8 first aid mistakes

Common injuries aren't treated as they once were.

Jan, 2026

Mistake #2: Clean cuts with hydrogen peroxide

Mistake #3: Tilt your head back during a nose bleed

Mistake #4: Giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation

Mistake #5: Treating a burn with ice or butter

Mistake #6: Cleaning a knocked-out tooth

Mistake #7: Lying down after hitting your head

Mistake #8: Fishing objects out of your skin yourself

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Slide 1

It’s routine to reach for the hydrogen peroxide when your kid falls and scrapes his knee, or for the tweezers when you get a splinter. But you may want to rethink some of these habitual first aid treatments—they can actually make the injury worse. We talked with Scott Scherr, MD, Medical Director of the emergency room at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, to learn the right way to handle ailments, big and small, and what not to do.