First aid supplies I use when taking care of cuts
I wanted to write a post about the stuff I use to take care of my cuts, maybe it helps anybody. Please keep in mind that I’m not a medical professional and I still actively self harm so I don’t really have the best advice when it comes to recovering. This really is just what I use to take care of my body, what works for me is not guaranteed to work for you but I think most of this is pretty basic and stuff that’s just handy to have in your first aid kit.
Considering the subject I do want to state the following: I do not condone self harm, I don’t like the way we romanticize it on the internet. Harming yourself to any degree is a serious issue and warrants professional help. All harm is valid, all should be taken serious. I know it can be hard to, maybe it helps to ask yourself “If a loved one did this to themselves, how would I feel about it?”. You deserve help.
If you reached the fat layer, get stitches! It saves you supplies, you have less risk of infection and it heals faster. If you are able to, get stitches. It is a hassle to take care of cuts enough as it is. Smaller scars don’t mean your issues aren’t serious enough. Recognize signs of infection and see a medical professional if you are unsure. Taking care of them well and preventing infection is a lot nicer than dealing with the infection. I’ve had two and the antibiotics gave me a fungal infection. Make sure you get your tetanus shots too and if you have to harm, harm responsibly: clean tools, avoid joints/places where there is a lot of movement or friction. Grant yourself time to heal.
Some of these are probably pretty obvious, but including them anyway. It’s possible to be allergic to something on this list, I personally found my skin is a bit sensitive to some of the bandages’ adhesive, the places around my cuts will sometimes stay red for quite a while. I’ve had this issue mostly with large island bandages and the bandage roll I had before the one pictured, which was from Hansaplast.
Here are some useful resources:
Suicide hotlines
Crisis text line
Reddit index
Alternatives
Helpful apps
Cut here instead
Elastic adhesive bandage roll (looks like this)
For some reason it’s not that easy to find these in the US, so apologies for that. These are adhesive bandages you cut to size yourself. There are also these, but you’ll have to use dressing with them, don’t put sticky things on the wound itself.
Waterproof island dressing (looks like this)
They come in different sizes, although over here they aren’t available in stores over like 10cm. You can get the same effect with tegaderm + dressing. I personally like the ones from Hansaplast Aqua Protect because it has an antibacterial layer.
Sterile dressing
Come in different types, I usually use non-woven. I recommend hydrogel dressing for burns. I treat mine with the just regular dry dressing in combination with some medical cotton but it isn’t pleasant and sticks to the burn, can hurt to take off.
Betadine & cream (povidone-iodine)
Antiseptic. I use this when renewing the dressing on stitched cuts. Not on open wounds. My doctor also cleans the cuts after she put the stitches in with betadine.
Island dressing (looks like this)
These are more easily available in a broad range of sizes than the waterproof ones, I know over here they’re available at the pharmacy as big as 30cm.
Steristrips
These, or butterfly closures are kind of a must-have in my opinion. I prefer the 3M ones over the ones I get from the pharmacy though, I feel like they’re stronger. They can get pretty expensive. 3M has a bunch of different sizes up to like 1cm wide. I personally prefer steristrips above butterfly closures because the latter just doesn’t seem to stick to my skin at all. Plus I feel like steristrips have a stronger “grip”.
Cotton pads (do not use on open wound)
I mostly use these to clean tools. Don’t use them on open wounds because they’re not sterile and might get fibers in the wound.
Tegaderm roll (looks like this)
As stated above, I use these to DIY waterproof island bandages. Don’t shower right after putting them on, though. I’ve found if I get it wet right after putting it on it will sometimes get loose and it’s just wasted because it won’t stick anymore.
Saline
You can clean wounds with clean tap water, but saline is what my doctor uses to “flush” the wound with before she starts on stitches so I like to have a little bottle available myself as well, makes me feel a little more secure to rinse my deep cuts with saline instead of straight tap water.
Alcoholic disinfectant (do not use on open wound)
This stings on open wounds, pretty bad. I remember reading that it can also damage the tissue when used on open wounds. I use this to clean my hands/tools.
Medical tape
Couple different versions of these, I don’t use them much. I found the brown colored tape adheres to my skin better but the white tape contains a chemical that reduces risk of infection.
Skin friendly disinfectant wipes
The ones pictures are wipes moistened with saline. The one with alcohol seem to be more common but just like with the disinfectant: it stings. Not the nice kind of sting.
Calendula cream
Admittedly, I don’t use this a lot. But my doctor has recommended I do on multiple occasions. Reduces risk of infection.
Bandage & closure hooks
I prefer the thick kind of bandage you can use as a pressure bandage, helps reduce swelling. You can close them with tape too, but I find the tape doesn’t stick to textile that well so I prefer closure hooks.
Over here in the Netherlands you can find most of these at a drugstore or pharmacy, I get the tegaderm and saline from a webstore.
Also: here’s a playlist I add videos to every now and then that I think are funny.
areudirty
kaledo-art
vaporwave
yousharknotpass
