You need a tetanus shot for a small scratch if your tetanus immunization is not up to date and the injury caused a break in your skin. Read more: Do I Need a Tetanus Shot for a Small Scratch? Article
Multimedia: Slideshows, Images & Quizzes
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8 First Aid Kit Essentials for Scrapes, Cuts, Bug Bites, and More
Are you always prepared for a first aid crisis? See which basic first aid items to pack to treat minor scrapes, cuts, and stings...
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First Aid: Wound Care for Cuts and Scrapes
Wound care treatment at home involves performing cuts and scrapes first aid including cleaning the injury and applying antibiotic...
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When to Call 911: Serious Symptoms to Never Ignore
It’s not always easy to tell the difference between a minor bump on the head and a serious head injury. Here are some situations...
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Trauma and First Aid Quiz: Training and Supplies
What should be in your first-aid kit? Take this quiz to understand trauma and learn the truth about how to administer first aid.
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First Aid: Bandaging Injuries and Wounds From Head to Toe
Bandaging a wound like a burn, cut, or scrape requires different techniques depending on which part of the body was hurt. Ace...
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First Aid Quiz: Care for Wounds, Scrapes, Cuts, and Burns
Wound care for cuts and scrapes includes treatment to clean and bandage the injury. Should you use alcohol, hydrogen peroxide,...
SLIDESHOW
Whooping Cough (Pertussis) Symptoms, Vaccine Facts See SlideshowRelated Disease Conditions
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Cuts, Scrapes, and Puncture Wounds
Learn about first aid for cuts, scrapes (abrasions), and puncture wounds, when to see a doctor, if tetanus shots are necessary, and how to spot signs of infection.
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What Is the Fastest Way to Heal an Open Wound?
An open wound is an injury that includes an external or internal break in your body tissue, usually the skin. Nearly, everyone experiences an open wound at some point in their life. Mostly, they are minor and can be treated with home remedies.
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Tetanus
Tetanus is an often-fatal disease caused by nerve toxins produced by the common bacteria Clostridium tetani. In a 7-day period after infection, a person experiences muscle spasms, restlessness, headache, irritability, then lockjaw, and the lungs stop functioning. Tetanus is treatable with antibiotics and drainage. Sedation is often give to stop muscle spasms.
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What Are the Warning Signs of Tetanus?
Tetanus is a severe disease that affects many people. Learn the warning signs and diagnosis process for tetanus disease.
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How to Cure Lockjaw (Tetanus)
Lockjaw, also known as trismus, is a condition in which a person is unable to open their jaws fully. Spasm in jaw muscles make the jaws rigid and prevent movement of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), the hinge-like joint in the jaw that enables jaw movement.
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Can Dermabond Be Used on Open Wounds?
The tissue adhesive, Dermabond, can be used as an alternative for 5-0 or smaller sutures to close wounds. It can be used to close wounds on the face, extremities and torso. The doctor may prefer Dermabond over sutures depending on their level of comfort and experience.
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Basic Steps of Wound Care
After you get the wound and follow all the steps of wound care, you need to observe your wound for a few days till it heals completely. Call the doctor if you feel that your wound has become infected.
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How Do You Irrigate a Wound?
Wound irrigation is a non-invasive procedure in which a steady flow of a solution is used to achieve wound hydration; remove debris, dead cells, pathogens, and excess blood or other exudates such as pus in an open wound; and assist with a better visual examination. Wound irrigation is one of the most effective methods of wound cleansing.
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When To Not Close A Wound
Wounds with high chances of infection should be kept open for greater than 24 hours or should not be stitched for adequate cleaning and antibiotic treatment to prevent the risk of infection.
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Cat Scratch Disease
Cat scratch disease (CSD or cat scratch fever), a bacterial disease caused by Bartonella henselae, is characterized by fever, headache, fatigue, poor appetite, swelling of the lymph nodes, and mild infection at the site of the bite or scratch. Cats that carry B. henselae don't show signs of illness. Approximately 40% of cats carry the bacteria at some point in their lives.
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Do Adults Really Need Tetanus Booster Shots?
Tetanus is a serious disease that can cause severe complications, such as death. Hence, it’s best to prevent it with booster shots even as adults.
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What Does a Scratch Mean?
Scratches are superficial wounds that do not penetrate the deeper layers of the skin. They are one of the commonest types of injuries. We all get scratches often such as scratches due to sharp edges of objects, animal scratches, and scratches in response to itching.
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When Should You Not Close A Wound?
Wounds should not be closed if there is a high risk of infection and in other situations. Wounds may be classified as acute or chronic or open or closed. They may be caused by penetrating objects, nonpenetrating trauma and other miscellaneous causes.
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What Are the Categories of Wound Closure?
An open wound can be closed in any of the three ways. These ways are referred to as the three categories of wound closure or three ways of wound healing.
Treatment & Diagnosis
Medications & Supplements
- tetanus toxoid injection (Tetanus Toxoid Absorbed)
- Side Effects of Tetanus toxoid adsorbed
- diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTP) vaccine injection (Adult)
- diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis-haemophilus vaccine-injection, Tetramune
- diphtheria/tetanus/acellular pertussis (pediatric) - injection, Daptacel, Infanrix, Tripedia
- diphtheria and tetanus toxoids combined (adult) - injection
- diphtheria and tetanus toxoids combined (pediatric) - injection
Prevention & Wellness
- Study Casts Doubt on Need for Adult Boosters for Tetanus, Diphtheria
- Health Tip: Advice on Home Wound Care
- Health Tip: Understanding the Tetanus Shot
- After Painful Ordeal and $800K Medical Bill, Unvaccinated Boy Survives Tetanus
- Health Tip: Care For a Wound At Home
- Health Tip: Do You Need a Tetanus Shot?
- Health Tip: Control a Bleeding Wound
- Adults Don't Need Tetanus Shot Every Decade: Study
- Tetanus Shot Helped Boost Brain Cancer Survival, Small Study Finds
- Health Tip: Caring for a Cut or Scrape
- Health Tip: When to Bandage a Wound
- Health Tip: First Aid for a Bleeding Wound
- Health Tip: Keep a First Aid Kit in the Car
- Health Tip: Clean a Wound Carefully
- Health Tip: How You Get Tetanus
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