Putting saliva on wound

[Kingavon]

I was out today with a friend of the family walking across a playing field when I tripped and fell. Unfortunately there were some small shards of glass on the ground and one of them caused a very small cut on my palm. It was bleeding slightly and before I could do anything the friend wiped some of his saliva across/in to it. I said “don’t!” and immediately wiped it again with my sleeve as I really didn’t want his spit on there but he said that it was good for the wound and actually would help it not to be infected. Something to do with having his antibodies?! I insisted we went to the nearest pharmacy where the pharmacist advised me on what to buy to clean it. I didn’t ask about the saliva as I felt a bit conscious with this guy still being there but now I’m worrying about it. I’m obviously not a doctor or nurse and have googled it - I have actually found things saying saliva can help wounds but I think that might be referring to your OWN saliva?! Can anyone advise me please? It seems really unhygienic to me!

That’s frigging gross. I mean, I get licking/sucking your own wound (and I do it regularly with slices when shaving legs) but someone else’s? Vile.

Yes it is gross, he didn’t directly lick it, he licked his fingers and wiped it across the cut

Well fingers that have been in a playground aren’t going to help anybody whatever dubious claims he’s making about his saliva.

well it is pretty gross for him to put saliva on YOUR wound, and mixing any bodily fluids is a bad idea unless you are close. But I would put my own saliva on if nothing else to hand, yes it is supposed to be mildly antiseptic.

I've certainly had a wound licked clean by a dog.And out walking in the outback after i'd had a bite the guide sucked the blood (and presumably poisons) out of the wound.

and yes, if it was via a hand, then it picked up the dirt on his fingers too!

I thought it was saliva that got rid of itches?

Is having a your wound licked by a dog a good thing? Genuine question

Your spit = fine, anyone else's spit = freaking GROSS!

Dogs lick arses. So I’d say probably not.

I've certainly had a wound licked clean by a dog.And out walking in the outback after i'd had a bite the guide sucked the blood (and presumably poisons) out of the wound. Just because you've done things doesn't mean other people should! Dog saliva is not clean and trying to suck the venom out of bites has been scientifically proven as useless / a bad idea.

Does anyone know if this thing about his antibodies is true?! He has a tendency to make out that he’s an expert on everything which is very definitely untrue, so it makes it hard to know if what he’s saying is genuine or bullshit!

Ok you’re all pretty much confirming that it’s at best gross and at worst risky

When I have suffered a human bite in the past I have been advised that there is more chance of infection from a human bite than a dog bite so I would guess human saliva is NOT great at healing wounds.

It's a bit gross but I don't think anything terrible is going to happen

it is a thing apparently

There's a reason doctors don't go around licking people. It's probably not going to hurt you but it's unlikely to be helpful either.

I think you’re supposed to lick your own cut rather than somebody else’s.

His antibodies are in his blood not his saliva so definitely not true! It is unhygienic and you are getting his mouth bacteria which is dirtier than a dog's mouth though I still wouldn't let a dog lick my wound "clean"

Mouths have a lot of bacteria unfortunately

nothing to do with his antibodies, but saliva is good for wounds (your own saliva, so you don't risk exchanging body fluids and also because it must be human - so no dogs licking wounds!) .

Here is the info form that link: .

In 2008, a group of Dutch scientists looked into the possible wound care applications of human saliva. Publishing their work in The FASEB Journal, the team of researchers found that saliva actually does have quite a few benefits, including increasing the rate of wound healing, helping to prevent infections and effectively combating a few different strains of bacteria. The Dutch group noted that the power of saliva stemmed from a chemical called histatin, a unique protein found almost exclusively in the mouths of humans and primates. Per a 2004 study in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, there have been several breakthroughs related to histatins’ many benefits, including how it helps prevent mouth diseases like gingivitis. The protein is so effective that the Dutch team found it took less than 16 hours to fully repair saliva-treated artificial wounds.

Why on earth didn't he just say to lick it YOURSELF?
The saliva thing is true and I always lick any cuts/get the dc to lick their own cuts but having some bloke wipe his spit on me, urgh