Is Superglue a safe alternative to Dermabond for fixing minor cuts? It is safe–just not as good! Superglue and Dermabond are both in the same family of plastics (cyanoacrylates), but there are important similarities and differences. They both adhere readily to skin and form a strong seal. However, Superglue dries in a stiff fashion and flakes off in stiffer shards, whereas Dermabond is more malleable and bends with the skin. In fact, during the Vietnam war in the 1960s, field surgeons began to spray superglue over open wounds, which helped to control bleeding and bought time for soldiers to be transported to medical facilities for surgery. In the 1990s, the U.S. FDA approved cyanoacrylates (Dermabond and others) for certain medical uses such as skin repair.
WHAT KINDS OF WOUNDS CAN YOU REPAIR WITH SUPERGLUE? The wounds I repair in the ER with Dermabond, and by extension you can likely safely repair with Superglue, are in general, LOW-TENSILE STRESS wounds. These would include relatively superficial facial wounds that are not gaping and not down to the muscle or bone, superficial wounds on the hands, chest, or legs that ARE NOT over joints. If wounds are over joints, the repetitive stress on the glue will cause the adhesion to fail, and the wound will open back up. Length is not necessarily important, as surgeons will repair the deep muscles with sturdy thick sutures when closing up for surgery, and will often apply Dermabond to close the very long skin wounds remaining. That being said, I would seek medical attention if the wound is over 2 cm.
WHEN SHOULD YOU NOT USE SUPERGLUE? 1) Old wounds over 12 hours, or infected wounds should DEFINITELY NOT be repaired in any discernible fashion, as this will “seal in” the infection. 2) Contaminated wounds with obvious dirt, foreign matter, or dog/cat/human/other animal bites that are prone to infection should be thoroughly washed and evaluated by a physician and may be left open or very “loosely” repaired with sutures. 3) Wounds that may be penetrating and you are unsure of the depth of the damage–> for example damage to tendons of the hand, penetrating into joint and prone to infection, or stab wounds to the chest or abdomen or neck should definitely be evaluated by a physician. 4) Wounds that are bleeding excessively. 5) Wounds near the eye. 6) Wounds on mucosa (lips, tongue, mouth, vagina, anus etc).
“OK, HOW DO I APPLY THIS STUFF?” So now that you’ve narrowed down the appropriate type of injury Superglue is suitable for, that is fresh, non-infected, non-contaminated, superficial, non-penetrating, not mucosal and not-over-the-joint wounds, it is important to apply it properly as to NOT INTERFERE with normal healing. First, irrigate (wash) your wound thoroughly with clean, cold tap water. Next, apply the glue over the wound; do not apply into the wound. You will squeeze the wound edges together to align, then spread a small amount of glue around and over the edges to bridge the opening of the skin. Finally, continue to squeeze the wound edges until the glue is dry, typically 1-3+ minutes. It is better to apply several thin layers, as they will dry quickly, as opposed to 1 massive gob of it, which will take forever and get into your wound.
HOW LONG WILL THE REPAIR LAST? Depending on how oily your skin is, how much water and physical stress the glue is exposed to, you should expect 1-5 days of adhesion from the glue. But you can reapply more glue along the edges to tamp down and re-adhere the repair.
HOW LONG BEFORE THE WOUND IS HEALED? Typically facial wounds require 5-7 days of repair, Trunk and Extremity wounds NOT over joints will require 10-14 days, and Extremity wounds over joints will require 2-3 weeks of repair. Keep in mind, the repaired scar will only have about 10% of normal skin strength after 1 week, and gradually approach (but never quite achieve) that of normal skin strength over months to years.
HOW DO I REMOVE THIS STUFF? If the Superglue is mis-applied or whatnot, there are certainly several chemical solvents that can dissolve Superglue, but the only human-safe one I recommend is oil. Vaseline, hand lotions, even cooking oils are safe to apply. Massage a good amount into the glue, and let it sit for 15 minutes, and the glue will start to flake off.
So in short, whip out the Superglue for your paper cuts and similar small, superficial kitchen knife cuts, and save yourself the cost and time of an ER visit!
–DrMedicineMan
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