Sanitary towels as wound dressings

[Goatboy]

Also to remember that tourniquets aren't to be used no matter how serious a nose bleed is!

 

[Folcwigga]

So, a no9 dressing from the pharmacy is pretty acceptable as your FFD then?

 

[Tony]

I used a ST for a wound once and wasn't that impressed, I'd been playing squash and my right hand got caught by my opponents racket while he was doing one of his almighty smashes (he stepped back into me and caught me with his down swing) anyway, it caught me between the thumb knuckle and the index finger knuckle and blew it open, lots of blood, I put my sweaty towel on it, then after cleaned it up at work (Salford Uni campus 2 minute walk from court to court) and we decided i'd should go and get it stitched, I had some plasters on it, all good I waited for the train, got on the train and about 5 minutes into the journey to Southport it started bleeding again, loads of blood, I didn't have anything to i tapped on the shoulder of the woman in front of me and asked if she had any tissues, she didn't but handed me a ST and I used that, it didn't seem to soak up much at all which surprised me, it stemmed the flow as i had something to put pressure on the wound but as an absorbent pad for a wound it put me right off and I'd never intend to use one again unless there was no choice, ultimately something is better than nothing

 

[decorum]

<<<>>> ... proper dressings, designed for the job, do it better

Like ... erm ... Kotex ????

 

[bullterrier]

In another life I was a medic in a UK police tactical firearms unit. There are a few things to know about tampons and ST as wound dressings. Without dwelling on somethings many guys won't want to, both products are designed to absorb only a relatively very small amount of blood. Think spoons rather than cups. And ST need to be fixed down with tape, so of a smallish wound, a straight forward non absorbent dressing is cheap, cheerful and effective.
For catastrophic bleeds there's Quick Clot ACS and all those similar products. Pricey, yes but if you are REALLY factoring the possibility of those sorts of injuries then you have to man up and get the kit AND the training. Our knowledge base expanded hugely with Iraq and Afghanistan and feminine hygiene products do not feature as planned wound dressings.

 

[Gimli]

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)

So you're openly admitting that you are using a product that has a warning stating that it has not to be used for the very purpose that you are using it for. It appears that you have now changed this practice and all I can say is "thank God!" The general opinion on this thread is that this female product is not appropriate as a dressing and I hope everyone gets that message. WOuld anyone plan a trip to the outdoors without proper clothes or without knowing where they were going or the forecast weather? So why plan to use a FAK that does not have the proper dressings? I've been involved in pre-hospital care on a professional level for 16 years. At no point did I wish I had a "jam rag" to help stem a bleed, and guess what, I've never seen a gun shot wound. It would be safe to say I have attended over ten thousand incidents including 3 major incidents and too many fatalities to want to count. What you need are good basic dressings that designed for that purpose. Please please please everyone, STOP using ST as dressings.

 

[Brynglas]

Seconding the previous comments, there is absolutely no substitute for knowledge. I'd always recommend that rather than spend a load of cash on kit and equipment a good quality first aid course will be more use, more often than some of the items that we spend large amounts on. A decent first aid kit with basic pain relief and the items that will at help deal with most eventualities can be put together for relatively low outlay. What's essential is the knowledge to use what you have available and to recognise limitations. It may be apparent that I feel strongly about this. People spend a lot of time learning to sharpen a knife but hardly any time on how to deal with a wound.&#128657;

 

[mrcharly]

People are getting a little heated.

I don't think anyone was suggesting that sanitary towels should be your first choice, just that they can be an alternative when you don't have the perfect bandage to hand.

Most sanitary towels don't have gel in them, they have a form of cellulose fibre.

 

[Goatboy]

Was talking to an Army medic about this the other bay and he suggested that bread is good for staunching blood flow. Tape it in place, then when ready to remove, soak it in water and it disintegrates without damaging the scab.

 

[Dunx]

Personally use whatevers clean and to hand. Although duct tape wouldnt be my choice for long

 

[mrcharly]

Duct tape is a bit difficult to remove. You don't really want bandages to stick to the skin - removing them might pull open a wound.

T-shirt type material is good for holding a dressing in place, has enough stretch apply pressure without cutting off blood flow through major blood vessels.

 

[John Fenna]

Was talking to an Army medic about this the other bay and he suggested that bread is good for staunching blood flow. Tape it in place, then when ready to remove, soak it in water and it disintegrates without damaging the scab.

Sliced white perhaps ... not pumpernickel!

 

[Goatboy]

Sliced white perhaps ... not pumpernickel!

or salted chilli bread! Maybe bagels for corn dressings?!

 

[General Strike]

Pretty sure that the original sanitary towels were in fact wound dressings. During WW1 the nurses were using them. This was a great boon for wound dressing manufacturers once the war ended, as they had several million wound dressings in warehouses and no immediate crisis to deploy them to. Noticing that returning nurses were quite keen dressing buyers, they discovered this alternative use for them and the rest is history.

tl:dr; wound dressings can be used as emergency sanitary towels, not sure about the other way around.

 

[santaman2000]

Pretty sure that the original sanitary towels were in fact wound dressings. During WW1 the nurses were using them. This was a great boon for wound dressing manufacturers once the war ended, as they had several million wound dressings in warehouses and no immediate crisis to deploy them to. Noticing that returning nurses were quite keen dressing buyers, they discovered this alternative use for them and the rest is history.

tl:dr; wound dressings can be used as emergency sanitary towels, not sure about the other way around.

Sanitary towels have been available commercially since 1898 (The Johnson & Johnson company in the US and Hartmann company in Germany among others) Kotex has been a huge seller since the 1920s.

All predate WWII and were sanitary towels from their beginning.

 

[demographic]

So what your saying is....

Sanitary towels shouldn't be used to cover unsightly gashes?

I can think of catchier taglines for Bodyforms range but there you go.

 

[General Strike]

Who mentioned WW2?

 

[santaman2000]

Who mentioned WW2?

You're right. I misread your post. Sorry.

 

[janeleonard]

Sanitary towels are great for wound dressing. They help to keep away from infections.

 

[Graveworm]

Sanitary towels are great for wound dressing. They help to keep away from infections.

So would a tea towel, carrier bag, T-shirt or the bayeux tapestry. &#128522;Not sure that makes them ideal for a first aid kit.

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