SHOP TALK : Happy Strips Dress Up Injuries

Where there are kids, there are cuts, scrapes and bruises. Americans spend about $175 million a year on bandages for kids, according to industry estimates. Now there’s a new line of bandages designed to better fit children and maybe make the wound less psychologically traumatic.

Called Curad Kid Size Happy Strips, the colorful bandages are shorter and narrower than traditional adhesive bandages and feature juvenile art. The bandages seem especially popular among children ages 2 to 13, said Laurie Drucker, a Curad company spokeswoman. But on a recent New York subway ride, she said, she saw an adult wearing one on his nose.

Children may be more likely to wear the new bandages than plain strips, said Dr. Alexander R. Lampone, medical director of the emergency department at St. John’s Hospital and Health Center, Santa Monica. “It’s sometimes difficult to convince kids to keep on bandages. And that’s important to promote healing.”