Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
come adherent to the base. To drain the fluid, the skin should be cleaned, preferably with
povidone-iodine, and a sterile needle inserted underneath the skin and into the blister from
a point 3 to 5 mm beyond its edge.
If the roof of the blister has been torn away, the injury should be treated just like an
abrasion: covered with a nonadherent inner layer and protected with a thicker outer layer.
(An improvised dressing for large, unroofed blisters is described previously in this chapter
under “Abrasions.”)
Variousproprietaryproductsforcoveringblistersareavailable.Theseareeitherdouble-
layeredproductswithwhichfrictionmovesonelayerovertheother,hydrocolloiddressings
thateliminate frictionattheskinsurface,oracombinationofthetwo.Allarethinandvery
smooth.
The feet should be kept as clean as possible to reduce the risk of infection.
Skin Cracks
In dry or in wet and cold conditions, skin cracks are common on fingers and hands.
Barefoot porters often suffer from deep and painful skin cracks on the soles of the feet.
Such cracks may not heal in a humid and dirty milieu. They may be closed by carefully
applyingadropofskinglueinthecrackandwaitinguntilthegluedries.(Dropsoftheglue
must not be splashed in the eyes, and the glue must not be touched as long as it is moist
because it will stick to whatever touches it.) The crack heals from the inside and the glue
progressively appears at the skin surface where it wears off. Sometimes repeating the ap-
plication is necessary.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search