Stitches & Sutures

stitches in Archdale, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem

Need Stitches? Visit MEDIQ Urgent Care Immediately

If you experience a bad enough cut, then you may need stitches and sutures in order to help the wound heal. Severe cuts that result in excessive bleeding should be treated at an emergency room (ER). However, minor cuts that are not life-threatening can be treated at MEDIQ Urgent Care.

Visiting an urgent care facility is often much less expensive and more convenient than the ER since you won’t have to wait for hours to be seen. In emergency rooms, the most serious injuries and illnesses are treated first, which means that depending on how serious your cut is, you could end up waiting a while.

What Are Stitches & Sutures?

Most smaller cuts will heal on their own over time. The only thing you need to do to treat minor cuts is to keep them clean. However, larger cuts require stitches. Stitches help to hold the wound around the cut closed so that the skin can fuse together and heal. The term “stitches” refers to the surgical procedure used to close the cut up.

“Sutures” are the threads or strands that are used to stitch the wound closed. Once the cut has healed, the sutures will be removed.

How Do I Know if I Need Stitches?

The seriousness of cuts and lacerations can be difficult to judge at times. If you’re unsure whether you need stitches or not, it’s best if you seek medical attention just in case you do. However, the following are a few obvious signs that you do need stitches and that you should seek medical attention as soon as possible if:

  • you’ve experienced a cut on your neck. The neck is a very vulnerable part of your body, and any injury that occurs to it should be evaluated.
  • you’ve received a cut on your face where scarring might be an issue.
  • the area around the wound feels numb.
  • you’ve lost function to the part of the body that has experienced the cut.
  • your cut is continuing to bleed. You should apply direct pressure to your wound using a towel or clean cloth for at least 20 minutes. If it’s still bleeding, then you should seek medical attention right away.
  • the cut resulted in a loose flap of skin, then you may need stitches to reattach it.
  • you were cut by an object that’s still stuck in your wound, such as a knife or a nail, then you should seek medical attention right away.
  • the cut is longer than 1/3 inch or deeper than 1/4 inch.

Choose MEDIQ Urgent Care for Stitches in the Piedmont Triad

If you’ve experienced a cut that may need stitches, head to MEDIQ Urgent Care in Archdale, Greensboro or Winston-Salem for immediate treatment. Just walk in, or check in online below to save time.