Frequently Asked Questions

• If you have ‘Thinning skin’ where it is judged that skin tears, skin flaps or bruising may occur as a result of minor impact.
• Actual experience of skin tears, flaps or bruising.
• If your clinician, doctor or nurse says that you should.

• You should not use directly on breached or compromised skin or leg ulcers. Use appropriate contact wound dressing if necessary before the socks are worn on top. If necessary seek medical advice.
• If you wear prescription compression stockings the Dermatuff Socks may be worn at the same time but seek medical advice.
• If the pressure applied at the top of the sock seems to be too restrictive.
• If you find that you have sensitivity to the fabric of the socks. However all materials carry the Oeko-Standard 100 and qualify not to cause sensitivity problems under the Medical Device Regulations. Sensitivity is therefore highly unlikely.

It is very important to take great care with this in instances where the skin of the leg is very fragile as is often the case with elderly people. This is because there is a risk of the skin being damaged by the action of putting the socks on or as a result of the finger nails scratching and cutting the skin. If you can’t do this easily yourself then get someone else to do it using this method.

• Slip your hand down the inside of the sock. Gently grasp the heel area and pull the sock inside out. This will leave the toe region still tucked in.
• Slip your toes into the front of the sock.
• Carefully get your toes and heel into the right position.
• Gently pull the rest of the sock over the foot, heel and ankle
• Roll the sock carefully up your leg in stages.
• Ease the socks up to the bend at the back of your knee.

Removal is the exact opposite of the above procedure.

• Ensure that footwear being worn does not have damage which could lead to premature wear of the DERMATUff Socks.
• With damp skin use a non-greasy talcum powder.
• Be careful with sharp finger nails and rings.
• Wearing rubber gloves makes it easier to put on the socks and helps prevent damaging the socks and thinning skin with the finger nails.

• Over 180 washes the Dermatuff socks/sleeves may begin to provide a lower degree of protection
• It should be assumed that 5 years after the date of purchase the socks/sleeves will have lost most of their protective quality
• The Dermatuff socks/sleeves may be washed at up to 40°C, do not use bleach
• Do not dry clean or iron
• Care should be taken to ensure that Dermatuff socks/sleeves are not damaged by callouses, rough hard skin or nails
• Do not wash Dermatuff products with abrasive or course products as this may pull or pill the fibres

All the managers of the nursing homes were very supportive because the socks worked very well and as a result there was a great reduction in painful skin tears to the patients and a reduction in dressing the wounds. All of these patients normally have a high level of skin tears and bruises.

One resident suffered a small cut on her leg. This was the only injury that has occurred during both trials and it could therefore be regarded as an ‘outlier’.  From the information given we have estimated the rate of injuries and bruising which might have occurred if the resident had not been wearing the socks as follows: Skin Tears 37, Bruises 72.

The table below indicates a very high level of reduction of skin tears and bruises.

As the above table shows it is not possible to guarantee that you will not suffer a skin tear, skin flap, laceration or bruising. What we can say is that we have proved by trials that there is a major reduction in the level of skin tears and bruising.

There is an excellent booklet published by the All Wales Tissue Viability Forum called the Best Practice Statement ‘The Assessment and Management of Skin Tears’ which you can download. Alternatively, take a look at the academic research papers listed on our website by clicking here.