The use of hydrogen peroxide has been so common as a way to disinfect and treat wounds that it’s somewhat taken for granted that it works. You can find bottles of it in any drugstore or retailer that sells medication, all ready for home use as an antiseptic, as a gargle, to use on clothes and even in hair bleaching.
The hydrogen peroxide routinely used to disinfect small wounds is a compound formulated for home use diluted to of three percent to 10 percent, according to the AOCS, a professional trade organization dedicated to the science and technology of oils, fats, surfactants and related materials.
The AOCS says annual hydrogen peroxide consumption in the United States is in the range of 2.2 million tons.
Other Uses for Peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide also finds application as an antiseptic gargle, a clothes and hair bleach, and an ear wax removal aid. There are so many uses for this solution that many people believe it to help just about any condition. But that would be a wrong assumption, particularly in delicate areas of the body.
Those who advocate putting hydrogen peroxide into contact with your nose to clear sinus passages and other mucous membranes or using it in a douche to prevent yeast infections, may be stretching the solution’s uses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that hydrogen peroxide’s standard, household-grade solution levels of 3 to 5 percent are mildly irritating to the skin and mucous membranes. If you spray it on a sensitive area, you could be asking for trouble.
While everyday people believe hydrogen peroxide is something of a magic formula, even some doctors question hydrogen peroxide’s use as a wound cleanser.
While it bubbles and injects oxygen into a cut, scrape or wound, making it appear to be working, it is also damaging the healthy cells in the affected area that are working to heal the wound. Thus, hydrogen peroxide can slow healing and allow the wound to stay open longer and making it potentially open to more infections. Many emergency rooms do not stock it, aware that it may cause more harm than good. Instead of using hydrogen peroxide, doctors advocate washing any wound with unscented soap and water, then putting petroleum jelly on the wound to put up a barrier against germs. Hydrogen peroxide may irritate the area rather than soothe it.
Some hydrogen peroxide fans have a strict belief in its power, also believing that it not only works medical miracles, but that it kills all germs. They use it as an all-purpose disinfectant in the kitchen and other areas of the home. At 3 to 5 percent, the solution is too weak to be a total germ killer, and thus may leave more than a fair share of germs on surfaces.
Other uses, such as curing boils, canker sores, fighting foot fungus or even killing infections, is questionable. Because hydrogen peroxide can irritate the skin, putting it on an infected wound several times a day may cause more tissue damage.
Outrageous Peroxide Claims
There are some claims for hydrogen peroxide’s miracles that are hard to believe, even for the most ardent fan of the solution. Some people inject or orally ingest the solution to "cure" everything from cancer to AIDS. Both are dangerous uses, and even the American Cancer Society acknowledges that there is no medical proof of such claims for hydrogen peroxide.
Worse, hydrogen peroxide can be fatal if swallowed. Some “pure” forms of it sold in health food stores are called “food-grade” hydrogen peroxide, but ingesting it will cause vomiting, throat and stomach burns and even death. Even breathing its vapors is harmful and can create oxygen bubbles that block blood flow, cause gangrene and destroy good blood cells. This so-called “oxygen therapy” is an urban legend, and the American Cancer Society notes that there have been several patient deaths attributed to swallowing peroxide.
In one such case, Katherine Bibeau, a South Carolina woman, died after intravenously injecting hydrogen peroxide as a way to treat her multiple sclerosis. It destroyed her blood platelets, which help coagulate blood and stop bleeding, and put too much oxygen in the bloodstream, stopping blood flow to her organs.
Thus, any claims as to its use beyond a simple antiseptic, gargle or use as bleach or disinfectant are not to be believed and could cause problems far worse than those you’re attempting to treat. While it shouldn’t be the first thing you use to treat a wound, it’s not a bad idea to take some for cleansing wounds if you are hiking or camping, and clean water may not be immediately available or is in short supply. That’s the best use of it, and while it may not work miracles as some believe, it will prove a handy tool for certain times.
If someone touts its other uses, it’s wise to ask your doctor about it before attempting to use it. The consequences for misusing peroxide – as with any drug – can be fatal.