Thursday, October 8, 2009

Cool Find: Cayenne As First Aid


I'm sharing this because I think it is a cool find. I am not a medical doctor and am in no way intending the following as medical advice. I heard this information anecdotally in stories told by the callers to a radio show and gathered further information on the subject online. There are wild claims of cayenne pepper, what we know of as a spice, being fantastically helpful for many crisis and ailments. One usage I heard about was to use it as a hemostat to staunch the flow of blood in an emergency. it is said that it is very effective in stopping the flow of blood from a cut or wound, is and it also helps to relieve pain. I understand it in effect cauterizes the blood vessels with its naturally occurring Scoville or heat Units.

I bought some extra strength cayenne powder to keep on hand for emergencies not really knowing if what I had heard was at all true but then I had a small try out of it the other day. I cut into my finger deeply with a sharp wood carving tool and the blood was flowing pretty well. I quickly ran to the bathroom and rinsed the cut which hurt a bit. I applied pressure to it and then got the bag of cayenne out. I jammed my finger down into the powder and packed it in, not knowing what would happen.

Within 10 seconds the bleeding a completely stopped and the pain dissolved within 1 minute. The cut was completely healed in less than two days. I mean healed, as in no bandage, no pain, no infection. That sold me on keeping some around for cuts at all times right there.

I won't link publicly to the material I read online about it as I want to leave that to each person that wants to to research it for themselves. If anyone would like to read what I did they are welcome to email me at the address above and I'll forward them a few links that I thought were substantive. I have personally made the cayenne tincture for adding into my drinks and carry some with me for heart or brain crisis now as well.