5 ms·

In a pinch, I've seen third world doctors use super glue to seal cuts. American culture doesn't allow for anything better than the best outcome in medicine.

dotancohen 8y ago
American culture allows for exactly two possible types of medical care: 1. The best 2. None at all Often the choice between the two is financial.
- jessaustin 8y ago
  Just as true of housing, transportation, education, etc.
  - WilliamEdward 8y ago
    This sounds really good to the ear, but it's just not true is it? Americans have a lot of choice when it comes to these things, at least compared to healthcare.
    - jessaustin 8y ago
      We have some level of choice with respect to healthcare as well. I'm just thinking of other nations I've traveled, in which lots of people chose to live in housing that wouldn't be allowed here, and drove vehicles that wouldn't be legal to sell here. You might argue with the idea that they "chose" those things. That argument would apply just as much to health care. Yes, if someone had the choice between vast wealth and penury, one would choose vast wealth. Given the condition of penury, however, what's wrong with e.g. a tuk-tuk or a corrugated tin shack? Are those not better than living on the street in a cardboard box and walking everywhere you go?
    - rconti 8y ago
      It's a byproduct of regulation. When you start telling people they can't consume this substance, or buy a car with fewer than this number of airbags, or without traction control, or you can't sell an apartment with a size smaller than this, you create consequences. Maybe people buy used cars instead of new cars. Maybe they live in illegal units that skirt the regulations not just on sizing, but on fire safety. And so on. You create black markets. This is absolutely not to say that regulation is bad! It is just to point out that it creates unintended consequences you have to be aware of, and place the slider of regulation in the appropriate place. After all, we all intuitively know that a minimum wage of $500/hr and a minimum allowable housing size of 7000sqft won't work! But we also know that telling a surgeon "just use whatever you find lying around" may not be the best approach either.
- throwaway5752 8y ago
  That sounds good, but it's not true. There's a world of minute clinics out there with PAs and LPNs. There is mail order medicine and Walmart's pharmacy. There are bronze plans/borderline broken leg plans. There's a real problem with medical care access and finances, but it's not gold-plated or nothing.
mhb 8y ago
Super glue for cuts has been a thing in the first world for a few decades too.
grzm 8y ago
> "I've seen third world doctors use super glue to seal cuts." Expanding on this a bit, commercial cyanoacrylate (such as Super Glue or Krazy Glue) was used during the Vietnam War by US personnel for wound closures, but was not approved by the FDA for medical purposes because its side affects hadn't been explored. Dermabond and other medical grade cyanocrylates have since been approved. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate#Medical_and_veterinary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate#Medical_and_vete...
ryanmcbride 8y ago
When I worked in food service we had a brown medical looking bottle of "liquid bandage" that was basically just weak crazy glue. We had to use that if we cut ourselves to make sure not to contaminate the food. Once I found out what it was I started using normal crazy glue gel instead. Closed up the cut, kept it clean, totally waterproof. I keep a bottle of it in my medicine cabinet to this day.
- Stratoscope 8y ago
  Liquid bandage is not weak "crazy glue" (cyanoacrylate). It is a completely different formulation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_bandage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_bandage For example, the popular brand New Skin consists of: Active ingredient: Benzethonium Chloride 0.2% (antiseptic) Inactive Ingredients: Amyl acetate, camphor, ethyl acetate, ethyl alcohol, n-butyl acetate, nitrocellulose.
  - darkpuma 8y ago
    That's not completely true. For instance the "LiquiBand" brand includes some products that are CA. http://www.liquiband.com/region/uk/liquiband-product-range-wound-closure/liquiband-octyl-0-4/ http://www.liquiband.com/region/uk/liquiband-product-range-w...
    - Stratoscope 8y ago
      Interesting, thanks for the correction. I noticed that the product you linked is intended for medical professionals. I wonder if there is a CA-based liquid bandage sold over the counter?
  - ryanmcbride 8y ago
    My mistake
amluto 8y ago
Sure, American medicine does, for non-human animals. I suspect that at least part of the difference is that veterinary medicine is mostly uncorrupted by insurance. And there is little reason to use hardware store cyanoacrylate glue on skin — you don’t know what’s in it, and there is evidence that hardware store formulations may cause issues on skin. Animals get to use a product such as Vetbond, which is designed for the purpose and is not much more expensive. (A whole bottle of Vetbond, which is reusable, seems to cost a little less than a single Dermabond applicator.)
- briandear 8y ago
  > I suspect that at least part of the difference is that veterinary medicine is mostly uncorrupted by insurance. It’s mostly uncorrupted by million+ dollar malpractice suits.
lenticular 8y ago
Superglue is standard operating procedure for sealing small wounds in Antarctica, since they like to crack open more.
rtkwe 8y ago
It's in use in America too. A couple years ago I dropped a knife and like an idiot tried to catch it, of course I didn't succeed it wound up stuck in the palm of my hand making a cut about .5" to .75" long and .25" to .5" deep (didn't measure quite how deep it was at the time you know other priorities) and the hospital cleaned, irrigated, disinfected and then glued it shut. Worked pretty well.
- simongr3dal 8y ago
  It's also simpler because you don't need to have the stitches taken out.
marvin 8y ago
A relative of mine is a veterinarian, and does this whenever one of her kids gets a cut. First-world country.
thwarted 8y ago
Using superglue to keep paper cuts closed is a household remedy, at least in American midwest. But most paper cuts are hardly considered to require medical attention. I assume you're talking about surgical cuts that would otherwise require small sutures?
- Pete_D 8y ago
  Anecdote: I had a surgical incision around six inches long glued shut after an operation in the UK. No stitches. I was surprised, but from talking to the nurses it sounded like that was standard procedure. Judging from other comments, the stuff they used (DermaBond) is a variant of superglue.
rurp 8y ago
After a major knee surgery my incision was closed up with staples that looked suspiciously similar to ones I've seen in an office supply store. Well, except the price; I think the surgical ones cost several orders of magnitude more.
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  Surgical staples will be stainless steel, which office staples aren't.
toomanybeersies 8y ago
I think you'll find it's done in America too. For cuts that aren't clean and straight, it's often more practical to just glue it together.

dotancohen 8y ago

American culture allows for exactly two possible types of medical care: 1. The best 2. None at all Often the choice between the two is financial.

jessaustin 8y ago
Just as true of housing, transportation, education, etc.
- WilliamEdward 8y ago
  This sounds really good to the ear, but it's just not true is it? Americans have a lot of choice when it comes to these things, at least compared to healthcare.
  - jessaustin 8y ago
    We have some level of choice with respect to healthcare as well. I'm just thinking of other nations I've traveled, in which lots of people chose to live in housing that wouldn't be allowed here, and drove vehicles that wouldn't be legal to sell here. You might argue with the idea that they "chose" those things. That argument would apply just as much to health care. Yes, if someone had the choice between vast wealth and penury, one would choose vast wealth. Given the condition of penury, however, what's wrong with e.g. a tuk-tuk or a corrugated tin shack? Are those not better than living on the street in a cardboard box and walking everywhere you go?
  - rconti 8y ago
    It's a byproduct of regulation. When you start telling people they can't consume this substance, or buy a car with fewer than this number of airbags, or without traction control, or you can't sell an apartment with a size smaller than this, you create consequences. Maybe people buy used cars instead of new cars. Maybe they live in illegal units that skirt the regulations not just on sizing, but on fire safety. And so on. You create black markets. This is absolutely not to say that regulation is bad! It is just to point out that it creates unintended consequences you have to be aware of, and place the slider of regulation in the appropriate place. After all, we all intuitively know that a minimum wage of $500/hr and a minimum allowable housing size of 7000sqft won't work! But we also know that telling a surgeon "just use whatever you find lying around" may not be the best approach either.
throwaway5752 8y ago
That sounds good, but it's not true. There's a world of minute clinics out there with PAs and LPNs. There is mail order medicine and Walmart's pharmacy. There are bronze plans/borderline broken leg plans. There's a real problem with medical care access and finances, but it's not gold-plated or nothing.

mhb 8y ago

Super glue for cuts has been a thing in the first world for a few decades too.

grzm 8y ago

> "I've seen third world doctors use super glue to seal cuts." Expanding on this a bit, commercial cyanoacrylate (such as Super Glue or Krazy Glue) was used during the Vietnam War by US personnel for wound closures, but was not approved by the FDA for medical purposes because its side affects hadn't been explored. Dermabond and other medical grade cyanocrylates have since been approved. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate#Medical_and_veterinary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate#Medical_and_vete...

ryanmcbride 8y ago

When I worked in food service we had a brown medical looking bottle of "liquid bandage" that was basically just weak crazy glue. We had to use that if we cut ourselves to make sure not to contaminate the food. Once I found out what it was I started using normal crazy glue gel instead. Closed up the cut, kept it clean, totally waterproof. I keep a bottle of it in my medicine cabinet to this day.

Stratoscope 8y ago
Liquid bandage is not weak "crazy glue" (cyanoacrylate). It is a completely different formulation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_bandage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_bandage For example, the popular brand New Skin consists of: Active ingredient: Benzethonium Chloride 0.2% (antiseptic) Inactive Ingredients: Amyl acetate, camphor, ethyl acetate, ethyl alcohol, n-butyl acetate, nitrocellulose.
- darkpuma 8y ago
  That's not completely true. For instance the "LiquiBand" brand includes some products that are CA. http://www.liquiband.com/region/uk/liquiband-product-range-wound-closure/liquiband-octyl-0-4/ http://www.liquiband.com/region/uk/liquiband-product-range-w...
  - Stratoscope 8y ago
    Interesting, thanks for the correction. I noticed that the product you linked is intended for medical professionals. I wonder if there is a CA-based liquid bandage sold over the counter?
- ryanmcbride 8y ago
  My mistake

amluto 8y ago

Sure, American medicine does, for non-human animals. I suspect that at least part of the difference is that veterinary medicine is mostly uncorrupted by insurance. And there is little reason to use hardware store cyanoacrylate glue on skin — you don’t know what’s in it, and there is evidence that hardware store formulations may cause issues on skin. Animals get to use a product such as Vetbond, which is designed for the purpose and is not much more expensive. (A whole bottle of Vetbond, which is reusable, seems to cost a little less than a single Dermabond applicator.)

briandear 8y ago
> I suspect that at least part of the difference is that veterinary medicine is mostly uncorrupted by insurance. It’s mostly uncorrupted by million+ dollar malpractice suits.

lenticular 8y ago

Superglue is standard operating procedure for sealing small wounds in Antarctica, since they like to crack open more.

rtkwe 8y ago

It's in use in America too. A couple years ago I dropped a knife and like an idiot tried to catch it, of course I didn't succeed it wound up stuck in the palm of my hand making a cut about .5" to .75" long and .25" to .5" deep (didn't measure quite how deep it was at the time you know other priorities) and the hospital cleaned, irrigated, disinfected and then glued it shut. Worked pretty well.

simongr3dal 8y ago
It's also simpler because you don't need to have the stitches taken out.

marvin 8y ago

A relative of mine is a veterinarian, and does this whenever one of her kids gets a cut. First-world country.

thwarted 8y ago

Using superglue to keep paper cuts closed is a household remedy, at least in American midwest. But most paper cuts are hardly considered to require medical attention. I assume you're talking about surgical cuts that would otherwise require small sutures?

Pete_D 8y ago
Anecdote: I had a surgical incision around six inches long glued shut after an operation in the UK. No stitches. I was surprised, but from talking to the nurses it sounded like that was standard procedure. Judging from other comments, the stuff they used (DermaBond) is a variant of superglue.

rurp 8y ago

After a major knee surgery my incision was closed up with staples that looked suspiciously similar to ones I've seen in an office supply store. Well, except the price; I think the surgical ones cost several orders of magnitude more.

toomanybeersies 8y ago
Surgical staples will be stainless steel, which office staples aren't.

toomanybeersies 8y ago

I think you'll find it's done in America too. For cuts that aren't clean and straight, it's often more practical to just glue it together.