July 8, 2010
Updated Jul 8, 2010 at 4:03 PM EDT
In the rough and tumble life of kids, there are a fair share of accidents. Thankfully, modern medicine has come a long way to help with the trauma of a child getting stitches to close a wound. Today pediatricians have more ways to solve the problem of giving frightened children stitches than years past. First, there is medicine, like a sedative. But, to sew up the wound, they use another tool: distraction. A child can be wrapped up in a blanket, so they can't move. Then doctors will sometimes ask the parents to sing to the child, to distract them. Usually, the procedure is over in a matter of minutes. After the wound heals, doctors say massage the area and apply sunscreen to prevent scarring.
