Elastoplasts

[Toddy]

I've just sliced open my left index finger, beautiful V shaped cut from not paying attention when using big scissors.
It bled like runny paint, and went everywhere. I had to ask my son to get me a plaster for it, because even with pressure on it I was leaking red stuff.
There was no way I could tidily open up a plaster. They come individually wrapped, and finding the ends to open when one hand is all slippy bleeding over everything, just wasn't happening. Even with two working hands my son found it a pest to open. They never seem to open up easily out of their wee sachet/packet things.

Out and about it's worse because my hands are generally pretty grubby so I really don't want to get anything mucky on the clean plaster. It's worse still in the half light or late on.

Are there any that open easily ? This one was 'Elastoplast (R)', is there something better ?

M

 

[cbrdave]

When i worked as a carpenter cuts where a daily thing no matter how careful i was,
I got fed up with plasters for the same reason,
I ended up using a tissue and some electrical tape, worked so much better.
I still have a few packs of tissues and some rolls of electrical tape in my workshop, bag, car and truck.
Only have plasters in medic kit for wife and grandsons.

 

[Sebc]

I've found quick clot stuff has been really good when I'm bleeding enough to make a plaster annoying.

 

[zornt]

You could pre clip one or both ends to mske them esdier. It would ruin the steril propertys but you can get at them.
This side of the pond we have gratuated to Duck tape it sticks real good.
Jon

 

[John Fenna]

In the workshed I often just use "low tack masking tape" for a quick fix ... easy to apply until the bleeding/job is done, when I can apply a standard elastoplast at my leisure

 

[swyn]

A slice of kitchen roll and hand-on-head is my immediate fix then reach for FAK and find the relevant sticky which for me is micropore tape. Other is kitchen roll and gaffer tape then FAK, then wash with copious amounts of cold water then bandage. The cold water shrinks the blood vessels I believe.
What I learned as a very young squaddy was 'elevate and pressure' to stop bleeding and I don't think this has changed.
'Vet-wrap' is another goodie for bandaging and pressure;
3M Vet Wrap is a multi-purpose cohesive bandage used for wound dressings and athletic support bandaging which has a stretched length of 4.5m. ... The layers bond together to provide maximum holding power for superior support and bandages that stay put.
S

 

[lostplanet]

Try some zinc oxide tape, and stretch the wound before you tape. It will need replacing regular, anyway having a roll of it is quite handy. Its a pain damaging fingers as they never really stop moving and reopen the wound. you could put some germolene sparingly on the cut.

Worth Buying the real stuff: I know its out of stock but thats the stuff, M tape.

Mueller M Tape, 3.8 cm x 13.7 m, White : Amazon.co.uk: Health & Personal Care

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders of £20 or more. Buy Mueller M Tape, 3.8 cm x 13.7 m, White at Amazon UK.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Wildgoose]

Unless it’s a very minor cut Elastoplasts are pretty useless. Like others have said a bit of kitchen roll and direct pressure until the bleeding stops, then clean, dry and plaster

 

[Toddy]

Try some zinc oxide tape, and stretch the wound before you tape. It will need replacing regular, anyway having a roll of it is quite handy. Its a pain damaging fingers as they never really stop moving and reopen the wound. you could put some germolene sparingly on the cut.

Worth Buying the real stuff: I know its out of stock but thats the stuff, M tape.

Mueller M Tape, 3.8 cm x 13.7 m, White : Amazon.co.uk: Health & Personal Care

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders of £20 or more. Buy Mueller M Tape, 3.8 cm x 13.7 m, White at Amazon UK.

www.amazon.co.uk

Ah, can't use zinc oxide. I'm allergic enough to it that I end up with a plaster shaped mess of weeping blisters.

I hate cuts on my fingers, you're right, they don't stop moving and the blasted cuts all too easily end up hacks.
This one was just deep enough to bleed profusely and it made the plaster opening just a no go.
Usually I just wrap and hold it tight with a hankie or kitchen towel or the like, for a bit, but I was busy and I wanted to get on.

M

 

[Paul_B]

Tissue but better kitchen roll and grip tightly with the other hand while turning the air blue is my go to solution! If it fills with claret you just get another one until the red stuff stops. The key points that makes this work is easy accessible tissue product, tight grip with other hand and above all swearing like a navvie! If you miss any of those I believe the bleeding won't stop quick enough.

I find that there's one end of plaster packaging isn't fully glued and presents two tabs that can be used to pull the two papers off the packaging apart. Grip one with good hand, the other with teeth. That practically ejects the elastoplast plaster. This then has one backing film folded back. Teeth or bits hand can pull it off. Stick it on then pull the other backing half off. Not saying it's easy but teeth and good hand works OK for me in the past, although I prefer tissue, grip and swear as first resort.

I do find that plasters tend to last a long time. We end up buying too many packs as we forget the last pack and have to buy more. This means we often get the plaster sticking to the inside of the paper packer. Usual when that happens opening the plastic wrapper takes off the paper over the sticky part. That sometimes ruins the plaster and we have to get another. They do have a use by date I reckon.

 

[Jared]

Put a nice crescent shaped cut into right index finger a few weeks ago, with a Classic SD (1¼" blade) first time I opened it.

Used kitchen roll for the initial bleeding, and Elastoplast waterproof once it slowed down.

Elastoplast does have an expiration date on the bottom, box bought first week of January, expires 11-2024.

 

[Buckshot]

I have used this sort of thing in the past

Salvequick Pilferproof Plasters | First Aid Online

Pilferproof plasters are designed to prevent the unnecessary removal of plasters for personal use. They are placed in lockable dispensers and can only be taken one at a time, removing the protective backing and making them ready for immediate use. This also helps quick and easy application.

www.safetyfirstaid.co.uk

as you detach the plaster one end is uncovered and ready to stick to skin.

in practice i found they worked OK but became unsticky quicker than standard plasters. perhaps a year or two rather than several years.

the link is for illustration, no affiliation or experience of the seller etc.

 

[Wayland]

Tend to just use a roll of cloth plaster and cut the size I need.

Not "sterile" because it's not in a sealed package but much easier to use and I'm not dead yet.

 

[Toddy]

Tend to just use a roll of cloth plaster and cut the size I need.

Not "sterile" because it's not in a sealed package but much easier to use and I'm not dead yet.

I was thinking that very thing as I watched Son2 try to footer the end of the covering papers free from the plaster.
I know hygiene is important but sometimes the need at hand means that clean enough will do.
I reckoned I'd bled the wound clean anyway.

M

 

[billycoen]

The wife reckons to elevate the hand to reduce the bleeding,then use steri strips to close the cut/wound.

 

[Paul_B]

There's more than one way split into two categories. Ones you can do for yourself and ones you need others to help you. Steristrips are likely to need others. Not always an option.

 

[Laurentius]

They are a real nuisance, I have cut myself a few times on the allotment and can't get them to stick, it seems the use by date on them must apply to the adhesive, which loses what little effectiveness it maybe never had in the first place. My advice always have surgical tape or gaffer tape to wrap things firmly in place.

 

[grizzlyj]

Insulating tape does work well, is cheap, if you fold the end over a wee bit you can start unrolling it easily and being on a roll you have a lot to play with rather than whatever the plaster manufacturer decided. It also sticks to itself in the wet if you put a bit of tension on as you wind it.
A week or so ago I sliced the top off my thumb with a Victorinox tomato knife while trying to slice a swede. Tried to get one of those special X shaped Elastoplasts on with blood everywhere. Held it on with two more. Then sliced the top off my middle finger doing the same. Super sharp blade but flexed while going through the tough swede and heading to my I thought out of the way fingers. Repeat process with silly plasters. Continue processing swede. Plasters fall off, blood everywhere again. Electrical insulating tape then used, blood stopped, swede now orange not red. Waste of expensive flipping useless plasters. I won't experiment cutting a swede with a thin knife again! Eeeejit.

 

[Toddy]

@grizzlyj

I hope they heal well, and quickly. Those kinds of cuts are a right nuisance.
Have you seen the individual finger cots ? Handy to keep the finger tips dry and clean when they're damaged.

Swedes are one of the few vegetables that I really don't like prepping.
The 'van' that came round the houses twice a week when I was little, sold tatties, veggies, milk, bread, that kind of thing, had an old fashioned scale with huge cast iron and brass weights, and the fellow who ran the van had a huge great knife that he cut up 'neeps'.....your turnips/swedes....by just chopping it hard into the neep, then turning the whole thing over and dunting the back of the knife on a bit of old bread board until the turnip split right through.
It neatly chopped the huge, head sized thing into appropriate sized pieces that folks wanted to buy.
I think he'd the right of it. Chop it, don't try to slice it, iimmc ?

 

[Paul_B]

There's a good argument for many different types of good kitchen knives and keeping them sharp. Swedes needs a big, stiff kitchen knife. Cut in half and break it down from there with a flat base after the first cut for stability.

A MiL had a fear of sharp knives after accidents so she used serrated knives, usual cheaper supermarket ones. She came here and used the one cheap serrated knife we own. I told her I use another knife. After several visits later we got her to try a sharp knife, the right knife for the job. Suitably impressed at how it cut really easily and felt safe, she ended up with two good, very sharp and non serrated knives. Only took her another 7 or 8 years of not too subtle hints and lectures from us. We'd given up on that years ago. Too many hospital A&E visits due to knife cuts from those cheap, serrated and flexible knives.

Sorry for the lecture but cooking needs good tools as much as woodcarving, bushcraft, gardening, etc. Knives to cooking are as important as sails to dinghies or paddles to canoes. You need the right ones for the job in hand.

Anyone use simple sterile pads and tape like micropore? Sterile pads in paper packaging you can rip open with good hand and teeth plus folded over tip to the micropore tape for ease of application. Obviously after the emergency tissue, grip and elevation.