Lintverband

Lintverband is a historical and basic form of wound dressing used in first aid and traditional medical practice. It refers to a pad made of lint—untreated cotton or linen fibers—placed over a wound and secured in place with a strip of cloth, tape, or a simple bandage. The lint acts as an absorbent layer to help manage bleeding and exudate, while the surrounding wrapping holds the pad in place over the injury.

In application, a lint pad is laid directly on the wound, sometimes with an additional gauze layer for added protection, and then immobilized with a bandage to maintain pressure and keep contaminants out. The dressing is typically changed periodically to keep the wound clean and prevent infection. Because lint can shed fibers, care is taken to ensure the material remains clean and free of debris; modern practice usually favors sterile gauze pads and non-adherent dressings, but lintverband may still be encountered in historical accounts, traditional medicine, or resource-limited settings.

History and context often place lintverband in the era before widespread availability of modern sterile dressings. With advancements in wound care, modern dressings—absorbent pads, non-adherent contact layers, and antiseptic-impregnated materials—have largely displaced lintbandages in professional medicine. Nevertheless, the term remains part of historical references and may appear in some first aid manuals describing older methods.

See also: wound dressing, gauze pad, bandage, non-adherent dressing.