MORE: 5 Natural Ways To Heal Cuts And Scrapes
Stop The Bleeding
The fastest way to stop bleeding is to apply direct pressure. Place a clean, absorbent cloth over the cut, then firmly press your hand against it. If you don’t have a cloth, use your fingers. If blood soaks through your first bandage, layer on a second one and press steadily. Add new bandages over old ones, because removing a cloth may tear off coagulating blood cells. If applying pressure doesn’t stop the bleeding, elevate the limb to heart level to reduce the pressure of blood on the cut. Continue applying pressure. This should take care of it.
Be Like A Dog
If you’re out in the middle of nowhere with no way to clean a wound, just lick it. Scientists in Amsterdam have found that human saliva contains a protein that greatly speeds healing by acting as an antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory agent. (Here’s more on why licking your wounds can help them heal.)
Strap It Up
When the bleeding stops or at least slows, tie the wound firmly with a cloth or wrap it with an elastic bandage so there is pressure against it, but do not cut off circulation, says emergency medical technician John Gillies. MORE: 5 Ways To Prevent And Reduce Scars
Go For Extra Pressure
If the cut continues to bleed, it is more serious than you thought, and you probably need to see a doctor immediately. Until you get medical help, find the pressure point nearest the cut between the wound and your heart. Pressure points are places you might think of when taking a pulse: inside your wrists, inside your upper arm about halfway between the elbow and armpit, and in the groin where your legs attach to your torso. Press the artery against the bone. Stop pressing about a minute after the bleeding stops. If bleeding starts again, reapply pressure.
Don’t Use A Tourniquet
With most everyday cuts and scrapes, first aid is plenty. Tourniquets can be dangerous. “Once you apply a tourniquet, the person may end up losing that limb because you cut off circulation,” cautions Gillies.
Wash The Wound Twice A Day
This is important to prevent infection and to decrease the chance of permanent discoloration. Wash the area with soap and water or just water, says Hugh Macaulay, MD. The idea is to dilute the bacteria in the wound and remove debris. If you don’t remove stones, dirt, or sand from the cut, they can leave color under the skin. MORE: 11 Ways To Sleep Better Tonight
Clean Cuts And Scrapes With Myrrh
Another way to clean a cut or scrape is by using myrrh, a reddish-brown dried tree sap available in health food stores. Myrrh is a natural antiseptic and known for its “blood-moving” properties that help with healing. Use 1 teaspoon of myrrh extract in 4 ounces of water and pour it over the wound, letting it air-dry before bandaging.
Smear On An Over-The-Counter Antibiotic Ointment
Broad-spectrum antibacterial ointments work best, according to James J. Leyden, MD. People who use a triple-antibiotic ointment and the right kind of bandage heal 30% faster, says wound researcher Patricia Mertz. Still, Mertz warns, be wary of over-the-counter drugs that contain neomycin or ointments that contain a lot of preservatives. They can cause allergic reactions. If you have an allergic reaction to the ointment, your scrape will get red and itchy, and may become infected.
Try Tea Tree Oil
Tea tree oil contains a powerful antiseptic compound and has long been popular worldwide for helping wounds heal. Botanist James Duke, PhD, suggests diluting several drops of tea tree oil in a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil and applying it to the cut or scrape. MORE: 5 Natural Remedies For Headaches
Have A Sweet Treatment
Got a cut or wound? You can speed up the healing process with a little table sugar, says orthopedic surgeon Richard A. Knutson, MD. He’s treated wounds with a mixture of a topical iodine solution and sugar, healing a variety of mishaps such as cuts, scrapes, and burns. (Don’t use raw iodine; it will burn the skin.) Sugar, he says, leaves bacteria without the nutrients necessary to grow or multiply. Wounds usually heal quickly, without a scab and often with little scarring. Keloids (irregular, large scars) are kept to a minimum. To make Knutson’s ointment, you must mix 1 part canola or olive oil with 3 parts of white table sugar, then add 3 tablespoons of first-aid antibiotic ointment (Betadine Antibiotic Ointment, for example). You can find the ointment in your local drugstore. Pack a cleaned wound with the homemade ointment and cover carefully with gauze. Four times a day, rinse the area gently with water and hydrogen peroxide and pack on fresh ointment. Taper off as healing progresses. Be sure the wound is clean, and the bleeding has stopped before applying the mixture. Sugar makes a bleeding wound bleed more. Knutson recommends applying a dry dressing for 24 to 48 hours to help stop the bleeding.
Think Zinc
This essential mineral strengthens the immune system, which helps with wound healing. To help speed up the healing of a cut or scrape, add more zinc-rich foods to your diet. Good sources of zinc include oysters, meat, eggs, seafood, black-eyed peas, tofu, and wheat germ. MORE: What The Color Of Your Pee Says About Your Health
Keep Cuts And Scrapes Undercover
When exposed to air, cuts form scabs, which slow down new cell growth, says Mertz. She recommends a plastic bandage similar to food wrap. They come in all sizes. Or look for gauze impregnated with petroleum jelly. Both types of bandages keep healing moisture on the wound but allow only a little air to pass through. Cells regenerate more rapidly when moist.
Top It Off With A Tetanus Shot
If you haven’t had a tetanus shot in the past 5 years, you need a booster, says Macaulay. Local health departments usually give them for a minimal fee or for free, he adds. If you don’t remember when you had your last booster, it’s a good idea to have one within 24 hours of the injury.
Kitchen Cures For Cuts And Scrapes
Clove: “The dried flower buds of this tropical tree can be found on your spice rack,” says Duke in his book The Green Pharmacy. “You can sprinkle powdered cloves on a cut to keep it from becoming infected.” Clove oil is rich in eugenol, a chemical that’s both an antiseptic and a painkiller. Ask your dentist or aromatherapist about it, too. Garlic: A flavor enhancer, garlic—and its relatives, onion and chive—is also a natural antibiotic with lots of antiseptic compounds. Tape a clove of garlic directly on a cut or scrape to help with healing. If this irritates your skin, remove it immediately. Honey: This natural sweetener contains 3 powerful wound-healing ingredients: sugar for absorbing moisture so bacteria can’t survive, hydrogen peroxide to disinfect, and the nectar-based compound propolis to kill bacteria. An added bonus? Honey dries to form a natural bandage. MORE: 4 Surprising Ways Wellness Experts Use Honey
Why Are Little Paper Cuts Such A Big Pain?
Office workers know it. Paper pushers of any kind can testify to it, too. Even though they’re small, paper cuts pack a real pain punch. What is it about these small cuts that prompts such big reactions from us? In a word, particles. If a woman cuts herself shaving her legs, the razor makes a clean cut, leaving behind few, if any, particles that trigger pain. A paper cut, on the other hand, leaves paper fibers coated with chemicals from the papermaking process. These fibers and bacteria remain in the wound and stimulate pain receptors in the skin. What to do? If you can see the particles, remove them with a clean pair of tweezers. Crazy as it sounds, consider Krazy Glue. The glue binds the outer skin together, allowing inner layers to heal faster. Fill your cut with a tiny amount of Krazy Glue using a toothpick or the rod portion of a cotton swab. Apply the glue so that it’s flat and smooth, with no bumps. Take care not to stick your fingers to each other or to objects. Don’t use Krazy Glue for anything but paper cuts and small cracks in the skin. Stay alert for the sign of an allergic reaction: red, inflamed skin.
Choosing An Over-The-Counter Ointment
Confused about choosing the best product for your boo-boo? In one study, Leyden, compared the effectiveness of nine over-the-counter products on wound healing. He found that some products mend minor cuts, scrapes, and burns faster than others. Here’s what his research uncovered.
Polysporin (active ingredients: polymyxin B, bacitracin ointment): 8.2 daysNeosporin (active ingredients: neomycin, polymyxin B, bacitracin ointment): 9.2 daysJohnson & Johnson First Aid Cream (wound protectant with no antibiotic agent): 9.8 daysMercurochrome (active ingredient: merbromin): 13.1 daysNo treatment: 13.3 daysBactine spray (active ingredient: benzalkonium chloride): 14.2 daysMerthiolate (active ingredient: thimerosol): 14.2 daysHydrogen peroxide (3%): 14.3 daysCampho-Phenique (active ingredients: camphor, phenol): 15.4 daysTincture of iodine: 15.7 days
Bandage Busters
Got a cut or scrape but dread taking off the bandage? To minimize the consequences of this procedure, follow these tips for painless removal. Use a tiny pair of scissors to separate the bandage part from the adhesive sections. Pull it gently away from your scrape. Then remove the adhesive strips. If your scab is stuck to the bandage, soak the area in a mixture of warm water and salt—normally about a teaspoon of salt to a gallon of water should do it. Have patience. The dressing will eventually let go. If the bandage is stuck on your forearm, leg, or chest hair, pull in the direction of hair growth. Use a cotton swab saturated in baby oil or rubbing alcohol to moisten the adhesive fully before pulling away from the skin.
When To Visit A Doctor About Cuts And Scrapes
First aid isn’t always enough. See a doctor when:
Bleeding is bright red and spurting. You may have punctured an artery. You can’t wash all the debris out of the wound. The cut or scrape is on your face or any area where you want to minimize scarring. Your wound develops red streaks or weeps pus, or the redness extends more than a finger’s width beyond the cut. The wound is large, and you can see inside it. You may need stitches. Never try to stitch a wound yourself, even if you are stranded far from medical help.
Panel Of Advisors
James Duke, PhD, held several posts in his more than 3 decades with the USDA, including chief of the Medicinal Plant Resources Laboratory. He is author of The Green Pharmacy. John Gillies, EMT, is a former emergency medical technician and program director for health services at the Colorado Outward Bound School in Denver. Richard A. Knutson, MD, is a former orthopedic surgeon at Delta Medical Center in Greenville, Mississippi. James J. Leyden, MD, is an emeritus professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Hugh Macaulay, MD, is an emergency room physician at Aspen Valley Hospital in Colorado. Patricia Mertz is an emeritus professor in the department of dermatology and cutaneous surgery at Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami in Florida. She is also the founder of Miami Dermatology Research Institute.
