Scratches With Smart First Aid (NAPS)—Afew first aid tips and some new advances in wound care, can help cuts, scrapes and bug bites heal quickly. Hints For Better Healing Some of the most common sum- Mer injuries are minor cuts and scrapes. From nasty spills off bikes and scooters to barefoot blunders, it’s important that we treat these wounds properly. “For our skin to heal mostefficiently, a three-step process is essential: Clean/Treat/Protect,” said Paula Elbirt, M.D., F.A.A.P., a leading New York pediatrician and an advisor to the Johnson & Johnson Wound Care Resource Center of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. “Clean a wound with a gentle antiseptic wash or soap and waterto help flush away irritants and kill germs; treat with an antibiotic ointment; and finally, protect with an adhesive bandage to keep the area moist and to prevent the wound from drying out and forming a scab. Contrary to popular belief, scabs actually impede healing and increase the chance ofscarring.” Bug bites and poison ivy are other common summerailments. “For best relief, use an over-thecounter anti-itch cream or calaminespray. For bites that have becomeirritated from scratching, treat them with an antibiotic ointment and protect them with an adhesive bandage for faster healing.” First Aid Advances “While it will always be important to call 911 for life-threatening emergencies and to consult a doctor for treating serious injuries, I’m pleased to see that actual hospital technologies are becoming available in over-the-counterfirst aid products to help consumers better care for minor mishaps,” Elbirt said. New bandages containing anesthetic on their pads help soothe the itching and throbbing of cuts. @ An advancement in wound cleansers has been madethis year by Johnson & Johnson with its BAND-AID Brand Hurt-Free™ Antiseptic Wash—thefirst wound cleanser to contain an anesthetic to relieve the pain of cuts and scrapes. Similarly, new bandages containing an anesthetic on their pads to soothe the itching and throbbing of cuts and large bug bites are also available. Additionally, to help control the bleeding of cuts and scrapes, calcium alginate—used for years by hospitals during surgery—is now woven into the pads of bandages and gauze to help stop bleeding faster. New BAND-AID Brand Quick Stop Adhesive Bandages and First Aid Brand Advanced Care Quick Stop Gauze Pads are the first products with this technology that are widely available to consumers.
