Facial wound — caring for a cut to the face
How to care for your cut while it heals, and how to help the scar fade.
You have a cut on your face that has been cleaned and closed. The face has a good blood supply and usually heals well. Careful aftercare over the next few weeks helps the scar fade.
Your care details
To be completed by the team before you leave.
These need an ambulance.
- Sudden loss of vision, or you cannot open the eye at all
- Bleeding that will not stop with 10 minutes of firm pressure
- You feel confused or dizzy, your heart is racing, or you are breathing fast
- Trouble breathing or swallowing, or swelling of the mouth or throat
Come back to the ED or the urgent service named above the same day.
- Any change in your eyesight — blurred or double vision, or new floaters or flashes
- Numbness, or you cannot move part of your face normally
- The edges of a cut through your lip border, eyelid or eyebrow look out of line
- Growing pain, redness, swelling or pus around the wound
- Red streaks spreading from the wound, or you feel hot or unwell
- The wound opens up, or the glue or strips come away early
Some facial wounds need review by a specialist rather than a general dressing check, because the result depends on getting the alignment exactly right or on repairing a structure underneath: eyelid wounds, especially near the inner corner where the tear duct runs; cuts crossing the lip border; wounds with numbness or weakness, which can mean a nerve is injured; and any wound where you are not happy with how the edges line up. If any of these apply and you have not been given a specialist appointment, contact the service named in Your care details.
Caring for it
- Keep the wound clean and dry, and keep any dressing on as advised.
- If it was closed with glue, let it flake off over 5–10 days — do not pick it.
- Do not shave over the wound until it has fully healed.
- Gently clean it as you were advised, once you are allowed to.
- Take paracetamol or ibuprofen for pain if you can take them.
Helping the scar
Once the wound has healed, protect the scar from the sun for 6–12 months with a hat or high-factor sunscreen. Sun can make scars darker and slower to fade. Gently massaging the healed scar can also help it settle. Stitches on the face usually come out in about 5 days — your removal date is in the care box.