Tegaderm?

[Muffin Man]

So I crashed today and my hands got a little scraped up. I cleaned the wound, and put tegaderm on, following the instructions I found online. Now, there is a little pocket of fluid around the actual wounds, and the skin is turning white around the edges.

Being the first time I've had to use this stuff, is that normal behavior? Should I change it out so that the wounds can dry, or will the liquid go away after a while?

I'm not attatching pictures because they're open wounds, but if needed, I can take a couple of pics.

[pinoymamba]

normal.

[Muffin Man]

Cool thanks. It'll just go away with time?

[Uncle Jam's Army]

It's absolutely normal. Don't let this stop your use of Tegaderm. Try and create a little "catch" for the fluid. My son scraped up his knee pretty good this past August. We used Tegaderm, but the fluid was seeping below the Tegaderm patch. We changed the Tegarderm after the first day, put a second cotton swab patch below the Tegaderm as a catch for the fluid (taping off the bottom of that catch), changed it again after two days with the same protocol. After 7 days, the wound was completely healed, with no scabbing.

[Steve in SLO]

Do what UJ'sA says and you will be okay. The white is just fluid building up in damaged skin. You do not want the wound to dry out, as that will cause a scab to begin to form, negating the advantages of the skin healing under a dressing. Tegaderm is great for this, but Duoderm is better.

[Muffin Man]

Awesome. Thanks! It just looked bad with a little pocket of reddish liquid collecting under the film, and I've never used this before, so I just wanted to ask.

[kramnnim]

I draw a little trail of ointment from the wound out to past where the Tegaderm ends so the liquid has a nice path to drain out from.

What's really annoying is when sweat bubbles form under the film and create little pockets of pressure.

[vqdriver]

So how often are you supposed to drain and replace the dressing?

[Dead Man]

So long as you're sure the wound is clean and slathered well in triple antibiotic, you can leave the tegaderm on for as long as it stays well adhered. I've had a piece on for 5 or 6 days, I think.

As mentioned, it's good to have a place for the wound to drain out to. I'll see if I can find a pic from the last dose of road rash I got on my hip- built some non-stick gauz into the bottom, to soak up all the fluid draining out. Worked really well

[regularguy412]

So how often are you supposed to drain and replace the dressing?

I've always changed my dressings on road rash twice a day. I also went the extra mile and scrubbed the wound with hydrogen peroxide and a soft toothbrush to remove any scabbed material and imbedded gravel. I then applied antibiotic ointment under the tegaderm to make sure the wound stayed wet. Scarring is minimal and I could always bend the joints (skin didn't 'pull').

Mike in AR:beer:

[nooneline]

So long as you're sure the wound is clean and slathered well in triple antibiotic, you can leave the tegaderm on for as long as it stays well adhered. I've had a piece on for 5 or 6 days, I think.

As mentioned, it's good to have a place for the wound to drain out to. I'll see if I can find a pic from the last dose of road rash I got on my hip- built some non-stick gauz into the bottom, to soak up all the fluid draining out. Worked really well

Yup. Although I don't think I've ever gotten more than 2 or 3 days out of a piece. It tends to start coming up at the edges.

And doubleyup, try to have some of the fluid drain a little bit.

Tegaderm is great stuff. It basically IS the scab for you, so your wound stays moist underneath and can heal quite fast and comfortably.

I find tubular stretch netting to be a nice help to keep tegaderm on. Sometimes I'll put a gauze pad over the tegaderm just to catch any potential 'leakage' and tubular stretch netting helps hold it on, really securely and comfortably.

plus obvs it looks super pro.

[Dead Man]

Yup. Although I don't think I've ever gotten more than 2 or 3 days out of a piece. It tends to start coming up at the edges.

If it's anywhere that flexes a lot or rubs clothing significantly, then yea... couple days at best. The hip wound I speak of adhered really well because I just wore under armor compression boxer-briefs, which lightly compressed and protected the piece. I had two pieces I wore on that wound- the first with drainage for like 3 days until it stopped weeping, with all 4 edges reinforced with tape.. then I pulled that off, cleaned up the edges really well with alcohol (I live for danger), then applied a sheet with no drainage or tape... that one stayed for 5, maybe 6 days. Edges didn't come up at all, and it was actually kind of a bitch to get it up when I did finally decide to let the wound (now mostly healed) dry up.

[Gordito]

AFAIK (I'm a pharmacist in France), Tegaderm is a brand, not only a product. In France the common product under the brand Tegaderm is a thin waterproof layer that you put upon the actual dressing to take your shower.

But I bet you are talking about a "colloidal" dressing for humid cicatrization. If the wound is clean (i.e. not infected) this is the best treatment for open wounds but this already has been said above.

The colloidal stuff absorbs water produced by cicatrization but always let the wound humid to enhance healing and prevent scab. When absorbing humidity, the colloidal dressing becomes white at the wound area, it's a sign it will be easy/painless to remove (part that has become white doesn't stick anymore)

Unless it's infected, colloidal dressings is the best stuff. Change it when the white part has spread way beyond the wound. The first days it might require a daily change, later you should be able to keep it in place a few days (up to 3 or 4).

[Black Dog]

What tegaderm are we talking about? There are many variants under the tegaderm brand.

[palincss]

So I crashed today and my hands got a little scraped up. I cleaned the wound, and put tegaderm on, following the instructions I found online. Now, there is a little pocket of fluid around the actual wounds, and the skin is turning white around the edges.

Being the first time I've had to use this stuff, is that normal behavior?


Yes, normal. This is the best stuff in the world for road rash.

[thwart]

AFAIK (I'm a pharmacist in France), Tegaderm is a brand, not only a product. In France the common product under the brand Tegaderm is a thin waterproof layer that you put upon the actual dressing to take your shower.

But I bet you are talking about a "colloidal" dressing for humid cicatrization. If the wound is clean (i.e. not infected) this is the best treatment for open wounds but this already has been said above.

The colloidal stuff absorbs water produced by cicatrization but always let the wound humid to enhance healing and prevent scab. When absorbing humidity, the colloidal dressing becomes white at the wound area, it's a sign it will be easy/painless to remove (part that has become white doesn't stick anymore)

Unless it's infected, colloidal dressings is the best stuff. Change it when the white part has spread way beyond the wound. The first days it might require a daily change, later you should be able to keep it in place a few days (up to 3 or 4).

Good advice, but referring to a different product.

Tegaderm (and its generic equivalents) is a clear thin plastic sheet with an adhesive edge. Opsite is similar. If fluid builds up underneath with significant pressure, it will usually spontaneously find a way to drain a bit… if not, you can poke a tiny hole with a clean needle or pin. Ideally you actually want a small amount of fluid under the dressing to facilitate healing.

Great stuff. My skin reacts to the adhesive after a day or two, unfortunately.

[dpk501]

I just put gauze at the edges of the tegraderm to catch leakage. Definitely a must if you wear dress clothes everyday.

[Muffin Man]

Had to change the dressing out every day because it kept getting caught on stuff, but my hand is almost completely healed. This stuff works!

[palincss]

It's not cheap, but it's wonderful the way it sucks the pain out of the wound as soon as you put it on, and you never get those nasty itchy scabs. I can't stop myself from scratching & peeling off scabs; this is so much better.

[Dead Man]

It's not cheap, but it's wonderful the way it sucks the pain out of the wound as soon as you put it on, and you never get those nasty itchy scabs. I can't stop myself from scratching & peeling off scabs; this is so much better.

And it heals faster and cleaner than scabs anyway, which re-open and have to start over healing again every time a piece gets scratched off or rips off on clothing, etc.

I went through my pics of the crash I spoke of above and could not find any tegaderm shots, unfortunately. Could have sworn I snapped a couple, but they're not in the photo dump from that time, so I guess I didn't. I had patches on my hip, calf, forearms and the palm of my other hand. The calf really should have been tegadermed also, but I only did my hip, as it was the only part that wasn't going to just dry out on it's own. And my legs were hairy, so I knew the teg wouldn't stick well down there. The calf actually ended up weeping longer than I expected, which was lame. But when everything did finally skin over, the patch on my hip, which was by far the worst, was the FIRST to heal up completely. The parts that I let scab over took probably twice as long. As they neared being fully healed and the scabs started falling off and catching on clothes and crap, new wounds over the healed parts opened up and started bleeding all over again. Gah.

If you needed just one more reason to start shaving your legs for cycling, the ability to cleanly tegaderm wounds is a great one.

[Steve in SLO]

Do what UJ'sA says and you will be okay. The white is just fluid building up in damaged skin. You do not want the wound to dry out, as that will cause a scab to begin to form, negating the advantages of the skin healing under a dressing. Tegaderm is great for this, but Opsite is better.
After reviewing this thread, I saw an error in what I had originally posted, above. What I meant was Duoderm, not Opsite.
Sorry for any confusion.

[scoobydrew]

Sorry for the thread bump from the dead, but I just want to sing some praise for Tegaderm.

Went down on gravel a little over 2 weeks ago, which left some nasty deep road (gravel?) rash. Got home, cleaned out all the wounds, and applied some of the 4x6" patches where needed. I wish I knew about using Duoderm during the initial "oozing" stages as I was having to constantly either change out the patches or create a "drain" like some of the folks here have mentioned. Either way, using this went against everything I learned early on (i.e. to let it scab over).

This stuff is pricey at the local drug store, but it is well worth it. Some sellers on Amazon are selling it in bulk for as low as $8 for a pack of 25.

[Dekonick]

I won't get too much into wound healing, wound care, dressings, etc...

The most important thing to watch for in a covered wound is infection. Redness, heat, pain, foul odor and the like. When a wound is covered, it takes far fewer bacteria to result in infection thus before you apply any dressing, make sure it is clean.

:)

[Dekonick]

Sorry for the thread bump from the dead, but I just want to sing some praise for Tegaderm.

Went down on gravel a little over 2 weeks ago, which left some nasty deep road (gravel?) rash. Got home, cleaned out all the wounds, and applied some of the 4x6" patches where needed. I wish I knew about using Duoderm during the initial "oozing" stages as I was having to constantly either change out the patches or create a "drain" like some of the folks here have mentioned. Either way, using this went against everything I learned early on (i.e. to let it scab over).

This stuff is pricey at the local drug store, but it is well worth it. Some sellers on Amazon are selling it in bulk for as low as $8 for a pack of 25.

Amazing product. Expensive... but worth the expense.

[buddybikes]

ebay "transparent dressing box"and lot of different brands come up. I buy these by the 50 for diabetic pump/sensor reasons.