First Aid Infections Print How to Tell If a Cut Is Infected Medically reviewed by facebook linkedin Medically reviewed by Richard N. Fogoros, MD on October 21, 2019 Richard N. Fogoros, MD, is a retired professor of medicine and board-certified internal medicine physician and cardiologist. He is Verywell's Senior Medical Advisor. Learn about our Medical Review Board Richard N. Fogoros, MD Written by facebook twitter linkedin Written by Rod Brouhard, EMT-P Rod Brouhard is an emergency medical technician paramedic (EMT-P), journalist, educator, and advocate for emergency medical service providers and patients. Learn about our editorial policy Rod Brouhard, EMT-P Updated on November 18, 2019 More in First Aid Infections Allergies & Anaphylaxis Bites & Stings Breathing Emergencies Broken Bones Bruises, Cuts & Punctures Heat & Cold Exposure Rash Emergency Preparedness Calling for Help View All In This Article Table of Contents Expand Signs of Infection Keep It Clean When to See a Doctor View All Back To Top An infected cut can lead to a serious illness if left untreated. In many cases, skin infections like staph, strep, or MRSA get started from the tiniest of cuts. Even a little cut that doesn't need stitches can cause big problems if it gets infected and goes untreated. So, how can you tell if a cut is infected? Signs of Infection To tell if a cut is infected, look for these signs: SwellingRednessLocal fever (the cut feels hot compared to areas around it)Draining pus (the cut is oozing thick, gooey stuff) If a cut or scrape becomes infected, you need to see a health care provider. In most cases, only doctors, physician assistants or nurse practitioners can give you antibiotics to fight the infection. Untreated, infected wounds can become serious. The worst case scenario is that an infected cut develops into a full-body (systemic) infection. To tell if you are developing a bigger infection, look for: Fever over 100 degrees Fahrenheit taken orally or rectally. It's one thing if the cut is hot, but when the whole body has a fever it means the infection is spreading.Body aches, especially in joints and areas not adjacent to the injury. It's understandable if your cut is sore, but the rest of you shouldn't be.Nausea or diarrhea are both indicators that an infection has moved from the local injury to affect other body systems (specifically, the gastrointestinal system). Keep It Clean To avoid an infected cut, it's important to keep cuts clean as they heal. Most of the time, soap and water are all you need. Whether you use an antibiotic ointment or not is up to you, but it's really not necessary. It helps to cover a cut with an adhesive bandage, but remember to change the bandage every day and wash the cut with soap and water. When to See a Doctor If you have an infected cut or are developing a systemic infection, see a doctor. Once a cut gets infected, you're going to need a doctor's help. Once an infection is identified, antibiotics will be necessary to eliminate it. There are several antibiotics available, and different antibiotics work on different bacteria. To figure out which drug is right for your situation, the physician might need to swab your injury and send the swab to be cultured, which basically means it will be left to grow for up to three days. As soon as the bacteria grow enough to be seen under a microscope the exact type will be identified—assuming they grow. If nothing concerning grows, the cut is not infected and no antibiotics will be needed. If the physician, physician's assistant or nurse practitioner does prescribe antibiotics, take them all. Often, you'll start to feel better within a day or two of beginning your antibiotic regimen and you might be tempted to stop taking them. Don't do it. Even though you feel better, the antibiotics haven't killed all the bacteria yet. If you stop, the bacteria that had successfully survived the first few days of antibiotics will reproduce. These are the stronger bacteria, and their offspring will be much more resistant to that antibiotic. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial policy to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. TeensHealth. Cuts, Scratches, and Scrapes. Updated January 2015. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What is sepsis? Updated August 27, 2019. Continue Reading