Think about adding white pepper to your home first aid kit.

[dixiegrrrrl]

We have white pepper around because of some Chinese cooking recipes.
and I had heard it "cauterizes wounds, with no stinging or pain."

Had a chance to find out this am with a knife cut in the kitchen, so rubbed some white pepper into the area, and damned if it did not stop bleeding instantly.
Which is remarkable, cause I take aspirin dally and tend to bleed for a bit even thru a pressed on gauze.

Actually, the article had used the term "powder" ...white pepper powder....but our jar is of very fine pepper, and it worked.

[yeoman6987]

1. Thank you for telling us.

I do shopping Friday so I will pick some up. I love DUers like yourself.

[scscholar]

2. And, you don't even need much of it

You can mix it very weakly with water, but the entire amount of water maintains the same properties.

[JonathanRackham]

3. That and corn starch.

Old farmers tricks for the animals.

[mopinko]

8. or flour

turn blood into superglue. used it on a bleeding parrot once, and had a hell of a time washing it off my hands.

[tk2kewl]

4. did not know that

[LisaM]

5. Good to know! Did it sting?

I was getting a massage once and the woman told me that lavender oil was great for burns. I did buy some from her and a few months later, a friend burned his arm on our grill. It occurred to me to get out the lavender oil, and it worked very well and he was out of pain immediately, with no scarring (I'd say it was just a little more than a first degree burn, not quite second degree).

It's nice to know things around the house can come in handy like this.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. No sting at all.

Dunno how well it would work on a massive cut, but it is supposed to cauterize the blood vessels.

Plus, no owie at the site afterwards, so really good stuff.

[snagglepuss]

6. Cayenne pepper also stops bleeding.

snip

This from a website called ‘Herbalfreedom.com’:
‘Cayenne pepper should be in everyone's first aid kit. If you have a cut which is bleeding profusely, apply cayenne pepper, a powerful styptic, directly to the wound. The cayenne will equalize the blood pressure and start the coagulating of blood immediately. It is a powerful disinfectant so there is no need to worry about infection setting in. My family has been using cayenne in this manner for years and, as a result, take what others consider miraculous results for granted.’

And granted, this is folklore and purely anecdotal, but I also found this excerpt from The University of Maryland Medical Center website on the propensities of cayenne:

‘Capsaicin in cayenne pepper has very powerful pain-relieving properties when applied to the surface of the skin. Laboratory studies have found that capsaicin relieves pain by destroying a chemical known as substance P that normally carries pain messages to the brain.’





http://www.westseattleherald.com/2014/05/26/features/cayenne-pepper-kitchen-cuts

[raccoon]

7. I never knew there was such a thing. nt

[d_legendary1]

9. I have white powder in my cabinet catching dust

I used it to make Lebanese lemon chicken once and it was so hot that I have effectively stopped using it. I will try it the next time to see how it works.

[cui bono]

11. The only drawback is the difficulty of getting your wound to stop sneezing.

[winter is coming]

16. DUzy! n/t

[cui bono]

17. =)

[brewens]

12. I usally just heat up a knife and cauterize it. n/t

[allan01]

13. i have used paper towels to do the same thing on minor wounds . thanks for the info

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. Tis a boon to me cause I don't clot quickly.

Usually I have to wear a couple of bandaids over the cut, which feels clumsy when I am trying to work in the kitchen.
The pepper stopped the bleeding and the pain instantly.

[kadaholo]

15. Thanks for the tip, dixiegrrrrl!

Love the NSA quote also!