Medical Supplies

This is the topical treatment and dressing shelf under Health and Beauty — ointments and creams, antiseptics, dressings, bandages and wound care.

For home care equipment, supports and incontinence products, see the top-level Medical Supplies section.

Cleaning and Dressing a Wound

• Wash your hands, and use gloves if the wound is not your own.

• Press firmly with a clean cloth to stop bleeding, and raise the limb if you can.

• Rinse with clean running water or saline. This matters more than any antiseptic — the point is to remove dirt and debris.

• Pat the surrounding skin dry and cover with a sterile dressing.

• Change the dressing daily, or whenever it is wet or dirty.

• Do not repeatedly apply strong antiseptic to an open wound — it damages the healing tissue. Clean it once, then keep it clean and covered.

• Wounds heal faster and scar less kept slightly moist and covered, not dried out in the open. That old advice has been overturned.

Using Ointments Sensibly

• Identify what you are treating. Antibiotic ointments do nothing for fungal infections, and antifungals do nothing for bacterial ones — and the two look alike.

• Do not use antibiotic ointment on every scratch. Unnecessary use contributes to resistance, and clean water plus a dressing handles most minor wounds.

• Steroid creams are for a named condition, for a stated number of days. On a fungal rash a steroid makes it dramatically worse.

• Never put a steroid on an open wound.

Signs of Infection, and When to Go

Increasing pain after the first day, spreading redness, warmth, swelling, pus, red streaks running from the wound, or a fever. Any of those needs a doctor.

So does a cut that gapes open, is deeper than the skin, will not stop bleeding after ten minutes of firm pressure, is on the face, or came from an animal bite or something dirty — and ask about tetanus for any dirty or puncture wound.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should a wound be left uncovered to dry?

No. Covered and slightly moist heals faster and scars less. Clean it, cover it, change the dressing daily.

Is antiseptic necessary on every cut?

Clean running water does most of the work. A single antiseptic clean is reasonable; repeated strong antiseptic on an open wound slows healing.

When does a cut need stitches?

If it gapes, is deep, will not stop bleeding after ten minutes of pressure, or is on the face. Go the same day — stitches work best within a few hours.

Storing It Properly

Bangladesh’s heat and humidity are harder on most products than anything else they will meet.

• Cool, dry and out of direct sunlight — not a sunny windowsill, and not the hottest corner of the bathroom.

• Keep the cap closed properly. Air and moisture do more damage over months than anything else.

• Do not decant into an unmarked container. Once the pack is gone, so are the batch number, the expiry date and the instructions.

• Keep it out of reach of children.

How much shelf life will it have?

We stock to arrive well within date and do not knowingly ship anything close to expiry. If you need a specific minimum for a particular order, ask before placing it and we will check the batch.