Hi All.
How do you guys treat minor cuts and scratches? I mean on your hands. I know that I am not suppose to cut myself, but just today while planing board of ash I created such a sharp edge on a board itself. My hand slipped and again I have a scratch. What I am looking for is some kind of cream or gel which would accelerate healing process. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Dmitri
Liquid bandaid. Paint it on, forms covering. Great for minor scratches and burns.
If it's minor, I usually don't bother to treat it at all.
For more serious cuts, any readily available antibacterial/antifungal ointment, such as Neo-Sporin or one of its many clones should do the trick.
The stuff really does accelerate healing. I remember a situation where I had a serious cut on one finger, which I doctored diligently, and some kind of nuissance paper cut on another. The deep but doctored cut healed much faster than untreated the paper cut.
There is no magic potion. To my knowledge, the only thing that has been found to actually speed healing is petroleum jelly (vaseline).
I think it depends on what kind of cut. A cut like a paper cut or similar, you can use superglue to bond it back in place. Other cuts, I've cleaned them and then dabbed on a little bit of that stuff one uses for gum or toothache pain. Deeper cuts? Well, it depends on how far the blood is gushing.
I just sprinkle a little sawdust on mine.
I dries it up real fast, and just a few minutes can be brushed off.
Not worried about infection? Wood or the dirt embedded in it could cause problems.
Find someplace like Tractor Supply or Agway, or maybe even your local drugstore(here in western NY they keep it behind the prescription counter) and get some "Bag Balm". Active ingredients petroleum jelly & sulfa. Great for man or beast, wonderful for diaper rash & jock itch and does help with cuts & scratches.
Nahmie
Tea tree oil
Superglue
Sticking plasters (rarely last more than an hour though)
Vinyl disposable glove - helps to preserve the sticking plaster past the end of the day, or you can slice of fthe appropriate chunk and stick it in place aas a finger stall.
One thing that's _really_ useful, although more so when I'm welding, is a squirt bottle of Water-jel burn jelly. I have their big dressings too, but the squirter doesn't cost $5 when I open the package.
-- Smert' spamionam
CA glue works wonders.
Dmitri, Working with epoxy & other stuff, I get denatured alcohol by the gallon. I typically decant some into an old pint-sized mustard container with a 'dropper' type lid. {if your nervous, Isopropyl Alcohol from the local CVS, etc.}
1 - Clean / wash the scratch/cut with alcohol. 2 - Apply a little bit of some brand of 'Triple Antibiotic Ointment' 3 - Apply a 'Band-Aid' - gauze or 'cloth' type . . . they conform better and last longer than the 'plastic' type. I carry at least one in my wallet. Joanne used to joke about it . . . until about a week ago - we were standing in line to return some clothes when her finger started to bleed {a paper or hanger 'cut' ??}. Did a good job on my handkerchief before I stopped it - and saved the clothes. Cleaned it up and used the 'Day-Glo Orange' Band-Aid I had tucked away.Regards & Good Luck, Ron Magen Backyard Boatshop {As in small boat safety . . . it's simple enough the make up a small 'emergency med kit' and keep it in a BRIGHT COLORED box somewhere in the shop . . . we DO have a LOT of SHARP implements . . . and some move at a very high speed !! }
SNIP
for the most part I keep them clean and open to the air. seems to work best for me Bridger
In all cases, soap and water... lots of cold water. Follow that with Neosporin ointment. I use super glue (chemically very similar to Dermabond) on those annoying paper cuts. Whether I band aid or not depends on how annoying the cut is.
Sliced off fingers and forearms go in a baggy with some cold saline for either reattachment by a surgeon (if successful) or mounting on a nice walnut plaque (if not). YMMV.
waterless antibiotic cleanser, leave it open to the air if it's a small cut, otherwise bag balm (vaseline & sulfa) as already suggested, or vitamin E liquid-filled gel caps, split open onto the scar.
Soap and water followed by petroleum jelly, and a small bandage if the wound is on my hand and I don't want to get blood on the workpiece. I wouldn't advise sprinkling sawdust on a wound. If you're lucky enough to avoid an infection you may still get an annoying histaminic reaction. Neosporin is good stuff because in addition to being essentially petroleum jelly, it has a mild anesthetic in it.
--Jay
From my younger days as a farrier, where my fingers were often ripped and torn from driving horseshoe nails into a sometimes moving, jerking target, often covered with horseshit to boot, I've kept a bottle of 7% iodine solution on hand ... and used it on both me and the horses.
Still keep a bottle out in the shop for cuts, just flood the wound, then leave it open.
I would imagine that everyone's body is different, but cuts heal very fast if I use it, much slower if I don't ... to the point that some of those small cuts that have a tendency to be more sore than serious are often no longer sore within hours.
YMMV ...
"Tincture of Time" is the sure treatment.
'Helper' products:
There's a generic (i.e. inexpensive) product, "Bacitracin" -- petroleum jelly w/ a anti-bacterial additive
"A & D" ointment -- another light petrleum jelly, with vitamin additives.
or even Vasoline(tm).
Wash w/ soap and water. Dry _thoroughly_. Apply one of the 'helper' products. Cover with Band-Aid(tm), or similar -- or one of the 'liquid patch' types.
That's 'cause you burn off all the pain receptors with that iodine! :)
Superglues were originally developed as an alternative to stiches following surgery. However the use has been discontinued due to carcinogeneity. I don't know whether or not the malignancies were confined to the site where the material was used.
Try a band aid.
The sawdust itself is probably pretty sterile having been inside of a tree for many many years. The question would seem to be with what might it be contaminated? Ordinary housedust is typically loaded with tetnus spores.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.