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Health Hack: Super Glue For Cuts

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Health Hack: Super Glue For Cuts

Oct 05, 2021

Emergency rooms and clinics sometimes use glue rather than stitches for smaller lacerations. On today's Health Minute, emergency room physician Dr. Troy Madsen share one of his favorite health hacks: using super glue to save a trip to the ER.

Episode Transcript

Interviewer: All right, it's time for another health hack with emergency room physician, Dr. Troy Madsen. What is today's health hack?

Dr. Madsen: So this is a great health hack, and it's one of my favorites. And it's superglue instead of stitches for lacerations. Now, in the ER, we use glue all the time instead of stitches. It's quick. You can use it on smaller lacerations, things that aren't really gaping wide-open, things where I'm not concerned about infection. And patients ask me, "Is that just superglue?" And I tell them, "It is. It's superglue that's formulated a little differently so it doesn't sting."

But if you're traveling, it's not a bad idea just to carry superglue with you. It could keep you out of the ER as long as it's not a big laceration. Wash it out really well. Make sure there are no concerns for infection, no tendon injuries, nothing like that. Put a little bit of superglue on it. It will probably hold it together great and keep you out of the ER.


updated: October 5, 2021
originally published: October 12, 2017