Adhesive bandage

A Wundschnellverband (WSV ), colloquially patch is a piece wound dressing, which is connected to a tape. It is used to cover small wounds.

The most well-known in Germany trademark for wound dressings is Elastoplast ( Beiersdorf AG).

History

As the inventor of two persons are mentioned:

• Earle Dickson, an employee of the company Johnson & Johnson in the 1920s. According to legend, his wife Josephine had a tendency to hurt often while cooking. He joined strips of surgical tape together with small pieces of gauze bandage, she prepared to stock and covered them off to keep them sterile.

• Paul Carl Beiersdorf, patent of 1882 to "produce coated bandages ".

Function and application

A Wundschnellverband protects an injury to the skin (eg a cut ) against pathogens, mechanical loads, dirt and dehydration. Thus, the healing process will be less disturbed, and reduces the risk of infection.

They are used in small wounds, which do not require separate treatment. The dressing covers the injury. The adhesive tape is attached to the surrounding skin and keeps the support in the desired position.

Material

Depending on the field of use the adhesive tape from a particular tissue or synthetic material with a more or less adhesive coating.

The wound dressing is absorbent usually and often prepared with antibacterial substances. Some manufacturers provide a special coating to ensure that the pad does not stick to the wound.

Dimension

Wound dressings are usually supplied in widths of 4, 6 and 8 cm and lengths of 25-500 cm for cutting, resulting in a more flexible use permitted than in the last years more and more popular Strips - pre-made, individually wrapped strips in various forms for different large wounds.

The dimensions of rapid wound dressings are standardized in Germany in DIN 13019.

Other areas of application

Besides its function as a pure dressing there are patches for the following applications:

• Administration of drugs - Transdermal patches (eg, nicotine patches, hormone patches )
• Absorption of wound exudate - gel plaster
• Padding and pressure relief - blister plasters, plasters for corns
• Prevent the spread of viruses (including protection from drying out ) - cold sores
• Stilling of pain and promote blood circulation - heating pads
• Expansion of the nostrils - nasal strips