When a Band-Aid Isn’t Enough: Tips to Help You Deal With Minor Injuries

Minor injuries like scraped knees, cuts and sprains are a fact of life. Everyone has them, and many people think they are nothing to worry about — they are just little accidents that happen in the home or at work. Even if you don’t feel bad after your accident, these minor injuries should be taken more seriously to keep them from getting worse.

When you get a cut or a scratch, it’s easy to slap a band-aid on it and pretend like nothing ever happened. But sometimes, this just isn’t enough, which can lead to an infection, or even something more serious. So what should you do to prevent this from happening? 

Keep a Box of Medical Supplies in Your Home 

Medical supplies are not one-size-fits-all. You will want to do some research on what medical supplies make sense for you, and how much you need to keep in your home. Treating a wound or other problem at home instead of going to an emergency department can save money. But not if it turns out that the supply you have at home is inadequate.

What you need depends on your specific situation: where you live, your family’s health history, what medications you take, what kinds of injuries and illnesses occur where you live, and so on. You can find an abundance of medical supplies online and order them straight to your door. Some of the essential things your medical supplies box should include are: 

• latex gloves
• CPR shield and face mask 
• gauze rolls and gauze pads of all sizes
• cotton balls
• adhesive tape
• scissors and bandage scissors  a kind with only one blade designed for cutting medical tape)
• tweezers
• safety pins and needles (including a large-gauge needle for drawing blood)
• sterile pads for applying pressure to bleeding wounds and stopping nosebleeds
• antiseptic wipes and alcohol 

Take the Proper Precautions Right Away

Minor injuries usually start out seeming pretty minor, duh. A small cut or a sprain isn’t usually going to be anything you can’t deal with yourself. But if you don’t take care of it right away, it can get infected and become much more serious. 

This should be obvious, but it often isn’t. You’ve got a little cut on your finger, so you put a band-aid on it and forget about it. The next morning you wake up with your finger swelled the size of your wrist and you realize that getting the cut properly cleaned out might have been a better idea.

So the first thing to know is this: if you get even the smallest injury, clean it out thoroughly as soon as possible. Wash it with soap and water, use peroxide to sanitise it and make sure there’s no dirt left in the wound, then cover it with a clean bandage. 

And remember, there’s nothing wrong with using some kind of painkiller if you really need to. Some over the counter pain reliever like ibuprofen or acetaminophen should do the job just fine.

Find a Clean and Safe Environment to Treat the Injury

This will help you get rid of the pain as fast as possible since you won’t have to worry about any other risks. The fact that you are injured can already be risky enough and if the environment is not safe, then that can add up and cause more harm. If you are in a place that is not sanitary or does not seem safe, then move away from that area. Try to find a place that is as clean as possible and free from any dangers.

The main thing you don’t want to do is compound your injury. If you can, it’s best if you can move away from the area of your injury, preferably in a calm and collected manner that doesn’t cause any more harm. It doesn’t make sense to hurt yourself while panicking.

Treatment should always begin as soon after an injury as possible; every minute counts when treating an injury because treatment must address both swelling and inflammation. An injury that is not treated promptly can lead to long-term problems like infection (if it’s a wound) or joint degeneration (if it’s a sprained ankle or knee).

When to See A Doctor? 

Having a health check-up at your doctor every once in a while cannot harm, however, if it happens too often and is unnecessary, it can be quite expensive and a waste of your doctor’s time. So, it’s recommended to see your doctor only when you have a really good reason – not for every finger cut. 

Most minor injuries heal on their own without any treatment at all. However, if your injury is serious enough that it causes you a lot of pain or prevents you from moving around normally, you should see a doctor.

Since it’s better to be safe than sorry, if you think you have a broken bone or a serious injury, go to the emergency room of your local hospital. Those are the only places where doctors can treat serious injuries, so if you go there with a minor problem and it turns out to be serious, they’ll know what to do.

For less-serious issues than broken bones or severe bleeding, it’s best just to see your regular doctor. They will prescribe any tests or treatments that are necessary. And as long as your condition is not life-threatening, you probably won’t have to pay that much.

To Sum Up 

Getting a cut or scrape is never pleasant, so it’s important to be prepared for times when more drastic measures will be required. After all, the right medical supplies online and local providers sell can make all the difference when it comes to treating minor injuries. And odds are you have many of these items right in your home.

If you’re currently dealing with a minor injury, hopefully, these tips can help you find some relief. And if you find yourself facing a bad injury in the future, hopefully, they will help guide you through the process of recovering. Take care of yourself!