# Why haven't Band-Aids been replaced by the styptic pencil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-band-aids-been-replaced-by-the-styptic-pencil/595095 "2011-09-03T19:54:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![8o88y](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/8/e47774/32.png) [@8o88y](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/8o88y)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-band-aids-been-replaced-by-the-styptic-pencil/595095/21 "2013-09-11T16:33:37Z")
“Sting” is a subjective thing. I’ve been using a styptic pencil for years, and on the 1 - 10 pain scale they use in hospitals, a styptic pencil is about a 2. About the same as isopropyl alcohol. More than skinning a knuckle, but not as bad as tearing a hangnail. And it’s only momentary. No point scaring away others. The advantage they have over Kleenex or toilet paper is that a few minutes after they stop the bleeding, you can gently wipe off the white residue, and you don’t have to walk around with a bandaid on your face. Sometimes Kleenex-treated wounds start bleeding again when you take off the paper. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-band-aids-been-replaced-by-the-styptic-pencil/595095/22 "2013-09-11T16:46:57Z")
When I was a child we got iodine on any cut or abrasion. Stung like fury but mother just said that if it didn’t sting it wasn’t doing any good. It came in a little brown bottle with a scull and crossbones on it - 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-band-aids-been-replaced-by-the-styptic-pencil/595095/23 "2013-09-11T17:22:07Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Styptic can sting, too. Plus styptic doesn’t put Daffy Duck on your arm. Both things that please children. Not me though: my Jr. OCD didn’t like band aids and cartoon print ones were worse. > > I tried to buy styptic awhile back, couldn’t find it. Eventually I just bought in online. Yes, children love band-aids. Put one on, and a horrible wound becomes pretty sticker. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-band-aids-been-replaced-by-the-styptic-pencil/595095/24 "2013-09-11T21:18:19Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > When I was a child we got iodine on any cut or abrasion. Stung like fury but mother just said that if it didn’t sting it wasn’t doing any good. It came in a little brown bottle with a scull and crossbones on it - 🆒 Iodine, along with mercurochrome, is not recommended any more. Also, alcohol should not be applied to an open wound, either. Styptic pencil for minor shaving cuts is excellent. I still have a pencil that must be 40 years old. New Skin is great for covering the wound so you can grab a tennis racket, or whatever, on the wound. More than one application is usually necessary. However, it does contain alcohol, which burns like mad. I know I said not to use alcohol on an open wound, but there’s nothing like New Skin for protecting the wound so you can grab objects. Bandages don’t work as well. ---
**Author:** ![ombre12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d26b3c/32.png) [@ombre12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ombre12)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-band-aids-been-replaced-by-the-styptic-pencil/595095/25 "2013-09-11T23:47:49Z")
I understand not using mercurochrome…mercury anyone? And iodine just hurt too bad for the little (or adverse) thing it did. But I’ve continued to use alcohol on a cut thinking I was killing germs or something. What bad thing does alcohol do on a cut? I always put Neosporin on a bad cut after the alcohol dries and the bleeding stops. And how about hydrogen peroxide on a bad cut? I always thought that had some germ killing benefit. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-band-aids-been-replaced-by-the-styptic-pencil/595095/26 "2013-09-11T23:54:52Z")
Hydrogen peroxide kills germs but it also damages healthy tissue. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-band-aids-been-replaced-by-the-styptic-pencil/595095/27 "2013-09-12T00:13:03Z")
> [@ombre12](#): > > I understand not using mercurochrome…mercury anyone? And iodine just hurt too bad for the little (or adverse) thing it did. > > But I’ve continued to use alcohol on a cut thinking I was killing germs or something. What bad thing does alcohol do on a cut? I always put Neosporin on a bad cut after the alcohol dries and the bleeding stops. > > And how about hydrogen peroxide on a bad cut? I always thought that had some germ killing benefit. > [@does betadine (iodine) kill mold](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-betadine-iodine-kill-mold/655927/17): > > [Running water is what’s currently recommend for first aid for superficial wounds](http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-cuts/FA00042). No soap, no hydrogen peroxide or betadine or iodine, all of which can cause cellular damage and slow wound healing. Any wound that’s deep enough, open enough or irregular enough that you can’t easily clean it under the tap needs professional evaluation and a prescribed treatment plan. > > For longer term wound care, there are wound cleansing sprays and saline to clean and irrigate wounds. The one I use most (Sea-Clens) lists: water, decyl glucoside, sodium chloride (USP), citric acid, diazolindyl urea, methyl paraben, tetrasodium EDTA. It’s designed to soften and remove necrotic tissue. Again, no hydrogen peroxide or betadine or iodine. > > I sometimes use iodoform (iodine reacted with ethanol or acetone and sodium hydroxide) tape to pack infected abscesses, but that’s because killing the infection and removing necrotic tissue is important, and iodoform doesn’t do as much damage to healthy tissues as elemental iodine. Still, once it appears the infection is gone, we usually stop the iodoform tape and switch to a plain gauze (or hydrogel) packing material. > > The more we learn about wounds, the more we learn that our best treatment is often as little treatment as possible. Keep it clean, keep the wound bed moist and the skin around it dry, and don’t scratch! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-band-aids-been-replaced-by-the-styptic-pencil/595095/28 "2013-09-12T01:19:47Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Who uses Band-Aids to stop bleeding? I use them frequently, but to keep a cut clean, rather than to stop the bleeding. And to cushion places that would get rubbed or banged against with normal use. ---
**Author:** ![RearEchelon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RearEchelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RearEchelon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-band-aids-been-replaced-by-the-styptic-pencil/595095/29 "2013-09-12T01:56:13Z")
I keep a little tube of cyanoacrylate glue in my tool kit at work. I end up with all manner of nicks and cuts on my hands by the end of any given day. Clean the wound, stop the bleeding, then seal with a drop or two of CA. It’s worked for me for years. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-band-aids-been-replaced-by-the-styptic-pencil/595095/30 "2013-09-12T03:54:14Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > I think the active ingredient is an aluminum compound (as in alum, the stuff you’d see Tom swallow in the old Tom & Jerry cartoons, making his face instantly pucker up). I don’t know if this is related to the decline in popularity of styptic pencils (and of course of alum – can anyone even remember having alum around the house?), but at least in the '80s or '90s, widespread use of aluminum compounds (mainly in antipersperant, where you can see that the same constricting/puckering effects would be desirable) came under some fire due to alleged links to Alzheimer’s. Not sure if those links were ever proved/refuted. [The Master speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1256/whats-the-latest-on-the-link-between-aluminum-and-alzheimers-disease) Tl;dr: The original evidence suggesting a link has not stood up too well to examination. As Cecil pointed out in his [earlier article on the subject](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/195/does-exposure-to-aluminum-cause-alzheimers-disease) (where he gives the idea of a link more credence), although aluminum has no known nutritional value, it is so ubiquitous in the environment that you probably cannot help ingesting quite a lot of it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-band-aids-been-replaced-by-the-styptic-pencil/595095/31 "2013-09-12T04:09:17Z")
I have a jar of [alum](http://www.walmart.com/ip/Specialty-Herbs-Spices-Alum-1.9-oz/10535117)in the house. It’s useful for relieving the pain and healing canker sores. You can still buy it in the spice section of the supermarket, although I confess I have no idea what the culinary use(s) of it may be. (ETA: It’s used in pickling and is one of the components of baking powder, google tells me…) ---
**Author:** ![2nd\_Law](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f475e1/32.png) [@2nd\_Law](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2nd_Law)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-havent-band-aids-been-replaced-by-the-styptic-pencil/595095/33 "2017-06-21T02:49:05Z")
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