Using Adhesive Wound Closures: First Aid for Minor Injuries

Video Transcript

" Hi! I’m Tracey Cullers on behalf of expertvillage.com. In this segment, I’ll show you how to use adhesive wound closures on a small superficial wound that has jagged edges. If you look here, there’s a little bit of problems with the edges not getting close enough. This could create an ugly scar. We’re going to put our gloves on. Anytime you touch a wound you need to have gloves on to protect the patient and yourself. Adhesive wound closures look like this. You can open them up and it’s difficult while wearing gloves, but you still need to wear the gloves. What you want to do is hold the edges as close together as possible so that the skin can naturally heal. You pull one strip off and you put it on the edge on the one edge. Take the next strip and put it on the far edge. Then one in between. You cleanse the area the next day with just slightly patting it with soap and water. After the several days, the Steri-Strips will naturally fall off and the wound should be closed. If it’s not at that point, you should go to your primary care physician."