Don't rub salt in a wound, but pepper it instead

Q. I have a home remedy to share with your readers. If you have a cut that's bleeding, put ground cayenne pepper on it. The bleeding will stop quickly. You can get cayenne at the grocery store.

A.When we first heard that ground black pepper could stop bleeding, we were skeptical. Now that we have had several opportunities to use this home remedy ourselves, we can attest to its value.

Yours is not the first letter to suggest that cayenne pepper can be used in a similar manner. To our surprise, black pepper does not sting when sprinkled on a minor cut. We don't know whether cayenne would be irritating.