oh well… recently my laptop’s Japanese setting got collapsed (that’s the message from the system), and I can’t use the Japanese key board.. (sigh..)
Anyway …
The picture below is “CoFlex TLC Calamine.”
TLC stands for “Two Layer Compression.”
CoFlex TLC Calamine
I got this product from my acquaintance who no longer needs it.
I wanted to write about the product as I recently had a chance to use it for my neighbor’s skin tear. She got multiple skin tears, a big (7.0 cm x 4.0 cm) one and a few small ones to the anterior right lower leg.
CoFlex TLC is normally for weeping leg, but well.. it was what I had for wrapping my neighbor’s fragile LL skin… so I opened it for her.
Indications (typically lower legs):
- Itching
- Multiple skin breakdown
- Weeping/swelling
Please refer product guide on woundsource.com website.
CoFlex TLC Calamine has nice cool touch/texture of calamine, and it pleased my neighbor. By the way, she is 85.
According to the company website, CoFlex TLC has 50% more zinc than regular Unna boot dressings (Milliken.com, 2023). Other site states 50% more zinc or Calamine than Unna boot dressings.
Here is my PRO & CON about the product …
PROs:
- Nice cool-touch/textures
- Absorb drainage
- Soft and can be cut with hands (no scissors are needed)
- Easier for care givers to handle at home
- Thinner/lighter than other similar products
Cons:
- Comes with co-ban and stockings as a set (not all of us need “kit”)
- Price is too high to purchase at work due to “kit.” (but I may be missing an à la carte product..)
As for her skin tear, she washed the wound by herself, stretched skin flap as much as she could (wow..), so there was no skin loss. She could not approximate the edge due to slight local edema, but she did great.
We applied OTC antibiotic-ointment she had in her med cabinet to the wound as the wound was open, then covered with non-adherent dressing. We then wrapped the lower leg with CoFlex TLC to protect her super fragile skin. Wrapping is not the whole leg/foot (usually compression is from the metatarsal to below knee). It is not the ideal way to use the product, but still.. we are pretty happy about it.
By the way, she is a tough 85 y.o. lady.. she has arthritis, poor eye sights, bad this and that.. multiple falls.. but insists on living alone. She walks her dog twice a day, maintains her garden, and does not rely on others including her daughters.. a quite tough fighter. I’m not sure if I can do the same when I reach 85…
Reference
Milliken. (2023). CoFlex® TLC Zinc. https://www.milliken.com/en-us/businesses/healthcare/product/coflex-tlc-zinc