Medical bandage
In the field of medicine, wrappings or bandages have long been used to prevent injury, in addition to providing for protection against re-injury. For example, limbs are wrapped to prevent injury or re-injury to skin, tendons, muscles and/or ligaments as well as to provide support. Adherent bandages or adhesive tapes are commonly used to cover wounds, cuts, blisters, and the like. Such adherent articles typically include an adhesive material that is applied to or used in conjunction with a substrate material. Bandages of many kinds are available for many different parts of the human body, for covering and protecting cuts, burns and other injuries. First-aid bandages or strip bandages (also referred to as finger bandages) are well known first-aid devices for covering contusions and abrasions. Skin-contact adhesive products, such as bandages, tapes, dressings and the like, generally contain a protective layer, that is, a backing substrate or facestock, and an adhesive to promote adherence of the protective layer to the skin. Pressure sensitive adhesive bandages and medical tapes are similar in constructions but differ in that an adhesive bandage normally has a gauze bonded to the adhesive and is protected by a release liner. In addition, adhesive bandages are produced in a greater variety of shapes and sizes than tapes. A medical tape is typically slit from a roll of a facestock or backing having on at least one surface thereof an adhesive which will adhere to skin under all conditions without irritation, yet will not have an adhesion so great that the tape can be removed only with accompanying discomfort. Bandages have the same requirement but differ from tapes in that they are die cut to select sizes, with the adhesive being protected by a discardable release liner and a portion of the adhesive surface being bonded to a gauze which covers a wound. Traditionally used adhesives include natural rubber based adhesives which are not hypoallergenic. Medical adhesive bandages typically include a backing, an absorbent pad, and a pressure sensitive adhesive to maintain the medical adhesive bandage in place. The bandages are typically used to cover cuts, scrapes and other skin conditions. They are typically packaged individually to maintain cleanliness of the bandages before use. As an added benefit, the individual packaging also provides the opportunity to provide bandages that are sterile until removed from the packaging. Adhesive bandages of various types are available in strip, piece, or roll form. Each has a bandage main body and an adhesive surface. Most strip and piece bandages have a gauze portion disposed at the center of an adhesive surface. Few roll bandages have a gauze portion, but there are some which do. Heretofore, however, all adhesive bandages have comprised an adhesive surface which completely covered the periphery of the bandage main body. Packaged adhesive bandages are typically sold packed in a metal or cardboard package or canister. Each adhesive bandage is individually wrapped to maintain sterility. To use one of these bandages, the user must open the canister, and either pluck a single bandage therefrom or empty some or all of the contents of the canister, make a selection, and return the remaining bandages to the package. Smaller size bandages for finger wounds and the like are customarily packaged individually in paper with or without a tear string to facilitate opening the single bandage package. The bandage contained in the package ordinarily has its adhesive coated ends masked with plastic overlays which must be individually stripped off before the bandage is applied to the wound. A plurality of individually packaged bandages are usually contained in a paper or metal box having a hinged lid.
Medical bandage categories
Adhesive bandage
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