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To Suture or Not to Suture: That was the Question



Like most mothers of boys I have a box full of first-aid supplies! Most of the time (thankfully) they sit unused in my cabinet. But, have you ever noticed how accidents happen at the most unexpected time?? Seriously.

The marching band director called last evening to say that the gong fell over on Samuel and cut his head. A what, you say.  Yeah, that was me a few years ago, so here's a visual.

After the blood stopped flowing, a one-inch laceration, greeted me.



It was almost 7 pm and my only option was urgent care, as I don't deem "needing stitches" Emergency Department worthy, unless of course, you're losing a limb. Then, that's fine! Go on in! 
I've taken my boys to urgent care before, but they've only used glue or in one case, nothing. And, that time was worse than this! But, I digress.

After cleansing it thoroughly and spraying Banda-Sil on it, I was still lamenting that, in my opinion, this still needed closed. I felt certain that I could protect it against infection, but it was going to leave a nasty scar.  Samuel, at age 17, was quite opposed to my shaving his head and using steri-strips to hold it together. And, while a scar is fine hidden by lovely locks, what about when those locks begin to fall out?  They might not, but we do have a genetic tendency toward male-pattern baldness, and I'm always thinking ahead.

My local pharmacist told me that it's the same chemicals in the medical grade Dermabond as in plain-ole super glue. and he felt confident that I could use that.  But, there was that "sterile" factor and I wasn't keen on putting super glue into his scalp! And, Samuel wasn't keen on me shaving his head. Impasse!

My 13 year-old thinks like most kiddos his age these days: Let's look on YouTube.  It can, after all, answer most of life's problems, or in this case, close his brother's head.  But, he found it! By tying Samuel's hair together, I could then put super glue on the hair, thereby protecting direct contact with his scalp. And, here's what it looks like today:


I'll keep monitoring it for redness or other signs of infection, but here, on day one, I'm happy with the results. His vaccines are up-to-date so I think I can rest assured he won't get tetanus from it.  

Samuel-dear, someday if your hair falls out, and you see a little scar, thank your mother  brother!

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