Responses to Silicone Adhesives

Responses to Silicone Adhesives

John Mooney

6/27/2002

Thanks to everyone for their asistance. I have listed both my original
request; followed by the responses.

Original Message
I have a young female patient, very concerned about the cosmesis of her
BE myo prosthesis. She is a school teacher and mother of 2 very young
children. She is an active user of her myo prosthesis during the day. I
had a custom fabricated silicone glove made with acrylic fingernails.
The patient is very happy with the cosmesis, and the ability to have the
acrylic nails. The problem has been that the thumb nail keeps falling
off. I have returned the glove to the manufacturer to have the nail
re-attached. The nail fell off after one week of use. In my office, I
have attempted to re-attach with silicone adhesive, epoxy, and super
glue
( all per the manufacturer's suggestions). None of these have worked
because the bonding agent is not adhering to the base of the nail bed
which is the silicone glove itself. I am hoping someone has a suggestion
for how I could better prepare the silicone base, so an adhesive will
work better. All the options tried so far work for a few days, then
fail.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Responses:

1. Hello; This is Bill Broker from North Carolina, Just wanted to let
you know of a adhesive that I had a lot of luck with it
adheres to most everything I have tried it on it also has a primer to it
that helps it stick to different surfaces. I get it from
Frankford Leather company out of Philadelphia Pa there phone number is
1- 800- 245-5555 give them a call and see if it
would do the job for the woman with the thumb nail problem. if not I do
believe that the glue company has a web site at reiken
adhesives.com Reiken is the name of the glue that I use for different
types of thing that I have had hard time to glue together
good luck and hope I helped in some way : Bill


2. Ossur has a silicone based glue, used to repair silicone liners.
This may work for you, but it needs 24 hours to fully cure.

Good Luck,
Mitch Warner, CPO

3. I have lightly abraided the surface (silicone), apply some super glue
and
let dry. I then lightly abraid the superglue and then wipe free of
dust. I
then apply normal cement. I personally use Masters. This process
usually
works well!!

My question for you is this.
Does she paint her nails? If so, the solvent in the polish or the
acetone
in the remover may also be your nemesis!!!
Thanks
James Cobb
Military Orthotist
BOC Orthotist
Keesler Medical Center
Keesler Air Force Base

4. If I understand what you are describing correctly, the problem would
be that the silicone fill of the glove fingertips is not
adhering with the chosen adhesive. This is not surprising, as most
silicone, once cured, will not except any chemical adhesive
bond. Therefore it must be a mechanical bond. The adhesives you
described, except some kinds of silicone, will not adhere in
any case. The reason is not only the chemical property but, also, the
different flexibility of the materials.

So, what needs to happen: the base that the acrylic nail is being
attached to must be prepared with something that will hold a
bond that will also except a bond with acrylic. I suggest bonding nylon
mesh to the roughed-up silicone fill. Then to a part of the
nylon, that has no silicone on it, you can epoxy the acrylic nail body.

However, this does seem to me to be a job for the manufacturer.

In any case, good luck. If you want you can call me and I can explain in
more detail.

Regards,
Thomas

5. Contact Barry Ulmannn at UCO International...he IS the glue/adhesive
Guru
that I know might help...good luck...jane e marlor