Cuts bleeding through

[wonderland]

Recently I've been having A LOT of problems with cuts bleeding through my clothes and it's making me really anxious.

Cuts which are maybe a few days old keep opening up at random moments and bleed through my clothes. Since it's so random and they're often not fresh It's difficult knowing whether or not I need to put a dressing on (although they don't help restrict the bleeding much anyway).

Yesterday when I was seeing my psychologist some cuts on my leg from about a week ago started bleeding and I could see a huge dark red mark growing on my trousers throughout the appointment. I was sitting still, I wasn't even moving but they still opened up and made a mess. She didn't notice since I quickly crossed my legs - hiding the mark from her view - but it still made me really nervous and uncomfortable.

It's also been causing problems at school. I have to wear a uniform which is sadly rather light coloured and my cuts have been bleeding through and leaving some really obvious marks. I usually manage to get to a bathroom and clean up before anyone notices but sometimes I can't and I'm terrified that someone will notice and my excuses for why my uniform is covered in blood will only last for so long.

I'm really not sure what to do about the situation and it's really stressing me out. Can anyone else relate and if so do you have any advice?

[queenofcontrariety]

I think one of the issues may be what you're using to cut, the cuts themselves may be particularly wide or deep which will cause them to not heal as nicely, technically I'm not allowed to tell you what to use, but you may want to change what you're using is actually stopping isn't an option. Also invest in sprayable bandages, it'll keep them clean but also stop the bleeding in places its hard to stick a bandaid, they're virtually invisible and last for a couple days.

[wonderland]

I think one of the issues may be what you're using to cut, the cuts themselves may be particularly wide or deep which will cause them to not heal as nicely, technically I'm not allowed to tell you what to use, but you may want to change what you're using is actually stopping isn't an option. Also invest in sprayable bandages, it'll keep them clean but also stop the bleeding in places its hard to stick a bandaid, they're virtually invisible and last for a couple days.

Thank you for the reply
I was unaware that spray on bandages actually existed but I will definitely look into purchasing some.

[Desuetude]

I used to wear leggings under my school clothes/jeans and put tissue underneath on top of my cuts. The leggings kept the tissue in place, and also gave the blood an extra layer to absord into if it did end up bleeding through. It's getting colder in the UK so it's not as though you'll be too hot either. I know tissue is the worst thing to use and it's not hygenic but it's cheap and if your cuts aren't actually open and you just want something there as a precaution then I don't see that there would be a problem using it. It does get stuck if blood dries but that washes off easily with water.

I use spray on plasters that come in cans for smaller cuts and scrapes but please don't use them for your self harm injuries. If they're re-opening after a week then they must be a substantial size and spray on plasters aren't meant for open wounds. On the packet it says "only for small wounds, minor cuts & grazes, not for heavily bleeding cuts" so I definitely wouldn't recommend it for self harm injuries, by using it the only thing you're doing is making it more liable to infection.

[wonderland]

I used to wear leggings under my school clothes/jeans and put tissue underneath on top of my cuts. The leggings kept the tissue in place, and also gave the blood an extra layer to absord into if it did end up bleeding through. It's getting colder in the UK so it's not as though you'll be too hot either. I know tissue is the worst thing to use and it's not hygenic but it's cheap and if your cuts aren't actually open and you just want something there as a precaution then I don't see that there would be a problem using it. It does get stuck if blood dries but that washes off easily with water.

I use spray on plasters that come in cans for smaller cuts and scrapes but please don't use them for your self harm injuries. If they're re-opening after a week then they must be a substantial size and spray on plasters aren't meant for open wounds. On the packet it says "only for small wounds, minor cuts & grazes, not for heavily bleeding cuts" so I definitely wouldn't recommend it for self harm injuries, by using it the only thing you're doing is making it more liable to infection.

Thank you for the response.
First I just want to thank you for informing me about the spray on bandages, I guess that they wouldn't have been the right thing for me and I really appreciate you letting me know.
I'll give the leggings thing a go tomorrow and see how it works

[Miserabilia]

I have the exact same problem and as far as I know there's nothing to do about it other than hide it and let the wounds heal.