The Evolution of Bandages and Blood Pressure Monitors

 Thousands of years ago, there was probably no such thing as bandages when people got a cut or scrape so they would have to use leaves or contact animal skin. It was better than they were capable of. Over time, however as with all things humans got wiser and started to have better ways of managing wounds. Here is a little story about how the industry of wound care has evolved over time.

Although, people had used many rarely available things to cover their wounds in past times. Others would seek to use honey, which is sticky and has natural stattic healing benefits. Some people will utilize garlic, a widely known germ fighter. That is, people would go as far to even apply cow feces on their bruise! That may sound weird now, but that was their way. So then, in the 1800s came along what we know as adhesive bandages. The sticky was on a single side of these aid bands bandages, they had been constructed out of cloth and covered up the wound.

These are the kind of bandages we use still today, and they were patented by a smart man named Earle Dickson in the 1920s. He worked for a company that produced bandages, but the bandages they made were too large to use on minor injuries like cuts and scrapes. And the smart thing Earle did, he thought of a solution. He made actually huge band-aids into smaller pieces and attached them to tape. This made them a convenient option when covering minor wounds and they were simple to keep in your first aid bag.

Monitoring Your Blood Pressure A different great area that also gives us some insight into the state of our health. Blood pressure is the measure of how hard blood pumps through our bodies. It might know if someone is well or unwell.

A long time ago, doctors had to use something called a sphygmomanometer to measure blood pressure. Sphygmomanometer is just a fancy word for a cuff that goes around your arm and gets pumped up with air. When the cuff is tight, it measures the pressure made by the heart when it pumps blood through the arteries. But one day in the 1960s, a machine was invented that could measure blood pressure all by itself. This band aid making machine is called an electronic blood pressure monitor, and it changed the game. Both devices have undergone many changes since then and helped change medicine bandages and blood pressure monitors help people. Bandages allow us to cover up the injury and stop anything bad from happening. Blood pressure monitors are a tool to see if you are healthy or if you need some medicine to treat it. Doctors use those tools every day, and every year they get better and better. Maybe next year others would help us with an invention. So, who are all these important people who helped me feel better one day? They are people like you and me and one man in particular, Leonardo da Vinci. This famous artist and inventor of the early 1400s helped me a lot by drawing the human body and explained how to treat your wounds and defects. One of the inventions that I used was made by Dr. Scipione Riva-Rocci in 1896. He made the sphygmomanometer. It was a lot easier for doctors than in the old days, when they needed to check someone’s blood pressure through twisting and straining someone’s arm.

The most influential creator of the contemporary bandage, however, came about a few decades later from Earle Dickson. He invented a simple device that transformed the way we treat minor wounds, lacerations and abrasions Because of him, one less soul had a rough time when they needed to put on adhesive.

The history of band aid brands products like bandages and blood pressure monitors is equally fascinating when we look at how these devices have evolved over time. It show us how remind we've come to care for our health, and it emphasizes the need for devices that protect lives.

Meaning when you get that cut or scrape next time, think about how quickly and unscathed will your wound heal without a bandage. And if you ever need your blood pressure taken, be thankful for the smart inventors that used their cranial super powers to figure out how to make it fast and easy! They have worked hard to improve our lives, and we can appreciate all the good things that they do for medicine.