First Aid and Wound Care: Cleaning, Covering and Healing Cuts
Most minor cuts and scrapes heal fine with three steps: stop the bleeding, clean it, keep it covered and moist. The advice many of us grew up with — pour on peroxide and let it air out — actually slows healing. Here is the current approach.
Stop the bleeding, then clean it properly
Apply firm, direct pressure with a clean gauze pad for a full 5–10 minutes without lifting to peek. Lifting early restarts the clot. Raise the injured part above heart level if you can.
Then irrigate. Clean running water or sterile saline wound wash is what dislodges dirt and bacteria — volume and pressure do the work, not a chemical.
Skip hydrogen peroxide and full-strength iodine inside the wound. Both kill the new cells your body is using to repair the tissue along with the bacteria, and studies show they delay healing. Peroxide is still fine for cleaning tools or dried blood off surrounding skin.
If dirt or gravel will not rinse out, that is a reason to be seen rather than to scrub harder.
Cover it and keep it moist
Moist wounds heal faster and scar less than wounds left to scab in open air — this is well established, and it is why a thin layer of ointment plus a dressing beats “letting it breathe.”
A thin layer of plain petrolatum or bacitracin is enough for most clean minor wounds. Triple antibiotic ointment adds neomycin, which causes an allergic contact rash in a meaningful number of people — if a wound gets itchier and redder after a few days of triple antibiotic, suspect the ointment before assuming infection.
Change the dressing daily, or sooner if it gets wet or dirty. Fabric bandages flex best on knuckles and joints; waterproof strips are worth it for hands and dishwashing; larger scrapes do better with a gauze pad and tape than with a strip bandage.
Once new skin has closed the wound, keeping it out of the sun or covered with sunscreen for several months markedly reduces how dark the scar sets.
When it needs more than a bandage
Seek care for: a cut that gapes open or is deeper than about a quarter inch, any wound longer than half an inch on the face, bleeding that will not stop after 10 minutes of firm pressure, numbness or inability to move the part normally, embedded debris, or a wound over a joint that keeps reopening. Stitches work best within about 12–18 hours.
Animal and human bites and puncture wounds — including stepping on a nail — should be evaluated regardless of size. They look small and infect at high rates.
Tetanus boosters are due every 10 years, or every 5 for a dirty wound. If you are not sure when yours was, ask — our pharmacists can check and often vaccinate.
Signs of infection to watch for at days 2–5: spreading redness, increasing rather than decreasing pain, warmth, pus, red streaking away from the wound, or fever.
What we stock
- Simply Sterile Saline Wound Wash Spray — 7 oz — $6.78. The right first step — pressurized sterile saline to flush a wound clean.
- G & W Bacitracin Ointment — 1 oz — $2.31. Single-ingredient ointment; far less likely to cause a rash than triple antibiotic.
- Perrigo Triple Antibiotic First Aid Ointment — 0.5 oz — $4.57. Broader coverage; contains neomycin, a common contact allergen.
- Neosporin Original Ointment — 0.5 oz — $5.46. The name-brand triple antibiotic.
- McKesson Adhesive Bandages, Fabric Strips 1" x 3" — 100 ct — $2.40. Best value in the aisle — about 2¢ a bandage, and fabric flexes on joints.
- Band-Aid Tough-Strips Waterproof Bandages, Extra Large — 10 ct — $4.68. Stays put through hand washing and dishes.
- Band-Aid Gauze Pads, Small — 10 ct — $1.61. For pressure to stop bleeding, and for scrapes too wide for a strip.
- Band-Aid Paper Tape 1" x 10 yd — 1 roll — $2.55. Gentle tape to hold a gauze pad — kinder to fragile skin.
- Good Sense Butterfly Closures — 10 ct — $0.93. Pulls a small straight cut closed. A gaping or deep cut still needs stitches.
- Johnson & Johnson Red Cross First Aid To Go Kit — $1.32. Cheap enough to keep one in every vehicle and bag.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use hydrogen peroxide on a cut?
Not inside the wound. Hydrogen peroxide and full-strength iodine damage the new cells your body uses to repair tissue as well as the bacteria, and have been shown to delay healing. Clean minor wounds by irrigating with clean running water or sterile saline wound wash instead. Peroxide is still fine for cleaning instruments or dried blood from the skin around a wound.
Should a cut be left to air out or kept covered?
Keep it covered. Moist wounds heal faster and scar less than wounds left to dry and scab in the open air. Apply a thin layer of petrolatum or bacitracin ointment and cover with a bandage or gauze, changing the dressing daily or whenever it gets wet or dirty.
Do I need triple antibiotic ointment on every cut?
No. For a clean minor wound, plain petrolatum or single-ingredient bacitracin is enough. Triple antibiotic ointment contains neomycin, which causes an allergic contact rash in a significant number of people — if a wound becomes itchier and redder after a few days of use, suspect the ointment before assuming infection.
How do I know if a cut needs stitches?
Get it evaluated if the wound gapes open, is deeper than about a quarter inch, is longer than half an inch on the face, keeps bleeding after 10 minutes of firm direct pressure, has embedded debris, causes numbness or loss of movement, or sits over a joint and keeps reopening. Stitches work best when placed within 12 to 18 hours. Animal bites, human bites and puncture wounds should be checked regardless of size.
What are the signs a wound is infected?
Watch days two through five for redness that spreads rather than fades, pain that increases instead of easing, warmth, swelling, pus, red streaks running away from the wound, or fever. Any of these warrant a same-day call to your provider.
This guide is general information, not medical advice. Talk with your pharmacist or provider about your situation.