Modern wound dressings – a cut above the rest

Even in the most highly organised of homes, accidents do happen. We all suffer the occasional cuts and scratches and sometimes more serious bleeding or weeping wounds.

So at the very least it is important to have a packet of plastic dressing strips in the house. Well, that’s what you might think, but the reality is these traditional dressings are probably the last thing you should use to patch up those areas of broken skin.

According to wound care experts, those plastic strips have a limited place, even in simple first-aid. The reason is they do not allow the passage of air and water vapour. Within 24 hours the skin becomes soft and soggy and healing is delayed.

Fortunately, there is now a large range of dressings for every type of wound, and your pharmacist can advise you on the most appropriate product to suit your needs. For instance the new, so-called “island film” strips are waterproof but still allow the free passage of air and moisture vapour, factors so necessary for “speedy” healing.

In assessing how best to treat wounds we first need to determine the cause. Although all wounds heal in a similar way, acute wounds – such as those occurring after surgery or accidents – will usually need to be treated differently from chronic wounds, which may be as a result of poor circulation, or from pressure sores.

Possible infection is another concern. Most chronic wounds are contaminated, but this contamination only becomes a problem when our own body’s defences can no longer control the bacterial growth. Fever and heat surrounding the wound, redness, pain and a discharge are some of the classic signs and symptoms of infection.

Generally the most common wounds are lacerations (cuts), grazes and burns. With lacerations and grazes, effective management means first of all good cleansing to remove any blood or foreign matter. Next apply a topical antiseptic; but wash it off after five minutes or so. Applying the antiseptic reduces the risk of infection, washing it off reduces the risk of any potential toxic effect from the antiseptic itself. Pressure or a special alginate dressing can be applied if bleeding persists.

Wound closure strips should be used to hold the edges in place if the cut is longer than 1cm.

First-aid treatment for burns is the application of cold running water for at least 15-20 minutes. In the case of simple burns, the next step is to cover the area of burn with what is known as amorphous or sheet hydrogel. If the burn occupies more than 15% of the body surface area (or 10% for a child), hospital treatment is required urgently.

Skin tears are the most common wound seen on older people; they’re just a part of the natural ageing process which results in dry, brittle, tissue paper-thin skin, easily damaged by bumping and bruising. The most important point to remember here is never apply any adhesive product to such skin.

So many types of wounds; so many wound products to choose from; so confusing! Not really. All modern wound-care products can be divided into two main groups: passive products and interactive products.

Passive products include gauze, lint and the like. The interactive dressings are formulated to improve healing rates and reduce the possibility of scaring by interacting with the wound surface. Your  pharmacist can tell you more.