A lot of recent medical advice says that hydrogen peroxide in first aid is counterproductive. Of course, what I’m about to say is one person’s anecdote. But I find that if I just leave the occasional cut or scrape alone or wash it with soap and water, it’ll tend to get a bit inflamed (very locally) and hypersensitive, which is very annoying when it’s on my hands. On the other hand, If I just rinse it out and slather some H2O2 on the wound, it kind of chemically “cauterizes” the wound, prevents irritation later on, and heals just as well.
Am I just doing it wrong, or does anyone else find that hydrogen peroxide is good on minor wounds, despite recent medical findings? I don’t mean to cast doubt on legitimate medical research, but I’d like to understand why H2O2 seems to work for me when research says it should be counterproductive.
Not sure if this is true but someone once told me that using hydrogen peroxide on wounds of a certain size might lead to a bubble of gas appearing in the bloodstream, which would be undesirable. I dunno, I rinse my mouth with diluted h2o2 occasionally and might put it on a small scrape but I’m a little leery after hearing that. Also the “cauterizing” effect seems like it might slow healing or cause a more notable scar.
This isn’t recent. This has been an ongoing thing for at least 20 years (if not longer; that’s just the earliest I remember having this convo). Yes, it cleans the wound by killing things but it also fucks up the healthy tissue around the wound (see other comments for a more scientific explanation). Having some in a medical kit is useful for other activities such as diluting with water for an ear rinse, diluting with water for various mouth stuff (rinse not swallow), and some skin treatments (again, diluting first).
Also there’s the issue of h2o2 introducing oxygen to the wound. So while yes, some bacteria may be killed, you are encouraging others to grow. “Bacteria” isn’t a single thing. It’s a whole ecosystem. It’s like, ok great you killed all the wolves. Now we have bears.
If you really want to know, I’m sure there are medical journal articles and scientific research papers on why the “hate.”
