Like almost all brilliant inventions, a small, modest adhesive has a very interesting history.

In 1882, Paul Beiersdorf, a German pharmacist, placed natural rubber, pine resin and zinc oxide on a piece of linen cloth. This is how the first bactericidal adhesive was created.

Initially this invention was not appreciated by customers. Only after a few years, thanks to a change in the composition of the adhesive and a well-thought-out advertising campaign conducted on a large scale, the adhesive became popular in Germany, and after a few more years also around the world.

Now, 140 years later, we have a huge selection of adhesives - designed for different types of skin, with different substrates (even silk), air-permeable, hydrophobic - that make our lives a lot easier.

In turn, the plaster with a dressing was invented thanks to great ... love.

In 1917, Earle Dickson married Josephine, who was often injured in the kitchen. She was very young and was just learning the difficult art of running a house. At every step, misfortunes happened to her i.e. she cut her finger with a kitchen knife, or she got burned while catching a hot pan. Loving Earle wondered how he could help his young and not very resourceful wife in the kitchen (fortunately for humanity, he did not come up with the idea of ​​hiring a housekeeper) and patiently wrapped gauze and surgical tape around her hands. His father and grandfather were doctors, so he knew first aid. However, there were many problems with applying the dressings because it required the presence of Earle, who was not always present at the time of wound formation. His dream was to simplify the dressing procedure so that Josephine could handle it herself.

Finally one day Earle put the surgical tape on the kitchen table, sticky side up, cut a piece of gauze and stuck it in the center of the tape. To prevent the dressing from contaminating and the glue from drying out, he covered the tape with a thin cloth. The goal was for Josephine - after removing the protective fabric, to apply a ready-made dressing to the wound. And this is how the first plaster with a dressing was made.

Today we have a huge selection of plaster with dressings (including sterile ones): microperforated, patterned, vapor permeable, waterproof, absorbent, antibacterial or with active substances. The inventor of the adhesive wound dressing and his young wife could only dream of such a choice!

It is worth considering how much easier a plaster is for us, every time we take out one from the first aid kit, from a purse, from a car glove compartment or from a pocket to treat a wound or cut.