Home healthcare supplies can include anything from oxygen equipment and Hoyer lifts to the smallest of items like pill organizers and blood sugar testing strips. As medical technology advances, there are more effective products that are being created to fulfill individual medical needs. One of those needs is an easier, less painful way of bandaging wounds and changing soiled dressings.

Burn Wound Care Includes Infection Prevention

Burns are some of the most painful wounds to care for. Nerve endings are raw on burn areas, making gauze and tape changes excruciating. In the past, the only choice for holding a gauze pad onto the skin was by the use of medical tape. Unfortunately, the same qualities that make it gentle also make it lose its adhesive strength quickly. Gauze pads tended to fall off which in turn left the open area exposed to bacteria. Applying tape thickly to hold the gauze in place meant cutting through many sticky layers of adhesive, which caused discomfort to the patient.

The invention of non-adhesive wound dressings have changed all that. These specially-designed bandages are reusable and do an effective job of keeping the layers of protective dressings in place during movement. They come in many different shapes and can conform to any area of the body. A person can dress freely and be more active without worrying about coverings coming loose and germs invading the broken skin.

Proper care of injured and broken skin can now be treated without the use of tape, rolls of gauze, elastic wraps and miles of netting. The many advances of homecare medical equipment and supplies is making wound care much more hygienic. Many burn victims suffer not only from the pain of the burn itself, but from secondary infection.

Professional Nurses Give The Thumbs-Up On Non-Adhesive Alternatives

Plain gauze tends to curl up at the edges and get soiled easily. Manipulating the tape to change a dressing on a painful wound can cause more pain than the original injury. Non-adhesive alternatives cause the patient less pain. These new-age covers are more protective and allow for better healing.

Case studies have shown that non-adhesive dressings are more secure for areas of the body that bend like knees, elbows and heels. Dressing changes can be done less often, giving the area a better chance to heal. Skin quality also improves from lack of contact from adhesives. Professional nurses use them as quick and easy to applications that improve patient comfort level during wound care.