What To Do If You Cut Yourself in the Kitchen

Christmas morning was a blur like in many homes. We had opened the gifts; the wrapping paper was everywhere, and I had approximately an hour and a half to get myself dressed from something other than the pajamas that we opened gifts in and into something appropriate for company to arrive as well as cook a brunch. I was rushing, chopping things at manic speed and really feeling over stimulated to be honest. I remember thinking to myself that I needed to make sure the biscuits were going into the oven at a certain time to ensure they stayed warm for company as well as making sure they had the proper time to bake. I cheated. The biscuits were anything but homemade. They were pre-frozen rounds of dough that resembled a hockey puck, but they were going to do the trick, and we were going to put on a happy face and just go with it.

At some point of getting said biscuits home from the store they had stuck together and when I froze them, they became this ball of hockey pucks. Something that looked almost foreign. My mind started to race and wonder what I was going to do. I thought it was a great idea to pry them apart with a new knife. Maybe it was the lack of caffeine, maybe it was just me being in a hurry and not thinking rationally but the next thing I knew the poor little biscuits were scattered on the floor, there was blood everywhere and I was literally standing there frozen in place thinking “now what?”

I knew obviously I needed to get the bleeding to stop first and foremost but like every other Mom or someone awaiting company I knew that we would have a few less biscuits with brunch and just hoped we could salvage the few that had made it to the pan before the “great Christmas incident of 2024.”

So, what should you do when you cut yourself in the kitchen? I needed a refresher on this one myself and I hope that I was the only one bleeding in their kitchen over the Christmas holiday but I am pretty certain I wasn’t.

Nothing can send you reeling quite like almost hacking off one of your own digits, but Bowen-Spinelli says staying calm is the best thing you can do immediately after an accident happens. Once you’ve had a moment to gather yourself, she says you should remove any sharp objects from the area and make sure to turn the stove off if you’re cooking something that requires your attention. That way, you have time to tend to your wound without having to worry that dinner is burning.

“Cleaning a wound is most important after injury to prevent infection,” explains Bowen-Spinelli. Luckily, you don’t need any fancy disinfectants to get the job done, because she says, “washing with plain water is sufficient alone.”

According to Bowen-Spinelli, “any wound that seems to have a brisk bleed, or that is associated with a lack of mobility or painful movement can be concerning and should be evaluated by a medical provider.” If you feel weak, dizzy, or lightheaded, she says you should sit down and call 911 immediately.

Using a clean dish cloth or paper towel, Bowen-Spinelli advises applying pressure to your wound for about 15 minutes, which will usually be enough time to stop the bleeding. She says to be sure to keep it elevated as gravity can play a role in further blood loss. She also says it’s important to note that controlling bleeding can be hard for anyone who takes blood-thinning medications or has a bleeding disorder. If either of these descriptions apply to you, she says you may need seek out further medical treatment.

When I cut my thumb, I was in a hurry to get back to work, so I definitely didn’t give my wound enough time to stop bleeding before I started cooking again. Bowen-Spinelli says you should never do this. Always make sure that the wound has been properly washed and that the wound has stopped bleeding before resuming any activity.

After it has finished bleeding, “assess the wound to be sure it does not gap or spread apart with movement,” says Bowen-Spinelli. If it does, she says you may need stitches, and if not, you can just apply a bandage ensure you don’t accidentally contaminate your food when you resume cooking.

Even after it’s stopped bleeding, you may want to enlist someone to do the dishes because you should avoid getting your wound wet if you have a bandage on. Spinelli says it’s fine if it gets wet as long as it has time to dry, but if your bandage is soaked it can be “a breeding ground for infection.” If your bandage does accidentally get wet, she says you should remove it, dry your wound, and dress it with a fresh, dry bandage.

For me, I got the bleeding under control and went back to cooking. 3 biscuits were sacrificed unfortunately, but we had plenty. I ended up letting our county fire/ems take a peep at it because it kept opening and they were super cool about bandaging it up and of course having some laughs about it because at that point there wasn’t much else to do and being in a rural area the only option was the ER which had a long wait time.

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