How do I know if an injury needs a doctor?

Most household injuries are minor and most people worry about the wrong things. The useful distinction is between signs that indicate something structural or systemic, which need assessment, and pain alone, which frequently does not.

Safety

What you'll need

• A phone (optional)
• The number for your local non-emergency service (optional)

Step by step

1. Call emergency services immediately for these.Unconsciousness or confusion, difficulty breathing, chest pain, severe or uncontrolled bleeding, suspected spinal injury, seizure, or signs of stroke — face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty.
2. Do not move someone with a suspected spinal or serious head injury.Unless they are in immediate danger. Keep them still and call for help.
3. Seek same-day assessment for structural signs.Visible deformity, a joint that will not move, inability to bear weight, numbness or pins and needles below the injury, or a limb that looks pale or cold.
4. Seek help for wounds you cannot close or clean.Deep cuts, gaping edges, anything with something embedded in it, bites, or a wound that will not stop bleeding after ten minutes of firm pressure.
5. Check tetanus status for dirty or penetrating wounds.Soil, rust, animal bites, deep punctures. If you are not sure when you were last vaccinated, ask.
6. Watch for delayed signs after a head injury.Vomiting, worsening headache, drowsiness, confusion, unequal pupils or fluid from the nose or ears — any of these means immediate help even hours later.
7. Watch minor injuries for infection over the following days.Increasing pain rather than decreasing, spreading redness, swelling, heat, pus or fever. Infection develops over days, not minutes.
8. When genuinely unsure, use the non-emergency advice line.Most countries have one. It exists precisely for this decision and using it is not wasting anyone's time.

Tips

• Pain level is a poor guide on its own. Some minor injuries hurt intensely and some serious ones hurt surprisingly little.
• Take a photograph of a wound before dressing it. It helps whoever assesses it later judge how it has changed.
• Know your local emergency and non-emergency numbers and have them somewhere findable. Looking them up while distressed is harder than it sounds.

Common mistakes

• Waiting to see whether a head injury develops — Delayed symptoms after a head injury are exactly the ones that matter. Vomiting, drowsiness or worsening headache means seek help immediately.
• Judging severity by how much it hurts — Pain correlates poorly with seriousness. Deformity, numbness and inability to bear weight are far more informative.
• Not wanting to bother anyone — Non-emergency advice lines exist for this decision. Being assessed and told it is minor is a good outcome, not a waste.

Questions people ask