Partly cloudy. A stray afternoon thunderstorm is possible. High near 90F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph..

A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy. Low 84F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.

Have you discovered Coban yet? My medical assistant and I were cleaning a slow healing leg venous ulcer on an older patient. It had been there for months. Making matters worse was the tape she was using to fasten covering bandages was tearing off the fragile skin around the ulcer. The result had been several infections requiring antibiotics.

My helpful assistant suggested rather than taping the bandage, that we use Coban. “What is Coban?” I asked puzzled. “Let me get some and show you,” she offered helpfully.

In a few moments, she brought in a roll of tan colored stretchy stuff that looked a little like an ace bandage. The difference was you could tear it with your fingers, it didn’t have any annoying sharp clips or even Velcro, and it was amazingly effective in adhering to itself. No tape, nothing, and it doesn’t feel sticky. This is called a self-adherent or a cohesive bandage.

I just had what amounted to a medical epiphany. From that day on, Coban has been my go-to product for wrapping and compression in clinic. While perhaps not the highest biotechnology, it has the honor of being useful, practical, inexpensive and innovative. Further, it’s easy to apply, has consistent material performance and doesn’t slip. Patients report high satisfaction.

It was invented by scientist Jan Schuren as a two-layer compression system using Pascal’s Law of compression therapy. Its stretchy nature allows it to be used to compress areas of swelling, such as edema and injury. It’s compressive nature has been shown to speed healing of venous stasis ulcers.

It can hold pressure over a venipuncture site to reduce bruising and bleeding. It can safely cover and protect not only an ulcer, but a burn, or other wound. It can cover an Unna Boot instead of using an ace wrap, which is thicker and hotter. If you’ve given blood or had labs drawn lately, you might’ve had some put on your arm.

You’ve seen professional athletes with sports tape over various body parts to reduce further injury. I’ve used Coban for sore or sprained wrists and elbows, knees and ankles with ease and effectiveness. You can easily learn to apply it yourself at home.

Coban is manufactured by 3M. A similar product by Andover called CoFlex comes in a variety of colors, designs and child-pleasing patterns. It’s also widely used by veterinarians, so you can also use Coban or CoFlex on your injured animal companions. It comes in a latex free form as well. Both are available online or at your local pharmacy.

Keep some around the house. You can’t tell when it will come in handy. It’s a little like duct tape that way. I like the 4-inch size and any color or design you like will do.

“Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.” — Dr. Albert Schweitzer

Dr. Victor S. Sierpina is the WD and Laura Nell Nicholson Family Professor of Integrative Medicine and Professor of Family Medicine at UTMB.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Your comment has been submitted.

There was a problem reporting this.

Real Names required. No pseudonyms or partial names allowed. Stand behind what you post. Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to read or post comments.

Start your morning with the top headlines each day.

Receive email alerts anytime there is breaking news or a severe weather alert.

Get the latest local and national sports headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.

Plan your fishing trips with Capt. Joe Kent's Reel Report every evening.

Receive Laura Elder's Biz Buzz direct to your inbox every Sunday.

Receive the daily weather forecast and the weekly outlook in your inbox each morning.

Receive an email notification each time resident weather expert Stan Blazyk writes a new article.

ICYMI is a weekly newsletter highlighting stories from the past week. Wether they were the most important, most read or most talked about we want to make sure you read them. ICYMI also features select historical content.

Receive the most recent obituaries every afternoon.

Get a link to the latest e-Edition delivered to your inbox each morning.

Receive updates on the latest issues of Coast Monthly.

Receive the latest Dear Abby column in your inbox each morning.

Receive special offers from The Daily News and select partners including discounts, contests and more.

Check your email for details.

Invalid password or account does not exist

Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.

An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account.

Thank you. Your purchase was successful.

A receipt was sent to your email.