It doesn’t matter if you’re at home, at work or in a public place, there’s a possibility you could suffer a puncture wound injury at some point.
While this is not always as serious as it sounds, there are times when you need to seek medical help. As a general rule of thumb, it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your health.
Here are several details that will guide you toward seeking medical assistance:
- You are unable to remove the object on your own
- The wound is extremely deep, such as touching bone
- The wound is dirty
- The wound occurred through your shoe, such as by stepping on a nail at a construction site
Not every puncture wound is extremely serious, but there are times when these bleed excessively despite your best efforts to provide immediate treatment.
In the event of a serious puncture wound, you could experience severe pain, dizziness, vomiting and/or difficulty breathing.
Depending on your profession, you may be aware that suffering a puncture wound could happen at some point. This is why it’s so important to protect yourself in any way possible.
If you suffer a puncture wound on the job, call for immediate help and notify your employer of what went wrong. You don’t want to assume you can treat the issue on your own, as you’ll never truly know the extent of your injury.
Once you receive treatment and medical guidance, you can make up your mind as to what you should do next. You may be able to seek workers’ compensation benefits if you are unable to return to work.
Source: Web MD, “Puncture Wound Treatment,” accessed Oct. 25, 2017