Wound Care Question - Steri Stipping questions.

[Alone and Scared]

Hey, sorry to post another thread in a short space of time.

This is more a general question, rather than a self centered one......

Do you think it'd be possible to have a detailed Steri Strip thread? I looked on the wound care kind, and it does mention it in there, but not in great detail.

The only reason I ask; is because I'm being very useless at the moment and my SH is going down a dodgey route and I'm doing my own steri stripping.

I'd like to know;

How to put them on.
What length in relation to the wound they have to be.
How many cuts they can cover; what about if they are very, very close to one another.
What width is best for the steri strip.
How to put them on.

Also - how to take them off.
When to take them off.
How long to leave them.
And all those other lovely questions that are buzzing around my head that I can't type as my mind is frazzled!!

I'd be really grateful for any help; but I think a sticky or a thread, or something in the FA guide would be fab..... Sorry for being such a pain, it's just, I can only ask here and I daren't speak to anyone else about it just now.

Thank you to anyone who read and who replies. xx

[Tommo D]

once the wound is clean & dry and is not bleeding lots, pinch the edges of the wound together and place one steri strip at a time, starting from the center of the wound (the strips should be running across the cut as to make a bridge over a river). continue placing strips eavenly spaced along the entire length of the wound.
cover with a non stick dressing such as melolin or primapore.
you should leave steri strips on for around 5 to 7 days.
keep them dry and check for signs of infection when changing the top dressing every 2 or 3 days.
after the 5 to 7 days, carefully remove the strips one at a time by peeling them back towards the wound and lifting off.(if the wound opens after removing the 1st one, stop and apply a new one)
if they are difficult or painfull to remove, wet them with warm water which will make it easier to remove.

steri strips should only be used on cuts no deeper than 1/2cm and no wider than 1cm.
wounds larger than this may require stitches or glue.
hope this is of some help to you.

take care

[Animad]

There's a steri-strip/ wound closure article ready that will be put on the main site at some point hopefully not too long from now that goes into details about there use and when to use them and when not to.

We have got information in the Wound Care Guide and the Cuts FAQ in the meantime about the use of steri-strips. If you have any more specific questions or unsure of the articles feel free to ask these in a thread or PM me/ Bitter_Angel/ ~Aidey~.

[MISS BEHAVIN]

Hey no problems --- to put a streistrip on properly the area around the wound needs to be clean of blood and clear of debris other than that it's like putting a series of sticking plasters on the wound. Hope this helps and that the person in question heals properly and quickly.

xxx

[Alone and Scared]

Thank you for all of the help. xxxx