Band-Aid modifcation to improve flexibility and keep them on!

I find this modification very useful for getting Adhesive Bandages to stick to fingers, especially fingertips.

Yes they make special ones, but standard shape/size ones are more common, and these work great!
This idea may be from a Japanese show called "Urawaza", lifehacker and gizmodo had a youtube link but its gone!.

Step 1 There is really only 2 steps for this mod, Cut it, and put it on.

Take some sharp scissors, and a Band-Aid

You can cut the band-aid in the wrapper or out of it. probably cleaner/safer to do it in the wrapper.

Cut to the pad on both wings of the band aid, like the first photo(im flexing it to show the cuts)

Comments

[Hands Without Shadows]

Nice. Nothing is as convenient as superglue though.

[killbox]

Superglue may keep the wound from opening, but it does nothing to pad the fingertip for typing or protect from bumps and jabs. In my case I did glue it after it stopped gushing blood, but even then it was bloody enough to be hard to glue well.

[dulciquilt]

I am an artist and am forever cutting or jabbing some tool into my hands and fingers, so use the bandaid to protect from bumps and jabs as you stated. It can be quite painful to get some art supplies into a fresh cut that has been left exposed. The fingertip bandaids also cost more than the reg ones, so this is a great idea.

[camb00]

wont that kill you? #

[CyberBill]

Super glue has been used for decades to stop battle wounds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate

[theRIAA]

but it gets EVERYWARE, and blood pops out the side...

[AznPanda]

o.O what if the blood comes out the sides...

[killbox]

band-aids are really not there to stop bleeding, they are to keep the wound protected and clean. while you heal. but really it seals up fine (better than a simple cylinder of bandaid around the tip of a finger which always slips off) and the same technique of splitting a band-aid can make them wrap around knuckles and other places better too.

[AznPanda]

Okay.. well sorry to ruin ur day... but personaly i only use band aids to stop bleeding i clean it first and then put one if its bleeding alot or so i use em some times cuz its fun :O

[killbox]

no big deal whatever works for you! still think for fingertips and nuckles this hack works far better than the plain old strip bandaid, because you can criss cross the "fingers" to interlock it and actually curve to fit the shape of the area in 3 dimensions. The only thing that works as well are those X shaped special ones. and even those wind up sagging/drooping or not cupping as well.

[gizmosass]

Well, I guess if super glue was designed as a temporary suture material, that would explain why it does such a good job of sticking my fingers together... usually much better than what I'm trying to glue.....

[TheWomanMonster]

neat. :) too bad there isn't a way to prep a supply of these and keep them sterile.

[killbox]

true, it would be nice to not have to cut them as you are trying to bandage a wound, although sofar I've never had any trouble, i think with a clean pair of scissors you could cut them in the wrappers, the actual wound pad stays covered and intact and its just the adhesive strips that should not be going into the wound anyway that get exposed, I imagine one could snip a few and slip them into a clean dry ziploc bag and have them around at all times. Its funny since i started using this trick, i can hardly stand the fit of normal uncut band-aids.

[mbtria]

Superglue is also used in surgery.

[benthekahn]

Super glue was invented by the military to repair wounds temporally on the battle field.

[comodore]

Grate job!

[rimar2000]

Simple and genial idea!