Natural Adhesives for Healing Wounds

[ResearchMaster]

Well, I just want to hear from you guys concerning natural adhesives with medicinal uses.

Kindly share with us your experiences about natural materials that can heal cuts or other wounds through its stickiness. It's a lot useful because instead of using sutures, you use "natural glues" instead.

Hmmm. So I guess I'll start.
Honey, pine resin pitch, snail slime (i guess?).

I don't really know much actually. Hahaha.

[Rick]

I don't think I'd be too quick to put any of that in a wound. There are better ways to deal with cuts than packing something in it that might cause an infection.

[randyt]

I'm a big fan of balsam pitch. Balsam is a important tree, almost as important as paper birch.
here's a link.
http://earthnotes.tripod.com/balsam.htm

[hunter63]

This is gonna be kinda tough.....most people that get a cut, used standard First aid.....or if bad enough, professional help.
Most information would be anecdotal, or speculation, I would think.

I have heard that spider webs can be used to pack a wound,....but have not tried it.

Let us know what you find out.

[randyt]

A old tee shirt works best, I have first hand experience with that.

[hunter63]

A old tee shirt works best, I have first hand experience with that.

Or shop rag......

[pete lynch]

Pack dirt in there and wrap it with duct tape until you find some tree sap. Use clean dirt.

[Rick]

You could probably boil the dirt to insure it's sterile. Of course, if you are bleeding a LOT you could probably boil that and poke it back in.

[Wildthang]

Honey and a clean rag or bandage works well, and you won't get a screaming infection using this method!

[BENESSE]

Here's something I know works because I've tried it. Powdered sugar.
When I was a kid, I dropped a bottle of milk on a hard surface which shattered and a piece of shard flew and cut the side of my leg right around the knee bend. It was a small cut but wouldn't stop bleeding no matter what I did. Didn't want to tell mom because I figured she'd give me a hard time over the broken bottle. An old lady, a neighbor of ours, poured some powdered sugar in it, and like magic, it stopped bleeding and was crusty in a few hours. Mom never found out.

[ClayPick]

Might as well stuff some sphagnum peat and puffball spores in there.

[Rick]

Powdered sugar

So that's why you are so sweet.

(if that didn't earn me an attaboy nothin' will)

[Batch]

"Langdale says he knows instinct is the one thing that really saved him.

"I started to make my way up the bank and my arm was bleeding really badly so I started grabbing some spider webs and grabbing whatever I could. I put the spider webs on my arm because it'll stop the bleeding," he said."

This kid got his arm tore off by a gator and used spider webs to stop the bleeding.

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/18994258/...-about-the-arm

I have read about a bunch of other plants used as both an antiseptic and a dressing. Pine pitch and the inner bark of the strangler fig is all I could remember though.

[Eastree]

Here's something I know works because I've tried it. Powdered sugar.
When I was a kid, I dropped a bottle of milk on a hard surface which shattered and a piece of shard flew and cut the side of my leg right around the knee bend. It was a small cut but wouldn't stop bleeding no matter what I did. Didn't want to tell mom because I figured she'd give me a hard time over the broken bottle. An old lady, a neighbor of ours, poured some powdered sugar in it, and like magic, it stopped bleeding and was crusty in a few hours. Mom never found out.

Was it confectioner's sugar or just super-fine sugar? If it was confectioner's, the corn starch may have helped a bit.

[randyt]

sugar is good stuff, here's a link

http://www.tngun.com/how-to-make-sugardine-antiseptic/