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Comment by merpnderp | Hacker News Reader

I had a deep split over my eye (metal ring tossed while I was still down range) and knew going to the ER for stitches would end up costing thousands for a five minute stitch job, so I pinched it together and put on superglue. Healed better than stitches and cost me nothing. I hate our medical system too.

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When you say superglue, do you mean an off the shelf superglue that you would pick up at a hardware or craft supplies store? Did it just dissolve on its own after X number of days?

Yes, cyanoacrylate (the group of adhesives that superglue belongs to), are used in medical and veterinary situations for exactly this purpose.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate#Medical_and_vete...

I've used off-the-shelf superglue on cut fingertips where I couldn't get bandages to stay. I believe it's also commonly used in place of stitches where you don't want the scarring that stitching would cause (e.g., parts of the face.)

It wears off in 3-4 days.

Yes I used some old super glue lying around the house. I was worried at first because even though I pinched it together, a large amount of glue went into the gash and so I was left with a hard shell over the wound and a clump of glue in the gash. But after 4-5 day the shell peeled off and the clump of glue fell out and even though the cut was completely through the skin, it healed perfectly. It was like the skin bitter together under the lump of glue until the clump was pushed out. I’m no doctor and only know about the glue because my mechanic brother in law uses it for every cut and gash he’s ever had.

Loctite (blue package) works as good as superglue but stings a lot less.

You mean Loctite’s blue-package cyanoacrylate right, not their thread locker. Right?

Absolutely.

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