Sanitary towels as wound dressings

[Nemesis]

Hi all
I've always carried a sanitary towel in my FAK as a good compact absorbent dressing and used it just the other day to stem a glass wound in a leg complete (naturally) with a wrapping of duct tape. What's the thoughts on using them? I love the fact that they are cheap, do the job, readily available and multi-use but do also recognise that they aren't sterile.

one site I've looked at has the warning below but as it's a site selling conventional trauma dressings I'm taking it with a pinch of salt.


"All too often non-sterile sanitary towels are used as major bleed dressing pads. Typically these contain super-absorber powders that clot to gel on contact with blood. Just one grain of this powder has the capacity to cause a deadly blood clot if it were to ingress into the casualties venous system."

any thoughts? If they are better not to use if be interested to know the most effective compact solution (by the way I'm talking smaller bleeds than needing FFD's but larger than just needed a plaster)

 

[ozzy1977]

Why no use the proper dressing?

 

[GGTBod]

Are they really cheaper and any more available than regular dressings? My whole medkit cost less than £5 and has bandages and dressings for multiple types of injuries and gets topped up about once a year for less than £2, I have no woman in my life these days so i have no idea of what sanitary towels cost these days, are they cheap?

 

[Nemesis]

It's more their compactness. It's the main reason I ask the question. If there are equally compact dressings that do as good a job then actually it'll save me the explanation I have to give every time I open the kit and someone asks the inevitable question!

 

[Graveworm]

There have always been reservations, they perform different functions. Of course anything can be improvised and if you need to improvise then you use what you have. On the other hand carrying one in an FAK is like planning to improvise. It's a different matter if they are also needed for their intended function. A dressing is applied to keep the wound clean and sterile whilst allowing it to clot. Sanitary towels and nappies are designed to absorb as much liquid as possible and crucially transport it away from the contact surface which is not conducive to clotting. They are also not strictly sterile but you wouldn't be applying them to a clean wound anyway so that is less of a worry. They are often non adherent, which is good, but they use one way membranes which are not so good. Some, not all, have the absorbent powders referred to above which assists in the process but stop normal platelet clotting, I don't know if they could cause an embolism as described as blood flow away from a wound site is not usually a problem.

For more than a plaster but less than a compression dressing then bigger plasters are the way forwards; you can get self adhesive dressings that are 12" across. If you want versatility then sterile non adherent gauze pads 2x2 4x4 6x6 etc. are the usual staple held on by duct tape, Durapore or Micropore in order of stickyness vs. comfort. If size is limited then bigger can always be cut to smaller and they can be stacked/folded/rolled depending on the severity and type of wound. Bigger still is Keralix. Compressed gauze can also help in a lot of cases and is really compact. All really cheap and easy to obtain.

The other one you often see in conversations like this that always makes me smile is the tampon. Often mentioned along with their "friend who is an army medic always carries etc . . "For bullet wounds or nosebleeds". Nose bleed tampons are nothing like sanitary tampons they are the same in name only (Google an image), although it would make an embarrassing you tube video and keep the blood off their shirt. Plugging an entry wound with a tampon is not going to do much good even if by some miracle it is the right size, get some compressed gauze as above but you will have bigger worries than stopping a leak out of the entry wound.

 

[GGTBod]

The picture i had of a sanitary towel in my head must be well different to the modern type you must be referring to, last time i seen them on my bathroom windowsill they were like stand up paddle boards, i just measured my whole medkit including bag 15cm x 8cm x 8cm stuffed with medical goodies, how small are sanitary towels these days? My last woman used the insertable type of menstrual tools

 

[Blaidd]

Good point Ozzy. You can get a 20cm x 10cm low adherent melolin dressing on amazon for £1.56 (free p&p in UK). I've also never seen an article which states what the feminine product is supposed to replace in the FAK, so I'm really only guessing on the product above.

Edit: just had a mooch around. The link below mentions a No 9 dressing, which I found online for 82p. Cheaper than buying your own sanitary product.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17960

 

[GGTBod]

A good example of bargain med supplies for a self build kit

http://groceries.asda.com/asda-webs...dacom-dsk-_-hp#/shelf/910000977136/1/so_false

The pack i started with

http://groceries.asda.com/asda-webs...sna3-_-asdacom-dsk-_-hp#/product/910000227846

No affiliation to the Wallmart Group

 

[Toddy]

From a woman.....go and buy the proper dressings. They're sterile. Sanitary towels are 'clean' but not sterile, and they certainly won't be if they've kicked about in a FAK in a rucksac for any time.
I know of none with crystals that will cause the damage that was suggested in an earlier post; the last thing that is wanted is anything that will cause damage to female mucous membranes or might have the chance to migrate inwards (see why talc is a bad idea there). The absorption stuff is the same as the water crystals for flowers and pot plants, and they easily release liquid. It's not alum or the like.

On t'other hand, you'll get hugs from your girlfriend or wife if you're prepared when you're out and she isn't

I can see why folks thought these a good idea in the days when actually getting hold of bandages was difficult, but not nowadays. Ebay is your friend

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Nemesis]

Yes, their intended use has always been handy and has got a couple of female colleagues and my Partner out of st...tricky situations in the past. And they are free in terms of my 'use one, steal one' method of stock control (though I probably paid for them in the first place, the fact they're hers makes them seem free)

I do have a tampon in the same kit but not for absorbency- it's packed with a tin of Vaseline for its tinder potential (but again has raised the occasional eyebrow when opening the kit- as has the tiny insulin kit complete with syringes I carry for my partner that I've posted before. It often seems like I spend more time explaining the things in my kit than I do doing the first aid!)

Thanks all so much for the responses. Special thanks to Graveworm. I'll rethink the kit a bit.

 

[david1]

First aid has been the shirt off my back, but very very soon a real first aid kit turned up, I would expect it to contain real sterile dressings. If there was no first aid kit I dont think I would think of hygiene products second, it would still be more tear something up to make a dressing.

I think First aid is just that, its quite hard to get far enough away here in the uk now the ambulance might be a helicopter.

 

[xylaria]

Tampons even the proper branded ones shed fibre. They might be useful for gunshot wounds and are certainly good for tinder. The only reason for one to be a med kit is to keep it clean enough for its original perpose.

S.ts are good for a collapsed arch. It looks a bit weird sticking to the bottom of the foot. They work alright on a rucksack for extra padding. The dry weive top sheet posh brand are too plastic to be used for any purpose imho.

 

[sunndog]

My last woman used the insertable type of menstrual tools

brilliant, thats gotta be the best "polite man" description of a tampon i'v ever heard

o.p, as said chuck a couple of gauze pads in your kit instead. designed for the job and come in a sterile pack

 

[GGTBod]

Too many years working in call centres to the point where i have been brainwashed with politically correct terminology

 

[sunndog]

nah it was good....i can just imagine mr chumley warner saying it or how it would be written in a workshop manual, the haynes guide to womens things or some such LMAO

 

[GGTBod]

Quality chumley warner action

"Raise leg whilst simultaneously preparing the exterior entrance covers and insert thusly" with a helpful arrow noting direction of thrust

 

[GGTBod]

We need to write that book just for comedy pruposes

 

[Bluffer]

I've seen horsey types using sanitary pads for horse injuries.

However, anyone who suggests using a tampon for a gunshot wound (GSW) has clearly never seen a GSW

 

[xylaria]

I've seen horsey types using sanitary pads for horse injuries.

However, anyone who suggests using a tampon for a gunshot wound (GSW) has clearly never seen a GSW

The chance of anyone in the uk outside of the mod or a&e seeing a gunshot is pretty remote, let alone getting to do first aid past direct pressurre onany form of gapping hole.

Tampons are not theonly inserted female product. There is rubber moon cup things aswell.

 

[GGTBod]

Rubber moon cup? I have led a sheltered life, googling as soon as i have posted, the name paints a picture of use and it was right, thanks i have a new word in my vocabulary now