Hydrocolloid Dressings

Even the safest surroundings cannot prevent small cuts, burns and abrasions from happening. Therefore, having some knowledge of wound care and management techniques can be very beneficial. We are lucky that we live in a time when wound care has considerably progressed as opposed to a few hundred years ago when some wound care techniques were quite brutal. A necessary part of wound care is keeping the wound from further irritation and infection by using an appropriate dressing. Wound dressings are an important piece of wound care and management. Over the years, wound care has come quite a distance and significant improvements have been created in this area.

Hydrocolloid dressings are among the most widely used types of treatments. It contains substances such as sodium carboxymethylcellulose which forms a gel after absorbing the exudates from the injury. In the initial phase after it is applied to a wound, it acts occlusive and does not allow water or bacteria through that it. However, once the gel is formed it slowly becomes permeable. These dressings help in granulation and epithelialization on the wound and promote debridement. Duoderm is one of the well known wound dressing that uses this technology.

What makes hydrocolloid dressings like duoderm a favorite will be the ease of take. It does not require frequent changing and can end up for up to seven days. Hydrocolloid dressings are also much easy to remove as compared with types of salad dressings. Hydrocolloid dressings don't stick to the wound itself; therefore, these are easily removable.

There are three types of hydrocolloids: paste, powder and sheet. If paste or powder is used to fill the wound bed, a sheet dressing are usually necesary to cover the wound. Sheet dressings are comfortable to use and are water resistant. These sheets come in a selection of shapes and thickness which makes them suitable for even difficult to wear body parts such as elbows and dated hounds.

When using a hydrocolloid dressing, a couple of the things to bear in mind are:

- When applying duoderm or every other hydrocolloid dressing, you will need to gently place you on the dressing for a little while. The reason is that hydrocolloids stick much better at body temperature. Keeping the hand over the dressing allows the heat from the hand to transfer towards the dressing.

- Choose a dressing with thin edges because the dressings with thick edges sometimes return at the edges and stick into the clothing

- When hydrocolloid dressings are removed they leave a residue on your bed of the injure. This residue should be removed before ascertaining the status of the injure.