Today I’m going to share with you one of my favorite herbs to have on hand-cayenne. With three kiddos (and one accident prone mama), we’ve had a lot of skinned knees and elbows around our house. But usually the worst accidents are from yours truly.
For instance, take last Thursday when I was trying to slice a watermelon. I thought my knife was not sharp enough so I proceeded to sharpen until it was like new and went to work on my watermelon. But as I was slicing, my pinky finger happened to be in the way, and I cut a 1/2 inch gash across it-almost from one side to the other. Needless to say it was bleeding like crazy.
Without hesitation, I grabbed my cayenne pepper and dumped some on the cut. No, it did not burn at all-it actually took the pain away! Usually that is all it takes clot a normal cut or wound, but since this was pretty bad, I dabbed the excess blood off and dumped more cayenne on. It was only a few minutes later that it had completely stopped bleeding. Now mind you, my finger looked horrible from the blood and cayenne all over it, but the blood had formed a clot and that was the goal.
Since cayenne has some antibacterial properties also, I didn’t wash it (which would have added to the pain) or add any other salve or medicine at this time. I simply put a bandage on it and was careful with it the rest of the evening. First thing the next morning, I removed the bandage and cleaned it up-which is when I realized how bad the cut was. I’m sure had I not applied the cayenne, we would have spent the evening at the ER getting stitches. I applied some of my homemade salve to it and re-bandaged it. (That salve is amazing.) I continued to apply salve at least twice a day, and by Saturday I was laying rocks around our flower bed with no bandage and no pain. By Sunday there was only a small line visible and now there is not even a scar. Seriously y’all, I can’t even tell it was ever cut!
Needless to say, I have added cayenne to my list of “never leave home without it” herbs. I’ve found the pills are the easiest for on the go emergencies. Just keep a few pills in your purse or bag (if your like me you have a stash of {hopefully herbal} pills you carry with you anyway.
Here are the basic how-to’s:
1-Get a cut, wound, wart, etc that is bleeding. (Don’t do this intentionally though!)
2-Grab cayenne and open lid or capsule.
3-Dump enough cayenne to completely cover area that is bleeding.
4-Watch in amazement as the blood begins to clot.
5-If wound was severe and blood is not clotting quickly, dab blood with clean, dry cloth and repeat step 3.
6-Once blood has clotted bandage wound cayenne and all.
7-Gently wipe or blow off excess cayenne not covered by bandage.
8-The next morning, clean wound with water, apply salve and re-bandage if necessary.
9-Pat yourself on the back for knowing how to use herbs and applying your knowledge!
I have used cayenne countless times over the years for helping wounds-now even my children come asking for cayenne when they have a boo-boo. I hope this story inspires you to learn more about what cayenne can do for your family.
Go Out and Herb It Up!
Brigett
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