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General product information for researchers and clinic staff, not medical advice. Decisions about a patient’s skin or a device belong to the treating clinician and the product’s instructions for use.
Short answer
In medical supplies, silicone adhesive is a soft, low-surface-energy adhesive used on skin-contact products such as tapes, wound dressings and device securement. A 3M-authored paper says it is used for “drug delivery, for medical tapes, for wound dressings, and for scar management”. Its main selling point is gentle removal and repositioning, traded against lower holding force in some formulations.
Definition and scope
This page covers silicone adhesive as it appears on skin-contact medical products. It does not cover industrial silicone sealants. The same paper describes soft silicone gel adhesives as having been “developed as low trauma or gentle to skin adhesives” and notes the trade-off: “low skin adhesion compromises securement of medical devices”.
The injury these adhesives are meant to reduce is medical adhesive-related skin injury (MARSI). A 2026 study introduction defines it as “any amount of skin damage arising from the use of medical adhesives” and calls it “largely preventable”. A 2013 consensus statement from a 23-person expert panel (funded by an unrestricted educational grant from 3M) describes adhesive skin injury as “prevalent but underrecognized” and occurring “across all care settings and among all age groups”. The 3M paper counts skin trauma such as vesicles, bulla, erosion or tears that persist longer than 30 minutes after removal as MARSI.
How silicone adhesive works on skin
The 3M paper (manufacturer-authored) gives the reasons silicone suits skin:
- Surface tension. Silicone adhesive has a low surface tension of 21 dyne/cm; skin is 25 to 29 dyne/cm. An adhesive must have equivalent or lower surface tension than skin to wet out on it.
- Low glass transition temperature. At -128 °C, the adhesive can flow into highly textured skin.
- Permeability. It has high permeability, especially to O2 and CO2.
- Hydrophobicity. It tolerates perspiration and skin-care chemicals.
Skin also keeps changing under the adhesive. The same paper notes that the stratum corneum sloughs off in about 14 days and the whole epidermis renews in 45 to 75 days.
Silicone adhesive properties at a glance
The paper credits four properties for skin suitability: low surface tension (21 dyne/cm), low glass transition temperature (-128 °C), high permeability to O2 and CO2, and high hydrophobicity, along with good biocompatibility. It does not claim silicone is hypoallergenic, and neither does this page.
Silicone vs acrylic: what two studies measured
Both studies below come from manufacturers of the silicone product, and both were run in healthy adults. Read them as lab data, not as a ranking of products.
| Measure | Silicone result | Acrylic result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skin water loss (TEWL) on repeated removal, up to 98 hours | No increase | Higher TEWL | 3M paper |
| Peel force kept after reapplication (pulse oximetry probes) | About 85% after 18 reapplications | About 50% after two | Medtronic-funded study, 2026 |
| Protein removed from skin | About 75% less | Baseline | Medtronic-funded study, 2026 |
| TEWL difference between probes | No significant difference at any time point | Medtronic-funded study, 2026 | |
The probe study (18 participants in the gentleness trial, 19 in the reapplication trial) compared a silicone-based Nellcor OxySoft probe with an acrylic-based Masimo LNCS Neo probe. It was sponsored and funded by Medtronic, which makes the silicone probe, and concluded that both appeared gentle in healthy adults in a laboratory. Its introduction states that acrylic-based adhesives are widely used and provide durable, versatile attachment, while silicone-based adhesives allow gentle removal and repositioning.
Where it matters for labs, clinics and supply decisions
- Product descriptions that say “silicone” refer to the adhesive layer, so tapes and dressings that look alike can differ in how they stick and release. See what medical tape is and hypoallergenic vs standard medical tape.
- Silicone-faced dressings are one use named in the paper’s list; see what a wound dressing is.
- Skin barrier film products, a separate product category from adhesives, are covered in what Cavilon is.
- Securement is the trade-off point: the 3M paper says low skin adhesion compromises securement of medical devices. Related reading: catheter straps.
Common misunderstandings
Gentle does not mean strong
Soft silicone gel adhesives were developed to be low trauma, and the 3M paper states that low adhesion limits securement. Its authors, who work for the manufacturer, present a higher-adhesion silicone gel as an attempt to close that gap. That is a company claim.
Silicone is not automatically allergy-free
The cited papers do not describe silicone adhesive as allergy-proof. The 3M paper’s own MARSI list includes irritant and allergic dermatitis, maceration and folliculitis alongside mechanical injury.
Medical silicone adhesive is not the hardware-store product
The term also names industrial sealants. This page concerns the skin-contact adhesive layer on medical products only.
FAQ
What is silicone adhesive used for in medical products?
The 3M paper lists drug delivery, medical tapes, wound dressings and scar management.
What are the properties of silicone adhesive?
Per the same paper: surface tension of 21 dyne/cm, glass transition temperature of -128 °C, high O2 and CO2 permeability, high hydrophobicity and good biocompatibility.
Is silicone adhesive gentler than acrylic?
In the studies above, silicone tapes did not raise TEWL on repeated removal and a silicone probe removed about 75% less protein. Both studies were manufacturer-linked and used healthy adults, and the probe study found no significant TEWL difference between probes.
Sources
- Liu J, Pohl D, et al. “Low Trauma but High Adhesion Silicone Adhesive for Medical Applications.” PSTC conference paper, authors employed by 3M. https://pstc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Liu_Low-Trauma-but-High-Adhesion.pdf. Checked 2026-10-30.
- “Comparison of Gentleness and Reapplication Between Two Pulse Oximetry Probes in Healthy Adults in a Laboratory Setting.” Medical Devices (Auckl), 2026, PMC13588249. Sponsored by Medtronic. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13588249/. Checked 2026-10-30.
- McNichol L, et al. “Medical adhesives and patient safety: state of the science.” J Wound Ostomy Continence Nurs, 2013 (PubMed 23759927), abstract. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23759927/. Checked 2026-10-30.
