Minor Injuries Overview

Children's days are filled with running, jumping, bicycling, sports, and other fun activities that keep them active and on-the-go from morning until night. Along with the fun comes an occasional cut, bruise, or tumble. Luckily, most of these injuries are not serious. They can be handled with some simple first-aid treatment at home. However, there are times when a healthcare provider's care is needed.

Specific treatment for skin wounds and injuries will be determined by your child's healthcare provider. In general, call your child's healthcare provider for skin injuries that are:

Bleeding heavily and do not stop after 5 to 10 minutes of direct pressure

Deep, or longer than 1/2 inch

Located close to the eye

Large cuts on the face

Caused by a puncture wound or dirty or rusty object

Embedded with debris such as dirt, stones, or gravel

Ragged or have separated edges

Caused by an animal or human bite

Extremely painful

Cause numbness of the skin, or inability to move a body part such as a finger and or toe

Showing signs of infection, such as fever, warmth, redness, swelling, or fluid leaking

Also call your child's healthcare provider if: