What should you know about non surgical stitches?

A clinician first checks the cut for depth, contamination, bleeding, movement, sensation, and damage to deeper structures. The area may be cleaned and numbed with lidocaine local anaesthetic. Suitable surgical sutures hold the wound edges together while the body repairs the tissue. Some stitches dissolve; others need removal after the clinician chooses a timing based on the wound location and healing. Not every cut should be stitched: heavily contaminated, infected, puncture, bite, or older wounds may need another approach or specialist advice.

Follow the instructions for Wound Care and Dressing, keep the area protected, and wash your hands before touching it. Keep the dressing clean and dry as advised, avoid soaking the wound, and do not pull at knots or cut the thread yourself. Limit activities that stretch the repaired skin. Check your tetanus history; Tetanus Vaccination may be advised for some injuries. Attend the planned review so removable stitches can be checked and taken out safely.

Seek urgent care for bleeding that does not settle with firm pressure, loss of feeling or movement, a deep or gaping cut, or an injury from a bite or dirty object. Contact the treating service for spreading redness, increasing warmth, swelling, pus, fever, worsening pain, wound edges opening, or a stitch cutting into the skin. Do not wait for a routine appointment if the hand, face, eye, or a major joint is involved.

How should I dress and clean this wound? Are these stitches dissolvable? When should they be reviewed or removed? Do I need tetanus protection, and which changes should prompt an earlier visit?