• Reference Number: HEY880/2025
• Departments: Emergency Department
• Last Updated: 30 November 2025

Introduction

This leaflet gives you information about caring for a pre-tibial laceration (a cut on the shin). It is not a substitute for medical advice – please speak to your healthcare professional if you have any questions.

About Your Injury

Pre-tibial lacerations are usually caused by knocking or an injury on the shin. Because the skin here is thin, it can tear easily and heal slowly. Healing may take 4 weeks to 4 months. Stitches are not usually used, as the skin is delicate. Instead, sometimes steri-strips (paper stitches) and a padded dressing are applied to protect the wound and support healing.

How to Care for Your Leg

• Rest and elevate your leg — keep your foot higher than your hip whenever possible.
• Exercise your ankle and foot by moving your foot up/down and in/out to reduce swelling and improve circulation.
• Avoid long periods of standing
• Keep your bandage dry and in place until your next dressing change.

Your dressing should be changed in 5 days — this can be done at your GP Practice or Dressing Clinic.

Pain Relief

Take simple painkillers (such as paracetamol) as advised. If you are allergic to, or cannot take certain medications, ask your GP or pharmacist for advice.

Seek further medical advice if:

• The wound bleeds heavily and soaks through the dressing.
• Your toes become very swollen, pale, cold, or painful.
• You have increasing pain, redness, discharge, or odour from the wound.
• You are worried or concerned about your leg.

General Advice and Consent

Most of your questions should have been answered by this leaflet, but remember that this is only a starting point for discussion with the healthcare team.

Consent to treatment

Before any doctor, nurse or therapist examines or treats you, they must seek your consent or permission. In order to make a decision, you need to have information from health professionals about the treatment or investigation which is being offered to you. You should always ask them more questions if you do not understand or if you want more information.

The information you receive should be about your condition, the alternatives available to you, and whether it carries risks as well as the benefits. What is important is that your consent is genuine or valid. That means:

• you must be able to give your consent
• you must be given enough information to enable you to make a decision
• you must be acting under your own free will and not under the strong influence of another person

Information about you

We collect and use your information to provide you with care and treatment. As part of your care, information about you will be shared between members of a healthcare team, some of whom you may not meet. Your information may also be used to help train staff, to check the quality of our care, to manage and plan the health service, and to help with research. Wherever possible we use anonymous data.

We may pass on relevant information to other health organisations that provide you with care. All information is treated as strictly confidential and is not given to anyone who does not need it. If you have any concerns please ask your doctor, or the person caring for you.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 we are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any information we hold about you. For further information visit the following page: Confidential Information about You.

If you or your carer needs information about your health and wellbeing and about your care and treatment in a different format, such as large print, braille or audio, due to disability, impairment or sensory loss, please advise a member of staff and this can be arranged.