quick fix for cuts

[JE]

Recently I discovered that some medical authorities suggested using Super Glue to close a wound that was bleeding. The article claims the SG is safe & sterile to use on cuts or wounds that are difficult to stop the bleeding on. Can this be true? Anyone-!

JE

[SLIM]

Yes it can be true. I use it all the time. When SG ws first introduced as a adhesive for Plastic Surgens. In the Healthcare field it is called Derma Bond.

I keep some SG just for the reason of some minor cuts. CLean the area off and just a dab will do you. Just remember that it has been known to burn for a few seconds.

SLIM

[MengTze]

any specific brand/ type of particular interest? There are so many out there nowadays

[contender]

Recently I discovered that some medical authorities suggested using Super Glue to close a wound that was bleeding. The article claims the SG is safe & sterile to use on cuts or wounds that are difficult to stop the bleeding on. Can this be true? Anyone-!

JE


I cut my hand and needed sutures but the doctor put steri-strips and super glue instead. Never had a problem with it and it left a minimal scar.

[curtschu]

From Wikipedia

Cyanoacrylate is the generic name for substances such as ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate, which is typically sold under trademarks like Superglue and Krazy Glue, and 2-octyl cyanoacrylate or n-butyl-cyanoacrylate, which are used in medical glues such as Dermabond and Traumasea

For occasional use it works great. At the old model airplane field there was always someone gluing a cut closed.

[BobK]

There are spray on bandages on the shelf in any drug or grocery store. Essentially super glue in a spray. I use it all the time. the only way Kim knows I've worked on a project is if I have one or more cuts :)

[divindoc]

A little practical advice from a frequent user: Make sure you irrigate out the wound first, as cleaning any wound is the most important step to get it to heal. Tap (or spring!) water has been shown to be no less safe than sterile saline for this - just make sure you don't glue a wound shut with any contamination in it. I wouldn't recommend using it around the eyes - for some reason people don't like having their eyes glued shut for 3 days! Which brings up another point - DermaBond (trade name) is available in a more viscous form as well as the original liquid, the viscous prep. much less likely to run into a place you don't want to glue shut - like your fingers when you're applying it. Dry the area well before applying, it won't adhere if there's any bleeding, etc. at the site. Once dry (<1 min.) it's waterproof and you're good to go. Flakes off in 7-10 days. If you screw up and get it into someones eye, DON'T try to pry the lids apart - goop up the eye with erythromycin opthalmic ointment, patch it and refer them to an opthalmologist, they'll usually be able to open their eyes in 3 days, but you don't want to tear out their eyelashes meanwhile.

[DeWayne]

A little practical advice from a frequent user: Make sure you irrigate out the wound first, as cleaning any wound is the most important step to get it to heal. Tap (or spring!) water has been shown to be no less safe than sterile saline for this - just make sure you don't glue a wound shut with any contamination in it. I wouldn't recommend using it around the eyes - for some reason people don't like having their eyes glued shut for 3 days! Which brings up another point - DermaBond (trade name) is available in a more viscous form as well as the original liquid, the viscous prep. much less likely to run into a place you don't want to glue shut - like your fingers when you're applying it. Dry the area well before applying, it won't adhere if there's any bleeding, etc. at the site. Once dry (<1 min.) it's waterproof and you're good to go. Flakes off in 7-10 days. If you screw up and get it into someones eye, DON'T try to pry the lids apart - goop up the eye with erythromycin opthalmic ointment, patch it and refer them to an opthalmologist, they'll usually be able to open their eyes in 3 days, but you don't want to tear out their eyelashes meanwhile.

You can also find the CA in various viscosities, ranging from thin (typical super glue stuff) to medium, thick, and gel. Just look in most hobby shops.

[Cave Ranger]

I've always just used two part epoxy. For really bad injuries (gunshot wounds, gator punctures, partial machete decapitations , etc, etc) I use that Mighty Putty that Billy Mays says is good for just about anything and a bargain at only $19.95 :smt082

[MichaelAngelo]

some more practical advice when using Super glue. If You cut Your fingers and also have jock itch please please wait till the glue is good and dry before relieving that itch. trust me on that one.
MA

[LCF]

Yes, cyanoacrylate adhesives are used in closing simple wounds. A few caveats : One's already been mentioned, which is to make sure the wound is cleaned adequately. There is a slightly higher incidence of wound infections in glued wounds, but the suspicion is that it's because we don't spend the time cleaning them that we do when we suture.

Secondly, glue is not good for wounds which want to gape. This includes all wounds over joint surfaces like knuckles, or wounds on round structures like arms and legs, unless they are oriented circumferentially rather than longitudinally.

Third, glue is not good for deep wounds which have divided all the tissues that help keep the deep portion of the skin together. Closing the surface with glue leaves a gap in the deeper tissues that accumulates fluid and runs a much higher risk of infection, as well as slow or imperfect healing. There is still a role for sutures in this world!

Finally, the cyanocrylate preparations we use for medical purposes are less irritating to tissue than the superglue you buy to mend things. You may well have a strong inflammatory response to OTC superglue. It's more painful, and may leave more scar.

But as an emergency resource, it's better than nothing.

[DeWayne]

...You may well have a strong inflammatory response to OTC superglue. It's more painful...

That's an understatement and then some, lol.

[divindoc]

BTW, look for octylcyanoacrylate, not butylcyanoacrylate, the butyl form won't hold up in water.

[FW]

This probably isn't the best place to ask this, but what about proceedure? Do you try to close just the skin flap, as opposed to filling the whole wound with glue? Can you manually close the skin, and put a drop on the outside, or is it better to get the glue under the skin?

[LCF]

You hold the wound so that the edges are approximated, and apply the glue to the outside. Ideally, use several thin layers of glue, letting each one dry a few seconds before applying the next. Do NOT use the glue under the skin. It is painful and incites a powerful inflammatory response.

[DeWayne]

...It is painful and incites a powerful inflammatory response.

Again, a powerful understatement learned quite by accident a number of years back :roll:

Thanks for sharing your expertise, hope I never have to make use of it (see previous comments, lol.)

[FW]

You hold the wound so that the edges are approximated, and apply the glue to the outside. Ideally, use several thin layers of glue, letting each one dry a few seconds before applying the next. Do NOT use the glue under the skin. It is painful and incites a powerful inflammatory response.
Makes sense, thanks.

[stairman]

Super glue also works on loose teeth.Real or false.A friend of mine superglued a loose tooth about a week ago and his inquisitive tongue touched it before it was dry.It got on his tongue,yes he used too much,and it would not come off.So he got some nail polish remover but didnt get the non acitone type and turned the bottle up with the glued part pushed up to the bottle hole.He did live through it but has a big blister on his tongue,and his tooth is tight.

[sskasser]

Super glue also works on loose teeth.Real or false.A friend of mine superglued a loose tooth about a week ago and his inquisitive tongue touched it before it was dry.It got on his tongue,yes he used too much,and it would not come off.So he got some nail polish remover but didnt get the non acitone type and turned the bottle up with the glued part pushed up to the bottle hole.He did live through it but has a big blister on his tongue,and his tooth is tight.

Now that thar is a $10,000 video if ever thar wuz one!

[Slüdge]

A friend of mine superglued ...

I believe I'd keep that little tidbit to myself!

If one of your friends has ever superglued his tongue to his tooth, you just might be a redneck.

[MORGAN]

Why use superglue when you could use duct tape? The tool of a thousand uses!

FWIW, a couple years ago, on the first day of a two week cave diving trip, I was picking up a set of doubles and swinging them up onto my truck tailgate. Through some egregious failure of technique I managed to gouge a pretty good hole in the side of my calf with one of the bolts. Being an old paramedic and ER nurse, I had in my first aid kit an eclectic array of bandaids, tegaderms, and other materials liberated from various sources. None of them would stay on while diving wet, even the ones that hadn't been riding around in my kit since 1978.

I went to the CVS in Live Oak and bought one package of every bandage that was advertised as waterproof. Over the next few days I tried them all, and a clear winner emerged - 3M Nexcare Waterproof Clear Protection Bandages. They were the only ones that would stay in place through squeezing into my wetsuit (those of you who know me understand that a fair amount of squeezing is involved!), a dive, and then getting out of the suit. They would actually last for two dives, or maybe more, maybe even for more than one day of diving, but I changed them between dives. It was great to find a product advertised as waterproof that would actually withstand being submerged!

Not sure how they'd work on loose teeth, though.


Mike

[AMW]

I had a hip resurfacing operation three years ago and the 12cm incision was closed with glue, internal layers with the normal dissolving suture. Made a big difference far better than staples that some surgeons use.

Andrew.

[LCF]

Actually, the eventual scar formation has been looked at, and there is no advantage to the glue. Of course, if one leaves staples in too long, they make little white marks.

[AMW]

there is no advantage to the glue.

I was not so much referring to the scar, that can come in as a talking point , I can claim it was down to a savage attack by a vicious cave trout :smt081

The main advantages are.

No staples to catch in clothing or to roll on to in bed ,less risk of infection with a open (for a while) cut and no staples to remove later (pliers time :?) from personal experience and my wife (who works ministers to the sick an injured and is on casualty department call today (bank holiday in England):-(

Andrew

[stairman]

now sludge you know me and there aint no redneck bone in my body.......NOT!

[trident1977]

Randy.... Are you sure that it was a "friend" who did that ?

[OFG-1]

Well, glue, band-aids, duct tape, what a bunch of woos'es

If I get a deep cut, I use this:

http://www.artifolk.co.uk/images/products/9430x300.jpg

For small shallow wounds try:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/410CJ51KDNL._AA280_.jpg

To remove large caliber bullets or re insert a eyeball popped out by a pool cue try:

http://www.barsupply.com/images/leaf-ice-tongs.jpg

For large puncture wounds or large caliber gunshots try:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Buttplug.png/180px-Buttplug.png

If it is on your fingertip, or other high wear area, get a binder clip and:

http://toolmonger.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/post-jbweld.jpg

And NO first aid kit is complete without disinfectants, I suggest:

http://image.www.rakuten.co.jp/kawachi/img10161130122.jpeg

[MORGAN]

And NO first aid kit is complete without disinfectants, I suggest:

http://image.www.rakuten.co.jp/kawachi/img10161130122.jpeg

I see that my first aid kit is woefully inadequate. Is this disinfectant applied internally or externally? Guess I'll have to stop at the liquor store on my way home...

Does it help to apply some of this internally before getting hurt? Then it would be circulating in your bloodstream ready to fight infection wherever it might be needed!

Mike

[Slüdge]

I'm not believing you got a picture of a buttplug from Wikimedia...

[OFG-1]

I'm not believing you got a picture of a buttplug from Wikimedia...

In the event of emergency, one must improvise and use whatever material they can find to render assistance to the injured. .

[OFG-1]

I see that my first aid kit is woefully inadequate. Is this disinfectant applied internally or externally? Guess I'll have to stop at the liquor store on my way home...

Does it help to apply some of this internally before getting hurt? Then it would be circulating in your bloodstream ready to fight infection wherever it might be needed!

Mike

It is a wonderfully universal antiseptic that may be used internally, externally, or intravenously
as the need arises. Perfect for snakebite.

[Slüdge]

... re insert a eyeball popped out by a pool cue... I'm assuming you have first-hand experience with this one?

[OFG-1]

I'm assuming you have first-hand experience with this one?

One day, I can tell you about a little bar in Port Sulfur La., a crewboat full of returning cajuns, and just how many people that can hide under a upright piano at the same time. This led me to John's first law of barhopping - NEVER enter a bar with only one exit and no windows.

[JDostal]

It is a wonderfully universal antiseptic that may be used internally, externally, or intravenously
as the need arises. Perfect for snakebite.

In my right pocket, one flask of bourbon... for snakebites. In my left pocket, a snake.

[SLIM]

That is what my shine is for.

But today I had to use some super glue on a cut. Cut it this am an dstill doing great, no need to band aid or worry about anything. If preped properly works liike a charm.

SLIM

[Angie Reim]

Funeral directors use it to glue the cadaver's eyes shut

[SLIM]

And to get the lips just right.


SLIM