Child injury *pic attached* - does this look well done?

[snowythesnow]

3yo DS fell and hit his head on the side of a tv cabinet today and split open his eyebrow.
Took him to A&E as advised by 111 and he ended up having it glued and steristripped.

I can't help but think it doesn't look right. It might be me but it doesn't look like they closed it that well but I am well aware I am not a medical professional by any stretch.
He's completely fine and was for the entire 3 hour wait too and is happily having some snacks in front of the TV at the moment so I'm not concerned it's bothering him but I'm just a bit worried it won't heal well and leave a bigger scar than necessary.

Can I please get a second opinion or maybe anyone with a bit more medical knowledge than me reassure me it's fine?
It might just be my brain being a bit precious about my child so please don't be harsh.

My dd did almost exactly the same thing at about 6. Same kind of suture (not very accurate steri strips). She has an obvious scar. I feel quite guilty about it but not sure what else I could have done

too late to do anything about it now

@EarringsandLipstick

Also the glue leaves much less of a scar than stitches! This isn’t true

👆this - I agree. Stitches are v effective & won't scar (or minimally) if appropriately done.

Stitches won't scar? Really? I have 6 lots of stitches on various parts of me and all have resulted in scars. The only ones which haven't (or at least not noticeably) are the smaller incisions from my cholecystectomy.

The scarring associated with stitches depends on the tissue stitched the suture pattern and the suture material.

Very fine cosmetic suture material and an intranet sl skin pattern would likely not scar. It's very different to more functional post op suturing where the focus is on keeping your abdomen together, for example

My DS had a very similar injury, DH steri stripped it at home (he’s a doctor!) rather than go into A&E during first lockdown. I was upset at his perfect skin scarred, but 6 months later it’s fine - a narrow scar line, fading in colour. He’ll probably always have it but it’s not a big deal.

i got my implant out about 7 months ago been trying for a baby since then tracking ovulation all that, my period is every 28 days, why. have i still not fell pregnant, took an ovulation stick test so defiantly ovulating

It doesn't look like they took time to apply the steristrips properly. I've worked in A&E and applied many. I'd have made them shorter before applying and pulled the edges closer together but perhaps using the glue made this difficult to do?

I'd consider buying some from the chemist and reapplying. They should come off easily if they get wet.

There's a lot of research to suggest that wounds heal better with less of a scar if they are covered up instead of exposed to the air.

@Sway19 I'm a paediatric nurse and I agree. We would have that in under Max fax for suturing under GA.

It wouldn’t be acceptable in several European countries 😳

The same thing happened to my DS, but we live rurally. It happened at night, miles from any A & E, never mind one that was open! I managed to get a hold of some steri-strips and did it myself. Looked the same as your DS’s, but 6 months later the scarring is very minimal. Hardly noticeable at all in fact.

OP, once the wound is closed and healed, I would highly recommend Dermatix gel to help with scarring.

My DS had a splilt chin, where A&E steri strip and glued. Chin has healed perfectly fine with a similar look. Infact the glue has left an incredibly faint line. Young skin heals incredibly well. There is alot of swelling and angry wound look. As long as there is no infection, you will find the upper forehead/ eyelid will heal quickly. Boost vitamin E and omega oils - use bio oil once the wound has healed.

Ok the last few comments do not fill me with confidence in the slightest

Vaseline is the best thing for scarring. Wait until 2 weeks to allow to heal then apply twice a day for six weeks. This was advice from a top plastic surgery after a recent minor operation with stitches.

My grandson has the same injury and it looks the same , I dont think glue and steristrips do such a good job , but probably a better experience for the children

I also had to keep my stitches covered in a waterproof plaster for two weeks. I wasn't allowed to get them wet nor let it dry out too quickly.

It's also really important to use suncream on it every day for 12 months once it has healed so that the scar doesn't turn darker.

@Veterinari I have a barely there scar from this. Now close up, all you can see are the tiny dots from the stitches m. Amazed how well it healed! I had standard stitches and dissolvable ones

looks like my son's eyebrow did after a very similar accident a few years ago. I think this is what it looks like no matter how careful and skilled they are at closing it, there will be some swelling and oozing etc.

Sadly we have some experience in this area. We have had several cuts to the forehead in the family, DD had to go under general to have it stitched up (vertical cut, the plastic surgeon did a great job but there is still a scar 7 years on), and other DD and DS both had butterfly stitches. The healing process was more or less similar in all cases. Keep using the steristrips, we were told to keep reapplying them for 6 months. It also helps protect from the sun in the summer. We were also recommended Neals Yard reship oil once the wound has closed.

Good luck!

Also, we always had vertical steristrips to close the wound (closer together than yours) and then a horisontal strip on top of the vertical ones. I hope this makes sense. This covered the entire wound. Obviously not a medic, but this is what we got on all three occasions.

To me that looks dreadful, no attempt to close the two sides together and if he is a wiggly toddler it doesnt mean you just give up and let him have a scar, it means he needs more support over the wound to stop it opening up during normal toddler life.
Unfortunately its probably more risky to try and get it re done at this point given Covid and there is a 24 hr limit on wounds and having them heal with minimal scarring (after 24 hrs its not much use trying to reattach/close/minimise) so you are probably going to have to Iive with it, unless you or someone you know has a friend who is a plastic surgeon.

If something like this happens again, you can say that you arent comfortable with the nurse applying the steristrips and you would like someone with more experience todo it. You will get some dirty looks, but thats when you grit your teeth and stand up for your child.

It’ll be fine. A scar isn’t the end of the world. I had a similar one on my forehead around that age, closed with steri-strips and yes, it has left a scar. I can see it clearly but nobody has ever mentioned it. We all pick up marks as we go through life. Nobody stays perfect!

A&E nurse here, looks like they have not cut the strips but it looks fine to me.

Not a medical professional, but I’m a prop forward so cuts to the faces are very common, it looks very much like our eyebrows when we get cut playing.

I have done mine a few times, usually my right one, I have minimal scaring (despite being darked skinned) and I’m a bit vain. Massaging the area when more healing has taken place can be helpful.

@snowythesnow

She applied the strips from the forehead down so not to pull the skin up. And it didn't seem like they paid much attention to making sure they pull the cut together.

The nurse grabbed it with two fingers and squeezed some glue on it then went to put the strips on and was stopped by the other nurse who told her they were way too long and to cut them down first. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time though I was just more concerned with comforting him and getting home since it was snowing quite badly.

It's just when the cut was cleaned it wasn't much bigger than it appears to be now which makes me worry they didn't close it well.

If it was not closed properly it would still be bleeding, the strips are still too long but it's glued then stripped and looks clean.