Q. I cut my thumb while working as a cook. Two sisters who worked for the restaurant immediately came to my rescue.
They had me hold up my hand, put fresh coffee grounds on the cut and swaddled my thumb in gauze.
It seemed counterintuitive to me to put coffee grounds on a wound. But the sisters were so confident that I went with it. It worked beautifully to stop the bleeding and the cut healed up just fine.
A. We have heard from many readers who have used coffee grounds to stop bleeding. An emergency room physician has also pointed out that a serious cut that won’t stop bleeding deserves medical attention, preferably without contaminating the wound.
Saving a Dog
Not everyone has an emergency room handy, however. Once we heard from a person who told us about using coffee grounds in a veterinary emergency. His German shepherd had been badly injured by another dog in a remote area of Brazil. Veterinary care was hours away, so stopping the profuse bleeding with coffee grounds (offered by a local) probably saved the dog’s life.
Jessica R recounted her experience:
“When I was a child I went in Mexico to visit family and while I was playing I tripped over some rocks. The palm of my hand, where the vein is, got cut. My grandma put coffee grounds on my hand and it stopped bleeding. I don’t think it got infected.”
