11 November 2012

Health: Skin staples

So, I was in the emergency room recently, helping to restrain my son while the doctor applied skin staples to his scalp wound. I've had some experience with surgical staples myself (about 30 of them), but since I was unconscious when mine were applied I didn't know how quick and easy they were to put in. No anesthesia, three quick clicks and we were done. I do remember when I had mine taken out, and it was a quick and painless procedure. After removing my staples they covered the wound with butterfly strips.

Under ideal circumstances, I'd really prefer having my health care provider do this, but in an emergency it might not be a bad idea to have one of these on hand.

 
 

I did some research and it seems that the staples typically stay in for 10 to 14 days, depending on the location of the wound. A special tool is used to remove them.

Common sense disclaimer, I'm not a health care professional. Anything you choose to do is at your own risk.