Monday, April 01, 2013

Egg Membranes to Stop Bleeding and Heal Wounds


"Who knew? If emergency occurs... While the blood is gushing - hold pressure and crack open an egg. Peel that membrane off and put it on the wound (continue holding pressure) The membrane will harden and keep the wound closed until you can get to the ER for stitches. My grandma taught my mom this and it works!" 



I don't even know where to start with this one. I guess I'll start with - gush? If you have a wound that is gushing, you need stitches, not an egg. But does it work? Well, yes apparently it DOES work; the membrane is so thin that when applied it will stick to your skin, and when dry it forms a tough glue-like barrier. But whether it works or doesn't isn't the problem -- Salmonella is. You see, most people think you can only get things like salmonella through eating contaminated foods, but you can in fact also get it via open skin and wounds. It's not a common form of contracting salmonella, but adding a possibly infected egg membrane to your cuts is just asking to gamble with statistics on this. Yes, you are more likely to get it from eating contaminated foods, but why risk being one of the few who get's it from an open cut because you couldn't bother to find a bandage?

There has actually been studies done on this (source: Pubmed), which is what a lot of people who swear by this bring out every time this idea is debated. It was used and compared to other forms of skin grafts for burn patients. However, the study only contained 18 patients and anyone who studies research will quickly point out that 18 is a VERY low number for a study. This study was also done in a controlled environment of a hospital with irradiated eggs with gamma radiation to kill off things like salmonella and other bacteria - not just your basic eggs from the supermarket. I know some people might think "What are the risks really?" But an estimated 142,000 Americans a year come down with salmonella - is it a risk you really want to take just to heal a wound?

All in all, unless it's the end of the world and zombies are rising up and there is a bizarre shortage of band-aids and medical professional arounds, you can do this, but something as simple as Super Glue would work JUST as fine, without the risk of introducing bacteria to the wound. In fact they even make skin glue for this purpose. It comes with it's own set of risks - as it can trap in dirt, foreign objects, and bacteria into the cut, causing infection - so use at your own risk. And if you have a wound that is "gushing" as the pin states, you're better off getting yourself to the nearest Urgent Care or ER then you would be sticking raw egg to your wounds. 

13 comments:

  1. Yea reading this one gave me the creeps eggs and Salmonella what a stupid idea.

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  2. Sorry you are wrong. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12790218 ("From this preliminary study, egg membrane may be an ideal STSG donor site dressing, as it possesses properties of pain relief, wound protection, promotion of healing, and low cost.")
    My very old mother has fragile skin that will break open if bumped hard. My sister-in-law from Peru applied egg membrane to her split skin and it healed beautifully. In addition she takes blood thinners for clots (so bleeds easily) and the egg membrane stopped the bleeding immediately.

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  3. Anonymous26/4/14

    If your scared of salmonella can't you just gently poke a hole in membrane and then wash with Luke warm water and soap.....

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous24/2/21

      No, because that is not an effective sterilisation process.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous12/5/14

    Salmonella is generally a problem on the outside of the egg, not the inside. Which is why washing the outside of your egg before cracking (the cracking part is where you get contamination), your risk is very very low. I believe most of the eggs in the grocery store are prewashed now anyway.

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  5. Anonymous12/8/14

    Eggs at the grocery store come from very filthy conditions (read more about battery farms- http://www.aspca.org/fight-cruelty/farm-animal-cruelty/birds-factory-farms) so they wash them with strong bleach. However, Salmonella bacteria is present in most factory farms, so unless you're getting true, local, free-range eggs, I wouldn't do this.

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    Replies
    1. 7-8 billion eggs a year and you want them to clean up a farm, Ha haha

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  6. Egg's with nutrient dense proteins essential amino's and non oxidized cholesterol are quite simply the superfood for the world, now that the FDA cleaned up the industry and no cases of Salmonella in 5 years from whole shell egg,s I have gone back to eating 4-8 a day , 4 whole raw eggs shells and all, (Calcium carbonate in shells with 27 nutrients in the shell make perfect blood bone transportable calcium, ) the egg's shells membrane creates a condition "oral Tolerance" thru the GALT and switches off Autoimmune attacks and provides relief for Arthritis patients, the collagens in uncooked form are identical to our own, and should work for AI attacks besides just arthritis, not to mention the protein, essential amino's, and if eaten raw you get a super boost of CholeSTEROL our body's #1 sterol, you can free up to 25% daily energy reserves from eating enough non oxidized cholesterol from egg's,
    My Recipe : 4 whole raw egg's, (I wash mine but isn't nessary if they are in sealed carton, , but Fingers checking for cracks so wash isn't a bad idea, the add scoop of vanilla ice yogurt 2 large bananas (Ripe) and cubes of ice to make a great super food shake , and you can blend it as fast as you toss it all in, Enjoy

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous19/1/24

      Great! Thank you!

      Delete
  7. https://www.facebook.com/groups/448750418613708/
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    and here is our group, tons of research that actually can save you running to 20 doctors !

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello sir. What method should we use in making the egg membrane as a bandage?

    ReplyDelete
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  10. Anonymous27/9/21

    great article, thanks for share.

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    ReplyDelete