Should I take my son suffering from swelling of eyelid caused by an injury, to the doctor immediately

Brief Answer: Visit a doctor Immediately Detailed Answer: Hi. Thanks for posting your concern at HCM Yes, you should immediately take him to the doctor for evaluation. If the cut is long and there is gaping of the wound, your doctor might stitch the wound immediately if not more than 6 hours have elapsed since it was sustained and also prescribe oral antibiotics to prevent it from getting infected. This would ensure good healing and minimal scaring Or if the cut is very small and the edges are closely apposed, then it might not require stitches but still it needs to be addressed for antiseptic dressing. Let me enlighten you a little bit about wound healing: If a person presents to a healthcare center within 6 hours of injury the wound is typically closed immediately after evaluating and cleaning the wound as in your case. This results in a small line of scar tissue and a cosmetically good result. This is called 'primary intention healing' where the wound edges heal directly touching each other. The goal is to minimize the need for granulation tissue by holding wound edges tightly together. Whereas healing by secondary intention(the wound is not stitched in case of secondary intention healing) may be the only possibility if the wound is infected or contaminated or more than 6 hours have elapsed after sustaining Injury. It results in lot more scaring and gives a cosmetically poor result. Hope this helps take care regards

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