So, Dragon’s Blood, huh? Sounds like something out of a fantasy novel, right?
To be honest, I always thought it was just some old folk remedy, the kind of stuff your grandma might mention but you’d never actually use. I’d hear people talk about “Sangre de Drago” or “Dragon’s Blood” and just kinda nod along, thinking, “Yeah, sure, whatever works for you.” I’m more of a “slap a band-aid on it and hope for the best” kind of guy, or maybe some antiseptic cream if I’m feeling fancy.
But then, life has a funny way of making you try things you’d normally scoff at. Here’s my little story about it.
My Accidental Experiment
It was a few summers back. I was trying to be Mr. DIY, fixing up this old wooden shed in my backyard. Long story short, I was wrestling with a stubborn piece of wood, the saw slipped, and BAM. I got myself a pretty nasty gash on my forearm. Not deep enough for stitches, thank goodness, but it was wide, messy, and bled like crazy. Classic clumsy me.
First, I did the usual stuff:
- Cleaned it out with water (ouch).
- Put some generic antiseptic on it (stung like mad).
- Wrapped it up with a bandage.
For days, it just wasn’t healing right. It stayed red, a bit puffy, and every time I changed the bandage, it looked angrier than before. I was getting annoyed. I tried a couple of different creams from the pharmacy, you know, the ones that promise rapid healing. Zilch. Nada. It was just stubbornly refusing to get better, and it was right there on my arm, constantly reminding me of my brilliant carpentry skills.
Then, my neighbor, old Mrs. Rodriguez, saw me wincing as I accidentally bumped it. She’s one of those sweet old ladies who has a remedy for everything. She took one look and said, “Ay, mijo, you need some Dragon’s Blood for that.” I almost laughed. “Dragon’s Blood? Seriously?” But she was dead serious. She told me her grandfather used it for everything back in her home country.
I was desperate enough to try anything at this point. So, I asked her where on earth I could find this mythical potion. She actually had some! She came back with this little dark bottle, filled with a thick, deep red liquid. It literally looked like blood, which was a bit freaky, I won’t lie.
The Actual “Practice” Part
She showed me how to use it. Here’s what I did, basically following her instructions:
- I cleaned the wound gently one more time with just water and patted it dry.
- Then, I took a tiny bit of this Dragon’s Blood stuff on a cotton swab. A little goes a long way, apparently.
- I dabbed it onto the gash. When it dried, it formed this kind of dark, reddish-brown film over the wound, almost like a second skin. It didn’t sting, which was a plus. It just felt… like a protective layer.
I did this twice a day. Morning and before bed. I stopped using any other creams or bandages, just let this stuff do its thing, exposed to the air once it dried.
And you know what? Within about two days, I started noticing a difference. The redness around the wound began to fade. It didn’t feel as tender. The film it created seemed to keep it clean and protected. It wasn’t magic, like poof it’s gone, but the healing process definitely kicked into a higher gear than it had been with the pharmacy stuff.
After about a week of using it, the wound was mostly closed up. It still left a bit of a scar, I mean, it was a decent cut, but it healed up much cleaner and faster than I expected, especially after how it started.
So, yeah, that was my little adventure with Dragon’s Blood. I went from skeptic to… well, to someone who now keeps a small bottle of it in the first-aid kit. I’m not saying it’s a cure-all for everything, and this is just my one experience with a clumsy forearm gash. But for me, in that specific situation? It actually worked pretty darn well. It stopped being an angry red mess and just got on with healing. Who knew, right? Sometimes those old remedies have something to them after all. I still wouldn’t go wrestling with saws again anytime soon, though.
