If you’ve sustained a cut, you may be wondering whether you need to seek professional wound care, or if you can treat the injury yourself. Generally speaking, you should head to a trusted urgent care center—like Jovive Health’s Chicago, Illinois, clinic—if your laceration:
- Continues bleeding after at least 20 minutes of direct pressure
- Is deep, jagged, or gaping
- Contains dirt or debris
- Is on your face
- Feels numb
If there’s a chance that your cut could be life- or limb-threatening, be sure to call 911 or get to a nearby emergency room as soon as possible.
What Does Laceration Treatment Involve?
When you visit an urgent care provider like Jovive Health for professional wound care, a clinician will likely:
- Ask you about your injury
- Examine the cut
- Clean and numb the site
- Administer stitches (sutures)
- Give you a tetanus shot (if needed)
- Provide you with wound care instructions
If the provider is concerned that your cut still contains a foreign object like glass or metal, they may order an X-ray to look for any remaining debris. Notably, all of Jovive Health’s urgent care centers offer on-site X-rays.
Wound Treatment Made Easy
If you think your cut is serious enough that it requires professional laceration treatment, visit Jovive Health’s Chicago, IL, clinic today. We’re open every day of the week with extended hours, and we offer all urgent care services—including wound treatment—on a walk-in basis. You can also opt to book a same-day reservation, if desired.
