# oh, don't you hate that?



## EdipisReks (Jan 6, 2012)

i was cutting some citrus peel for a summery drinkie-poo (i drink old single malt neat in the summer and summery drinks in the winter), when a text message dinged and distracted me. i then bounced the tip of my Yoshikane gyuto off the distal phalanx of the left index finger. i don't play around anymore (i've used everything from super glue to CELOX, but 10+ m HCL and an eyedropper seems to work the best for me), so i'm enjoying my drink, but that sucks.


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## tk59 (Jan 6, 2012)

lemme get this straight. you drip concentrated acid on a fresh cut?


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## unkajonet (Jan 6, 2012)

I was wondering about that myself


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## mc2442 (Jan 6, 2012)

was a few drops of blood what the drink was missing?


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## EdipisReks (Jan 6, 2012)

yes. it cauterizes the wound and studies show that HCL promotes wound healing. i rarely have a scar from wounds that warrant it. you don't use much, and as soon as the bleeding starts to abate you rinse in water. i learned it from one of the principal investigators at my old job (university molecular genetics department). and i used 30% HCL tonight, which is about 10m, so it wasn't all that concentrated. 12m tends to turn my fingers too yellow for my tastes.


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## EdipisReks (Jan 6, 2012)

mc2442 said:


> was a few drops of blood what the drink was missing?



a few drops of blood always improves a drink.


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## EdipisReks (Jan 6, 2012)

well, not all that concentrated relatively speaking. reagently there is a pretty big difference.


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## tk59 (Jan 6, 2012)

EdipisReks said:


> yes. it cauterizes the wound and studies show that HCL promotes wound healing. i rarely have a scar from wounds that warrant it. you don't use much, and as soon as the bleeding starts to abate you rinse in water. i learned it from one of the principal investigators at my old job (university molecular genetics department). and i used 30% HCL tonight, which is about 10m, so it wasn't all that concentrated. 12m tends to turn my fingers too yellow for my tastes.


Interesting... I don't think I'm going to try that, lol. Btw, 10 M HCl is plenty concentrated. Pure water is only 56 M.


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## EdipisReks (Jan 6, 2012)

and, as a disclaimer, i would suggest not introducing large amounts of HCL into your blood stream. a deep cut flows pretty heavily away from the venous system, so it's okay if you don't use much. the acid wasn't the point of this thread.


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## EdipisReks (Jan 6, 2012)

tk59 said:


> Interesting... I don't think I'm going to try that, lol. Btw, 10 M HCl is plenty concentrated. Pure water is only 56 M.



but think about it compared to gastric juice. not all that concentrated.


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## tk59 (Jan 6, 2012)

EdipisReks said:


> but think about it compared to gastric juice. not all that concentrated.


Gastric juice is only 0.1 M, isn't it? Two orders of magnitude...


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## EdipisReks (Jan 6, 2012)

oh, and i've heard that it hurts below 10m. the pain is instantly killed by a drop or two of 10+. since sharp knife cuts don't really hurt until air hits the tissue, the acid way is a great pain avoider.


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## EdipisReks (Jan 6, 2012)

tk59 said:


> Gastric juice is only 0.1 M, isn't it? Two orders of magnitude...



sounds about right, which isn't all that much of a difference when you're talking about a simple mineral acid working on flesh in a short time frame. it's a 1 pH vs -1, typically. unless you're a robot.


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## tk59 (Jan 7, 2012)

Okay. I'm curious. Where is this "HCl promotes healing" info?


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## Andrew H (Jan 7, 2012)

tk59 said:


> Okay. I'm curious. Where is this "HCl promotes healing" info?


+1


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## EdipisReks (Jan 7, 2012)

nothing i'd be willing to show directly, as it's all mouse studies, but a google search for HCL Wound Healing brings up plenty of abstracts. don't confuse the hydrochloride compound studies with the HCL studies. this isn't new science. providing an acidic surface condition has obvious implications for pathogen growth, and increased blood vessel repair in acidic environments is pretty well established.


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## EdipisReks (Jan 7, 2012)

and none of this is the point anyway, cutting the f**ck out of yourself because you get distracted was the point!


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## tk59 (Jan 7, 2012)

If that was the point, you should have put in pics!!!:razz:


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## EdipisReks (Jan 7, 2012)

i don't want to peel off the band-aid. that **** stings!


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## tk59 (Jan 7, 2012)

wuss


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## EdipisReks (Jan 7, 2012)

hey, i'm the guy pouring concentrated acid on his fingers.  what's funny to me is that i've mentioned this wound method on a forum with several chemists, and nobody bats an eye. i think it's an old way of dealing with cuts. makes me think of Victorian pharmacies.


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## tk59 (Jan 7, 2012)

Actually. You're absolutely right. I stand corrected. You can handle acid but not bandaids... Makes perfect sense.


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## EdipisReks (Jan 7, 2012)

i thought it was completely sensical!


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## Eamon Burke (Jan 7, 2012)

Isn't regular 8% Vinegar 1.3M? Maybe we should stick our fingers in that. Or is HCL especially effective at this? Cause I know Acetic Acid won't cauterize a wound, but will the acid help speed healing the same way?


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## EdipisReks (Jan 7, 2012)

it would help with pathogens, but the main point of the 10m+ HCL, for me, is to kill the bleeding.


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