Cuts and scrapes that bleed are part of everyday life. Direct pressure and a bandage are the recommended first aid. When a bad cut won’t stop bleeding-or when any cut is spurting blood, indicating an arterial wound-emergency medical attention is called for. (Dial 911.)
But what if, as so often happens, the cut is not especially serious but the pesky thing just keeps on bleeding and bleeding? That’s when natural products that stop bleeding come in especially handy. This reader describes one from his childhood:
Pot Marigold for Bleeding:
Q. Marigold leaves work for me to stop bleeding.
I was 8 years old when I got a cut from a metal wire on my ankle. Blood was gushing out and nothing could stop the bleeding.
Then my grandfather went outside and picked leaves from a marigold plant. He washed the leaves under the tap and then rolled them between his palms to crush them.
When he put that mixture directly on the cut, it stopped bleeding instantly. I kept the paste on for half an hour and then put a bandage on the cut to protect it.
A. We suspect the plant your grandfather was using was Calendula officinalis or pot marigold. It has a long history as an herbal medicine, and its extract has anti-inflammatory activity. Its use on battlefields to keep wounds from bleeding goes back at least to Civil War times.
Scientists today have been working on new delivery methods for extract of pot marigold leaves to speed wound healing (Drug Delivery and Translational Research, June, 2015).
Ground Black Pepper and Other Quick Kitchen Remedies:
Readers have previously shared their success with ground black pepper to stop a cut from bleeding. Others have used red pepper (ground cayenne).
People have used a variety of things that might be handy in a kitchen to stop bleeding from a nick. Some use sage, while others use coffee grounds. If you use nori (the seaweed that wraps around sushi) in your cooking, you could try wrapping a bit of it around a bleeding finger to staunch the blood.
