Children fall over and bash themselves all the time, meaning they always end up with cuts and grazes. If you don’t have a few cuts or scars as a child, you haven’t lived life to the fullest! It’s all part of growing up, and most of the time these wounds aren’t that big of a deal. They can be dealt with very easily, and you don’t have to worry about them. 

Having said that, there might be instances where a cut is severe and you need to go to the hospital to get stitches. Obviously, you don’t want to keep making this trip every time your child has a cut, especially if the doctors turn you away and say that they don’t need stitches. So, how do you know if a cut needs stitches or not? Let’s find out!

It’s bleeding heavily

The standard procedure for dealing with a cut is pretty straightforward. First, make sure you rinse out the cut and apply a wound cleanser to it, ensuring that the area is now clean. Then, you apply pressure to the cut to stop it from bleeding. If the cut continues to bleed pretty heavily after you’ve applied pressure for more than ten minutes straight, your child might need stitches. In most cases, the bleeding should either subside or become a lot less. In which case, applying a bandage or plaster is all that’s needed to control the cut. 

If you apply something to cover the wound, but you notice it carries on bleeding through, you should definitely go to the emergency room as your child will likely need stitches to stop the bleeding. 

It’s wide or deep

Take a look at the cut and see how wide or deep it is. If it’s a very nasty cut that’s a good inch or more wide, it will likely need stitches to help it heal. Even if there’s not a lot of blood, your child’s skin will struggle to heal a cut that’s this wide. 

The same goes for a deep cut; the skin needs to be sewn shut to let the wound heal. You don’t need to be a doctor to tell when a cut is really bad and needs some extra attention. It should be painfully obvious if a cut is deep or wide. 

There’s something in the cut

In really bad circumstances, your child may have something stuck in the cut. This could happen if they fall over and get a twig stuck in their arm or a shard of glass. In either case, you should go to the emergency room right away. Don’t try to take the object out as this can cause a lot of pain and bleeding. Let the doctors deal with it, and upon removing the object they will usually stitch the wound back up. 

Exercise

A study conducted proved that people who exercise regularly have more control over their feelings when panic attacks occur than people who do not exercise regularly. It is important to maintain a form of healthy activity so that you can help distract yourself from your worries. You feel in control of your body when you move it intentionally. Exercise also helps in releasing endorphins that are also called happy hormones. These help in lowering the level of cortisol in our bodies, the excess of which increases the risk of panic attacks. Even activities such as swimming and yoga can reduce anxiety.

Weed

A countless number of studies have shown the efficacy of weed in helping deal with symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, pain, menstrual cramps, and even a bad mood. You can try out edibles, flowers, or even CBD in order to help you with anxiety. The experts at weedsmart recommend that you try to find the thing that works best for your body. There are some patients who swear by using flowers and strains, while others are perfectly happy with CBD oil. 

Herbal teas

We all know that caffeine can aggravate symptoms of anxiety. But did you know that supplements and herbal teas can actually help in decreasing signs of anxiety? Magnesium is the best sort of supplementation to assist with anxiety episodes. A low level of Vitamin D has been proven to have a link with anxiety. Chamomile has been proven quite beneficial in helping deal with panic attacks. Valerian root tea has a ton of sedating properties that can help in enhancing your quality of sleep and can also help with mild anxiety. Omega-3 helps in reducing acute anxiety.

Stop smoking now

We know that smoking might make you feel more in control over your anxiety, for a short while, but the truth is that it can do more harm than good. Smoking can cause physical ailments and even an increased risk of cancer. There is more reoccurrence of anxiety disorders in regular smokers than in people who do not smoke. Nicotine is a known stimulant which means that it can also lead to poor quality of sleep at night instead of letting you get some well-deserved shut-eye. Nicotine withdrawal also increases the chances of panic attacks. 

It is important to know how to deal with panic attacks even before they occur. Use these things in order to help you stabilize your symptoms.