Hansaplast – Cuts and grazes

About

Fortunately, the most common everyday injuries are minor wounds which can easily be attended to with a plaster.
Whether you have cut yourself while chopping some vegetables, grazed your skin while scratching along a wall or when falling on your hands – a plaster will attend to these minor injuries and help them heal better.

What kind of wound is it?

A cut with its dehiscent wound edges; © Hansaplast

A graze or abrasion extending to nerve endings; © Hansaplast

Cuts: A cut is an area of severed skin that has been penetrated with a sharp edge, such as a knife, a small tool or the edge of a sheet of paper (paper cuts are also painful). The wound will often bleed and have slightly dehiscent wound edges.

ABRASIONS CAN HURT BECAUSE
OF ALL THE NERVE ENDINGS
WE HAVE UNDER OUR SKIN

Grazes or abrasions: A usually harmless abrasion of the upper skin layers that occurs after falling on knees, hands or elbows, or scratching over a rough surface with some skin coming off subsequently. Abrasions can be painful since the injury often extends to the many fine nerve endings subjacent to the skin.

Treatment

How to treat minor wounds like a cut or abrasion

Step 1

Remember to wash your hands carefully before treating a wound. Any break in the skin can be susceptible to bacteria penetrating.

Step 2

Clean the wound carefully, wiping away any dirt and grit. Use a clean cotton cloth with Hansaplast Wound Spray or rinse with cold water, then pat area dry before applying a clean dressing.
Do not remove embedded objects, leave that to medical staff. Usually it is recommended to disinfect the graze or abrasion.

Step 3

In any case, cover the cut or abrasion with a plaster. A plaster will protect the injured area from friction, bacteria and contamination, will absorb wound fluid and create conditions in which the wound can heal undisturbed. Tip: Special Hansaplast plasters such as Elastic Antibacterial Plaster already contain antibacterial silver in its woundpad which will reduce the risk of infection.

Some simple steps for treating wounds:

Make sure, you wash your hands before applying plasters or dressings or wear disposable surgical gloves – this will cut the risk of infection.

A minor wound will soon stop bleeding.
If it does not, apply a little pressure to the spot with a non-stick pad until it stops.

If the bleeding continues, apply more gauze pads and keep
pressure on the wound and seek medical advice.

Clean the wound carefully, wiping away any dirt and grit. Use a
clean cotton cloth sprayed with Hansaplast Wound Spray or rinse
with cold water, then pat area dry before applying a clean dressing. Do not remove embedded objects, leave that to medical staff. If there is anything embedded in the skin, do not try to remove it. This should be left to a professional.

Disinfect, then cover the injured area with an appropriate dressing such as a wound pad, compress or an adhesive bandage.

Keep all cuts clean and change dressing regularly.

Expert tip

Carsten Hartkopf, Research & Development, Beiersdorf AG

Hansaplast Fast Healing will create moist wound healing conditions

“Did you know that you can speed up wound healing? Using a special plaster will create optimum conditions for moist wound healing, which will accelerate healing by up to 50 % and reduce the risk of scarring, Try Hansaplast Fast Healing for advanced results.

“USING SPECIALISED PLASTERS
SUCH AS FAST HEALING
WILL SPEED UP HEALING
BY UP TO 50 %”

Its advanced Polyurethane plaster technology ensures moist wound healing for optimal wound healing conditions and on top of that, flexible, breathable and waterproof material also ensures excellent skin tolerability.
Clinical studies show that this plaster will give you excellent cosmetic results.”

*Wigger-Alberti W. et al. J Wound Care
2009 Mar; 18 (3):123-28, 131

WOUND DRESSING KNOW-HOW

IS IT NOT BETTER TO LET SMALL WOUNDS DRY AT THE FRESH AIR, INSTEAD OF PUTTING ON A PLASTER?

No. It is a wound care myth that keeping minor cuts and grazes uncovered helps them to heal faster. The contrary is true. Research shows that covered wounds heal more efficiently and have a reduced risk of infection. Hansaplast products provide safe protection until the wound is completely healed. (Also see: Moist wound healing and Silver technology.)

WHEN SHOULD I CONSULT A DOCTOR?

We recommend to contact a medical professional in the following circumstances:

if the wound is deep and causes major bleeding
if the wound shows signs of infection such as redness, warmth, pain and swelling
if there are embedded foreign objects
in case of an animal or human bite or in case of contact with animal blood
if the wound is in the area of the face
if there is insufficient tetanus vaccination

and of course any time you have questions or are uncertain

IT LOOKS LIKE MY WOUND GOT INFECTED AND SUPPURATES - WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Contact a medical professional as soon as you recognise signs of infection. Symptoms include not only the occurrence of pus but also symptoms such as swelling, redness, heat, pain, itching or burning. In case of infection the wound will need medical care and special medical treatment.

PLASTER GUIDE - THE SPECIALISTS

Applying the right plaster can do a lot for your comfort and speed up healing. Find out what plaster is right for you.

The waterproof specialists
The Hansaplast Aqua Protect Strips as well as the Fast Healing and the Extra Robust Waterproof Plasters are waterproof and will not come off while washing or showering. All Hansaplast Universal Plasters as well as the Junior Plasters are also water resistant.

The elastic specialists
Check out the Hansaplast Elastic products: These plasters are made from specially flexible, breathable material, making them especially suitable for joints and moveable body parts; even for larger wounds on knees as they come in various sizes.

The finger specialist
Hansaplast Elastic Finger Strips –
they are extra long so that they stick perfectly on fingers. Moreover Hansaplast has a special “handset” with three different plaster shapes to fit fingertips and knuckles, available as well as a waterproof Aqua Protect version.

The sensitive specialists
If you have very sensitive skin we recommend to use Hansaplast Sensitive products. These plasters are especially developed for sensitive skin and are very skin friendly and hypoallergenic.

The antiseptic specialist
Looking to protect your wound from dirt as well as infection? Then try plaster which come with antiseptic ointments or an antiseptic such as Silver technology (i.e. Hansaplast Sensitive Antibacterial Plaster) which are designed to help avoiding infections even more effectively. Additional cleansing and disinfection before applying the plaster is recommended.

Solutions

A range of options

Make sure you have a staple of different bandages and wound dressings at hand so that you can properly protect your wounds. Covering your wounds the right way, is the first step towards healing.

The original Hansaplast Classic Plasters are suitable for covering all types of smaller wounds and should be a part of anyone's medicine cabinet.

The all-purpose Hansaplast Universal Plasters offer strong adhesion and come in different versions. For example, Hansaplast Universal Antibacterial Plasters offer added protection against infection with antiseptic silver in the woundpad. The Aqua Protect Plasters are ideal for protecting your wounds even while swimming and showering.

A plaster that protects your wound and can adapt to all of your movements is the Hansaplast Elastic Plaster. The Hansaplast Elastic Antibacterial Plaster also comes with added protected against infection.

For hypoallergenic wound protection consider Hansaplast Sensitive Plaster. It is made with soft and breathable material, is painless to remove and offers skin-friendly protection.

Prevention

Tips

When using sharp tools, be especially careful and if necessary, wear protective gear

In the kitchen, chop away from yourself and remember that sharp knives are actually less dangerous than blunt ones as they will pass through the object smoother.

Pass scissors with the sharp ends pointing away from the person you are giving them to.

It is not possible to avoid all cuts and grazes, so make sure to have a well-stocked first aid kit at home. Find tips on what it should contain here.

Don‘t pick at scabs. Right after you get a cut or scrape your body starts healing the wound. White blood cells attack infection-causing bacteria. Red blood cells, fibrin, and platelets create a clot over your wound. And in no time, a scab forms. If you pick off the scab, you may not only reopen the wound and introduce bacteria, you could also create a larger scar.

Cuts and grazes – Cut yourself or suffered from a graze? Attend to it properly so that your skin can recover quickly.

What kind of wound is it?

Expert tip

PLASTER GUIDE - THE SPECIALISTS

A range of options

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