Will this cut scar? (picture included)

Keep it clean. Looks really deep. Did she see a doctor?

That will likely scar, with or without stitches. How exactly did that happen? It appears to be fairly deep and long, though with a straight edge. Note, the benefit of stitches is primarily to stop bleeding and to provide a better cosmetic appearance eventually. If she thoroughly washed it out and keeps it clean, it won’t get infected and likely will heal just fine by secondary intention (though it WILL leave a scar).

Nope, I told her she should have gone to the ER room, and a bit afterwards her boyfriend IMed me and basically told me to shut up because I was making her panic.

Everyone’s skin is different. There’s no magic formula for predicting whether a scar will form or not. May factors such as skin tone, exposure to sunlight, treatment, nutrition, etc contribute to the formation of a scar or lack thereof. It looks fairly sizable, so yes, looking at the photo it seems likely.

Whoa, that’s impressive. I don’t think any amount of neosporin is going to cut it with that one. Tell her to wear it with pride – scars can be kind of cool lookin ;)

Im sayin scar. Looks a bit deeper than the cut i had on my wrist that left a bad ass scar :P

So what do you think I should tell her in order to calm her down?

“calm down.”

@uberbatman said that about a dozen times before. no progress =(

To massage it once it is healing well with vit E Scars are okay

Once the wound closes and begins to heal put sunscreen on before sun exposure and also use Vitamin E oil straight out of the capsule. In the mean time keep it clean and covered. When is begins to scab up uncover it to air it out.

How long ago was the cut? If recent, tell her to go get stitches. It will reduce the likelihood of a bad looking scar. That should calm her down, a bit.

Yes. She will have a scar. Scars on your arm are not the end of the world, but this one needs at least a butterfly bandage and at best stitches. She really should have a doctor look at it. But then, @shilolo is typing and he will give you the TRUE skinny!!
darn, he hit enter before I finished! Oh well…

yes. I have quite a few scars and only a couple looked as deep as that.

Tell her chicks dig scars.

Man, that is a hellacious looking thing, isn’t it? Ok, so, she’s going to have a scar on her leg. No biggie. But, if it was pretty recent, I’d get stitches as @shilolo recommends.

yea it was at most a few hours ago

She has gotten at least into her teens with NO SCARS? Why would a scar freak someone out so much, especially on her leg? I would be more worried about the wound gaping open and creating an avenue for infection. Then I would worry about minimizing the scar. If she leaves it open it is going to be a butt ugly scar.

Uhg. she seems to be in denial now. didn’t answer my phone calls, so i called her mom, who gave the phone to her. she told me that she’d get our sports med teacher to look at it tomorrow, then hung up. She’s really hung up about having a scar at all, let alone a big one and doesn’t want to listen to any advice which suggests she will get one =/

Would tomorrow be too late to get stitches? I assume the answer is yes..

That is definitely leaving a massive scar. Pretty sad that someone would freak out so much over something so trivial. At least she has her life, leg, ability to walk. Tell her to suck it up and grow up. Keep sunscreen and Vitamin E on it.

She will most definitely have a scar, but why panic I love every single one of my scars! I have a great story to tell with each one.

it will scar… but if the scar doesn’t bother her then F**k it… its always a good story to tell

She’s the kind of person who cares way too much about her appearance…
A week back, she spent $150 to trim her hair, and I couldn’t even tell the difference lol

@sjmc1989 wow.. i didnt even read that til after i wrote mine.. weird ^_^

@LocoLuke – Sounds like a quality person who is highly worthy of your time.

@88_Jenn well, she’s fun to hang around with when she isn’t obsessing about stuff like this.

@Xilas That means we are both really awesome people! :)

Tomorrow is too late for stitches. At that point, it definitely will heal by secondary intention (which is how all incisions heal that don’t get stitches). It’s now or never. As I said at the top, it will scar either way. The only difference is the quality of the scar.

FYI, I’m a doctor…. I’ve seen this before, many times.

That’s not a bad place for a scar, really. Coulda been on her arm, or across her face. Not that that’ll help her any :\
Try telling her that scars tend to fade with time. Three years from now, it’ll be no more distinctive than a birthmark.
Do we know what caused the cut in the first place?

I agree with @Nullo. It could have been a lot worse. I have a scar on my face, it’s hard to see, but it’s there. Usually only girlfriends notice it. I had a meeting with a barbwire fence when I was 3.

This brings me to my next point kid-O-s. If you go sled’n, make sure it’s not near anything metal and or dangerous.

@Axemusica ; my Niece ran into a parked car sledding down a hill on a city street when she was not much older than 3.

@Axemusica Yes my family learned that lesson at Christmas. My cousin and her step-daughter had to get air-lifted to the hospital after a sledding accident.

I love this thread.

yea, it’s right under my eye. It could’ve been worse and taken my eye out. I don’t remember it at all though. I only know what happened because of what I was told.

@sjmc1989 Wow… I hope they are ok!

<<I got my legs stuck in a sewer opening via a sledding accident. Ow.

@augustlan ouch (>.<”)
@sjmc1989 oh was that recently?

@augustlan They are much better now. The girl broke her pelvic and hip bone in a couple of places and my cousin cut open her leg I think she had 20 stiches on the outside and like 30 inside of the cut. I think they both broke some ribs.

@Axemusica Yes it was the day after this past Christmas. They were in a bowl shaped valley that was covered in thick ice. My dad says he thinks they were probably going 30 mph and they smashed into these pvc pipes and a reservoir.

You know everyone just looked at this question to see the picture.

@rangerr lol I figured

@sjmc1989 holy crap! That’s an epic story! Hopefully they heal well enough to tell their tale. :)

I am sure they will, but I don’t think there is going to be a lot of sledding going on anymore!

Short answer:

Yes.

Long answer:

1. It’s probably too late but go to the ER. With stiches, the scar should look a lot better. A wound that is more than ¼-inch (6 millimeters) deep usually requires stitches. If you can’t easily close the wound, see your doctor as soon as possible. Proper closure within a few hours reduces the risk of infection.

2. If you don’t get stitches, clean it up, apply an antibiotic (Neosporin, Polysporin), cover the wound, change dressings regularly (at least daily).

3. After the wound is closed, 2–3 weeks, maybe 4, use a silicone gel like Strataderm to reduce scarring. Silicone reduces redness, flattens and softens the scar, relieves itching.

OK, you’re all set.

Thanks for the help guys. I’m just giving up on her now lol.

Someone should photoshop that photo, maybe like a big monster hand reaching out or a Fluther of jellies leaping out of the wound.
Oh, and yeah that is gonna scar but probably not bad. Get some butterfly bandages and then some of that scar away shtuff from the grocery. Wham, bam and done.

Sorry, I’m drinking.

There is an old maxim that a wound more than 12 hours old should not be stitched closed. I don’t know if that is true any more. If it is still true, that would apply to butterfly bandages also. That wound looks fairly deep and probably will leave a scar. Just keep it really clean, hydrogen peroxide solution and dressing with bacitracin ointment. If it gets infected the scarring will be worse.

probably not. but hey, at least you could use it as a special reminder of how clumsy you were to have gotten it. i always do.

If she won’t go get stitches she could apply butterfly bandages to the wound and pull the sides together and it will help minimize the size of the scar.

Also a very important part of avoiding scarring is to actually slow down the rate of healing by preventing the formation of a scab. To do this she should keep a coat of petrolatum jelly (Vaseline) over the wound at all times and carefully wipe away the body’s attempt to scab it over.

This is what they have you do following dermatological surgery and it really works.

Ouch…. I’d think so. Kinda reminds me of the cut I got on the back of my leg thanks to some poorly places barbed wire…. I’ve got a beautiful scar from that one.

keep it clean and cover it up with bandages

@TheJoker I know what you mean about barbed wire. I rode a motorbike through a barbed-wire fence when I was 12, what a mess!

I have never understood the fear of having a scar. They happen, even with stitches or lots of care…not a big deal.
She probably didn’t get stitches (does she even have insurance?) but regardless, she’ll have a mark. It’ll fade over the years.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land… does get kinda messy doesn’t it…. you must have been torn-up being on a motorbike!

For future reference, if she doesn’t want scars, she should get wounds like that cared for properly. Stitches = smaller scar.

@TheJoker 75 stitches

Lol i find it funny that she is so worried about getting a scar but her own denial of this whole event and refusal for treatment is only going to result in exactly that, a big ol scar.

Cool….

Chicks dig scars…. ~ Bart Simpson

@stranger_in_a_strange_land….. Oooowwwww, they just put those strips on mine.