Easy to miss
Skin tears are a common injury among elderly patients with fragile skin. They can be caused by every day accidents such as falling over or bumping into furniture, as well as friction from clothing or new surfaces such as a wheelchair or hospital bed. Anyone who is caring for elderly patients should be aware of skin tears. They can be painful and upsetting for patients who are affected, but are frequently ignored, misdiagnosed or mistreated. This is a problem because a hastily applied bandage or the wrong choice of dressing risks causing more damage, and turning an acute wound into a serious problem.
In 1989, we changed wound care forever with the invention of Safetac® soft silicone. Offering an alternative to traditional adhesive dressings, those featuring Safetac® technology – such as Mepitel® One and Mepilex® Border Flex – can help reduce pain and trauma to the skin during dressing changes, making them particularly well suited to skin tears.
Mepitel® One is designed to facilitate safe and undisturbed healing including safe removal on skin tears where the flap is fully or partially intact
Mepilex® Border Flex - our next generation of flexible dressings are designed to stay on and uniquely conform, and with smart exudate management, providing confidence in leaving the dressing on longer. Suitable for a skin tear with total flap loss.
Managing skin tears
To become ‘skin tear aware’ carers need to consider the following:
Learn more about skin tears
Mepitel One
One-sided, soft silicone wound contact layer. Mepitel® One is gentle, durable and safe to use - optimising the healing process.
Technology
Dressings with Safetac: Proven choice for better outcomes
We heard how dressing changes were causing your patients too much pain and stress – disrupting the healing process. So we invented Safetac®. It changed wound care forever.
Skin tears: Preventing, assessing and managing them
Learn how to assess, manage, and most importantly, take appropriate measures to reduce the risk of patients developing skin tears through this training module. This course is presented by Mölnlycke and endorsed by the International Skin Tear Advisory Panel (ISTAP).
Skin tears
The role of dressings in the management of skin tears
'References'
