Old school thick and super sticky zinc oxide tape?

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
7,983
7,760
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
At the sake of sounding like a Witch Doctor, have you tried any of the herbal 'wound healers'? There are dozens on my database but, to be honest, I have only tried a few. However, I have found some that are very effective for open wounds, sores, boils and the like.
 

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,440
2,864
W.Sussex
Actually, I was serious about the herbs!

And, I'm sure Stew is serious about the whole business :(
A non healing wound or whatever is a miserable thing. I’ve had HPV, the wart and verruca virus, on one foot for years, tried everything bar surgical removal. They do not shift, and the biggest is about the size of a 10p, right on my heel where my heel sits while driving.

If there are herbals I’d also pretty much try anything. Some possible sticky occlusion options here, duct tape superglued on just slides off after a while although it’s considered a decent cure.
 

Stew

Bushcrafter through and through
Nov 29, 2003
6,446
1,284
Aylesbury
stewartjlight-knives.com
That sounds like a horrific pest, a permanently open wound like that, Stew. I use sudocrem to cure all ills, but I sometimes wonder what else it is suppressing. Just ordinary health paranoia, I think, and still, no ill-effects yet.

This just me being curious: has it kept bleeding; or, has it coagulated and just isn't healing? There might be some haemostatic options that you could explore with your GP teamed with some kind of cyanoacrylate second skin treatment.

Or this:

In simplest terms, it’s a graze that wouldn’t clot over. Occasionally bleeding, occasionally just weeping. Sore throughout!

Honestly, the sudocrem has been the best so far and is actually at a point of sealing up (almost!)
 

Stew

Bushcrafter through and through
Nov 29, 2003
6,446
1,284
Aylesbury
stewartjlight-knives.com
I have really thin extra sensitive skin. Dermatic urticaria is a bit of a beggar to be honest.

If I blister and it tears, then I cover it with the biggest hydrocolloidal plaster I can find, and just leave it alone.
They stay on through multiple showers, etc., and by the time they're ready to just come off, the skin beneath has healed beautifully.
No irritation, no infection, no inflammation.

The biggest ones I have were meant for the folks who do long distance walks or kayaking.
The fibreglass of the canoe insides can rub against the ankles and leave them raw, irritated, etc., so these plasters are a godsend.

Might be worth trying.

I think compeed might be hydrocolloid from a quick search? A week or so back I was picking up some dressings and saw the medium sized compress and thought to give them a go - needed three to cover it all and it made good progress over the next 3 - 4 days. They came off in the shower so I put another three on. For some reason those made it worse and it took a big step back to before I had tried! Very odd!
 

Stew

Bushcrafter through and through
Nov 29, 2003
6,446
1,284
Aylesbury
stewartjlight-knives.com
At the sake of sounding like a Witch Doctor, have you tried any of the herbal 'wound healers'? There are dozens on my database but, to be honest, I have only tried a few. However, I have found some that are very effective for open wounds, sores, boils and the like.
Closest I’ve tried is honey impregnated gauze. Similar to the compeed, started well then by the third time round, stung so bad and wouldn’t stop that I would happily have had it chopped off.
 

Stew

Bushcrafter through and through
Nov 29, 2003
6,446
1,284
Aylesbury
stewartjlight-knives.com
A non healing wound or whatever is a miserable thing. I’ve had HPV, the wart and verruca virus, on one foot for years, tried everything bar surgical removal. They do not shift, and the biggest is about the size of a 10p, right on my heel where my heel sits while driving.

If there are herbals I’d also pretty much try anything. Some possible sticky occlusion options here, duct tape superglued on just slides off after a while although it’s considered a decent cure.
Have you tried pipe freezing spray? Serious suggestion!
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
I think compeed might be hydrocolloid from a quick search? A week or so back I was picking up some dressings and saw the medium sized compress and thought to give them a go - needed three to cover it all and it made good progress over the next 3 - 4 days. They came off in the shower so I put another three on. For some reason those made it worse and it took a big step back to before I had tried! Very odd!

That sounds a bit odd. I admit I don't put another one on straight away, but let my skin dry off naturally after the shower for a bit, but I have used them for eight days straight before now......fieldwalking, in the miserable wet, and I was a blistered mess. The hydrocolloidal plasters were the only thing that worked.

I tell a lie; we used to buy huge waterproof plasters when we were kayaking and those worked too.
Big oval blue things. Three inches by two and a bit. Bought them in Boots, iirc. Then I found the gel ones and haven't bothered looking for the waterproof ones since.

I know my skin tears very easily, and the thin skin over bones such as the foot can be an endurance.

It's a double whammy. The skin needs protected, but it needs moisturised too and it won't take being pulled to tear off tapes.

Have you tried the old fashioned vaseline stuff ? Just smear it on a cotton pad and put it over the wound. Keeping it on...use the cohesive bandage tapes that the nurses use to dress the wounds on elderly folks.
I've just gone looking for it and it's now sold as sports tape too. It used to be made by elastoplast and was used to wrap around the lower leg of the elderly who had gotten ulcers on their shins.
This stuff....
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
7,983
7,760
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
There are a number of plants that do more than provide anti-bacterial or anti-viral properties; they encourage skin cell growth and hence wound healing. One of the most well known ones is Aloe Vera of course (now proven to help heal burns), but there are many native plants that do the same. In fact, things like woundwort are so effective, you are cautioned about their use as cuts will heal trapping infection inside.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Toddy

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
Meant to point out; you need a bigger plaster if you're using the hydrocolloidal. It's only the centre of the patch that is the gel stuff.
I still have a stash of big ones. If you pm me a size I'll root through the drawer and find you the biggest ones I have if they'll cover and you want to try again.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
There are a number of plants that do more than provide anti-bacterial or anti-viral properties; they encourage skin cell growth and hence wound healing. One of the most well known ones is Aloe Vera of course (now proven to help heal burns), but there are many native plants that do the same. In fact, things like woundwort are so effective, you are cautioned about their use as cuts will heal trapping infection inside.

Our own native Houseleek does the same job as Aloe Vera, and it's hardy. If I don't need to wear shoes, I'll happily use the gel from that to heal blisters, etc.,
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
7,983
7,760
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
Our own native Houseleek does the same job as Aloe Vera, and it's hardy. If I don't need to wear shoes, I'll happily use the gel from that to heal blisters, etc.,

Is Houseleek native? I was under the impression Sempervivum tectorum was introduced from the mountains of central Europe. I'd like to be wrong 'cos it would be a good plant to add to my Native Plants database :)

One of my earliest memories as a child is of my mother making a cup of tea for a Gypsy lady (who poured her tea into her saucer to drink it) and them talking about the value of Houseleek on our wall as a 'healing herb'; I was about five or six, but it was probably the spark that started me on this adventure :)
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
Is Houseleek native? I was under the impression Sempervivum tectorum was introduced from the mountains of central Europe. I'd like to be wrong 'cos it would be a good plant to add to my Native Plants database :)

One of my earliest memories as a child is of my mother making a cup of tea for a Gypsy lady (who poured her tea into her saucer to drink it) and them talking about the value of Houseleek on our wall as a 'healing herb'; I was about five or six, but it was probably the spark that started me on this adventure :)

I was told it was by a lady who called it chicken and hens, when I was ooh about ten. She came from Inverness and she said her Granny used it. It always kind of stuck in my mind as belonging here.

I'm not disagreeing with you, just maybe I need to re-think it and find out if it is native.

It grows fine here though, even in the bitter cold and wet. I have friends in Inverness and L. grows it in her garden there too, and C. over in Lewis grows it too, so it's really pretty hardy. If anything it gets rather out of hand and kind of messy as it spills over pot edges.
Good stuff though :) and yes, very definitely a healing herb :)
It's probably one of those so useful plants that folks just took it with them when they moved. I know I did :)
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE