This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
Hospital emergency rooms treat injured fingers all the time. Without treatment, a bad cut can lead to permanent damage. But how should a person know when a bleeding cut is serious enough to require medical attention? We asked Dr. Martin Brown, chairman of the department of emergency medicine at Inova Alexandria Hospital in Virginia. First, the medical term for a cut or tear in the skin is a laceration. Dr. Brown says the length is usually not as important as the depth. He says a long cut on a finger can likely be treated without a visit to a doctor if the wound is not very deep.