Soft Silicone Dressings, Gels & Adhesives--10 Incredible Healing Advantages

Soft Silicone Dressings, Gels & Adhesives--10 Incredible Healing Advantages

Introduction

Study after study, as well as field operations use (i.e., at emergency care facilities, nursing homes, etc.), have revealed the many wonderful advantages of soft silicone when used in wound care dressings, gels and adhesives.  Here are just a few of those now-proven advantages:

 

  1. This material belongs to a special class of solids which are naturally soft and tacky and which adhere well–that is, with few complications–to sensitive surfaces, such as damaged skin.  In fact, silicone gel therapy remains one of the most highly recommended forms of scar management options.
  2. Soft silicone has proven over and over again to possess low toxicity (if any).  This well-established biocompatibility has been confirmed by medical research information sources like the United States Pharmacopeia (USP).
  3. Dressings made of this material to date have rarely been shown to elicit or be involved in adverse skin reactions.  Things of this nature are closely monitored by agencies like the Center for Devices & Radiation Health (CDRH), the FDA’s Center for Devices & Radiologic Health, and the FDA in general.
  4. Soft silicone doesn’t lend itself well to being absorbed by the skin, which reduces chances of allergic or toxic reactions.
  5. This line of healing products is often covered with hydrophobic soft silicone layers that are tacky to the touch–this can help to keep wounds dry, thereby reducing chances for infection and skin rashes.
  6. Soft silicone dressings and adhesives tend to not stick to healing, highly-sensitive wounds while, at the same time, sticking to surrounding skin.  This marvelous property means less time is spent changing dressings and, in the long run, the fewer delays involved in the process save hospitals money.
  7. These products are designed to minimize skin trauma due to dressing/adhesive removal.  They also excel at not tearing skin up like some taped adhesives—i.e., adhesives containing hydroabietic acid or wood rosin.
  8. These products don’t leave any adhesive residues on the skin when removed–amazingly, this applies even when removal is conducted hastily.
  9. Soft silicone dressings help to minimize pain experienced either when applying or removing dressings and adhesives.  This is significant because studies have shown that pain-induced anxiety and stress can negatively affect wound healing outcomes.
  10. Soft silicone dressings offer excellent absorbency capacity, even for wounds that exude copiously and continuously.

Conclusion

Soft silicone dressings, gels and adhesives are the way to go when it comes to responsible, proactive wound care. This material, quite simply, has all the qualities you want in these products, without the complications and dangers inherent in other materials that have been tried over time.

In fact, other amazing benefits of soft silicone dressings, gels and adhesives include:

  • They generally don’t stick to hair, thus alleviating the fear that most people associate with dressings making contact with any hairy part of the body.
  • They don’t naturally attract (as other materials do) dead or dry skin cells—one of the reasons soft silicone products leave the skin undamaged and intact when removed.
  • They can easily be re-attached after being removed (possibly for bathing or for other reasons) without a significant amount of adhesion being lost.
  • They are very flexible and easily conform to unique body parts (i.e., elbows, knees, the neck, etc.).