Dressings and wound care (Wound assessment, cleaning and dressing)
Cleaning a cut, graze, or other minor wound and covering it with the right dressing so it heals well and is less likely to get infected.
✓ Medically reviewed by a GMC-registered consultant · last reviewed September 2026 · next review September 2027 · how we review
In short
- Good wound care cleans and protects a wound so it heals and is less likely to get infected; the right dressing is matched to the wound.
- A dressing does not make a serious wound safe. Deep wounds, heavy bleeding, embedded objects, bites and facial wounds need to be assessed, and some need closing.
- Most minor wounds heal over a few days to a couple of weeks; you change the dressing as advised and keep it clean and dry.
- Watch for infection (spreading redness, heat, swelling, pus, increasing pain, feeling unwell or feverish) and seek help early.
A plain-English summary. The detail — including risks and recovery — is below.
At a glance
A general guide. Your specialist will give you advice for your situation.
Protects the wound from dirt and knocks while it heals
A wound with heavy or uncontrolled bleeding, a deep or gaping wound, or one with something embedded in it - these need emergency or hospital care, not a...
Keep the dressing clean and dry, and the area still if you can. A little redness and tenderness at the wound edges is normal. Spreading redness, throbbing...
Clear written advice on how to clean and dress the wound, and how often to change it.
Keep the dressing clean and dry, and the area still if you can. A little redness and tenderness at the wound edges...
Change the dressing as advised, washing your hands before and after. The wound should look gradually less angry...
Many minor wounds have closed over. If you have non-dissolvable stitches, this is often when they are removed; the...
The new skin strengthens and any scar gradually fades. Protecting a healing scar from the sun can help it settle.
What is wound care and dressing?
Wound care means cleaning a cut, graze, or other wound and covering it with a dressing so it can heal and is protected from dirt and infection. A clinician will first look at the wound to decide how deep it is, whether it is clean or dirty, whether it needs closing, and whether you need anything else such as a tetanus vaccine or antibiotics.
The dressing itself does the quiet work: it keeps the wound at the right moisture level, protects it, and soaks up any fluid. Different wounds suit different dressings, which is why a clinician matches the dressing to the wound rather than using the same thing for everything.
Most minor wounds can be looked after at home after the first clean and dressing. Wound care does not, on its own, make a serious wound safe. Deep wounds, heavy bleeding, wounds with something stuck in them, animal or human bites, and wounds over joints or on the face often need to be seen, and some need stitches, glue, or further treatment.
This guide is about minor wounds. For serious bleeding, a deep or gaping wound, or a wound you cannot clean or stop bleeding, you should not rely on a private dressing service. Call 999 or go to A&E.
Types, options & approaches
There may be different ways to do this. The right approach depends on the clinical question and your circumstances.
Options at a glance
These are the main approaches described in this guide. The right option depends on the diagnosis, your goals and what your clinician thinks is safe.
Cleaning and a simple protective dressing
For clean, shallow cuts and grazes: the wound is rinsed, the surrounding skin is cleaned, and a plaster or low-adherent dressing is applied to protect it while it heals.
Wound closure (glue, strips or stitches)
Some cuts heal better if the edges are brought together with skin glue, adhesive strips (steri-strips) or stitches, then dressed. This is a decision for the clinician based...
Absorbent or antimicrobial dressings
Wetter wounds may need a more absorbent dressing; wounds that are infected, or at higher risk of infection, may be given an antimicrobial dressing. These are chosen by the...
Dressings for grazes and burns
Broad scrapes and minor burns often suit non-stick dressings that do not pull at new skin when changed. Burns that are large, deep, or on the face, hands or genitals need...
Preparing for your treatment
- If the wound is bleeding, press firmly on it with a clean cloth or dressing and raise the area if you can; this is more important than finding the perfect dressing.
- Note how the injury happened, especially if it involved soil, manure, a dirty object, glass, an animal or human bite, or a burn, as this changes what care you need.
- Check when you last had a tetanus-containing vaccine; dirty or deep wounds may need a tetanus booster or, rarely, an injection of antibodies.
- Tell the clinician about diabetes, problems with your circulation or immune system, or blood-thinning medicines, as these affect healing and bleeding.
- Remove rings or tight items from an injured hand or finger before it swells.
- Bring a list of your medicines and any allergies, especially to dressings, plasters, latex or antibiotics.
What happens
The clinician cleans their hands and looks at the wound to judge how deep it is, whether anything is inside it, and whether it is clean or dirty. They will usually rinse the wound with water or sterile fluid and clean the skin around it.
If the wound needs closing, they may use skin glue, adhesive strips or stitches, sometimes after numbing the area with local anaesthetic. They then choose a dressing that suits the wound and shows you, or arrange, how it will be changed.
Before you leave, they should tell you how to look after the wound, when to change the dressing, how to spot infection, whether you need a tetanus vaccine or antibiotics, and when the wound should be checked again or the stitches removed.
Is this treatment right for me?
A good consultation should explore whether it's the right choice for you now — including reasons to wait or consider something else.
May not be suitable if…
- A wound with heavy or uncontrolled bleeding, a deep or gaping wound, or one with something embedded in it - these need emergency or hospital care, not a routine dressing.
- Suspected damage to a tendon, nerve, blood vessel or joint, which needs proper assessment and sometimes surgery.
- Significant burns, or burns to the face, hands, feet or genitals, which need urgent specialist assessment.
- A wound that is part of a bigger problem, such as a non-healing ulcer from poor circulation or diabetes, which needs medical assessment rather than repeated dressings.
Delay or rearrange if…
- You have a possible serious injury or heavy bleeding - do not delay; seek emergency care.
- The wound cannot be properly cleaned, or you suspect a foreign body remains in it.
- You feel unwell, feverish or shivery, or the wound is already showing signs of spreading infection.
- You are unsure of your tetanus status after a dirty or deep wound and have not yet had advice.
Alternatives to discuss
- Stopping bleeding and applying a simple plaster yourself for a very minor, clean cut or graze.
- Pharmacist advice for minor wounds and dressing supplies.
- NHS urgent treatment centre, minor injuries unit, GP or practice nurse for wounds needing assessment.
- A&E or 999 for serious bleeding, deep or contaminated wounds, possible deeper injury, or significant burns.
Before you decide
Use this as a shared-decision checklist. The aim is not just “can this be done?”, but whether it is right for you, now, with the risks and alternatives clearly understood.
What matters most to me?
Think about symptoms, daily life, work, caring responsibilities, sport, fertility, travel, appearance and anxiety — the right choice depends on your priorities, not just the medical facts.
What are all my options?
Ask about waiting, monitoring, medicines, rehabilitation, a smaller or larger procedure, a different test, NHS referral, or a second opinion where that would help.
What would make me pause?
Active infection, pregnancy, unstable medical problems, smoking, medicines that increase bleeding, poor support at home, or feeling pressured are all reasons to slow down and get tailored advice.
What happens if I do nothing today?
For some problems, waiting is safe; for others, delay can make treatment harder. A good consultation should explain the trade-off in plain English.
Comfort, sedation or contrast choices
If local anaesthetic, sedation, contrast or pain relief is used, ask what is planned, why, and what it means afterwards.
Benefits
- Protects the wound from dirt and knocks while it heals
- Lowers the chance of infection when the wound is cleaned and covered properly
- Keeps the wound at a moisture level that helps it heal and can reduce scarring
- Lets a clinician spot a wound that actually needs closing, antibiotics or a tetanus vaccine
- Soaks up fluid and keeps the wound comfortable
Risks & complications
- Mild discomfort when the wound is cleaned or the dressing is changed
- The dressing sticking a little or needing changing more often than expected
- Some redness and tenderness right at the wound edges in the first day or two
- Itching or irritation from a plaster or dressing adhesive
- Wound infection, which may need antibiotics
- A reaction or allergy to a dressing, plaster or cleaning fluid
- The wound reopening if it was under tension or not closed well
- A wound that was thought minor turning out to need stitches or further treatment
- A deeper injury to a tendon, nerve, blood vessel or joint that was not obvious at first
- A foreign body (such as glass or grit) left in the wound
- Spreading infection of the skin (cellulitis) or, very rarely, a serious infection such as tetanus in an unvaccinated person
The most important risks come from underestimating a wound. A wound that looks small can still hide a cut tendon or nerve, a foreign body, or contamination that needs more than a dressing. Tell the clinician how the injury happened and whether you can fully move and feel the area, and ask whether you need a tetanus vaccine, antibiotics, or a wound check in a few days.
Published figures to discuss
There is no single reliable infection or complication rate for wound care, because it depends entirely on the wound: how it happened, how dirty it was, where it is, how quickly it was treated, and the person's own health. Dirty wounds, bites, puncture wounds and wounds in people with diabetes or poor circulation carry more risk. Rather than quoting a percentage, a clinician should judge your particular wound and give you safety-net advice.
| Figure | Reported range | How to interpret it | Source / confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wound infection | Varies with wound type, contamination, diabetes, blood supply and dressing technique | Increasing pain, redness, heat, swelling, pus, smell or fever should prompt review. | NHS - Cuts and grazesnhs.ukSource-linked context |
| Delayed healing | Common with diabetes, smoking, poor circulation, pressure, oedema or malnutrition | A wound that is not progressing should trigger reassessment of the diagnosis and blood supply. | NHS - Cuts and grazesnhs.ukSource-linked context |
| Contact dermatitis or skin stripping from dressings | Common in fragile skin | The best dressing protects the surrounding skin as well as the wound bed. | NHS - Cuts and grazesnhs.ukSource-linked context |
| Tetanus-prone wound missed | Rare but high impact | Dirty, deep, devitalised or bite wounds should prompt vaccination-status review. | NHS - Cuts and grazesnhs.ukSource-linked context |
These are literature figures, not a personalised prediction. Your own risks and likely benefits depend on your circumstances, your health, and how your care is carried out and followed up.
What happens afterwards
There is usually no physical recovery from having a wound dressed; the recovery is the wound healing underneath. How long that takes depends on the wound and on your general health.
- Mild tenderness and slight redness right at the wound edges in the first day or two
- A small amount of clear or slightly pink fluid on the dressing early on
- Mild itching as the wound heals
- A scab forming on a graze, which should be left to come away on its own
- A scar that starts pink or firm and fades over weeks to months
Aftercare
- Wash your hands thoroughly before and after touching the wound or dressing.
- Keep the dressing clean and dry, and change it as often as you were advised or if it gets wet or dirty.
- When you apply a new dressing, try not to touch the side that goes against the wound.
- Leave any scab to come away naturally rather than picking it.
- Take simple pain relief such as paracetamol if you need it, following the packet; avoid giving aspirin to under-16s.
- Keep any stitch-removal or wound-check appointment so healing can be checked.
- Protect a healing scar from strong sun once the wound has closed.
- Know who to contact, and where to go, if the wound looks infected or you feel unwell.
- Spare clean dressings or plasters of the right size
- Knowledge of how often to change the dressing
- A note of your last tetanus vaccine
- Simple pain relief at home
- The date of any stitch-removal or wound-check appointment
- A clear plan for who to call if it looks infected
- The clinic or service's contact number saved
Scars and how they heal
Many minor wounds heal with little or no visible scar, but deeper cuts, wounds on the face, and wounds under tension can scar more. Bringing the edges together neatly, keeping the wound clean, and protecting the healing scar from the sun all help it settle. Ask the clinician what to expect for your particular wound, and what they can do to give the best chance of a discreet scar.
⚠ Get urgent help if…
- Bleeding you cannot stop with firm pressure, or blood coming out in spurts - call 999
- A wound you cannot fully clean, or one with something stuck in it that will not rinse out
- Spreading redness, heat or swelling around the wound, or red streaks moving away from it
- Increasing pain, pus or a bad smell from the wound
- Feeling generally unwell, shivery or feverish after a wound
- Loss of feeling or movement, or numbness, near the wound
- A wound from an animal or human bite, or a deep puncture from a dirty object
- A stiff jaw, muscle spasms or difficulty swallowing after an injury - this is a medical emergency, call 999
Who to contact: your clinician, clinic or test provider first (keep their number to hand). For urgent advice when you can't reach them, call NHS 111. In an emergency, call 999.
General guidance — it doesn't replace the specific advice your specialist gives you.
Results & realistic expectations
Good wound care means the wound heals cleanly, without infection, and with as little scarring as the wound allows. For a minor wound this is usually clear within a week or two as the wound closes over.
Wound care cannot guarantee there will be no scar, and it cannot undo a deeper injury that was missed at the start. That is why an honest assessment of how the wound happened, and a check that you can move and feel the area, matters as much as the dressing itself.
Once a minor wound has fully healed and any scar has settled, no further care is usually needed beyond sun protection of the scar. Wounds that are slow to heal, keep breaking down, or were caused by an underlying problem such as poor circulation or diabetes need a proper medical assessment rather than repeated dressings alone.
Related tests, treatments or support
Wound care is often combined with a tetanus risk assessment, and sometimes with antibiotics, wound closure (glue, strips or stitches), or an X-ray if a foreign body or fracture is suspected. For a dirty or deep wound, the dressing is only one part of the plan.
Follow-up & long-term care
Some wounds need a follow-up check or a dressing change after a few days, and stitches need removing at a set time depending on where they are. You should be told whether you need this, who will do it, and what to do if the wound looks infected before then.
Repeat, follow-on and what comes next
- A wound first thought minor sometimes turns out to need stitches, antibiotics, or assessment for a deeper injury.
- Some wounds need repeated dressing changes or take longer to heal than expected.
- An infected wound may need a course of antibiotics and closer follow-up.
- Non-healing or recurrent wounds usually need investigation of an underlying cause rather than more dressings.
Ask what happens if the result is unclear or needs repeating, and what is included if further tests or follow-up are needed.
What good aftercare looks like
- Clear written advice on how to clean and dress the wound, and how often to change it.
- A named contact route and clear instructions on the signs of infection and when to seek urgent help.
- A plan for any wound check, dressing change or stitch removal, with timing.
- A tetanus and, where relevant, antibiotic decision documented and explained.
- Advice on what to expect from the healing wound and scar.
What affects the cost
Costs vary a great deal between people and providers, and we don't publish prices. What matters is understanding what drives the cost and making sure your quote is complete. The main things that affect it:
- Whether you need only cleaning and a dressing, or also wound closure (glue, strips or stitches)
- The type and number of dressings, and how many dressing changes are needed
- Whether a tetanus vaccine, antibiotics or other medicines are needed
- Whether imaging (such as an X-ray) is needed to check for a foreign body or fracture
- The seniority of the clinician seeing you and the type of facility
- Any follow-up appointments for dressing changes or stitch removal
- The clinician or nurse fee for assessing and dressing the wound
- The cost of dressings and any wound closure (glue, strips, stitches)
- Any vaccine, antibiotics or other medicines
- Any imaging such as an X-ray, if needed
- Follow-up dressing changes and stitch removal
- What happens, and what it costs, if the wound becomes infected or needs further treatment
On the NHS? Wound assessment and dressing are widely available on the NHS through GP practices, practice nurses, urgent treatment centres, minor injuries units and A&E; private urgent-care services may be used for convenience for minor wounds, but serious wounds belong in A&E.
You're entitled to your total cost in writing — including reports, follow-up and what happens if the result is inconclusive — before you decide.
Consent traps and marketing red flags
These are not small details. They are often where patients lose choice, time to reflect, or realistic expectations.
Consent traps
- No discussion of whether the wound actually needs closing, imaging or antibiotics.
- No tetanus risk assessment for a dirty, deep or bite wound.
- Treating a wound as trivial when it could hide a tendon, nerve or vessel injury.
- No written advice on dressing changes, signs of infection, or who to contact if things worsen.
- Not checking for, or asking about, a foreign body in the wound.
Marketing red flags
- A service offering to dress any wound at home without assessing whether it needs to be seen properly first.
- Claims that a particular dressing or product 'heals wounds faster' or 'prevents scars' without evidence.
- No clear advice on red flags, infection, or when to go to A&E.
- Pressure to buy expensive dressings when a simple one would do.
Choosing a specialist safely
- Check the specialist is on the GMC Specialist Register for this area.
- Make sure they work at a CQC-registered service, and look for membership of the relevant Royal College or professional body.
- You're entitled to time to consider and to have your questions answered before you agree — the specialist who looks after you should explain it, not a salesperson.
- Be wary of pressure: time-limited offers or deposits taken before you've had time to think are red flags, not bargains.
- You're entitled to your total cost in writing — including any follow-up — before you decide.
Questions to ask your medical professional
Take this to your consultation. A good specialist will welcome every one of these.
- Is this wound clean enough to close, or does it need to heal more openly?
- Do I need a tetanus vaccine or antibiotics for this wound?
- How often should I change the dressing, and what should the wound look like as it heals?
- Does this wound need checking again, and when should any stitches come out?
- What signs of infection or other problems should make me seek urgent help?
- Are you on the GMC Specialist Register for this area, and which Royal College or professional body are you a member of?
- Will you be the specialist who carries out my treatment, and who looks after me afterwards?
- What are the risks for someone like me, and how often do your own patients have a problem or need it repeated or redone?
- What does a realistic result look like — and what can this treatment not achieve?
- What are my options, including waiting, doing nothing for now, or choosing a different approach?
- Can I have written information, results and aftercare instructions in a format I can use, including any accessibility or communication support I need?
- What is the total cost in writing, including any follow-ups, and how much time do I have to decide?
Frequently asked questions
Can I just look after a minor cut or graze at home?
Should a wound be kept dry or moist?
Do I need a tetanus jab?
When should I see someone rather than dress it myself?
How do I know if my wound is infected?
Will I be left with a scar?
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How we made this page
Medically reviewed by a GMC-registered consultant. Written in plain English, checked against NHS, NICE, GMC and relevant Royal College / specialist-society guidance, and kept under review. No clinic paid to appear on this page, and we publish no pricing. This is general information to help you prepare — it is not a substitute for advice from your own clinician. How we review our guides →
Source hierarchy: UK regulator and NHS/NICE guidance first, then relevant Royal College or specialist-society guidance, then peer-reviewed evidence for procedure-specific figures where available.
Sources & standards: NHS - Cuts and grazes NHS - Do I need a tetanus jab after an injury? NICE CKS - Lacerations NHS - Animal and human bites Royal College of Emergency Medicine
Reviews reflect patients' experience of care, not clinical outcomes. For procedure volumes and outcome data see PHIN.
Last medically reviewed 2026-09-21. Spotted something wrong or out of date? Report an error in this guide.
Related guides: Tetanus and emergency vaccination · Acute illness triage and referral · Burns and scalds treatment · Insect bites and stings · Cuts and wound closure (stitches / glue)