It is a known fact that small-sized cuts can cause a lot of pain but they are rarely life-threatening. When providing basic first aid, you have to control the bleeding first, clean the wound and provide protection to the wound from bacteria and unwanted debris. An eyebrow cut can be considered somewhat complicated. The small hairs on the eyebrow are responsible for protecting the eyes by catching any loose debris or particles. On the other hand, these hairs also keep foreign particles and bacteria close to an open wound on the eyebrow. Obviously, this type of wound would require more care.
Steps on treating an eyebrow cut
- If rubber gloves are available, you have to put them on. Always remember that these are safety essentials when handling wounds, especially if bleeding is involved.
- Cleanse the eyebrow cut using cool water and a mild antibacterial soap. Massage in a gentle manner over the entire wound and eyebrow and rinse thoroughly using cool water. Do not use hot water since this will only promote bleeding.
- Instruct the individual to lie down and apply several strips of sterile gauze firmly over the wound using your hand for about five minutes. Once the blood soaks through, do not remove the original gauze but simply add more layers on top of it. Do not remove the gauze before 20 minutes. Always remember that cuts on the face tend to bleed more profusely since the face is comprised of several blood vessels.
- After 20-30 minutes, remove the gauze and assess the extent of the injury. If the wound continues to bleed at this point, it would require immediate emergency care.
- If there is remaining blood around the wound and in the eyebrow hair, you have to remove by using a moist gauze pad.
- You have to divide the eyebrow hair and place a small amount of antibacterial cream or ointment on the wound with a cotton swab.
- Place an adhesive bandage in a lengthwise manner so that the adhesive part will stick on the skin, not on the eyebrow hair. As for large-sized cuts, you have to apply a single layer of gauze over the wound before applying a bandage.
- You have to repeat steps 2, 6 and 7 at least two times in a day – one at morning and before going to bed until the wound heals. It is also important to perform additional cleaning and changing of the bandages once the skin becomes damp from sweating. Always keep the wound and the surrounding eyebrow hair clean and dry in order to speed up the healing process.
Important tips to bear in mind
If possible, the individual must minimize the amount of sweat and bacteria in the eyebrow cut. This is possible by wearing a sweatband during warm weather or while exercising.
In case the eyebrow cut continues to bleed after 20 minutes, if the length of the wound is longer than ½ inch or small-sized particles such as sand entered the wound, you have to seek medical care right away.
Hi. In 6th grade during Gym I ran into the brick wall and got a cut on my eyebrow that I believe is 1 inch long and bare in mind that this happened about 2 years ago near the end of 6th grade. The gym class was at the beginning of the school day and if you are wondering how I ran into the wall I was trying to avoid a classmate because he was dancing when we were supposed to be doing the 5 minutes of running around the gym , so me coming from a family of clumsy people I didn’t have time to process what was happening. After I hit the wall the gym teacher helped me to the offic and all the office did was get me some ice to put on the wound , they also tried getting in contact with my grandma but that didn’t work so they told me to keep the ice on the wound. So I went the whole school day with ice on my forehead and when my mom got home she saw the wound and she had me get in the car so she could take me to get it checked out. Also in 7th grade I got hit in the face 3 nearly 4 times. The first time was when we were heading inside and some boys were having fun then they fell over and boom foot to the face , the second time was in gym (again wow) and a boy kicked a volleyball in my face on purpose and he told the gym teacher “I don’t know what happened.” , then the third time was in gym too (Gym just hates me doesn’t it!?!?) we were practing basketball and I don’t know who but someone threw a basketball in my face , and the almost fourth time was also in gym (WOW GYM JUST HATES ME) and we were having free time so the boy who kicked the volleyball in my face before decided it would be funny to kick a volleyball around me and it almost hit me. Keep in mind the 7th grade incidents were all in a close time frame. Since then I have been having constant dizziness , times where I cant remember stuff , and terrible headaches so does that mean anything??
Hi Cindy,
I’m sorry that you’ve gone through so many unfortunate events. I strongly recommend that you speak to your doctor about this as soon as possible.