Reasons To See The Pediatrician After Your Child Gets Stitches For A Cut

When your child sustains a cut, you'll commonly want to seek medical care right away. The hospital emergency room is your best bet if the cut appears to be extremely serious, while a local urgent care center can be another option for less-serious injuries. Your child can get his or her cut cleaned and stitched up at either location. In the days that follow, you don't want to ignore the issue. It's a good idea to schedule an appointment with the child's pediatrician in the future, as this medical professional can offer assistance in a number of ways. Here are some reasons to see the pediatrician in this situation.

Checking For Infection

You should always be careful with a stitched-up cut to ensure that it doesn't get infected. This area may be difficult for you to clean, given that it's likely still sore, which could heighten the risk of an infection. If you notice severe symptoms of an infection, such as swelling and pus in the area, you likely want to visit an urgent care center. However, if there are milder symptoms or perhaps even no symptoms but you want to ensure that things look OK, it's a good idea to see the pediatrician.

Changing The Dressing

In the case of minor cuts that require just a few stitches, it's common for the medical practitioner who administers them to leave the area open. However, in the event of a larger wound, your child will commonly have the area covered in a dressing to protect it from impact and lower the risk of infection. Generally, you'll be tasked with changing the dressing at certain intervals, and the emergency room or urgent care center that you visit will usually send you home with the supplies for doing so. However, if you don't feel that you're able to do so properly, don't hesitate to visit the pediatrician for help in this regard.

Removing The Stitches

It's common to get wounds stitched with stitches that fall or out can easily be pulled out, but you may uncertain about dealing with this situation yourself. If you have any reservations about removing the child's stitches after a certain amount of time, don't hesitate to get help from the pediatrician. You don't want to pull out a stitch too quickly and cause your child pain, so a pediatrician will not only know exactly when to pull the stitches out, but also how to do so properly.