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Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to worry about getting scars from
your wounds and burns? Wouldn’t it be great if you had hospital style
dressings at home? Wouldn’t it be great if you had a wound dressing the made
the pain go away? What if I told you that this was all possible, and easy
to obtain? All of the above are features of a Hydrocolloid. Dressings that,
up until recently, were used only in hospitals for burns, minor wounds, and
surgery patients.
Hydrocolloids
are a thin dressing that is placed directly over the wound. Although it
adheres to your skin, it will not adhere to the wound, which makes removal
much less painful. The hydrocolloid is covered with a special absorbent
material that absorbs fluid from the wound, and allows excess fluid to
evaporate but at the same time is impermeable to oxygen, water, bacteria and
other germs. In this way the hydrocolloid creates a moist humid wound
environment, which promotes faster healing and helps prevent scarring.
Because the wound is moist, no hard scab is formed. Hydrocolloids are the
most natural way for the body to heal itself, and also the least damaging,
as scabs leave scars and can be broken thus opening the body to new
infection and damage.
When the
dressing is applied to the wound the person with the wound will notice that
almost immediately the pain of the wound will lessen or go away. The
hydrocolloid can be left there for up to several days. If it falls off, it
means that the wound has produced more fluid than the dressing could handle,
and a new dressing is needed. When the dressing is removed, the wound itself
and the new tissues being formed will not be disturbed, although a residue
from the dressing may be left on the surrounding skin. This should be gently
cleaned off before a new dressing is applied.
These
dressings work best on wounds that are superficial granulated wounds that
are releasing a low to medium amount of fluid. If you are bleeding heavily
these dressing will not help you. If your wound needs a higher absorbency
dressing you may want to try a hydrocolloid powder or paste, ask your doctor
where you can find these and if they are right for your wound. If your wound
has become infected do NOT use these dressings! Their safety has not
yet been proven on clinically infected wounds!
In a study
that involved laceration, abrasion and small operating incision patients, a
hydrocolloid dressing was compared with a non-adherent dressing. The results
were as follows. Although the healing time was the same for both groups, the
patients using the hydrocolloids won out overall. Those using the
hydrocolloids experienced less pain, and were able to carry out normal daily
activities (such as bathing) without disturbing the wound or the dressings.
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