I had watched a show on television about some veterinarians who were operating on a dog which was missing a large patch of skin on his leg.  They implemented a new technique they had just learned in veterinary school, which would allow the skin on the dogs leg to grow back safely:  a piece of foam laid on the wound, and then bandaged.  I have worked in assisted living facilities with elderly people who get skin tears, so my question is this:  Could this technique be useful for people with skin tears?  It seems that it would be better than the large band-aids that are used, since the skin could breathe through the porous foam.  Thank-you for any medically informed response to this question!

                                       --fluttering@catholic.org