6 Home Remedies to Stop Bleeding

According to a 2014 study, green tea may be the best type of tea to use after tooth extraction. The study found that people who applied gauze with green tea extract to their bleeding tooth socket experienced less bleeding and oozing than those who applied gauze alone.

Stopping Bleeding

Injuries and certain medical conditions can result in bleeding. This can trigger anxiety and fear, but bleeding has a healing purpose. Still, you need to understand how to treat common bleeding incidents such as cuts and bloody noses, as well as when to seek medical help.

Before you begin to treat an injury, you should identify its severity as best you can. There are some situations in which you shouldn’t try to administer any kind of first aid at all. If you suspect that there’s internal bleeding or if there’s an embedded object surrounding the site of the injury, immediately call 911 or your local emergency services.

Also seek immediate medical care for a cut or wound if:

• it’s jagged, deep, or a puncture wound
• it’s on the face
• it’s the result of an animal bite
• there’s dirt that won’t come out after washing
• the bleeding will not stop after 15 to 20 minutes of first aid

If a person is bleeding profusely, be on the lookout for symptoms of shock. Cold, clammy skin, a weakened pulse, and loss of consciousness can all indicate that a person is about to go into shock from blood loss, according to the Mayo Clinic. Even in cases of moderate blood loss, the bleeding person may feel lightheaded or nauseous.

If possible, have the injured person lie down on the floor while you wait for medical care to arrive. If they are able, have them elevate their legs above their heart. This should help circulation to the vital organs while you wait for help. Hold continuous direct pressure on the wound until help arrives.

In the U.S., healthcare spending accounts for 17.7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or the total value of goods and services produced by the entire nation for the entire year, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

When your skin is cut or scraped, you begin to bleed. This is because blood vessels in the area are damaged. Bleeding serves a useful purpose because it helps to clean out a wound. However, too much bleeding can cause your body to go into shock.

You can’t always judge the seriousness of a cut or wound by the amount it bleeds. Some serious injuries bleed very little. On the other hand, cuts on the head, face, and mouth may bleed a lot because those areas contain a lot of blood vessels.

Abdominal and chest wounds can be quite serious because internal organs may be damaged, which can cause internal bleeding as well as shock. Abdominal and chest wounds are considered an emergency, and you should call for immediate medical help. This is especially important if there are symptoms of shock, which may include:

• dizziness
• weakness
• pale and clammy skin
• shortness of breath
• increased heart rate

A first aid kit that’s properly stocked can make all the difference in stopping heavy bleeding. You should keep the following items around for situations where you may need to close a wound:

• sterilized medical gloves
• sterile gauze dressings
• small scissors
• medical grade tape

Saline wash can also be helpful to have on hand in order to clear out debris or dirt from a wound without touching it. An antiseptic spray, applied at the site of the cut, can help staunch blood flow and also reduce the risk of a cut becoming infected later on.

In the days following an injury, be on the lookout to ensure that a wound is healing correctly. If the initial scab covering the wound grows bigger or becomes surrounded by redness, there may be an infection. A cloudy fluid or pus draining from the wound is also a sign of possible infection. If the person develops a fever or begins to have pain again at the sign of the cut, seek medical attention immediately.

First aid do’s

• Help the person to remain calm. If the cut is large or bleeding heavily, have them lie down. If the wound is on an arm or leg, raise the limb above the heart to slow bleeding.
• Remove obvious debris from the wound, such as sticks or grass.
• If the cut is small, wash it out with soap and water.
• After putting on clean latex gloves, apply firm pressure to the wound with a folded cloth or bandage for about 10 minutes. If blood soaks through, add another cloth or bandage and continue putting pressure on the cut for an additional 10 minutes.
• When bleeding has stopped, tape a clean bandage over the cut.

First aid don’ts

• Don’t remove an object if it’s embedded in the body.
• Don’t attempt to clean a large wound.
• When first applying the bandage, don’t remove it to look at the wound during this time. It may begin bleeding again.

6 Home Remedies to Stop Bleeding

Even small cuts can bleed a lot, particularly if they’re in a sensitive location like your mouth. In most cases, your blood’s platelets will coagulate on their own, forming a clot to stop the blood flow. If you need to speed things up, some home remedies can help your blood coagulate and stop bleeding more quickly.

With cuts of any size or depth, the first step is always to apply pressure and elevate. After that, there are some home remedies that have been used around the world to speed blood clotting and stop the bleeding from small cuts. However, not all these remedies are backed by conclusive scientific research. Here are six remedies you can try and what the research says about them.

The first step if you’re bleeding is to apply firm pressure to the wound and elevate it above your heart. You can apply pressure with a clean cloth or gauze. It doesn’t matter what type of cloth you use for a compress as long as it’s clean.

If blood seeps through, don’t remove the compress. Removing it too soon may increase bleeding by breaking open a blood clot that’s forming. Instead, add more of whatever type of compress you’re using, and continue to apply pressure.

Apply pressure to the wound for 5 to 10 minutes before checking to see if bleeding has slowed or stopped. If it hasn’t, apply pressure for five more minutes. If bleeding still hasn’t stopped, call your doctor for advice.

Applying ice to a bleeding wound, especially in the mouth, is a popular home remedy to stop bleeding. It also helps reduce swelling. However, little scientific research exists to support the remedy. An older study found bleeding time was longer the higher your body temperature. On the other hand, the lower your body temperature, the slower the blood clotting time.

How to use: Apply an ice cube wrapped in gauze directly to the wound. Do not use ice to stop bleeding if your body temperature is higher or lower than normal.

A popular remedy to stop bleeding after dental work is to apply a wet tea bag to the affected area. It’s thought the tannins in tea promote blood clotting and have astringent abilities. Tannins are natural chemicals that give tea its bitter flavor.

According to a 2014 study, green tea may be the best type of tea to use after tooth extraction. The study found that people who applied gauze with green tea extract to their bleeding tooth socket experienced less bleeding and oozing than those who applied gauze alone.

How to use: Herbal or decaffeinated teas won’t work. You need the tannins from caffeinated green or black teas. To use tea to stop bleeding after dental work, get a green or black tea bag wet and wrap it in gauze. Bite down firmly but gently on the tea compress or hold it directly against the cut in your mouth for 30 minutes or more. To use tea to stop an outer cut from bleeding, press a dry green or black tea bag against it. You can hold it in place with dry gauze, using a consistent amount of pressure and elevating the cut above your heart.

Various species of the yarrow plant are found around the world. They’re known as the Achillea family, said to be named after Achilles, the Trojan War hero made famous in Greek mythology. Legend says Achilles used yarrow to stop bleeding in wounds of his soldiers during battle. A 2011 study tested one type of yarrow plant to see how well it could help heal wounds in mice and rats and found that it was effective.

How to use: Yarrow powder is made by grinding dried yarrow herb into powder. To use yarrow powder to stop bleeding, sprinkle the wound with yarrow powder or wet, fresh yarrow leaves and flowers, and then apply pressure and elevate the wound above your heart.

The astringent nature of witch hazel may help stop bleeding in small nicks and cuts. Astringents help tighten the skin and draw it together, decrease blood supply, and promote clotting. More research is needed to prove astringents stop bleeding, but one 2007 study found witch hazel ointment to be an effective treatment for certain types of skin disorders.

Some other astringent plants that may stop bleeding are horsetail, plantain, and rose.

How to use: To use witch hazel to slow bleeding, apply a small amount to a gauze or compress and press on the wound. Pure witch hazel, without any added alcohol or other ingredients, can be found at most drugstores.

The combination of vitamin c powder and zinc lozenges may stop prolonged bleeding and encourage blood clotting after tooth extraction, according to a case study. The study found that sprinkling buffered vitamin C powder onto gauze and applying it to a bleeding tooth socket helped slow bleeding. Sprinkling the powder directly onto bleeding gums eventually stopped the bleeding of local gum tissue. Once the bleeding stopped, the woman was instructed to dissolve a zinc lozenge in her mouth. This resulted in a blood clot forming along the inner surface of her gum within three minutes.

How to use: Be sure to use pure vitamin C powder that’s not mixed with sugars or flavoring. Sprinkle the powder directly onto your bleeding gums, then suck on a zinc lozenge. Zinc lozenges can be found at most drugstores in the cold medicine aisle.