Health-Hack.com

How-To: Stop Minor to Medium Cuts From Bleeding, Quickly

July 25th, 2006

In the olden days, gentlemen knew the proper way to stop bleeding from minor cuts such as shaving nicks. Sadly this occult knowledge has largely slipped into the dim recesses of our cultural heritage. Who among us can remember the caustic but efficient tool known as the Styptic Pencil?

If you are among the select few who remember the Styptic Pencil, you may have involuntarily flinched at the mention of it.

A Styptic Pencil is a block of mostly Alum, formed into a small stick or wand. When moistened and wiped across a fresh cut it will create a sensation that is worthy of an Altoids advertisement, but will immediately stop the bleeding. This has several advantages over the more common toilet paper or teeny-tiny Bandaid solutions, the primary one being that others will not openly ridicule you.

For those who have recently gotten on the trendy high end shaving paraphenalia bandwagon [del.icio.us], I can recommend to you the Caswell-Massey Alum Block, a favorite of dandies and country squires alike.

For superficial abrasions that cover a medium to large area, on the other hand, I can offer a different old-timey remedy. My grandma Edith showed me this trick that her parents taught her during the great depression.

Clean the affected area, then slap a scrap of brown paper (as in a brown-paper bag) over the wound. Hold it in place with light but even pressure until the paper sticks to the scrape on its own. This always seems to speed up the clotting very nicely, especially after bike accidents. As I recall gingerbread cookies also seemed to do wonders for the pain, but perhaps my memory isn’t quite so clear on that point.

Knowing what we know about germs today, it makes sense to add a middle step in there involving neosporin or the like.

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Entry Filed under: General Health, Pain + Injury