How to Make a Butterfly Bandaid

Make a butterfly bandage from items in your first-aid kit.

Treating a flesh wound with the right type of bandage helps protect your skin and allows the cut to heal properly, with minimal scarring. Small but deep skin punctures with clean, slightly gaping edges require a butterfly bandage. A butterfly bandage pulls together the edges of a cut and holds them in place to heal. While you can purchase ready-made butterfly bandages at a drug store, you can also make a butterfly bandage with items from a first-aid kit, should the need arise.

Things You'll Need

• Large adhesive bandage
• Medical scissors

Instructions

1. Determine that your cut needs a butterfly bandage, as opposed to an alternate wound treatment. Ensure that the cut is shorter than two inches, is deep, and has clean, slightly gaping edges.

2. Unwrap the adhesive bandage. Use medical scissors to cut a small wedge shape in either side of the gauze. Leave a thin "bridge" in the center of the bandage.

3. Remove the bandage's adhesive backing and apply the bandage in a perpendicular direction over your wound. Press one of the butterfly bandage's "wings" down firmly alongside the cut. Set the "bridge" portion of the bandage over the cut and gently pull the cut's edges closed. Press down the second of the butterfly's "wings" to keep the cut's edges sealed.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid bandages with stretchy fabric because it might be hard to properly seal the edges of the wound.

• Pursue medical assistance for your cut if it bleeds for more than 10 minutes, if its edges continually separate rather than sealing, or if it exhibits signs of infection, such as oozing discharge or excessive pain.

References

• First Aid Supplies Blog: Types of Bandages
• Utah Mountain Biking; Bandaging Materials