusions, abrasions and crushing injuries
The principles of stopping bleeding and disinfecting the wound with this kind of damage are similar to the cuts of a finger. A feature of such wounds is the frequent presence of foreign particles - sand, earth, rust, so it is better to rinse such injuries better with hydrogen peroxide and very carefully.
Bitten wounds
This type of injury requires obligatory consultation of a surgeon or traumatologist in the first hours after a bite, because they are extremely likely to become infected. Bites of unfamiliar and wild animals also necessarily require the introduction of a special rabies vaccine - an injection against rabies. This is very important, since rabies vaccine is the only means of preventing rabies. The developed disease to this day is not subject to treatment and causes a long and painful death.
Before taking the doctor, you should thoroughly wash the wound several times with soap and antiseptics and apply a sterile bandage.
Click on photo to enlarge Finger amputation
This type of injury is subject to immediate medical attention. Since the bleeding from the amputated wounds is pronounced, it is necessary to apply a tourniquet, which we spoke about in the block "Finger cuts".Further the patient should be immediately transported to the nearest surgical hospital.
In some cases, a fully amputated fragment of the finger can be restored. Therefore, the amputated finger or phalanx should be wrapped as quickly as possible with moist gauze or a bandage impregnated with antiseptic, and placed in the cold. You can not have a finger piece touching the ice directly. It is best wrapped in a napkin or gauze finger put in a cellophane bag, and this package - in a second package, filled with cold water or ice water. It is also important to tell the doctors the exact time of the injury - this will help assess the likelihood of engraftment of a finger fragment. However, if it is planned or expected to restore the finger, you can not apply a tourniquet! Stop bleeding will be imposing a pressure bandage.
Scheme how to properly store and deliver the amputated finger to the hospital When the doctor's assistance is clearly needed
Let's consider the cases in which the consultation of a surgeon or trauma specialist is mandatory:
- Amputated and bitten finger wounds.
- Inability to stop bleeding by yourself for 30 minutes. Deep cuts sometimes require the imposition of surgical sutures.
- The presence in the wound of foreign objects - glass, stones, chips, chips, which can not be extracted independently.
- Wounds inflicted on objects contaminated by earth or rust. This is very important, because such wounds are a potential entrance gate for a special infection - tetanus. Such patients need the administration of antitetanus serum.
- Finger injuries in patients with coagulation disorders - congenital disorders and clotting characteristics against the background of taking anticoagulants - heparin, warfarin and others.
- Pronounced edema, redness or blueing of the finger, twitching pain, fever, general malaise may indicate the development of wound infection.
