Nov 12 2007
Patching Small Wounds
A wound can remain unpatched and heal up nicely, but if you don’t want to lose more blood than necessary you should put something on it. Some patching material has antibacterial qualities and heal things up quicker too. Two of the common materials that are said to have this effect is common plantain (Plantago major) and razor strop fungus (Piptoporus betulinus).
Common plantain is very frequently found on roads or well used paths. The leaves are thin and have small threads in them. Don’t wash it, but place it directly on the wound. The leaves don’t soak up blood, so you need a piece of buckskin or similar with binding around to hold it in place. Sorry about the lack of photos on this one. Thanks for the photo Kevin.
Razorstrap fungus is a hoof fungus that grows most commonly on birch. To process it, take a fresh piece (they dry slowly, so you can keep one with you at all time) and make cuts around the piece you need. What you are to be cutting out is the underside, also called the pores. Stick a knife underneath and skin the flake off. As Kevin shows in his blog you can use it as a self adhesive plaster. If the adhesion isn’t strong enough, just use a binding around it. While on the trip I used it on a infected wound, it seemed to work, but it burned like hell! I advise that you use the inside of the strap, since it is likely to be most sterile.
Torjus
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4 Responses to “Patching Small Wounds”
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How did the wound heal up? What was it like when you returned to civilization?
It was slow to heal, because the shoes were damp all the time, it is finally healing up now. So hard to say really, if the fungi had any effect at all.
My girlfriend and I use plantain alot for insect bites and small cuts. We usualy chew up the leaves, then apply it to the bite or cute, and sometimes put another leaf over it to hold it in place (the saliva seems to stick it to the skin)
I use plantain to treat cuts and insect bites. Plantain (like Comfrey) contains allatoin which is found in human DNA and promotes cell growth. If you chew a plantain leaf it can also help to relive the symptoms of hay fever. I will email you a picture of plantain.
cheers
Kevin