From the injuries I got chowing down on some delicious concrete after getting launched off my bike, I noticed that keeping the wounds moisturized and clean heals up much nicer than the ones I let scab over and heal on their own. Not exactly a comfortable process, but effective.
Wouldn't have swayed me as a kid. From the perspective of an "Evel Knievel wannabe," scars (at least, non-facial ones) were desirable as proof one was a badass.
I did something similar, I ate some delicious rocks and dirt after I rolled a fourwheeler a couple times and face planted at a high speed, felt really good. I kept my face cuts covered with Neosporin and they healed fast but my ankle scab was kept dry because it was so huge and I am now regretting that because it keeps reopening and I tried to cover it with gauze, it healed to the gauze and when i took it off it was like I was taking off the whole scab 😀
@@shianamarieholmes9047 how long did u keep bandage on(as I’m days) so last Friday I fell off electrical scooter and scratched up my face and it’s almost been a week.should I keep it on for another week(I clean it 2-3 times a day on top of antibiotic doctor gave me please let me know tips!!! I don’t want a huge scar
@@tayo1438i fell off my electric scooter today and got my arm all scratched up, I’ve also got a scrape next to my right eye, it has become maroon now It just happened today I’m really worried about if it will become a scar on my face Did it heal for you? Please reply
There are only three phases of the healing process. They are 1 ouch, 2 anger and 3 revenge. For those doubters I will tell you this is especially true for inanimate objects.
Sometimes revenge happens before the anger. Its just the reaction to hit the offending item (with a hammer, say), then get mad at how stupid I was to do even more damage.
as a glassworker, and one that doesnt use gloves as often as i should, i have a tendency to get shallow cuts fairly frequently. in my experience, silver coated bandages give by far the best results. (available in pharmacies at least in finland, havent seen them outside one) silver being naturally anti bacterial, and since it doesnt dry out or get absorbed in your body, it remains there covering the wound keeping it clean of infections. my work isnt the cleanest and grinding glass uses water as coolant so they get wet often as well. and none of that seems to have any negative effects, the cuts dont even go red at the edges and heal much cleaner and faster than with any peroxide or antiseptic/ scab. trust me, i know what im talking about ^^ buy some silver coated bandages.
Copper also has anti-bacterial properties (hence socks with woven copper in them to combat stinky feet), I wonder if there are plasters with that in, and which is better.
@@Chilukar Copper can also leach into your bloodstream and stick around. Its similar to lead poisoning, but I'm not sure if it can leach from open wounds but inhalation/ingestion can cause it.
I had the oposite experience in tin smithing. Even if I sand with water it gets dirty with the particles of the car. Adding to that the work place of said job tends to be dirtier.
@ its not really an "if you can afford it" thing, the pack with 10 * 10cm strips totaling one meter, or a tad over 3feet costs 4.40 euros. (checked from the recipe). while an ordinary pack costs 4 or something like that, peanuts anyways. (which makes me wonder if we are talking about the same thing?) for me the difference is really noticeable. and i can say its not a placebo either since the first time i used them, i didnt know they were anything special (these look weird, *shrug). and the difference is, the cuts are not getting infected at all, not even inflamed. as said above, the edges dont even go red which was a big surprise for me. the cuts are also less touch sensitive. if you want to nitpick, then the time it takes for cuts to heal would need a direct comparison, for me the time went from around 2 weeks for cuts to be completely healed, to 1½. on average. tho, would that be a direct comparison, it is possible ive grown more carefull and tend to get smaller cuts now? plausible but id say no. would they work on burns, i dont know. i cant recall the last time i got burns. mine are mostly shallow cuts from cut glass, (razor sharp but a 90degree edge doesnt cut deep)
Some wounds don't heal when you have a bandage on, because sometimes the wound starts to heal into the gauze or bandage so everytime I change it it undoes all the healing tearing off the new bits.
That is what's called a "Degloving injury". It's what happens when the skin and tissue is removed. Like taking off a glove. Imagine the skin and tissue being the glove. What you experience is what's more commonly called a "Wet to dry bandage" effect. It's what docs use when they are trying to regrow new tissue on an injury. Basically the tissue sticks to the bandage and is removed when the bandage is. Try a dry bandage, maybe one with a built in antiseptic, like aloe, and try to keep it dry. Could also change daily, to prevent it from forming on the bandage.
Look for other kinds of bandages. There are lots of new bandage technologies in the pharmacy aisles. They cost more, but if you like comfort they are worth it.
Being a woodworker I'm constantly dealing with small wounds. Regular bandages don't stick to sweaty skin well. The fabric ones do a little better. Then I add a layer of cloth tape to keep the fabric bandage in place. Funny no one has mentioned the antibacterial cream with pain relief. That stuff is great at cutting the initial sensitivity down to a tolerable level.
This is a timely video. I was just thinking about this question today. I had another small skin cancer removed from my nose yesterday. The doctor didn't put a bandage on it, just told me to skip the bandage and keep it moist with an ointment. It just kept bleeding, though, and I didn't want to mess up my pillow so I put a bandage and ointment on it overnight anyway. (For the record: even though I'm a retired, elderly woman, I used a Snoopy bandaid because wounds still always feel better with a Snoopy bandaid.)
I scraped both my knees badly and decided to let both identical wounds heal one dry and one wet. The wet one dried in half the time and left no scar. Used a simple hydrocolloidal wound cream and nothing else, no bandages. The dry one developed a nasty big scab that ended up as thick as crocodile skin, was constantly reopened due to it being at the knee bend, and eventually it was so painful that I had to go to the ER. It wouldn’t let the wound underneath it heal and constantly was pulled at the edges and bled. There’s a big dark scar there now. I’ll always choose wet method with road rash
I was always taught if the wound wants to dry out( like a scab) then u want to keep them moist and if the wound oozes and is really wet then let it breathe UNLESS u r out and about in the world, dont risk an infection.
Being an Aviation Maintenance Engineer, I cut and bust my hands up quite often. Bandaids get in the way, they lose their sticky factor, they can't bend that well, they hold in dirt/dust and whatever else is collected while working. I let it air dry and i'm on my way. Been working great for 15 years.. I trust the millions of years of evolution can handle a cut. We can play "what if" all day. I'm not saying one is better than the other i'm just saying the practicality of bandaids in some environments is.. well, not there.
I have the same experience. Personally I only use bandaids or some tape to cover up a bleed but when the wound doesn't bleed anymore I take it off so it can heal faster. Especially during the night I tend to take off bandaids so you don't have to work with or around the place you have a wound (like a hand or joint). In my experience that way the wound heals much faster and you won't be strained with a couple of days that follow patching yourself up with bandaids every few hours because the wound stays moist.
@@dorkwell What kind of logic is that? Our Skull never evolved to handle impacts at those speeds, whereas a scrape, a cut... Thats been happening since skin was a thing, body is pretty damn good at taking care of cuts and scrapes lol. Think before you speak bud, terrible attempt at an analogy
I had a wound on my arm which I kept covered with a bandage for a few weeks, the wound didn't heal, the scab just turned soft. When I removed the bandage my wound healed in about a week. I definitely think that bandages have their place, and that they should be used if the wound is fresh and prone to getting dirt into it but once the wound has already closed then from my own experience it is just better to leave it and clean it every now and then.
yeah I don't think it's as clear cut as 'just keep it covered'. I've never had much luck using dressings, always seems to just prevent healing. Nature knows best, we've evolved to quickly recover.
@@syrus3k That's not how it works. As said in the video there are multiple clinical studies that prove moist bandages are better for your skin because it helps with cell regrowth. Nature does not "know best" because it can't know. Would you say the same thing about cancer? Or a broken bone? Just let it fester and become infected because "nature knows best"?
I had hydrocolloid dressings for a full depth burn (down to the muscle) on my left leg. They were a pain in the neck but it healed three times faster than similar burns treated with traditional methods IE weeks not 6 months.
From decades of experience, I can say my best results come from wearing a bandage when I'm awake and removing it while sleeping. This seems to be the best of both worlds. I always heal up faster than full on or full off.
the clinical studies probably didn't acount for when we sweat and wash our hands, the bandage gets wet and make great enviroment for bacteria gorwth.They probbaly did studies on hospital patients where the wounds are not on hand and they are not likely to get the banagde wet.
I'm actually not surprised that some amount of moisture is beneficial to healing. Tattoo artists are always telling their customers to moisturize the tattoo area while it is healing and tattoos are just very artistic wounds.
This video shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the benefits of the scab method over bandages. Bandages help keep the wound soft, delicate and vulnerable. If I use a bandage I have to be careful with the wound for maybe even a day or two. If I leave it with just the scab, I can be fully active and virtually care free with the wound in literally an minute or two. A scab is literal armour. Dirt on a softened bandages wound is a big problem, dirt on a crusty old scab is zero problem, the dirt isn’t going to mix with bodily fluids. Plus picking scabs is just plain fun, pulling off sticky bandages is horrible.
Thank you. I work with my hands and I never use bandages because I have to keep using my hands. A Scab acts like a "Shell" or a support, keeping the wound sit in 1 position for the most part so when you slide your hand across something hard, your scab takes the brunt and it doesn't hurt nearly as much. With a bandaid? Its irritation, the wound remains sore, etc, etc. Science may show "this > that" but real life and practicality > science in this one. (depending on what you do)
I personally have found my wounds heal a lot quicker when I just let them be and not pit a bandaid. Eg: With a bandaid, it takes 8 hours for a wound to stop hurting and me being able to work normally but if I left a similar wound alone, it would take less than 2 hours to go from open wound hurting a lot to not hurting at all!
I find bandaids are more useful if you have weepy sores. If it's just a cut, wear a bandage until the bleeding stops. If it's an infected wound or deep gouge then it's best to keep it covered even if it does scab over, and change bandages frequently. Neosporin is great, also.
After my endoscopic gall bladder removal surgery I dressed the wounds with a nonstick gauze bandage and triple antibiotic ointment. After a few days the wounds started to itch badly and they started to take on a greenish tinge. I treated them with hydrogen peroxide and it foamed a LOT. After that I finished cleaning the wounds with alcohol then rebandaged without the ointment then went to the doctor a couple days later. He said it was very smart of me to stop using the ointment and clean it as I did because from what he saw I stopped a gangrene infection that was resulting from the ointment keeping things too moist and the bacteria were overpowering the antibiotic properties of the ointment.
Plus scabs shrink in size effectively pulling skin together and "stitching" it. Honestly maybe modern bandaids are better but at least scabs are harder to mess up and work reasonably well.
@@ahmeeeeeeeeeeeed I have an open wound. There's no way I'm going to just leave it out. I put aloe and petroleum jelly on it, some gauze and a large bandaid. I hope there's minimal scarring because that would look crazy. Thank God for bandages.
I have the problem. Sometimes I use scotch tape to keep the bandage on, but a better solution is the wrap the area with veterinarian's tape. It's a little stretchy and sticks only to itself, not to skin or hair.
Especially in summer where there are 38 Celsius degrees... and that glue, tho'... so sticky and itchy... 😅 Bandages are probably better than the plasters
I dont agree, in my experience wounds that i covered with a plaster remained painful for longer as the wound did not close up as fast. Drying = shrinking, closing and clotting to me when I comes to small wounds, but it all depends on the size and nature of the wound. If you require a bandage then obviously it's better to keep the wound closed.
If it doesn't have time to scab, it shouldn't be as painful. I scraped my palm and I could actually use my hand if the bandage had some padding. But I let it dry too much and it scabbed over and then it was very painful.
I got a fairly gnarly burn on my right forearm as a welder. Tell you what, regular bandage changes and a bit of Slivadine later, you can barely see the scar. Silvadine is where it's at. 10/10 would recommend.
When my son had a huge skin scrape from riding his bike, the doctor slapped a piece of adhesive bandage (NOT a bandage-just the adhesive part, onto his raw, open, oozing wound. I gasped and thought he was nuts. BUT he said it would flex with movement, keep it moist and free of dirt, and help it heal better with NO pain when removed. I went home and changed it but found that there was no pain involved in removing it. The sticky part didn't stick to the wound since it was so wet. I've done that ever since, and am so glad he just put it on without asking since I may have said no. It goes against everything that seems natural, since taking a bandage off hurts like heck but taking adhesive off is painless when the wound has been covered completely - no scab ever grew and it healed so quickly.
So what I'm hearing is that there are advantages to using bandages such as less scarring, but there is really nothing wrong with letting them scab naturally. Great way of trying to sell bandages and triple antibiotic ointment scishow.
I usually use a bandage for wounds that are bleeding up until a strong enough scab is formed. They also help keep it from getting infected or cut open again while it’s still building the scab when I’m out and about.
lol pharmacist is a scam and killing people. They don’t help but only for money. Most dangerous medicine by a pharmacists is the one you don’t need for proscription, the best medicine for a pharmacy is the most expensive ones.
And there's always that one dumba** who refuses to follow any of the aftercare directions, and gets all surprised that their skin is peeling like the worst sunburn and they're complaining about the discomfort. Ugh.
@@becauseimafanUnless it's bandages then they have no reason.I put petroleum jelly,drank medicine,cleaned my wound every 6 hours,but still my bandage decided to fuse into my wound,cuz of that it tood 50 days to heal :( I'm never using bandages again ): Bandaids tho,they are useful in small wounds,most of the time I actually don't stick the bandaid entirely,as I knew that will obviously fuse the wound.I use mostly the items the doctor recommends me(except bandages),it's almost safe,maybe a bit painful,but it's pretty effective
I've been using liquid bandages for everything it seems to heal the fastest the cleanest but the only thing is that when you apply it it's antiseptic so it burns again like if you got hurt all over again but then you never feel it after it heals quickly and I prefer that over scars scabs and bandages any day!
I'm hit and miss on this because I'm lazy. I've gotten a lot of small to medium lacerations working & being a DIY'er.. and I noticed the stuff I take time to bandage after cleaning, rather than just cleaning & letting it heal up... well the bandaged injuries do tend to heal faster with myself. Cool to see the science behind this.
Clean the round. Apply antibacterial ointment and cover with a loose bandage so it stays clean while it naturally forms a scab. Once the scab is fully formed, remove the bandage and prevent allowing the area to be harmed until the scab falls off, which signifies complete healing. I thought everyone knew that.
The scab slows down healing by a ton. From what I read after the wound happens you clean and disinfect or whatever and then cover it with Vaseline so it doesn't get a scab.
@@johndor7793 John, from my experience, wounds that I covered healed slower. Scabs are also easier maintenance, don't have to frequently change dressings. Even if scabs do take longer, I feel like it way less of a hassle than using bandages.
@@jukio02 none of this is personal experience, but if you look it up it's been proven supposedly, if you let a scab form it will take much longer to heal Edit: for sure I thought it was a pain to keep my burn wound moist, definitely a hassle
@@johndor7793 I feel like it's way too much maintenance to keep changing the bandages when they get dirty, wet, falls off or whatever. When I let a scab form, I never have to worry about it any longer. I mean think about it, our bodies evolved in a way to treat wounds, by creating a natural bandage, to keep infection out and let the body heal itself. Bandages stop the natural healing process from happening, by keep the wound moist, so that it never creates a scab. As for healing time, I don't know if that is true or not, I'm kind of on the fence on that one. The ones that I covered, I felt like they healed slower, and the ones that I let dry out, healed quicker. I know it's just anecdotal evidence, but that's just how I saw it. Just recently I got a road rash, and by accident I didn't bandage all of my wounds, I let a few dry out, and the ones that dried out are healing quicker than the one I covered. Also, one of the ones I covered got some puss in them, I feel like maybe the oxygen would have prevented puss from forming, because if I do recall, oxygen can kill off some bacteria. Anyways, it's just from my experience.
@@jukio02 tbh I thought my moist wound was healing slower but I didnt feel comfortable mentioning it since I technically didnt have some kind of formula to track its healing progress
I never considered whether or not they were better. I've just never got a small wound infected, which is the prime incentive to use a bandage. If it's a big wound or a cut, then I use bandages, but a scratch or getting pierced by spikes? I just wash the wound and go off with my life.
Small cuts clean the wound give it air. This is especially beneficial if you have to work and say have a cut or blister on your hand... keeping the wound moist will soften the tissue around it and often make it open up worse especially in areas that get used more frequently. Deeper wounds... Super glue works wonders... deeper then that you need stitches and your probably not going to be able to work through it so baby it all you want. The science may work in a controlled environment but all bets are off when you have to apply it out in the real world.
hmm, strange, when I had a bad dog bite, my doctor made a huge issue of NOT bandaging it because animal bites are have more risk of infection because of bacteria transference. I can not remember his reasoning why, but I do remember he was worried about animals bites being more likely to cause infections.
Here is the truth. Bandages of any size have only two purposes; first stemming the loss of blood and secondly preventing outside infection. If your child scrapes his/her knee, the first thing you should do is clean the wound with a disinfectant of some kind (iodine, peroxide etc). After that the scab will form quickly without any further intervention required. Placing a small bandage on a small scrape does not help at all (except a placebo effect I suppose). Bacteria love moist environments. The key is to keep bacteria away. When bacteria is removed the human body has it all under control. The scab is far better than any dirty bandage, if your child picks it off, give the wound a wipe with iodine and let it reform.
While I agree that corporate interests have far too much influence over studies that should independently hold them accountable, that's not true 100% of the time.. Besides, it's not like there's a bloody Scab Company, is there? :P ..Sorry to pick at your comment but I just couldn't resist ;D
The most important thing is keeping the wound clean. If that means covering it to keep outside contaminates away, then cover it. If that means keeping it exposed to prevent holding in a bunch of sweat and grime, then keep it exposed. If you cover it, change the bandage at least daily. if you go without a bandage, wash it regularly with soap and water. Bandages also provide protection from further irritating the wound. This should also be taken into account.
When i use a bandage, it bleeds for longer than just leaving it exposed... Requiring me to change the bandage... Which has essentially fused with the wound, so removing it hurts and reopen it.
I work in the service industry. Been doin it for over 13 years. Now I'm switching from a gastronomical service to a health service. Before I had lots of cuts. Now I'll have lots of bruises. I didn't use any health aid for surface level injuries and when a broken piece of glass cuts through half your palm a bandaid won't help. I don't have infections, because of my gastronomical and lifestyle choices my immune system is much better at responding to threats than 99% of my immediate environment. The only scars I have are for big injuries like an open fracture or a sowed back thumb tip. You don't need a bandaid to heal the same way you don't need antibacterials for a running nose caused by a viral infection. In my current line of work bandaids are required for even superficial injuries but I find them to cause more harm than good so I go for 10 minutes, smoke a cig, staunch the bleeding and I'm back to it. We touch consumables with gloves anyway.
the moisture under the bandage prevents the blood from drying and blocks the wound from knitting together. When the blood dries, it sticks the cut together like glue and gives the fibers something to latch onto and form around. Blood can't do this when it's wet. Personally, my cuts usually close up within an hour, but when I cover them with band-aids, it takes days for them to close. I notice my cuts already knitting together within a day after they close up except when I have them covered in band-aids. Bandages are fine for keeping dirt out of wounds and for quickly stopping major bleeding, but if you're not doing anything that will get your wound dirty, it's absolutely best to keep it exposed.
Also, band-aids aren't good at keeping your wounds clean in the long-term. Depending on the part it's covering, it may bend and separate some from the skin, giving dirt an opening to get stuck in, and the sticky band-aid will guarantee that the dirt that gets under it will get stuck under it. Band-aids should be changed multiple times a day. Personally, I would only put one band-aid on a wound then leave it uncovered unless I had to do something urgent that required it to be covered.
I put a bandaid on for maybe the first day or two of a pretty bad injury to let it heal a good bit without interruption but during that time when I would leave pressure on it (my arm) it would start to get wet which actually isn’t good for the healing process because then the wound isn’t progressing by closing or covering. So haven’t worn one since then
I don't know about the literature, but for myself I've run many personal experiments on my own wounds, documenting how long they take to heal with and without bandages, and i've found time and time again those without bandages have healed much faster. I understand it's anecdotal, after all a study of 1 is meaningless, and i have also noticed the scars do show up more prominent without band aids, but never the less on my body they seem to heal faster, some times by up to 2 weeks faster. I have only experimented with the normal cotton bandages vs scabs, so maybe those expensive medical bandages with the antibacterial gell that claims to prevent scars and keep it moist are the TRUE SOLUTIONS. Ill have to try those next and see if those are the missing peace to faster better healing.
This is true with me as well. The longer you keep the scab, the less of a scar you leave behind. Our bodies are designed this way. The blood contains most of the body's repair cells.
I don't know, for me at least, I feel like a bandage takes longer for a wound to heal. If I just let the wound dry out and form a scab, I no longer have to worry about it, no maintenance of bandaging it up, I can just let it be and not worry about it. I got a road rash once, and I didn't do this on purpose, but I covered a few abrasions, and let the other ones dry out. I feel like the ones that I let dry out healed quicker, and the ones I covered healed slower. Also, the maintenance for the ones I covered, were a pain in the ass, because of frequently changing them, leaking fluid, etc. If I would have let it dried out, no fluid leakage, no changing the bandages a few time a day, don't have to really worry about infections, because the dry blood is preventing any bacteria to get in, where as the bandages were kind of vulnerable because they weren't sealed completely. Just my experience.
@@christaran A sticking plaster is what we call the small adhesive dressing for a wound in the UK. Bandage sounded weird especially as to us it's a surgical cloth used for winding round stuff to hold it onto a larger wound.
Superglue. Actually, please don't do that unless you just don't have an option for some reason. It'll work in the short term if you need to seal and go, but it might make the wound worse by pulling and poking around the wound.
@Jamie Boyett Doesn't surprise me to hear. CA sticks to skin and nails (btw, nail repair compound is totally just CA) better than just about anything it's normally used to repair. But man, any time I had to reach for some in a pinch, it always added more pain to the healing process. I'm assuming there's probably more steps and care when using it surgically, compared to my boneheaded self patching a paper cut.
On average, minor wounds close within 48-72 hours. If you cant be bothered with band aids till it's completely healed, the first 2-3 days are the critical time you'll get the most benefit.
I swear by neosporin, gauze and sports tape to keep it all together when healing from a knee scrape. That's what I've always done. Even when I COMPLETELY ruined my knee by skidding across pavement a few feet. I swear, my pants were soaked in blood, and my dad had to rush to get me out of school. Not only that, but he had to carry me because it hurt so bad. (I got a smelly marker out of it so WORTH IT.)
Just setting themselves up for Adpocalypse 2.0: Invasion of the Channel Snatchers. That'll be when all the Fortune 500 consumer goods companies agree to buy keywords and the RUclips execs will insist channels feature images of their products. Then 3.0 hits and the companies take money from lobbyists like RT, BBC, Fox and CNN, all trying to push other countries economies down for cheaper prices on their exports. Money and Politics has no place in Science and Art, no place. They should not be allowed safe harbor at any time, or next thing you know, it's a full scale takeover.
I mostly put on band aids when I feel like a scar would be annoying in that place. I should cover all of them, though, as I tend to pull off the scabs as soon an they're dry.
Is there any way to heal scars? And another question: why do anxious people like me mess with every single thing on your skin like scabs and pimples til they become a huge bloody wound?
There are creams that claim to 'heal' scars, but they're usually expensive and I'm not sure if they really work. There are also more drastical methods like suggested above. I find that they usually fade quite a bit over time, but preventing them is probably still the best solution.
There’s creams which can slightly fade your scars but I don’t think there’s anything that can actually get rid of your scars. Over time, the scars fade a lot, so I’d say just wait, but it takes a long time. My oldest scar that I know of has now reduced to a a very _very_ faded stain, this took about a year, and my scar started fading in like 5 months or so.
And fidgeting with your skin is quite normal, even for people without anxiety. It becomes kinda like an obsession, and you’re tempted to do it everytime you’re not doing it.
I tear my scabs away every few days which creates more damage but oddly doesn't scar as much compared to leaving them alone. Bandages aren't very effective the skin needs to dry out. Many of my wounds do not bleed so waiting for the liquid layers under the surface to dry out then digging in and tearing them away first is required for bleeding to begin. After that stage I can use a bandage.
It enormously depends on the wound. In minor cases I only use a plaster (band-aid) to staunch blood flow as those things just annoy me. Learning to live with small wounds is much better for anxiety IMHO - just get on with your life. In serious cases I defer to a professional for the reasons I first gave: treatment enormously depends on the wound.
As someone who injures themselves in a minor way on a regular basis, I can offer my *conclusive* sample of n = 1; A combination of both works best. Start with the band-aid and some triple antibiotic ointment, then after a day or 2, lose the band-aid and let the skin dry out again. 1) Wound will close in a clean and moist environment, minimizing the scar potential and maximizing cell growth. 2) Skin will then callous over, preventing the wound from being inadvertently reopened again. For deep wounds that won't stay closed on their own; clean, dry, *superglue* , then band-aid & triple antibiotic, and open for final healing and toughening up again, as above. :)
Agreed. I don't mind that they *have* a built in advert--they have to pay the bills and I like the content so I want them to keep being able to pay the bills. I think there needs to be a better balance between actual content and sponsored stuff though.
I don’t mind the pain, it sounds crazy I know. But, when I got hit by a car on my bike I had a lot of back pain. Moving was hard, but now that it’s all healed I enjoy my time without the pain.
For minor cuts on arms or legs, rather than deal with itchy scabs or lengthy bandage maintenance, I prefer amputating affected limbs, then cauterizing the stump with a red-hot frying pan. Because this MAY cause some fainting, amputation should be done OVER an ice-filled sink or tub to maximize chances for a successful re-attachment at some later date. (Ask you doctor if amputation is right for you.)
please make a scishow bandage.
Was just about to comment that haha
But make them flexible
and affordable!
Ishan Sinha: Normal flex, but ok.
I'd love them to have SciShow Pee logo!
Plus, Bandaids stop me from accidentally breaking my scab and starting the healing process all over.
James Nguyen “accidentally”
@@ThePylon2 You got me.
Same. I'm obsessive-compulsive about scratching, so...
When i take bandaids off they always reopen the wound
@@OrionMoonliar You have to wait longer.
Instead of either of those, how about flex tape to fix wounds
It even works underwater!
Avery The Cuban weird flex but ok
Coming to a store near you
Pff. I always use super glue for cuts, gets better results than stiching ;P
That make wound glue already. It was going to replace stitching after surgery but wasn't effective. But, for cut its awesome.
From the injuries I got chowing down on some delicious concrete after getting launched off my bike, I noticed that keeping the wounds moisturized and clean heals up much nicer than the ones I let scab over and heal on their own. Not exactly a comfortable process, but effective.
Wouldn't have swayed me as a kid. From the perspective of an "Evel Knievel wannabe," scars (at least, non-facial ones) were desirable as proof one was a badass.
I did something similar, I ate some delicious rocks and dirt after I rolled a fourwheeler a couple times and face planted at a high speed, felt really good. I kept my face cuts covered with Neosporin and they healed fast but my ankle scab was kept dry because it was so huge and I am now regretting that because it keeps reopening and I tried to cover it with gauze, it healed to the gauze and when i took it off it was like I was taking off the whole scab 😀
@@shianamarieholmes9047 how long did u keep bandage on(as I’m days) so last Friday I fell off electrical scooter and scratched up my face and it’s almost been a week.should I keep it on for another week(I clean it 2-3 times a day on top of antibiotic doctor gave me please let me know tips!!! I don’t want a huge scar
@@tayo1438i fell off my electric scooter today and got my arm all scratched up, I’ve also got a scrape next to my right eye, it has become maroon now
It just happened today
I’m really worried about if it will become a scar on my face
Did it heal for you?
Please reply
There are only three phases of the healing process. They are 1 ouch, 2 anger and 3 revenge. For those doubters I will tell you this is especially true for inanimate objects.
With better wording, this is gold
I agree Dr David barnes stuff 2
If I bump myself on something, I tend two pat and stroke it to soothe it. No revenge, because I blame myself.
Sometimes revenge happens before the anger. Its just the reaction to hit the offending item (with a hammer, say), then get mad at how stupid I was to do even more damage.
Kill the paper. Kill the ground.
i, a responsible adult, still swear by my star wars bandages
And there's nothing wrong with it.
Same. I love my Hello Kitty bandaids.
I just bought some new Mickey Mouse Band-Aids-
Millennials😒
@The Only Alan Assuming you're not a troll, have you ever considered that maybe part of being mature is not being afraid of children's things?
as a glassworker, and one that doesnt use gloves as often as i should, i have a tendency to get shallow cuts fairly frequently.
in my experience, silver coated bandages give by far the best results. (available in pharmacies at least in finland, havent seen them outside one)
silver being naturally anti bacterial, and since it doesnt dry out or get absorbed in your body, it remains there covering the wound keeping it clean of infections.
my work isnt the cleanest and grinding glass uses water as coolant so they get wet often as well. and none of that seems to have any negative effects, the cuts dont even go red at the edges and heal much cleaner and faster than with any peroxide or antiseptic/ scab.
trust me, i know what im talking about ^^ buy some silver coated bandages.
Copper also has anti-bacterial properties (hence socks with woven copper in them to combat stinky feet), I wonder if there are plasters with that in, and which is better.
@@Chilukar Copper can also leach into your bloodstream and stick around. Its similar to lead poisoning, but I'm not sure if it can leach from open wounds but inhalation/ingestion can cause it.
endorsed by the (permanently) blue man group
I had the oposite experience in tin smithing. Even if I sand with water it gets dirty with the particles of the car. Adding to that the work place of said job tends to be dirtier.
@
its not really an "if you can afford it" thing, the pack with 10 * 10cm strips totaling one meter, or a tad over 3feet costs 4.40 euros. (checked from the recipe). while an ordinary pack costs 4 or something like that, peanuts anyways. (which makes me wonder if we are talking about the same thing?)
for me the difference is really noticeable. and i can say its not a placebo either since the first time i used them, i didnt know they were anything special (these look weird, *shrug).
and the difference is, the cuts are not getting infected at all, not even inflamed. as said above, the edges dont even go red which was a big surprise for me. the cuts are also less touch sensitive.
if you want to nitpick, then the time it takes for cuts to heal would need a direct comparison, for me the time went from around 2 weeks for cuts to be completely healed, to 1½. on average.
tho, would that be a direct comparison, it is possible ive grown more carefull and tend to get smaller cuts now? plausible but id say no.
would they work on burns, i dont know. i cant recall the last time i got burns.
mine are mostly shallow cuts from cut glass, (razor sharp but a 90degree edge doesnt cut deep)
Some wounds don't heal when you have a bandage on, because sometimes the wound starts to heal into the gauze or bandage so everytime I change it it undoes all the healing tearing off the new bits.
That is what's called a "Degloving injury". It's what happens when the skin and tissue is removed. Like taking off a glove. Imagine the skin and tissue being the glove. What you experience is what's more commonly called a "Wet to dry bandage" effect. It's what docs use when they are trying to regrow new tissue on an injury. Basically the tissue sticks to the bandage and is removed when the bandage is. Try a dry bandage, maybe one with a built in antiseptic, like aloe, and try to keep it dry. Could also change daily, to prevent it from forming on the bandage.
Look for other kinds of bandages. There are lots of new bandage technologies in the pharmacy aisles. They cost more, but if you like comfort they are worth it.
Non stick wound pads will help this.
Put Neosporin or petroleumjelly before you put bandage
I agree, I just put turmeric powder on wounds and it works for me.
Being a woodworker I'm constantly dealing with small wounds. Regular bandages don't stick to sweaty skin well. The fabric ones do a little better. Then I add a layer of cloth tape to keep the fabric bandage in place. Funny no one has mentioned the antibacterial cream with pain relief. That stuff is great at cutting the initial sensitivity down to a tolerable level.
This is a timely video. I was just thinking about this question today. I had another small skin cancer removed from my nose yesterday. The doctor didn't put a bandage on it, just told me to skip the bandage and keep it moist with an ointment. It just kept bleeding, though, and I didn't want to mess up my pillow so I put a bandage and ointment on it overnight anyway. (For the record: even though I'm a retired, elderly woman, I used a Snoopy bandaid because wounds still always feel better with a Snoopy bandaid.)
I’m glad you got it removed. Rooting for you!
I scraped both my knees badly and decided to let both identical wounds heal one dry and one wet. The wet one dried in half the time and left no scar. Used a simple hydrocolloidal wound cream and nothing else, no bandages.
The dry one developed a nasty big scab that ended up as thick as crocodile skin, was constantly reopened due to it being at the knee bend, and eventually it was so painful that I had to go to the ER. It wouldn’t let the wound underneath it heal and constantly was pulled at the edges and bled. There’s a big dark scar there now. I’ll always choose wet method with road rash
"Well, bad news, Team Scabs!"
I need to work this phrase into my day-to-day interactions.
Join a Union.
I was always taught if the wound wants to dry out( like a scab) then u want to keep them moist and if the wound oozes and is really wet then let it breathe UNLESS u r out and about in the world, dont risk an infection.
I just add a drop or two of peppermint oil. Kills any infections going on in there. XD
Being an Aviation Maintenance Engineer, I cut and bust my hands up quite often. Bandaids get in the way, they lose their sticky factor, they can't bend that well, they hold in dirt/dust and whatever else is collected while working.
I let it air dry and i'm on my way. Been working great for 15 years.. I trust the millions of years of evolution can handle a cut.
We can play "what if" all day. I'm not saying one is better than the other i'm just saying the practicality of bandaids in some environments is.. well, not there.
I have the same experience. Personally I only use bandaids or some tape to cover up a bleed but when the wound doesn't bleed anymore I take it off so it can heal faster. Especially during the night I tend to take off bandaids so you don't have to work with or around the place you have a wound (like a hand or joint). In my experience that way the wound heals much faster and you won't be strained with a couple of days that follow patching yourself up with bandaids every few hours because the wound stays moist.
So you prefer to bleed all over your tools?
Taxtro most minor injuries don't even bleed enough for it to get off your hand
@@dorkwell What kind of logic is that? Our Skull never evolved to handle impacts at those speeds, whereas a scrape, a cut... Thats been happening since skin was a thing, body is pretty damn good at taking care of cuts and scrapes lol.
Think before you speak bud, terrible attempt at an analogy
I’m glad you’re not trying to say one is better than the other, since science already did that for you and bandages are better.
Buy better bandaids
I had a wound on my arm which I kept covered with a bandage for a few weeks, the wound didn't heal, the scab just turned soft. When I removed the bandage my wound healed in about a week. I definitely think that bandages have their place, and that they should be used if the wound is fresh and prone to getting dirt into it but once the wound has already closed then from my own experience it is just better to leave it and clean it every now and then.
Bandages at first after a while scab
I also have a wound on arm. I kept it covered, but no signs of healing even after 3 days. Now I kept open the wound.
yeah I don't think it's as clear cut as 'just keep it covered'. I've never had much luck using dressings, always seems to just prevent healing. Nature knows best, we've evolved to quickly recover.
@@syrus3k That's not how it works. As said in the video there are multiple clinical studies that prove moist bandages are better for your skin because it helps with cell regrowth.
Nature does not "know best" because it can't know. Would you say the same thing about cancer? Or a broken bone? Just let it fester and become infected because "nature knows best"?
well, it shouldn't scab in the first place if you clean it effectively and put a moist bandage on it
I had hydrocolloid dressings for a full depth burn (down to the muscle) on my left leg. They were a pain in the neck but it healed three times faster than similar burns treated with traditional methods IE weeks not 6 months.
Gordon Lawrence sounds more like it would be a pain in the leg but ok
I wear them so that i dont keep pulling on a scrap or wound. Helps keep it small and me from feeling unnecessary pain
I agree, I just put turmeric powder on wound... thanks to our ancestors.
From decades of experience, I can say my best results come from wearing a bandage when I'm awake and removing it while sleeping. This seems to be the best of both worlds. I always heal up faster than full on or full off.
the clinical studies probably didn't acount for when we sweat and wash our hands, the bandage gets wet and make great enviroment for bacteria gorwth.They probbaly did studies on hospital patients where the wounds are not on hand and they are not likely to get the banagde wet.
I'm actually not surprised that some amount of moisture is beneficial to healing. Tattoo artists are always telling their customers to moisturize the tattoo area while it is healing and tattoos are just very artistic wounds.
This video shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the benefits of the scab method over bandages.
Bandages help keep the wound soft, delicate and vulnerable. If I use a bandage I have to be careful with the wound for maybe even a day or two. If I leave it with just the scab, I can be fully active and virtually care free with the wound in literally an minute or two. A scab is literal armour.
Dirt on a softened bandages wound is a big problem, dirt on a crusty old scab is zero problem, the dirt isn’t going to mix with bodily fluids.
Plus picking scabs is just plain fun, pulling off sticky bandages is horrible.
Thank you.
I work with my hands and I never use bandages because I have to keep using my hands. A Scab acts like a "Shell" or a support, keeping the wound sit in 1 position for the most part so when you slide your hand across something hard, your scab takes the brunt and it doesn't hurt nearly as much.
With a bandaid? Its irritation, the wound remains sore, etc, etc.
Science may show "this > that" but real life and practicality > science in this one. (depending on what you do)
I personally have found my wounds heal a lot quicker when I just let them be and not pit a bandaid.
Eg: With a bandaid, it takes 8 hours for a wound to stop hurting and me being able to work normally but if I left a similar wound alone, it would take less than 2 hours to go from open wound hurting a lot to not hurting at all!
I find bandaids are more useful if you have weepy sores. If it's just a cut, wear a bandage until the bleeding stops. If it's an infected wound or deep gouge then it's best to keep it covered even if it does scab over, and change bandages frequently. Neosporin is great, also.
After my endoscopic gall bladder removal surgery I dressed the wounds with a nonstick gauze bandage and triple antibiotic ointment. After a few days the wounds started to itch badly and they started to take on a greenish tinge. I treated them with hydrogen peroxide and it foamed a LOT. After that I finished cleaning the wounds with alcohol then rebandaged without the ointment then went to the doctor a couple days later. He said it was very smart of me to stop using the ointment and clean it as I did because from what he saw I stopped a gangrene infection that was resulting from the ointment keeping things too moist and the bacteria were overpowering the antibiotic properties of the ointment.
I had a major wound that took almost a year to heal. I used wet/dry bandaging. Worked great!👍😎
Took almost a year to heal.... I would not say "Worked great!" lol
Idk if it’s just me but every time I use a band aid they never heal and only get larger from not drying out and skin falling off
Yeah, same. I feel like for me at least, it takes longer to heal the wound with a bandage on. Let a scab for, and let it be.
Plus scabs shrink in size effectively pulling skin together and "stitching" it. Honestly maybe modern bandaids are better but at least scabs are harder to mess up and work reasonably well.
@@ahmeeeeeeeeeeeed I have an open wound. There's no way I'm going to just leave it out. I put aloe and petroleum jelly on it, some gauze and a large bandaid. I hope there's minimal scarring because that would look crazy. Thank God for bandages.
I'll still take scabs
Scabs are free and i wouldn't need to find them and that's good enough
The bandage keeps me from scratching the hell out of healing wounds and prolonging the process, so Team Bandage.
So I'm not the only one who gets that itch phase!
“crunchy little scab”. I felt that in my soul
Still gonna wear my scabs thanks, I sweat so much so where I usually get injured I can't even keep plasters stuck on.
I have the problem. Sometimes I use scotch tape to keep the bandage on, but a better solution is the wrap the area with veterinarian's tape. It's a little stretchy and sticks only to itself, not to skin or hair.
Especially in summer where there are 38 Celsius degrees... and that glue, tho'... so sticky and itchy... 😅
Bandages are probably better than the plasters
As someone who’s had to take care of surgery wounds for months, bandaging is essential to healing well.
I dont agree, in my experience wounds that i covered with a plaster remained painful for longer as the wound did not close up as fast. Drying = shrinking, closing and clotting to me when I comes to small wounds, but it all depends on the size and nature of the wound. If you require a bandage then obviously it's better to keep the wound closed.
If it doesn't have time to scab, it shouldn't be as painful. I scraped my palm and I could actually use my hand if the bandage had some padding. But I let it dry too much and it scabbed over and then it was very painful.
Who knew that the best solution would be to cover the wound with cement? Amazing.
And it covers them up so you won't pick at them! I'm an avid picker...so many scars...
I feel you...
I feel you
That's the main reason I'll use a bandaid for a small cut too.
Same. I can't even count how many scars I have caused that way...
BOTH! bandaid when it’s still fresh and sensitive- scab after the initial injury occurs. And back to bandaid after shower/cleaning of wound
I got a fairly gnarly burn on my right forearm as a welder. Tell you what, regular bandage changes and a bit of Slivadine later, you can barely see the scar. Silvadine is where it's at. 10/10 would recommend.
When my son had a huge skin scrape from riding his bike, the doctor slapped a piece of adhesive bandage (NOT a bandage-just the adhesive part, onto his raw, open, oozing wound. I gasped and thought he was nuts. BUT he said it would flex with movement, keep it moist and free of dirt, and help it heal better with NO pain when removed. I went home and changed it but found that there was no pain involved in removing it. The sticky part didn't stick to the wound since it was so wet. I've done that ever since, and am so glad he just put it on without asking since I may have said no. It goes against everything that seems natural, since taking a bandage off hurts like heck but taking adhesive off is painless when the wound has been covered completely - no scab ever grew and it healed so quickly.
So what I'm hearing is that there are advantages to using bandages such as less scarring, but there is really nothing wrong with letting them scab naturally. Great way of trying to sell bandages and triple antibiotic ointment scishow.
I usually use a bandage for wounds that are bleeding up until a strong enough scab is formed. They also help keep it from getting infected or cut open again while it’s still building the scab when I’m out and about.
Love this. As a pharmacist I get people every day tell me they need to keep their wound dry and I say NO!
lol pharmacist is a scam and killing people. They don’t help but only for money. Most dangerous medicine by a pharmacists is the one you don’t need for proscription, the best medicine for a pharmacy is the most expensive ones.
Literally anyone who has had tattoos should know that moisture is important to heeling without scaring...
And there's always that one dumba** who refuses to follow any of the aftercare directions, and gets all surprised that their skin is peeling like the worst sunburn and they're complaining about the discomfort. Ugh.
@@becauseimafanUnless it's bandages then they have no reason.I put petroleum jelly,drank medicine,cleaned my wound every 6 hours,but still my bandage decided to fuse into my wound,cuz of that it tood 50 days to heal :( I'm never using bandages again ):
Bandaids tho,they are useful in small wounds,most of the time I actually don't stick the bandaid entirely,as I knew that will obviously fuse the wound.I use mostly the items the doctor recommends me(except bandages),it's almost safe,maybe a bit painful,but it's pretty effective
I've been using liquid bandages for everything it seems to heal the fastest the cleanest but the only thing is that when you apply it it's antiseptic so it burns again like if you got hurt all over again but then you never feel it after it heals quickly and I prefer that over scars scabs and bandages any day!
She didn't bring that up.It's very good for paper cuts.
I'm hit and miss on this because I'm lazy. I've gotten a lot of small to medium lacerations working & being a DIY'er.. and I noticed the stuff
I take time to bandage after cleaning, rather than just cleaning & letting it heal up... well the bandaged injuries do tend to heal faster with myself.
Cool to see the science behind this.
#TeamScab - Bandages work great when you're in a filthy midieval (or modern) hospital with a fly problem, but scabs have evolved to get the job done.
Clean the round. Apply antibacterial ointment and cover with a loose bandage so it stays clean while it naturally forms a scab.
Once the scab is fully formed, remove the bandage and prevent allowing the area to be harmed until the scab falls off, which signifies complete healing.
I thought everyone knew that.
The scab slows down healing by a ton. From what I read after the wound happens you clean and disinfect or whatever and then cover it with Vaseline so it doesn't get a scab.
@@johndor7793 John, from my experience, wounds that I covered healed slower. Scabs are also easier maintenance, don't have to frequently change dressings. Even if scabs do take longer, I feel like it way less of a hassle than using bandages.
@@jukio02 none of this is personal experience, but if you look it up it's been proven supposedly, if you let a scab form it will take much longer to heal
Edit: for sure I thought it was a pain to keep my burn wound moist, definitely a hassle
@@johndor7793 I feel like it's way too much maintenance to keep changing the bandages when they get dirty, wet, falls off or whatever. When I let a scab form, I never have to worry about it any longer. I mean think about it, our bodies evolved in a way to treat wounds, by creating a natural bandage, to keep infection out and let the body heal itself. Bandages stop the natural healing process from happening, by keep the wound moist, so that it never creates a scab. As for healing time, I don't know if that is true or not, I'm kind of on the fence on that one. The ones that I covered, I felt like they healed slower, and the ones that I let dry out, healed quicker. I know it's just anecdotal evidence, but that's just how I saw it. Just recently I got a road rash, and by accident I didn't bandage all of my wounds, I let a few dry out, and the ones that dried out are healing quicker than the one I covered. Also, one of the ones I covered got some puss in them, I feel like maybe the oxygen would have prevented puss from forming, because if I do recall, oxygen can kill off some bacteria. Anyways, it's just from my experience.
@@jukio02 tbh I thought my moist wound was healing slower but I didnt feel comfortable mentioning it since I technically didnt have some kind of formula to track its healing progress
Bandaids are also really good at protecting your wounds however minor from accidental harm, like when they are on your finger.
This is very true. There's nothing worse than one of these cuts that keeps reopening by accident, and a tight bandage will definitely prevent that.
I never considered whether or not they were better. I've just never got a small wound infected, which is the prime incentive to use a bandage. If it's a big wound or a cut, then I use bandages, but a scratch or getting pierced by spikes? I just wash the wound and go off with my life.
Theseasonorg explains the whole Bible God bless.
Scabs are good because you can pick at them.
Roadrash shows the most difference
Personally tested. Left smaller roadrash to open air and covered the larger wound and then I found out for myself.
would you mind sharing your results? this comment just says that an experiment happened, not what the experiment showed.
What about liquid bandages?
Your body has its own process that works.
Thankfully nursing school taught me this, I’m happy the public can now be educated on it as well :)
Small cuts clean the wound give it air. This is especially beneficial if you have to work and say have a cut or blister on your hand... keeping the wound moist will soften the tissue around it and often make it open up worse especially in areas that get used more frequently. Deeper wounds... Super glue works wonders... deeper then that you need stitches and your probably not going to be able to work through it so baby it all you want. The science may work in a controlled environment but all bets are off when you have to apply it out in the real world.
Super glue is a terrible idea, as it isn't designed to come in contact with the skin, let alone wounds.
ivanlagrossemoule I wonder why they use it in lieu of stitches in hospitals then?
hmm, strange, when I had a bad dog bite, my doctor made a huge issue of NOT bandaging it because animal bites are have more risk of infection because of bacteria transference. I can not remember his reasoning why, but I do remember he was worried about animals bites being more likely to cause infections.
Here is the truth. Bandages of any size have only two purposes; first stemming the loss of blood and secondly preventing outside infection. If your child scrapes his/her knee, the first thing you should do is clean the wound with a disinfectant of some kind (iodine, peroxide etc). After that the scab will form quickly without any further intervention required. Placing a small bandage on a small scrape does not help at all (except a placebo effect I suppose). Bacteria love moist environments. The key is to keep bacteria away. When bacteria is removed the human body has it all under control. The scab is far better than any dirty bandage, if your child picks it off, give the wound a wipe with iodine and let it reform.
"Bandage research brought to u by the Bandage Company"
While I agree that corporate interests have far too much influence over studies that should independently hold them accountable, that's not true 100% of the time..
Besides, it's not like there's a bloody Scab Company, is there? :P
..Sorry to pick at your comment but I just couldn't resist ;D
@@WindKing0 no worries, it was sarcastic comment anyways.
I use both. First 2 days depending on the size, I use honey and bandage. After that, I usually take it off and let the wound heal on its own.
My body heals just fine without intervention
The editing on this was pretty good
The most important thing is keeping the wound clean. If that means covering it to keep outside contaminates away, then cover it. If that means keeping it exposed to prevent holding in a bunch of sweat and grime, then keep it exposed. If you cover it, change the bandage at least daily. if you go without a bandage, wash it regularly with soap and water. Bandages also provide protection from further irritating the wound. This should also be taken into account.
When i use a bandage, it bleeds for longer than just leaving it exposed... Requiring me to change the bandage... Which has essentially fused with the wound, so removing it hurts and reopen it.
I work in the service industry. Been doin it for over 13 years. Now I'm switching from a gastronomical service to a health service. Before I had lots of cuts. Now I'll have lots of bruises.
I didn't use any health aid for surface level injuries and when a broken piece of glass cuts through half your palm a bandaid won't help.
I don't have infections, because of my gastronomical and lifestyle choices my immune system is much better at responding to threats than 99% of my immediate environment. The only scars I have are for big injuries like an open fracture or a sowed back thumb tip. You don't need a bandaid to heal the same way you don't need antibacterials for a running nose caused by a viral infection.
In my current line of work bandaids are required for even superficial injuries but I find them to cause more harm than good so I go for 10 minutes, smoke a cig, staunch the bleeding and I'm back to it. We touch consumables with gloves anyway.
what if the blood dries and sticks to the bandage and your skin. you will have to tear the wound open to take off the bandage.
Exactly,it happened to me,and it happened in the worst part ever,my priv part
the moisture under the bandage prevents the blood from drying and blocks the wound from knitting together. When the blood dries, it sticks the cut together like glue and gives the fibers something to latch onto and form around. Blood can't do this when it's wet.
Personally, my cuts usually close up within an hour, but when I cover them with band-aids, it takes days for them to close. I notice my cuts already knitting together within a day after they close up except when I have them covered in band-aids.
Bandages are fine for keeping dirt out of wounds and for quickly stopping major bleeding, but if you're not doing anything that will get your wound dirty, it's absolutely best to keep it exposed.
Also, band-aids aren't good at keeping your wounds clean in the long-term. Depending on the part it's covering, it may bend and separate some from the skin, giving dirt an opening to get stuck in, and the sticky band-aid will guarantee that the dirt that gets under it will get stuck under it. Band-aids should be changed multiple times a day.
Personally, I would only put one band-aid on a wound then leave it uncovered unless I had to do something urgent that required it to be covered.
I put a bandaid on for maybe the first day or two of a pretty bad injury to let it heal a good bit without interruption but during that time when I would leave pressure on it (my arm) it would start to get wet which actually isn’t good for the healing process because then the wound isn’t progressing by closing or covering. So haven’t worn one since then
I don't know about the literature, but for myself I've run many personal experiments on my own wounds, documenting how long they take to heal with and without bandages, and i've found time and time again those without bandages have healed much faster. I understand it's anecdotal, after all a study of 1 is meaningless, and i have also noticed the scars do show up more prominent without band aids, but never the less on my body they seem to heal faster, some times by up to 2 weeks faster. I have only experimented with the normal cotton bandages vs scabs, so maybe those expensive medical bandages with the antibacterial gell that claims to prevent scars and keep it moist are the TRUE SOLUTIONS. Ill have to try those next and see if those are the missing peace to faster better healing.
This is true with me as well. The longer you keep the scab, the less of a scar you leave behind. Our bodies are designed this way. The blood contains most of the body's repair cells.
I don't know, for me at least, I feel like a bandage takes longer for a wound to heal. If I just let the wound dry out and form a scab, I no longer have to worry about it, no maintenance of bandaging it up, I can just let it be and not worry about it. I got a road rash once, and I didn't do this on purpose, but I covered a few abrasions, and let the other ones dry out. I feel like the ones that I let dry out healed quicker, and the ones I covered healed slower. Also, the maintenance for the ones I covered, were a pain in the ass, because of frequently changing them, leaking fluid, etc. If I would have let it dried out, no fluid leakage, no changing the bandages a few time a day, don't have to really worry about infections, because the dry blood is preventing any bacteria to get in, where as the bandages were kind of vulnerable because they weren't sealed completely. Just my experience.
Your skin may fall off if too moist like when you do the dishes so I believe skin needs to be dry to cement back together
I wear plasters so I don't bleed all over everything, simple =|
I bleed to show dominance.
that's basically the reason i do it, you're not alone.
@woolley Blood is my bandage.
@Amy You put plaster on your wounds instead of a bandage? Super weird O_o
@@christaran A sticking plaster is what we call the small adhesive dressing for a wound in the UK. Bandage sounded weird especially as to us it's a surgical cloth used for winding round stuff to hold it onto a larger wound.
Tegaderm/saniderm for the win! Especially for tattoo healing
Good stuff, I've used them for cuts, scrapes and burns with very good results.
Superglue.
Actually, please don't do that unless you just don't have an option for some reason. It'll work in the short term if you need to seal and go, but it might make the wound worse by pulling and poking around the wound.
@Jamie Boyett Doesn't surprise me to hear. CA sticks to skin and nails (btw, nail repair compound is totally just CA) better than just about anything it's normally used to repair.
But man, any time I had to reach for some in a pinch, it always added more pain to the healing process. I'm assuming there's probably more steps and care when using it surgically, compared to my boneheaded self patching a paper cut.
Now I can send my mom this video when she tells me to “let my wound breathe” and continue covering my injuries.
i really wish you didn't describe scabs as "crunchy"
I had such a reaction when she said that.
I know, right? They're more chewy than crunchy.
why does the phrase "crunchy little scabs" sounds so appetizing?
I should invent the fine cuisine of fried scab
I read the title as "What's Better for Wounds: Scraps or Bondage?"
On average, minor wounds close within 48-72 hours. If you cant be bothered with band aids till it's completely healed, the first 2-3 days are the critical time you'll get the most benefit.
I swear by neosporin, gauze and sports tape to keep it all together when healing from a knee scrape. That's what I've always done. Even when I COMPLETELY ruined my knee by skidding across pavement a few feet. I swear, my pants were soaked in blood, and my dad had to rush to get me out of school. Not only that, but he had to carry me because it hurt so bad. (I got a smelly marker out of it so WORTH IT.)
The bodies natural way of healing is always the best
Brought to you by: Band-aid
Just setting themselves up for Adpocalypse 2.0: Invasion of the Channel Snatchers. That'll be when all the Fortune 500 consumer goods companies agree to buy keywords and the RUclips execs will insist channels feature images of their products. Then 3.0 hits and the companies take money from lobbyists like RT, BBC, Fox and CNN, all trying to push other countries economies down for cheaper prices on their exports.
Money and Politics has no place in Science and Art, no place. They should not be allowed safe harbor at any time, or next thing you know, it's a full scale takeover.
I mostly put on band aids when I feel like a scar would be annoying in that place. I should cover all of them, though, as I tend to pull off the scabs as soon an they're dry.
i would have like to hear about "wound licking" cuz i heard that it also speeds up the healing process and since animals do it..
Can you make SciShow band aids? I mean, scishow scabs aren’t as..helpful
I tried both but neither helped the wound on my heart.
did you apply them directly to your heart? I ask because they only work if they are directly on the wound, not just near it.
Copious quantities of alcohol work well, I've heard.
@@bcubed72 alcohol does clean out wounds...
Thank you. I am sending this to my daughter.
Wearing Band-Aids and such as a kid was like a badge of honor and gave a chance to tell a story of how it happened.
Is there any way to heal scars? And another question: why do anxious people like me mess with every single thing on your skin like scabs and pimples til they become a huge bloody wound?
Because humans have been shown to prefer anything over boredom. Even pain
There's nothing to heal on scars. But if you want to get rid of your trophies there is laser removal and potentially surgery.
There are creams that claim to 'heal' scars, but they're usually expensive and I'm not sure if they really work. There are also more drastical methods like suggested above. I find that they usually fade quite a bit over time, but preventing them is probably still the best solution.
There’s creams which can slightly fade your scars but I don’t think there’s anything that can actually get rid of your scars. Over time, the scars fade a lot, so I’d say just wait, but it takes a long time. My oldest scar that I know of has now reduced to a a very _very_ faded stain, this took about a year, and my scar started fading in like 5 months or so.
And fidgeting with your skin is quite normal, even for people without anxiety. It becomes kinda like an obsession, and you’re tempted to do it everytime you’re not doing it.
I tear my scabs away every few days which creates more damage but oddly doesn't scar as much compared to leaving them alone.
Bandages aren't very effective the skin needs to dry out. Many of my wounds do not bleed so waiting for the liquid layers under the surface to dry out then digging in and tearing them away first is required for bleeding to begin. After that stage I can use a bandage.
You guys should do a group video with Seeker!
It enormously depends on the wound. In minor cases I only use a plaster (band-aid) to staunch blood flow as those things just annoy me. Learning to live with small wounds is much better for anxiety IMHO - just get on with your life. In serious cases I defer to a professional for the reasons I first gave: treatment enormously depends on the wound.
As someone who injures themselves in a minor way on a regular basis, I can offer my *conclusive* sample of n = 1;
A combination of both works best. Start with the band-aid and some triple antibiotic ointment, then after a day or 2, lose the band-aid and let the skin dry out again.
1) Wound will close in a clean and moist environment, minimizing the scar potential and maximizing cell growth.
2) Skin will then callous over, preventing the wound from being inadvertently reopened again.
For deep wounds that won't stay closed on their own; clean, dry, *superglue* , then band-aid & triple antibiotic, and open for final healing and toughening up again, as above. :)
Micro brain has left the chat
I use both things and find it better, but this is just for band-aids on small cuts.
Jeez. That was like 50-60% advertisement.
Agreed. I don't mind that they *have* a built in advert--they have to pay the bills and I like the content so I want them to keep being able to pay the bills. I think there needs to be a better balance between actual content and sponsored stuff though.
Nah. 30% at most.
This one surprised me, I am going to test it on myself before I believe it...where did I leave my knife?
Self harm gets a free pass so long as you say "For SCIENCE!" as you do the cutting.
I don’t mind the pain, it sounds crazy I know. But, when I got hit by a car on my bike I had a lot of back pain. Moving was hard, but now that it’s all healed I enjoy my time without the pain.
For minor cuts on arms or legs, rather than deal with itchy scabs or lengthy bandage maintenance, I prefer amputating affected limbs, then cauterizing the stump with a red-hot frying pan. Because this MAY cause some fainting, amputation should be done OVER an ice-filled sink or tub to maximize chances for a successful re-attachment at some later date. (Ask you doctor if amputation is right for you.)
I have amputated your limbs before
But you can't eat a bandage
The hell you can't! They're delicious.
I'm just trying to find what bandage type to pick out for my abrasion wounds😭😭
Another reason to wear bandages - you won't feel the need to pick at the scabs
But you replace it with the need to pick at the bandage. :D I never managed to keep one for more than a day.
I like keeping them scab cuz the texture feels nice
Makes sense to me as to why bandages were created in the first place