Foot laceration (cuts in the skin)

Feet | General Practice | Foot laceration (cuts in the skin) (Disease)


Description

Lacerations of the foot can be simple involving only the skin or complex with injury to tendons, nerves and/or blood vessels. With tendon lacerations there is weakness of the foot or toes, and with nerve damage numbness is experienced beyond the laceration. The symptoms of a laceration include pain, bleeding, swelling, and bruising to the skin. Worsening redness, swelling, and tenderness around a laceration are signs of a skin infection, called cellulitis.

Causes and Risk factors

A person with a laceration has a cut, or tear, in the skin, caused by an injury. Lacerations may also involve structures that lie beneath the skin, such as muscles, tendons, blood vessels, and nerves. When the doctor evaluates a foot laceration, it will be important to determine if the laceration penetrates a joint, or has injured a nerve or tendon in the finger.

Diagnosis and Treatment

If the lasceration is a minor cut, its important to wash the area with tap or other clean water and apply hydrogen peroxide or a topical antiseptic. Then cover the cut with a bandage or sterile gauze or cloth. Minor cuts can take up to ten minutes to stop bleeding; applying pressure to the cut can help stop the bleeding. Most minor cuts will heal on their own if kept clean and covered. If the cut is deep and blood is spurting out, covering the lasceration and pressured it is the best option. ...