Any Bandaids that Work While Gardening?
Forum Archives
Axial
Posted: Jul-19-2004 at 5:37pm
I was wondering if anybody has a recommendation for some bandaids that have any hope of staying on longer than about 5 min. under sweaty, hot, dirty, garden gloves.
It's time to stock up again, and seeing as the last lot was bought about 5 years ago I'd say my consumption rate is low, but, ahem, "growing". I was amazed at the variety of types on the store shelves these days, foam, silver, waterproof, the choices seem endless.
I don't want to get paranoid, but it seems like digging in dirt with an open cut is probably inviting some gruesome disease, but there are times when I just can't abandon the day's project for a simple scratch, either.
Also, I found a fantastic pair of shoes for gardening, a great price and great quality, and I wondered if it would be ok to post the link and more comments.
Sheila [with two newly planted Forest Pansy Redbuds, and a Louisa Crabapple to go, and a friendly neighbor source of pachysandra all lined up for the back hill, thx for the suggestion, tommy!]
trav
Posted: Jul-19-2004 at 9:42pm
I find the "Nexcare" style bandages, that have adhesive around all sides of the pad, work pretty well - if put on clean skin.
Another one that stays on well is called something like "artificial skin". I don't remember the brand name though. It's a clear sticky plastic film that doesn't have a pad.
Travis
tommyb
Posted: Jul-20-2004 at 7:03am
After more than half a century of bleeding from my hands while working I have to strongly support the fabric bandages commonly available. Stay with the major brands, get the finger tip and whatever sizes of the strips you can find to have a selection to cover various sites that bleed. The best quality are North brand, available from Grainger, the picky wholesale house.
The best bandage I've found is made from surgical flexible fabric and Telfa pads from a good drugstore, hard to find in these days of chains and generic stores, but worth it for those little (or big) bleeders that the standard sizes just don't cover, like knuckles and in between fingers.
Combined with a hydrogen peroxide cleaning and some off the shelf antibiotic, most cuts heal quickly.
According to the "experts", most cuts come from using dull cutting tools---being forced to cut. Keep tools sharp and when they do slice you it won't hurt as much.
Also, a steady diet of chocolate thickens the blood and slows bleeding. Especially washed down with ample supplies of coffee.
Tom
Wanda
Posted: Jul-20-2004 at 7:22am
Good advice, Tommy - especially the chocolate!
Seriously, while we are one the subject of open wounds it is really important for people who work in the dirt to be up on their Tetanus shots. The Tetanus germ lives in the soil a very long time and usually in soil that has had farm animals on it. Think manure. That puts us gardeners right in the middle of it. Add an open wound and you are asking for trouble.
I am a firm believer in Hydrogen peroxide as well as soap and water. And as cheap as I am, I am overly lavish when it comes to band-aids and usually use two instead of just one to really cover the owwie and hold the band-aid in place. Also I like the fingertip ones and the knuckle ones. And I wear gloves.
You can post your link about your favorite gardening shoes. Maybe others will chime in with their favorites as well. And welcome to Rainyside, Sheila!
-Wanda
Axial
Posted: Jul-20-2004 at 12:39pm
Wow, I hadn't even thought about a tetanus shot, Wanda .. I don't think I've ever had one (except of course as a child with the DPT combo), even with 2 years in the Australian outback it just never came up. I've made a doc's appt for tomorrow, thx!
I think I'll make up an outdoor kit w/ peroxide, bandaids, antiseptic handwipes, etc, just so I don't have any excuse not to attend to a things. It's actually not so much cuts I make while I'm working outside, but the occasional knuckle scraper that gets irritated by the extra stress of gloves etc. And it's so annoying when you stop work, go inside, supposedly take care of it, get all the way outside again, and 2 min. later the bandaid's SOL from sweaty gloves, which is exactly what prompted this question.
I've wondered about the liquid plastic stuff, trav -- even thinking about doing a double-hit with that under and a bandaid over the works for extra protection under the gloves.
Maybe you should patent a special formulation, I can just see it now, "Tommy's RainySide Medicinal Chocolate Formulation", I even think my doc would approve of that one!
tommyb
Posted: Jul-20-2004 at 2:08pm
Cue W.C.Fields, stage left:
"Ah yes, my dear, another bottle of the Chocoelixer, and you know where to put the low carb kind. Yes, indeed."
A first aid kit is a good idea, I think I've got one with a Y2K label on it in the truck. What works for me is to have a roll of paper towels close to the back door to quench the blood flow on the way to the bandage drawer.
Of course if I could just get the gardener off the internet I wouldn't have these pesky cuts.
Be careful out there,
Tom
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton