Expert Discusses When You Should Seek Medical Treatment For That Cut
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- To stitch or not to stitch? That often becomes the question when you're bleeding.
You dropped a glass and cut your hand and even after applying pressure for 15 minutes, the bleeding won't stop, head to the emergency room according to Dr. Bruce Rubin.
Rubin, assistant chairman of the emergency department at Abington-Lansdale Hospital, also warns don't wait more than 6-hours.
"As the cut is open it is exposed to bacteria, it's out in the air it's on surfaces," he tells KYW Newsradio. "When bacteria gets in deeper sections and you can't close a wound that's been open too long, you'll just trap bacteria in there and end up with worse symptoms than the cosmetic results of not closing it."
If the cut is on your face, seek treatment so you can avoid a scar and slicing your hand could be a problem because the skin is thin and damage could go deep.