scrapes

Scrapes are a common term for superficial skin injuries caused by friction or scraping against a rough surface. The plural scrapes refers to multiple such injuries. They are typically shallow, affecting only the outermost skin layer, and may involve minor bleeding, redness, and pain at the injury site. Scrapes most often occur on exposed areas such as the shins, knees, hands, and elbows, especially during falls, sports, or outdoor activities.

Care for minor scrapes involves cleaning the wound to remove dirt and debris. Rinse with running water and mild soap, then apply an antiseptic if available and cover with a sterile bandage to protect against infection. Keep the wound clean and dry, changing the bandage daily or if it becomes wet or dirty. Do not pick at scabs, and allow the area to breathe once a fresh scab forms. Most scrapes heal within several days to two weeks. Seek medical attention if a scrape bleeds heavily, shows signs of infection (increasing redness, swelling, warmth, pus, or fever), or if the wound is deep or on the face.

In a different context, scrapes also refer to the automated extraction of data from websites or other sources, known as data or web scraping. This practice uses software tools to collect information from online pages, often for research, price comparison, or market analysis. Ethical and legal considerations include respecting robots.txt, terms of service, copyright, privacy, and rate limits, as well as potential risks of data inaccuracy or getting blocked by the target site. Common tools and languages include Python libraries such as Beautiful Soup and Scrapy.