$1,600 To Stitch Up A Cut

One of the most horrifying memories of my childhood involved a bloody wound and some stitches. What left me traumatised wasn’t the cut on my brow – it was the way my family doctor nonchalantly stitched it all up, ignoring my howls.

More than two decades have passed since my traumatic experience.

While childhood injuries caused by mishaps are still a common phenomenon among kids these days, the same cannot be said for the way they’re treated.

YP spoke to several doctors and found that an increasing number of parents are seeking more sophisticated and specialised treatment methods – by calling in the plastic surgeon.

Traditionally, accidental childhood injuries – cuts and wounds – end up either at a GP clinic or the Accident and Emergency, where they are handled by a general practitioner or A&E physician.

KKH’s Children’s Emergency sees about 200 children each day, of which 10 to 12 per cent are due to childhood injuries.

Read the October 2009 issue of Young Parents to learn why some parents want only a plastic surgeon to stitch up their child’s injuries.