Thread: When you nick yourself...

Originally Posted by Alraz

There should not be much difference among them. The term alum usually refers to a class of aluminum sulfate compounds. Both blocks and pencils are made with one of such compounds. I have a styptic pencil that works really well on cuts and razor burn. Alum blocks are larger so you cover a larger area in one pass but also cost more.

Al raz.

This is not exactly correct. Most styptic pencils are aluminum sulfate. Alum is potassium aluminum sulfate, a totally different compound. Alums, as a class are bisulfates containing a monovalent cation (eg. potasium) and a trivalent cation (eg. aluminum).

Do the Alum blocks sting like the styptic pencils?

Originally Posted by kahunamoose

Do the Alum blocks sting like the styptic pencils?

Slightly less in my experience, more like alcohol based aftershave. They sort out minor nicks/abrasion but I reach for the pencil on the odd occasion that there's a major one. Personally I use the Alum in place of such aftershave as I seem to react to alcohol on my skin (obviously, I react to it when taken internally as well, but hey, that's cool).

I find that styptic pencils cauterize nicks, so a large nick will leave a scar as the tissues don't have time to grow back. On a small nick the scar won't be apparent, but on large ones, better use something that will let the skin regrow like an ointment or Vaseline even, anything that will keep the nick from drying out while the skin grows back.

I try not to use them.

McKie

i use a pencil on the small nicks but i have had a big enough cut that was bleeding to heavy for the pencil to do any good in which case i use t.p

I use lots of cold water, which seems to stop most of the bleeding. Bigger nicks might take a bit of tissue paper. Never used styptic or alum at all.
J.

I have one of those alum bars. It tightens the skin with a very noticeable sting and might be good for very tiny and very superficial cuts, but it doesnt really stop the bleeding as such.

There's a very effective way to stop bleeding, that doesnt sting at all, and is very cheap, too: hydrogen peroxide. I have a small bottle in the bathroom just in case. I use it mostly when a family member cut themselves, say with a kitchen knife. Pour the stuff slowly onto the open wound for a few seconds, stop and watch: it foams lightly, white in color, dries within seconds and that's it: no more bleeding.

I use a styptic pencil, although I did just buy some styptic powder at Sally's this weekend. I have never used the alum. so I can't comment on that, but for my legs the pencil works just great.

Cold water. If it still bleeds, a little direct pressure with bathroom tissue for a few minutes.

X

I have used both the styptic and alum and found for me, that they work equally well.

I find that even little nicks tend to bump up for a few days when healing. To help in this process, I always rub a little triple antibiotic over the nick and it really helps to speed the healing process.

Lynn