Some time ago, our three-year old daughter Giada bumped her forehead against our gate. She got an half-an-inch vertical cut right above the nasal septum.
In a situation like this, not only do you want to disinfect the wound, you also want to heal it in a way that does not leave a scar (if it were a boy, the scar would be okay, even prized). What to do? A friend of mine — a former firefighter — recommended the following procedure:
- Clean up the wound with clean water;
- Disinfect it with a clean cloth, fresh water, and antibacterial soap;
- Dry the skin around the wound;
- Hold together the two edges of the skin around the wound;
- Apply some Meridian Surgi-Lock 2oc Instant Tissue Adhesive
;
- Apply one or more butterfly closure strips
or, even better,3M Micropore white surgical tape
;
- Keep the area of the wound clean; after shower or baths, dry the area by gently tapping on it with a clean cloth, apply the Meridian adhesive again, then apply the closure strips or surgical tape.
For many years, people used the Band-Aid Liquid Bandage, containing 2-octyl cyanoacrylate, a human-safe version of superglue used by doctors. Unfortunately this product is no longer available. A quick Wikipedia search on octyl cyanoacrylate reveals it is a medical grade glue encountered under various trade names; e.g., LiquiBand, SurgiSeal, FloraSeal, Dermabond, Orabase, Surgi-Lock and Nexaband. This was developed to be non-toxic and less irritating to skin tissue.
Amazon carries Dermabond