DailyDirt: Alternatives To Time For Healing All Wounds...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Wed, Feb 22nd 2012 5:00pm — Michael Ho

The days of barbers applying leeches as a healthy regime for bloodletting is long gone (thankfully). But there are still a lot of medical practices that haven't changed that much over time. The history of bandages stretches back thousands of years, so it's not too surprising that some improvements could be added to them. Here are just a few somewhat recent inventions for helping wounds heal.

Negative-pressure devices speed up the healing process for bandaged wounds by up to 300%. How it works isn't exactly known, but cheap and portable versions are being created and have been used on earthquake victims. [url]
3M has created a silicone-based adhesive for bandages that could hopefully eliminate the question of whether to rip bandages off quickly or to pull them off slowly. And in some 3M employee's 15% dream time, post-it notes for skin are being developed to replace tattoos. [url]
A fluffy cottonball-like material made of glass fibers could help heal wounds faster. The glassy fibers actually dissolve into open wounds and provide medicines to stimulate healing, but this stuff has only been tried on a dozen people so far. [url]
To discover more interesting science-related stuff, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: bandages, healing, leeches, treatments, wounds
Companies: 3m

13 Comments

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Rossini, 22 Feb 2012 @ 5:20pm

They still use leeches but the barbers are not usually applying them.
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- art guerrilla (profile), 23 Feb 2012 @ 4:24am
  
  Re: leeches
  beat me to it...
  not only still used, but used in 'merika; especially for cases where fingers/thumbs/etc are re-attached after getting severed, and the leeches are used on the appendages to stimulate blood flow...
  i think there are other reasons to use them, too...
  everything old becomes new again...
  art guerrilla
  aka ann archy
  art guerrilla at windstream dot net
  eof
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  - Pixelation, 23 Feb 2012 @ 8:13am
    
    Re: Re: leeches
    Maggot therapy is another one for the squeamish...
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Atkray (profile), 22 Feb 2012 @ 5:30pm

Anyone that has ever had the 2 day itchies from fiberglass insulation is going to be resistive to the idea of glass fibers healing.
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- Michael Ho (profile), 22 Feb 2012 @ 5:53pm
  
  Re:
  Yah.. I was wondering about the choice of glass, too. If researchers wanted to create "cotton-like fibers" for better bandages, why not modify cotton fibers (instead of using glass or some other materials)?
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  - Pixelation, 22 Feb 2012 @ 7:16pm
    
    Re: Re:
    I suppose the might make great insulation when they pass away...
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  - Rekrul, 22 Feb 2012 @ 7:39pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Yah.. I was wondering about the choice of glass, too. If researchers wanted to create "cotton-like fibers" for better bandages, why not modify cotton fibers (instead of using glass or some other materials)?
    
    I guess because cotton doesn't dissolve in the wound like this substance does.
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orbitalinsertion (profile), 22 Feb 2012 @ 6:37pm

Wound vacs are pretty good, in my experience. Never seen a little bellows pump version, though. That probably would be handy in field situations or for smaller wounds. The better 3M adhesive would go a long way to making this more comfortable when changing dressings. (Nothing like ripping off your skin around an open surgical wound for a bad experience.)
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Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 22 Feb 2012 @ 10:59pm

�The days of barbers applying leeches as a healthy regime for bloodletting is long gone (thankfully).�
No it isn�t.

This might also be of interest.
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- Michael Ho (profile), 22 Feb 2012 @ 11:18pm
  
  Re: �The days of barbers applying leeches as a healthy regime for bloodletting is long gone (thankfully).�
  sure, leeches are used in medical procedures.. but not by barbers! (Or remind me to avoid wherever you get your hair cut.)
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  - Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 22 Feb 2012 @ 11:59pm
    
    Re: �The days of barbers applying leeches as a healthy regime for bloodletting is long gone (thankfully).�
    �Barbers� also did surgery, back in the day when �doctors� considered that beneath themselves.
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Brock Phillimore (profile), 23 Feb 2012 @ 9:39am

HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy) is one of the most effective methods of reducing the amount of time it takes to heal. It increases the body's natural ability to create stem cells by 800%. You seem to heal like someone less than half your age. It is one of the worst kept secrets for professional sports teams to speed up recovery time.
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ShellMG, 23 Feb 2012 @ 10:36am

My mom used to work for the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor and told me about the leeches. I would hope they use them on unconsious or heavily-sedated patients.
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