General "Blood Thinner" information from a med type.
In medicine the term "blood thinner" is reserved for the medication warfarin (trade name Coumadin) or it's modern substitutes like Pradaxa or Xarelto. These work by decreasing levels of clotting compounds (thrombin) in the blood. Cuts need a compression bandage for 3-4x longer than normal for a clot to form, or sutures plus compression bandage, occasionally a hospital visit for intravenous medication or transfusion. These drugs are heavy duty anticlotting agents.
Some folks are placed on low dose daily aspirin for a variety of reasons, commonly in the setting of heart disease / chest pain. These drugs work by partially inhibiting platelet cell function in the blood. When there is a cut, the platelets get sticky like playdough, sticking to each other at the surface of the cut until they form a partial "plug", then thrombin layers on and forms the permanent clot. Cuts bleed a bit longer and can also use a tight fitting bandage/bandaid at first, but clot does eventually form.
To understand the difference - notice that in the first case platelets form the plug but there is no thrombin to finish the job - bleeding continues. In the second case sooner or later thrombin forms a plug and bleeding stops.
Although some extra attention to cuts is needed in both situations, dangerous bleeding USUALLY only occurs in the setting of thrombin inhibitors, with platelet inhibitors the clotting process is slowed a bit but not prevented. A shaving cut will bleed, but application of alum followed by pressing the cut with a piece of tissue for a few extra minutes USUALLY does the trick. In this setting nicks and weepers USUALLY stop much quicker than cuts.
Hope this info helps. Most people don't think twice about shaving if they regularly take aspirin or drugs like Aleve for back / joint pain. But mention blood thinner with these drugs and folks can get scared a bit too much.
PS - the blood does not actually get thin!!!
In medicine the term "blood thinner" is reserved for the medication warfarin (trade name Coumadin) or it's modern substitutes like Pradaxa or Xarelto. These work by decreasing levels of clotting compounds (thrombin) in the blood. Cuts need a compression bandage for 3-4x longer than normal for a clot to form, or sutures plus compression bandage, occasionally a hospital visit for intravenous medication or transfusion. These drugs are heavy duty anticlotting agents.
Some folks are placed on low dose daily aspirin for a variety of reasons, commonly in the setting of heart disease / chest pain. These drugs work by partially inhibiting platelet cell function in the blood. When there is a cut, the platelets get sticky like playdough, sticking to each other at the surface of the cut until they form a partial "plug", then thrombin layers on and forms the permanent clot. Cuts bleed a bit longer and can also use a tight fitting bandage/bandaid at first, but clot does eventually form.
To understand the difference - notice that in the first case platelets form the plug but there is no thrombin to finish the job - bleeding continues. In the second case sooner or later thrombin forms a plug and bleeding stops.
Although some extra attention to cuts is needed in both situations, dangerous bleeding USUALLY only occurs in the setting of thrombin inhibitors, with platelet inhibitors the clotting process is slowed a bit but not prevented. A shaving cut will bleed, but application of alum followed by pressing the cut with a piece of tissue for a few extra minutes USUALLY does the trick. In this setting nicks and weepers USUALLY stop much quicker than cuts.
Hope this info helps. Most people don't think twice about shaving if they regularly take aspirin or drugs like Aleve for back / joint pain. But mention blood thinner with these drugs and folks can get scared a bit too much.
PS - the blood does not actually get thin!!!
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