Uses for egg membrane
If you get a bad cut, you can hold it closed with a bit of egg membrane. If you crack a raw egg very carefully, you’ll find a thin sticky membrane lining the inside of the shell. You can use pieces of this to make an X-shaped bandage across the cut. The membrane dries clear and eventually wears off. Besides holding the cut closed, I suspect because it is pure protein it promotes healing.
I learned this tip from a judo player named Jeff, who learned it from our sensei. One day Jeff got a gash on his forehead from an accidental head butt during judo practice. Sensei patched it up with the egg trick, and it held so well that when Jeff got to the hospital the doctor who stitched up the cut said he could probably have just left it. There is essentially no scar; you’d have to get up close and squint to see there was ever a cut there.
I did a little googling and found this is a good remedy for insect stings. I also learned that Lon Chaney used to put egg membranes on his eyeballs to make them look cloudy.
Huh. That’s really neat! I wish I wasn’t allergic to eggs…
Comment by anca — March 22, 2006 @ March 22, 2006 3:20 pm
The same guy described a method of shaking a guy’s testicles out if they’ve been accidentally kicked up into the body cavity. This was also learned from our Sensei, who has accumulated a wealth of sports remedies in his 45+ years as an athlete and teacher. You just never know what’s going to come up in conversation sometimes.
Comment by Andy — March 22, 2006 @ March 22, 2006 3:57 pm
You’re going to leave us hanging and not tell us how to extract one’s testicles from inside the body cavity?
Comment by Yotam — September 9, 2007 @ September 9, 2007 7:32 pm
Yotam, “leave us hanging” is an interesting choice of words for that question.
If I ever learn the technique I’ll be sure to let you know!
Comment by Andy — September 9, 2007 @ September 9, 2007 8:30 pm