What are some of your DIY first aid solutions?

I helped my husband cut down a big oak tree that was rotting yesterday. Something about the branches made my arms break out in hives. I put some lavender oil on it and the itching stopped and the swelling went down immediately.

Provided it’s not an emergency situation (in which case you should go to the ER), a surprising and very effective way to stop bleeding from a cut is to apply coffee grounds to the wound. I don’t know what makes this work, but it’s amazing how well it works. You need to use ground coffee that hasn’t been brewed yet.

@2davidc8 interesting, I’ve never heard of that before.

I also use peppermint oil on my temples to knock out a headache fast.

ooo gonna try that peppermint!

Provided I have a little vodka and an exacto knife, I can do amazing self surgeries. And as my avatar clearly shows, a well tapped rusty nail can really clear up the sinuses.

I usually just wrap a clean paper towel around it and go looking for my wife, who always has BandAids and an unlimited supply of sympathy.

P.S. Neosporin is a damn-fine and effective product….
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I have dealt with a nasty chest infection with an onion poultice using this method. It works quite well. It’s best to use organic onions if you can get them. http://jillshomeremedies.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-to-make-onion-poultice.html

I’ve used superglue instead of stitches. Very effective, but make absolutely sure the wound is clean first. Otherwise you’ll be sealing in infection. For best results, you need to get the superglue on it before the wound begins to well with blood, so right after the cut happens. you hold the wound shut with thin strips of tape or fingers, and drip a fine line of superglue along the cut.

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My hubby and I bought a piece of property that was draped in poison ivy vines. We both ended up with horrible reactions. He went to the doctor first, and got the prednesone and antibiotics. I bought this poison ivy treatment over the internet the same day he went to the doctor. http://store.altnature.com/

Even though I looked like a bear had clawed me, and he went to the doctor several days before I received my stuff in the mail, I looked better than he did after just one treatment. It’s awesome stuff, and it really really works.

By the way, if you do have poison ivy, stay away from any treatment that has alcohol in it. Alcohol just dissolves the urishol oil and spreads it around. It makes it worse!

Well this is getting long enough, but I could list several other remedies.

My husband is a walking accident waiting to happen. It’s the nature of his work. He also will not go to a hospital unless I force him to go.

The last major injury happened when a board kicked back on him and gashed his shin down to the bone. Of course, he wrapped it in duct tape and finished the work day. By the time he got home it was way too late for stitches. My own experience in first aid coupled with some excellent advice from an online friend who is also a wound care specialist allowed me to care for the leg during the very long healing process, without any serious infection.

So, no special tricks, but it was a hardcore DIY first aid job.

I was that pale little Jewish kid at summer camp who couldn’t make moccasins or do any kind of craft without screwing it up, a DIY incompetence that grew exponentially through the years. So when it comes to doing it myself, this is the mantra I adopted early on and have lived by ever since:

If it’s good enough to do, it’s good enough to pay someone to pay someone else to do.

If it’s good enough to do, it’s good enough to pay someone else to do.

Me and my typos!

I would have wrapped the finger in paper towel and then duck taped it. Similar to what you have done. I wouldn’t have thought of the splint.

Witchhazel is good for hives and skin irritations.
Bleach baths for chiggers or bug bites.
Generally, I let even deep cuts heal naturally with Neosporin and alcohol, so yeah, I have a few scars.

I don’t know, Pachy. I kind of like the ‘typo’ version a little better….
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I read one time that the Aztec used cayenne pepper as an anticoagulant for open wounds so I tried it.

It does work.

If you like a little pain with your affliction.

Interesting, @rojo

The capsaicin would also be a pain reliever, wouldn’t it? It’s like the main ingredient in joint cream.

I guess not right away if you’re stuffing dried ground pepper into an open wound as a styptic powder…