Skin Tear Care: Healing & Prevention | First Aid Guide

Proper care for a skin tear can minimize the time it takes the wound to heal and the skin to regenerate, and can prevent an infection from occurring. With the help of a few items that you can usually find in a standard first aid kit, you can properly care for skin tears.

Things You'll Need

• Antiseptic wipes
• Antibiotic ointment
• Nail clippers or forceps
• Petroleum jelly
• Adhesive strip bandage or gauze bandage and bandage tape

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Instructions

• 1

  Clean the wounded area with antiseptic wipes. Apply a light amount of antibiotic ointment to the clean wound.

• 2

  Stretch the torn skin back over the wound--torn skin may regenerate if it's replaced. If the torn skin is infected or in tatters, then trim the damaged skin back to the healthy skin with a pair of nail clippers or forceps.

• 3

  Aerate the wounded area, and let it begin to dry. Skip aeration if the wound is still bleeding.

• 4

  Dress the wound with a light coat of petroleum jelly, and apply an appropriately sized bandage. Use adhesive strip bandages to cover small wounds. For larger tears, cover the wound with a piece of gauze and wrap it with bandage tape.