![]() The product draws on studies that have shown that placing continuous pressure on a healed wound can diminish scarring, says David Leffell, professor of dermatology and skin surgery at Yale University School of Medicine and a member of Curad's scientific advisory board. Curad's Scar Therapy Cosmetic Pads, polyurethane strips that can be pressed onto new scars to flatten out tissue, claim to reduce raised scars, especially in people with a history of scarring or those who have darker skin pigment. Last summer, products designed to limit scarring hit the personal wound care market. "Do we really need such an expensive dressing for minor, everyday wounds? The answer is probably not," said Wilcox.Ī 10-count package of Johnson & Johnson's hydrocolloid product, Advanced Healing, sells for $5.49. While hydrocolloid dressings have proven useful for burn victims and people recovering from surgical incisions, he says, he's not so sure they're necessary in a home setting, unless the patient has a condition that interferes with healing, like diabetes or vascular disease. After that, coverage is no longer required because the body is ready to form its own scab, which is quite effective at fending off bacteria.Ĭontinuing to keep that scab moist may help prevent scarring in larger wounds, but it's not needed for blocking infection, said Wilcox. Wilcox, spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians and an emergency physician in Hartford, Conn., minor cuts and abrasions do need to be covered and kept clean and moist for the first 48 hours after the injury. But this premise, while endorsed by many physicians for the last two decades, isn't universally accepted. Like the Liquid Bandage, hydrocolloid technology works on the premise that wounds should be kept covered and moist to foster healing and prevent infection. Dermatologists say the bandages provide the protection of a scab before the body has chance to create one. Some physicians recommend them because they're more flexible than traditional adhesive bandages and can stay on for days. Hydrocolloid strips - gelatinous, waterproof bandages made by both Johnson & Johnson and Curad/Beiersdorf - use technology developed for hospital use in the 1980s to cultivate a moist environment for treating the wound. For that price, you could buy more than 180 Band-Aids (at $3.29 for a 60-count box) at the same store. ![]() Johnson & Johnson's Liquid Bandage costs $10.99 for 10 applications at the CVS at Dupont Circle. The liquid products did, however, stop bleeding faster and control pain better than the old standby, the study noted. But a study published this spring in the journal Dermatologic Surgery showed that wounds treated with liquid bandages healed no more quickly than wounds covered with a simple bandage. ![]() Johnson & Johnson says the product fosters a moist environment and thus speeds healing. "This product is really helpful for that." "It's hard to get little kids to slow down to let you put a Band-Aid on, and it's even harder to make sure they keep it on," she said. The product gets a thumbs-up for convenience from Diane Madfes, a clinical dermatology instructor at the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. It's not the first liquid bandage to hit the market - the very first such product, New-Skin by Medtech Inc., appeared, surprisingly enough, in 1902. Consumers squeeze drops of the liquid adhesive onto an activator swab, then paint on the bandage, creating a sterile film that the manufacturer says won't peel or rub off for five days. Launched this spring, it is said to stop bleeding, reduce pain and be handy for cuts and scrapes in difficult-to-bandage places such as between fingers and toes. ![]() Take Johnson & Johnson's Liquid Bandage, for example. Also available are only slightly older products, including antibacterial bandages, antibiotic strips, bandages designed to adhere to the end of the finger, bandages with enhanced flexibility and wound coverings that pull off easily without provoking tears and shrieks.īut are these new and costlier items worth the extra bucks? Do they do what they claim? Experts disagree. There's a liquid bandage that's spread with an activator swab onto a cut or scrape, pads that claim to help reduce scarring and there's hydrocolloid technology - bandage strips made from a breathable gel engineered to keep moisture in and dirt and germs out. The box of Band-Aids that once ruled the first-aid shelf is getting the squeeze from a new array of higher-tech treatment options that may leave consumers confused. Treating that minor cut or scrape is getting more complicated.
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