In which Heather's thumb boo-boo has a "Revolutionary Bandage Experience"

One morning last week, I injured my right thumb. It was a stupid, stupid injury and I will not explain how it occurred. Suffice it to say a Barbra Streisand gospel CD case was involved and that I was driving on a 65 mph expressway at the time. Anyhow, the gouge on my thumb was pretty deep and immediately began bleeding profusely. Fortunately for me, I carry a fully stocked first aid kit in my minivan. (Seriously, this thing is just shy of a portable defibrillator.) Unfortunately, the first aid kit is in the way back, behind the kiddo's seat. I made do with a kleenex and applying pressure until I pulled in at farm school (aka Kiddo's summer camp), whereupon I did some first aid and bandaged it up.

It didn't stop bleeding for a good, long while. It bled through three bandages before it finally stopped, and that was with the aid of my trusty styptic pencil. (Which, by the way, OUCH!) I quickly learned that this particular wound is in a rather bad spot. It turns out that part of my thumb comes into contact with things all the time, so without being covered, it was getting repeatedly reopened and hurting like heck. (I like to let wounds breathe if at all possible, buying into the "fresh air" healing theory vs. the "covered up to avoid germies" theory.) This meant that I had to avail myself of our rather extensive collection of bandages. We have 'em all, from cheapo base models to waterproof, "tattoo" style bandages. We've got rainbow colored ones, bandages shaped like hearts and stars (also in rainbow colors!), clear ones (Mommy's standby, as the ones that are ostensibly "flesh" colored are actually only the color of my flesh when I'm sporting a deep - for me - tan), character ones (like the Princesses), ones meant for knuckles or knees, for wounds large and small - you name it, we have it. For my thumb, I tried an assortment of different bandages over the next two days. Nothing worked that well - apparently I make good use of my opposable digits because I was constantly catching the bandage on something and pulling it off/tearing it or soaking it off in water, etc. My boo-boo was not getting the protection or coverage it needed, and it hurt.

Three days after my wounding, I opened up our mailbox to discover a free sample of a new Band-Aid product. It seemed as though Fate had smiled upon me and my wounded thumb and sent me the answer! I began to read the accompanying literature..... This new Band-Aid Ultra-Strip is billed as "The Healing Hug" - that sounds good. Who doesn't like a hug? It claims to be superior protection to help you heal, well that sounds pretty good too! Inside, just next to the free sample was large, boldfaced type proclaiming this Band-Aid to be a revolutionary bandage experience! Wow! My thumb injury was obviously in dire need of a revolutionary bandage experience! The sample closed by inviting me to "Put it to the Test!," so I did. I stuck that Healing Hug right on my thumb first thing the next morning and took it for a test drive. To be fair to it, I didn't apply it until after I'd showered. Okay thumb boo-boo, time to start the test!

I suppose it says something for the Band-Aid that it lasted almost 5 hours on my thumb (I'm right handed, too, so this was my dominant hand), during a typical day. It snagged a bit and developed a wrinkle after about hour 2, but didn't give up the ghost completely until around hour 5. It lasted through such activities as emptying and reloading the dishwasher, feeding the cat, watering the plants, weeding the garden, picking berries, lots of typing and mousing at the computer (okay, so Thumb only really comes into play occasionally on the space bar for that) and applying sunscreen to the kiddo - twice. I also wash my hands a LOT, so it was subjected to many dousings of water. It did not, however, survive the pool. It was pretty comfortable, certainly more comfortable than the generic, base model bandages in our collection, and it stayed on better than the tattoo-style, waterproof ones. (Which, incidentally, also don't survive a trip to the pool with the kiddo. She and I both lose those types all the time in the pool. Humph.) When it finally gave up the ghost, I noticed my skin underneath it wasn't all shriveled and white the way it sometimes gets under other "heavy duty" bandages. So, I guess that says something for it.

Do I think my thumb had a revolutionary bandage experience? Hmmm, well, not exactly. Was my thumb a little let down after the hype of the Healing Hug? For sure. Will I buy a box of these? Probably at least once - there was a coupon with the free sample, after all. Have I learned never to mess with the CD holder in my dashboard while driving? Oh yeah. That, I know for certain.

(By the way - I tried to photograph my thumb wound, before and after testing out the free sample bandage, as a means of documenting it for this post. Alas, I was unable to get a good picture using my left hand on the camera, and I felt just a wee bit silly asking someone else to photograph it for me.)