Why do bandages have use by dates

But for most wounds, it's best to cover them to prevent infection or re-open the wound. Change dressings or bandages daily or more frequently if they get dirty. It is not good to dry most wounds because they need water to heal. Exposing a wound without covering it under bandage may dry out new surface cells, increasing pain or slowing the healing process. This allows new skin and other cells to survive. It also helps protect the area from dust, bacteria and further damage.

Bandages can provide not only additional cushioning, increase comfort, but also help prevent reinjury until the wound is fully healed, so you can stay active and heal faster. The article above has described the usage of bandages as well as the need to use them within the length of perseverance.

Medical Non-woven and Accessories. Respiratory Care. Forlong Medical is one of the leading professional suppliers for high quality medical disposables, founded in Forlong Medical provides excellent customer service and support to its complete product range. News Category. Company News Industry News. Product Category. And as long as the bottle remains unopened, you can easily store such dressing past that date, even for a few weeks.

Once again, it's a matter of quality. Once you open the bottle, its contents usually keep well for about 3 to 6 months. Using your multipurpose solution beyond the discard date could result in contamination of the solution and can lead to severe infection, vision loss, or blindness.

If you find a full bottle and it has an expiration date on it and it has passed, do not use it. Use sterile saline solutions only for rinsing. However some items may not have an expiry date. These may include bandages , dressings, bleeding control pads, gauze pads, rolls of sterile gauze, adhesive strip bandages band aid , butterfly wound closures, triangular bandages , and adhesive tape. Well-maintained first aid kits are always ready to use.

Make sure you: replace items as soon as possible after they are used. Take them out of their original containers and mix them with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter. Put them in a sealable bag, empty can, or other container to prevent the medication from leaking or breaking out of a garbage bag. Plaster Bandage. The use of plaster for this type of bandage in Britain is allusion to the traditional use of sticky pastes to ensure the bandage stayed in place.

Like all medicines, Germolene Antiseptic Cream can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them. Do not use Germolene Antiseptic Cream after the expiry date which is stated on the carton and on the end of the tube. A leaflet giving general guidance on first aid. Contents list. Individually wrapped small, medium and large sterile gauze dressings.

Individually wrapped, sterile, triangular bandages. Safety pins. Sterile eye pads. Eye wash and eye bath. Do the items in first aid kits expire , and the answer is yes, some things do. If an item contains water or oil, it can become contaminated any time it is opened. This can be from dirty hands or improper storage. If an item contains chemicals, one or more of the chemicals can break down and lose effectiveness.

This quick run-through should explain what you should expect from different bandage types:. The jury is still out on this, and there are some factors that can help keep bandages safe from early rotting. That being said, many official groups have procedures in place when it comes to bandage replacement. Most military groups will replace bandages every three to four years. Some will wait for as long as five years before they replace them. Though somewhat rare, there are some bandage companies that do post expiration dates on their packages.

When in doubt, buying those types of bandages and following those guidelines is the safest option. These tips below can help:. Keeping your first aid kit clean, dry, and well-managed is the best way to make sure you get the most life out of your bandages.

Generally speaking, any kind of common-sense work you can do to keep your first aid kit looking pristine is a good idea. Along with knowing when your last bandage purchase was, there are a couple of other signs you can watch out for when trying to figure out if your first aid gear is past its prime.

These include:. Hey, I'm Jim and the author of this website. I have always been interested in survival, fishing, camping, and anything in nature. In fact, while growing up I spent more time on the water than on land! I am also a best-selling author and have a degree in History, Anthropology, and Music. I hope you find value in the articles on this website.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or input! My dad was a fisherman, my husband is a fisherman, so fish just seem to present themselves for cooking at my house on a regular basis. The two things about frying fish that have been taught to me