The Essentials of Bandaging
9781465679161
213 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
General Rules.—Ordinary bandages are strips of unbleached calico 6 or 8 yards long, having a breadth of ¾ inch for the fingers and toes, 2¼ inches for the head and upper limb, 3 inches for the lower limb, and 6 inches for the body. These, when tightly rolled for use, are termed rollers. Besides these rollers for general use there are special bandages, such as rollers of muslin for using with plaster of paris, of stocking-webbing when elasticity is needed; four- and many-tailed bandages for particular fractures, &c. Messrs. J. & J. Cash, the cambric frilling makers of Coventry, now make a very firm light bandage of unbleached cambric woven in the necessary widths and lengths for use; these are very cool and pleasant, and a decided improvement on the ordinary calico strips generally used. Position of the Operator.—He should place himself opposite his patient, not at the side of the limb to be bandaged; the limb too should be bent to the position it will occupy when the bandage is completed. Before applying any kind of apparatus, the surgeon should see that the limb is carefully washed and dried. How to hold a Roller.—When applying a roller it is best to begin by placing the outer surface of the roller next the skin, for it then unwinds more readily, and the first turns are more easily secured; moreover the bandage should be carried from the inner side of the limb by the front to the outer side, for the muscles are thus more firmly and pleasantly confined than by turns passing in the opposite direction; of course this observation supposes the hand and forearm to be in their usual position of semi-pronation. Varieties of Turns.—In carrying a bandage up a limb, it is necessary, in order to support the parts evenly, to employ a combination of three different turns. The simple spiral, reverse, and the figure of 8. The simple spiral turn is used only where the circumference of the part increases slightly, as the wrist; but when the limb enlarges too fast to allow the fresh turn to overlap the previous one regularly, the turn must be interrupted, and the bandage brought back again by reverse, or by figure of 8.
