Fast wound care - no stitches

This past weekend I spiked the palm of my hand real good on a dead stick while scrambling up a hill side...a nice tight puncture wound. I did the usual licking and sucking to clean it, make sure it was bleeding freely, but I was really afraid there was still a small piece of stick in there that would cause an infection. No tape or bandaids were available, of course, no peroxide, no iodine. My friend, who is a trapper and woodsman, picked some leaves that he said are plantain...said they are astringent and antiseptic...said to crush them and hold them down on the wound...said they would sting a little bit, which they did but not much. The next day the wound was sore but not infected, today it's practically healed. I think I just got lucky...but can anybody shed any light on plantain?
 
Coldwood said:
I did the usual licking and sucking to clean it, make sure it was bleeding freely
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Can't help you with the plantain question, but in general I don't think saliva is appropriate for cleaning wounds. The human mouth is full of bacteria that can easily cause infection. Use water next time.

I'm glad you didn't get an infection. Best way to prevent an infection, IMO, is to eat right, sleep well, and get regular exercise - in other words, stay healthy and your immune system will be strong enough to prevent infection from run-of-the-mill scrapes and cuts. You probably didn't get lucky - you probably just have a strong immune system. Or maybe the plantain did its trick.

Of course carrying a band-aid and a bit of anti-biotic ointment into the field is a really good idea too.
 
I use black pepper to stop the bleeding.

Works much faster than direct pressure and bandages for fairly small cuts.
 
akennedy73 said:
Can't help you with the plantain question, but in general I don't think saliva is appropriate for cleaning wounds. The human mouth is full of bacteria that can easily cause infection. Use water next time.
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Well, I might be wrong about this - some research suggests the natural instinct to lick a wound might indeed prevent infection:

http://www.robeks.com/Library/Document01.asp?PT=D&PID=225

whereas this doctor is suggest it's a bad idea:

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSDSC/35320/35323/345205.html?d=dmtHMSContent

Anyone else have any input on this?
 
from wikipedia
Plantago spp. are often used as herbal remedies. The herb is astringent, anti-toxic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, as well as demulcent, expectorant, styptic and diuretic. Externally, a poultice of the leaves is useful for insect bites, poison-ivy rashes, minor sores, and boils. In folklore it is even claimed to be able to cure snakebite (but at least for actually dangerous snakebites this is certainly untrue). Internally, it is used for coughs and bronchitis, as a tea, tincture, or syrup. The broad-leaved varieties are sometimes used as a leaf vegetable for salads, green sauce, et cetera.

It is also know to be an extreme coagulent
 
Licking and sucking on an open wound has been my natural response for the last 60 years (no jokes, please;). Clean water was not immediately available but once we got back to camp I hosed it under a faucet. And yes, it pays to be prepared...we never see accidents coming. If we did, they wouldn't happen.
 
I always carry a small first aid kit when I carry stuff that can harm me. It contains the basic stuff but also some yellow powder. It can be used to stop bleeding and clean wounds. Don’t know the name but is also used by the military.

Basically a field wound always has to be clean before you put anything on it. They are always are coursed by things that are dirty and full of bacteria. You body cleans the wound automatically by bleeding. So if the blood isn’t squiring just let it drop. If the blood is squiring out, apply pressure or make a tourniquet.

Always take anything out of a small wound before you close it. DON’T do this by very large wounds and stuff that might prevent you from bleeding to death in a minute. Like a knife in you neck. If the knife doesn’t kill you when its in you neck it might just kill you when you take it out. This might sound odd but the knife is jamming the vein.

A infection slows you down a lot more then blood lose. If when the wound is stopped bleeding and is clean, make a band aid and take good care of your injury.
A person whit a good and healthy body that is used to get small wounds has a better ‘defence mechanism’ and more antibody so he/she will recuperate faster or doesn’t get sick or infected at all.

Im not a trained medic but I know my way around injury’s, so its just my 2 cents. Like al of us needs to be when handling blades and going to look for adventures whit them. If you want very specific advise, go see a professional because very injury needs a different type of treatment, that’s why becoming a doctor takes a lot of years.
 
Coldwood said:
This past weekend I spiked the palm of my hand real good on a dead stick while scrambling up a hill side...a nice tight puncture wound. I did the usual licking and sucking to clean it, make sure it was bleeding freely, but I was really afraid there was still a small piece of stick in there that would cause an infection. No tape or bandaids were available, of course, no peroxide, no iodine. My friend, who is a trapper and woodsman, picked some leaves that he said are plantain...said they are astringent and antiseptic...said to crush them and hold them down on the wound...said they would sting a little bit, which they did but not much. The next day the wound was sore but not infected, today it's practically healed. I think I just got lucky...but can anybody shed any light on plantain?
Click to expand...


Plantain link

It isn't my first choice but it may have some astringent properties. It may also have some antiseptic properties as well. What you did isn't a controlled study so it is hard to tell what would have happened if you had not used the plantain. According to this site listed and another that had a quote from a 17th century physician they apparently used it as a poltice, not the way your friend applied it but that may make no difference in its effectivness if it is indeed effective. All of these sites DON'T list references that I saw though, which makes them suspect. They all of course list the standard disclaimer about non of this being approved by the FDA etc, etc.


More usual methods like cleaning the wound with drinkable water and dressing the wound probably would have worked just as well without the risk of not knowing if what you were doing was going to help or hurt.

A controlled study would be interesting though.

KR

CT EMT-D
NREMT_B
Wilderness EMT
 
Pietje010 : "Always take anything out of a small wound before you close it. DON’T do this by very large wounds and stuff that might prevent you from bleeding to death in a minute. Like a knife in you neck. If the knife doesn’t kill you when its in you neck it might just kill you when you take it out. This might sound odd but the knife is jamming the vein."

Ouch! Thanks, I was not in that extreme condition.

kr1 : "According to this site listed and another that had a quote from a 17th century physician they apparently used it as a poltice, not the way your friend applied it but that may make no difference in its effectivness if it is indeed effective. All of these sites DON'T list references that I saw though, which makes them suspect. They all of course list the standard disclaimer about non of this being approved by the FDA etc, etc."

Like most accidents, this was not a controlled situation. At the time, I was happy to use anything that any reasonable person said might work. Looking back, it was probably what akennedy said, my body's immune system was kicking in, with some help from the plantain. My real concern was about a piece of trash being left inside the puncture. I've studied some American colonial medical history and no they don't list references, very short in that department. Lastly, I don't think FDA approval is necessarily a great benchmark (and I am not knocking science or sound medical opinion...don't want to start that war)
 
Another plant to consider for wounds is Yarrow.

A quote: "Yarrow: The Vulnerary Herb of Achilles
Botanists know yarrow as Achillea millefolium. It has numerous common names, including bloodwort, milfoil, nosebleed, old man's pepper, sanguinary, soldier's woundwort, stanchgrass, and thousand-leaf. .................
In antiquity and during the Middle Ages, yarrow was used primarily to treat wounds. According to legend, the Greek hero Achilles was taught by the centaur Chiron to use yarrow as a treatment for battle wounds." (Healing Plants, Mannfried Pahlow, Barron's Educational Series, 1993, ISBN# 0-8120-1498-7, page 213).

There are numerous other references to the use of Yarrow as a styptic. I have never used it myself.

Doc
 
I get cut a lot it seems. Especially at work, and that is frowned upon. So, I got some QR powder. It comes in little blister packs. Clots the wound and disinfects. Its in all my first aid kits now. Google it. Good stuff.
 
For whatever it is worth, it is also listed in petersons guide to medicinal plants and herbs (2000).

Both narrow (lance shaped and 3-ribbed) and wide (broad, oval with grooved stalk) leaved plantain have antimcrobial and healing benefits.
There is however a warning that in rare cases some types of plantain can cause contact dermititis.
 
I've never seen anything stop bleeding as good as Sage. Study up.:thumbup:
DSC00085.JPG
 
i had an experience myself with the glue. i received a dog bite on the ear. it wasnt a clean cut, more of a jagged flap. went to an outpatient clinic and they cleaned it up and glued it there. no needles required and it only hurt when the doc glued his glove to my ear and had to pull it off. other than that the stuff worked great.
j_d
 
If you're a smoker, some tobacco as a poltice will help stop minor bleeding as well. Wad up some and press it into/over the area, maybe with a layer of paper from the smoke over it, adn tape it down with some 100mph or electrical tape. I keep ~8 or 10 feet of 100mph tape wrapped around itself flat in my wallet. Don't smoke, but I keep a small ziplock (2"x3") with some American Spirt tobacco in the kit along with all the other standard stuff.
 
kr1 said:
Three more words,

"Tincture of benzoin"

Great stuff agreed! Steri strips with Benzoine AKA Fryers Balsam is a good primary treatment.

"Generally speaking crazy glue is a bad idea. "

Agreed but
I use it all the time with great results.


"And has it has been already pointed out it was never created for first aid use originally though there is some use for it on small wounds now. I.E. liquid bandage, Dermabond."

The glue was created for wounds but not adopted and called something else originally.
For those who dont know essentially Dermabond is crazy glue with coloring in it.


"With larger wounds you are sealing in the infection that is almost sure to come without proper cleaning and debridement which can't be done in the field. If the infection cannot get out it will go in towards the bone or create a huge pus filled pocket that would need to be drained or cause a systemic infection that you will die from. Be aware that the size of the wound is not an indicator of how bad the infection will be."

Agreed 100%

Never had any tissue damage from the chemical reaction thus dermabond is used with good results.

Depends on your training and what your protocols are but super glue is taught as an option to some.
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SKam
Wilderness EMT-B
 
A safer alternative to licking or sucking the hand wound would have been to urinate on it to clean it as urine is sterile!!!
 
I must be the exception around here as I simply use steri-strips to close wounds and only then after I have clean it throughly.

YMMV, but if I'm headed to the woods for a few weeks; I never go without pascalite in my backpack - (http://www.pascalite.com/About Pascalite.htm) - old Indian remedy which works on a wide variety of medical problems, (spider bites, skin problems, gunshot wounds, etc...)
 
OK I seem to get cut a lot... take what you want from that. I've tried the superglue thing before. It was a nightmare. The wound kept opening up at bad times, applying it was messy and it got all over all my fingers, and it did nothing for bleeding (the wound kept bleeding when it reopened). The cut wasn't big, and eventually took 2 stitches.

Nowadays I use Quick Clot powder. Problem solved. Get cut, wash the wound, cake in the QC powder, and wrap. It dissinfects, and stops the bleeding. You can get it in big packs like the military uses, or in little blister paks under the QR Powder brand. Added benefit, if you're around when a hemophiliac starts to bleed this will save their life.
 
The military uses a thing called quick clot to stop bleeding fast. don't know where you would get it though.
 
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