Very often, I will receive emails from “médicos,” “enfermeras,” “farmacéuticos,” (doctors, nurses pharmacists, respectively) asking that I cover some Spanish words for health care professionals.

Well, I have some Spanish vocabulary words to share with you that not only health care professionals will find useful but anyone who is traveling to a Spanish speaking country and has a minor injury may find useful.

Last night I suffered a minor injury to my “meñique” (pinky finger) practicing an “artes marciales” (martial arts) called “jiu-jitsu brasileño” (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu).

How To Say Band-Aid In Spanish

So this morning I went to the “farmacia” (pharmacy). When I arrived at the “farmacia” I thought about asking for a “curita” (band-aid) but a “curita” would not have done the job like surgical tape.

But I could not remember the word for surgical tape that I have heard used in Colombia. So I asked for “cinta de Johnson y Johnson” (literally, Johnson and Johnson tape).

My reasons for asking for “cinta de Johnson y Johnson” are twofold. First, if I were in the States, the brand of tape that I would prefer to use for this type of “herida” (injury) is Johnson & Johnson.

And, second, Johnson & Johnson is a very popular brand in Colombia. In fact, it is so popular that on more than one occasion I have heard someone refer to a q-tip/cotton swab as “un Johnson” — short for “un copito Johnson.”

How To Say Q-Tip or Cotto Swab In Spanish

By the way, outside of Colombia, a q-tip/cotton swab is referred to as a “cotonete” or “hisopo” instead of a “copito Johnson.”

How To Say Surgical Tape In Spanish

So the “muchacha” in the “farmacia” told me that they did not carry Johnson & Johnson products there and she offered me a roll of “micropore” — surgical tape. That was the word that I could not think of! MICROPORE

I bought the roll of “micropore” and when I got home I looked up the word “micropore” at the web site for the Real Academia Española, the official royal institution responsible for regulating the Spanish language. And I did not find the word “micropore” in their online dictionary here:

I then noticed on the roll of tape in small letters the words “cinta quirúrgica” — which literally means “surgical tape.” I then went online and checked a learning-Spanish/ learning-English forum and found out from some native Spanish speakers studying English that the term “micropore” is used mainly in Colombia and Venezuela. And that “micropore” is a brand name — and not a generic term. But people tend to use the word “micropore” as a generic term. Kind of like Americans use to do with the word Xerox when referring to a photo copying machine.

But instead of the word “micropore,” in many other Spanish-speaking countries you may hear the word
“esparadrapo.”

Envuelve el brazo herido con una venda y asegúrala con un pedazo de esparadrapo.
(Wrap your injured arm with a bandage and secure it with a piece of surgical tape.)

So these are today’s medical Spanish words:

1.  Curita – band aid
2. Micropore – surgical tape (mainly in Colombia and Venezuela)
3.  Esparadrapo – surgical tape
4.  Cinta quirúrgica – surgical tape
5.  Herida – wound/injury

By the way, besides “herida” another Spanish word for injury is “lesión.”

Ella tiene una lesión de columna.
She has a spinal injury.