A laceration is caused by a brief, powerful physical impact such as being hit by something or colliding with the corner of some furniture. The skin is most liable to rupture if there is bone beneath it. Lacerations sometimes have to be sewn up since they can exhibit irregular, frayed edges which will only grow back together with difficulty, and may produce a scar.

Apply compression dressing

To treat a wound initially, fix a sterile wound dressing in place on top of it using adhesive elastic plaster. A compression dressing is the ideal bandage for stopping heavy bleeding. Wrap some gauze bandage around the sterile dressing a few times, then place an additional rolled-together bandage on top of that as a pressure pad (a packet of paper tissues will suffice if needs be). Fix that in place with adhesive plaster as well. But take care: you want the bleeding to stop but you don’t want to cut off blood from that part of the body entirely.

Seek medical advice

A case for the physician: puncture wounds – especially involving foreign objects – animal scratches and bites, large-scale burns and heavily bleeding wounds should be treated by a physician.