English archive > Minor wounds > Types of wounds

What about being bitten? Have you ever been bitten by a dog?

A bite is an important wound, so we’ll tell you more about it later.

Before we do, you need to know how many types of skin wounds there are:

• Wounds that are easy to treat, clean, where it is easy to see what has happened, and whether anything has remained inside them or not.
• Wounds that are difficult to treat and dirty, which would include all other types of wounds, wider, deeper or longer wounds where it is not possible to see whether a piece of stone has remained inside the wound or where it ends, and sometimes, it is possible to see greatly damaged flesh.

The most common wounds (and also the least serious) are erosions, which consist of scrapes on the surface of the skin that leave small blood vessels visible, in which the blood is stored. That is why when we are wounded, we sometimes see BLOOD!!!

This type of wound is popularly know as grazes or scrapes, and are caused by falls, being tripped, falling off one’s bike.

They usually occur on the knees, elbows, brow...

In an erosion, tiny fragments of the material against which the person has collided may be present: grains of sand, asphalt or other materials.

Wounds caused by a cut are known as incisive wounds: a cut is a separation of the edges of the skin. This type of wound is usually caused by a knife, a piece of broken glass or the edge of a tin can. These wounds usually bleed because the object that penetrates the skin opens up the blood vessels that are there.

One of the problems that may arise with these wounds is that as they are deeper, they may affect other parts of the body, such as tendons, muscles or nerves.

Penetrating wounds are also important wounds. These are caused by sharp objects and are difficult to see. It is hard to see whether they are straight or curved, if they are very deep or not too deep... and the blood flows from them without stopping.

The most serious of these are those produced near the heart, in the chest or the stomach, as they may affect the intestines or the liver...

Contusive wounds have irregular edges and the skin is greatly damaged.

Sometimes, the wounds are caused by a little of all the above, for which reason they are known as incisive-contusive wounds; they are caused by a little of each.