Question: How exactly does your new dressing for wounds work

Jess Bean answered on 19 Jun 2013:

So my dressings work on the idea that we can use what bacteria produce when they grow against them!
When bacteria grow, they produce harmful molecules called toxins that harm the cells in our body. This is why when you get an infection it is really red, swollen and painful. The molecules that I look at harm your skin by breaking down some of the fibres that make up your skin.
What I am doing is taking these same fibres in your skin (called hyaluronic acid) and attaching chemicals and larger molecules to them that kill bacteria. When the bacteria come along, they still release toxins that break down the fibres, but instead as the fibres are broken down the anti-bacterial chemicals are also released.

This is better than just giving the anti-bacterials all the time as the bacteria don’t get time to find ways to get used to them.