Why peroxide should not be poured into a puncture wound. Hydrogen peroxide contraindications. Contraindications for use

Hydrogen peroxide is described chemical formula H 2 O 2 is most often called hydrogen peroxide in everyday life.

How does hydrogen peroxide work?

When conducting chemical reactions oxidation and reduction with its participation produces atomic oxygen. External manifestation Such reactions consist in the discoloration of pigments and any colored substances. Atomic oxygen destroys microbes. But it is very rarely found in nature. Hydrogen peroxide decomposes very quickly upon contact with living matter, especially when exposed to microorganisms, which also die. Concentrated solutions peroxides are dangerous to humans and can cause burns to skin tissue and mucous membranes.

What is peroxide used for in medicine?

Medicine uses a 3% concentration of hydrogen peroxide solution. For medical practice Hydroperite tablets are also produced, in which the concentration of hydrogen peroxide is increased to 35% in complex combination with urea. They were assigned international name"Urea hydroperite peroxide". One such tablet is equivalent to 15 milliliters of a 3% prepared solution of hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide solution medical workers Painlessly remove dried bandages from the wound. They use it for guidance umbilical wound in all newborns, and also treat wounds with it before using the brilliant green solution. But hydrogen peroxide has a short time impact on microbes and this is taken into account when antibacterial treatment. Treat wounds and abrasions efficiently.

A solution of medical hydrogen peroxide does not sting the skin when treating wounds. Therefore, it is used in the treatment of children more often than a solution of iodine or brilliant green. In addition, the absence of color in peroxide eliminates the possibility of staining anything, and its properties of bleaching stains after contamination from a solution of potassium permanganate are successfully used. In addition, peroxide has a unique hemostatic effect, which compares favorably with other antiseptics. The drug is used to stop capillary bleeding in case of superficial tissue damage, nosebleeds, for treating mucous membranes in case of periodontitis, stomatitis, gynecological diseases, sore throats and even with burns and purulent wounds.

How to treat a wound with hydrogen peroxide yourself?

In order to disinfect the wound, the damaged area on the skin is treated with hydrogen peroxide without dilution. When applying, treating wound surfaces and stopping capillary bleeding, all affected areas are carefully treated with a swab with a solution of hydrogen peroxide.

Quite often, hydrogen peroxide is used in medicine to freely remove bandages from wounds when cotton wool or bandages are stuck to the surface of the wound. In this case, peroxide is injected under the bandage with a syringe and, when it boils, the bandage is removed from the wound. When rinsing, 1 tablespoon of peroxide is dissolved in a regular glass of water.

Are there any restrictions on use?

There are no contraindications to the use of hydrogen peroxide. It is used to treat people of any age, both the elderly and children, even pregnant women and mothers breastfeeding. The only restriction is to prohibit any drops of peroxide from coming into contact with the mucous membranes of the eyes and occlusive dressings. The use of the drug does not create painful sensations. Only in individual patients may local allergic reactions or a burning sensation when treating wounds.

Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) is a substance that is freely available in pharmacies. The peroxide that we buy is a 3% solution: that is, the bottle with the substance is 97% water. Hydrogen peroxide in this solution accounts for only 3%.

Most people use this substance as an antiseptic. Although few people know that peroxide is not effective enough as an antiseptic. Nevertheless, it does not cause harm when it gets on cuts and scratches; moreover, when it comes into contact with a wound, peroxide forms a spectacular “show”. So why does hydrogen peroxide foam on a wound? What exists scientific explanation this impressive phenomenon? Find out in the article.

Why does hydrogen peroxide foam on a wound?

The reason why foaming occurs is because blood cells and the blood itself contain an enzyme called catalase. Since a cut or scrape is always accompanied by bleeding and damaged cells, a lot of catalase is always formed around the wound. This has been clarified, but still, why does hydrogen peroxide foam on a wound? When catalase comes into contact with it, it converts hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) into water (H 2 O) and oxygen (O 2).

Catalase carries out the process of splitting peroxide into water and oxygen extremely efficiently - up to 200,000 reactions per second. The bubbles we see when hydrogen peroxide foams on a wound are oxygen bubbles produced by the action of catalase.

Entertaining chemistry

If you try to remember your school chemistry lessons, then images will certainly appear in your head: in class, the teacher pours a small amount of hydrogen peroxide onto a cut potato - the same thing happens. The teacher asks, “Why does hydrogen peroxide foam on the skin you cut and on the potatoes?” Without waiting for an answer, the teacher himself answers: “Because in damaged potato cells, like damaged epidermal cells, catalase is released.”

Peroxide does not lather in the bottle or on whole skin because there is no catalase to cause the reaction. Hydrogen peroxide is stable at room temperature.

Have you ever wondered why hydrogen peroxide bubbles on a cut or wound, but it does not bubble on intact skin?

Why hydrogen peroxide foams and fizzes: a scientific explanation

So we found out that hydrogen peroxide turns into bubbles when it comes into contact with an enzyme called catalase. Most cells in the body contain it, so when tissue is damaged, the enzyme is released and becomes available to react with the peroxide.

Catalase allows you to decompose H 2 O 2 into water (H 2 O) and oxygen (O 2). Like other enzymes, it is not used in the reaction, but is recycled to catalyze more reactions. Catalase supports up to 200,000 reactions per second.

The bubbles we see when we pour antiseptic on a cut are bubbles of oxygen gas. Blood, cells and some bacteria (such as staphylococci) contain catalase. While it is not contained on the surface of the skin. Thus, peroxide, in contact with intact skin, does not react and bubbles do not form.

In addition, since hydrogen peroxide has such high level activity, this substance has a certain shelf life after opening. In other words, if no bubbling is observed when hydrogen peroxide is applied to a wound or bloody cut, it is likely that the peroxide is no longer active and has long since expired.

Hydrogen peroxide as an antiseptic

The earliest use of hydrogen peroxide was as a bleach, since oxidation processes are good at changing or destroying pigmented molecules. However, since the 1920s, peroxide has been used as a powerful disinfectant. Therefore, the question: “Why does hydrogen peroxide foam on a wound?” - people have been asking this for centuries.

The healing properties of peroxide

The chemical characteristics of peroxide ensure that it can heal wounds in several ways. Firstly, since this water solution, peroxide helps wash away dirt and damaged cells and “loosen” the crust of dried blood. Bubbles in in this case help remove debris from the damage.

Although it is worth noting that the oxygen released by peroxide does not destroy all types of bacteria. In addition, peroxide has strong bacteriostatic properties, which means that using hydrogen peroxide on a wound helps prevent the growth and reproduction of bacteria. Peroxide acts as a sporicide, killing potentially infectious fungal spores.

However, it is not an ideal disinfectant because it also destroys fibroblasts. This is the type connective tissue which body cells use to fast healing wounds and restoration of damaged skin areas.

Therefore, peroxide should not be used as an antiseptic on a routine basis when treating wounds as it may slow down the healing process. So, most doctors and dermatologists advise against using it to disinfect open wounds, because it only makes the situation worse.

Checking whether the peroxide in the bottle is active

After all, hydrogen peroxide is made up of water and oxygen, meaning when you use peroxide on a wound, you're basically applying plain water. Luckily, there is a simple test to make sure your bottle of hydrogen peroxide contains active substance: Simply pour a small amount of liquid into the sink. Metals (for example, near a drain) catalyze the conversion of peroxide into oxygen and water - this is why hydrogen peroxide foams on a wound and even on a sink!

If bubbles form, you can rest assured that the peroxide is effective. If you don't see them, it's time to head to the pharmacy for a new bottle of hydrogen peroxide. It is worth remembering that storing the medicine in a container helps extend the shelf life. the right conditions. Make sure it is in a dark container and in a cool place.

Very often, adults, having received a cut or wound, neglect precautions and are in no hurry to treat the damaged area. But such an irresponsible attitude can lead to serious complications and even cause death. If not processed in a timely manner open wound, the following complications are possible:

  • large blood loss;
  • blood poisoning;
  • inflammation and suppuration;
  • tetanus infection.

If you accidentally cut your finger with a knife and neglect what comes from the wound there's blood coming out, the consequences can be very dire. With a shallow cut, blood slowly oozes out, and significant loss of blood is possible only if the person poor clotting blood. With a deep wound, the blood flow is fast, and a large amount of it can be lost in a short time.

As a result of large blood loss, the functioning of the heart is disrupted, nausea and vomiting, dizziness and fainting begin. If, in addition, blood clotting is reduced, further deterioration of the condition is possible.

If dirt gets into an untreated wound, blood poisoning or sepsis may occur. Over the course of a day, your health deteriorates sharply: you feel chills, you feel weak in your muscles, your bones ache, and rashes appear on your skin. Subsequently, the condition worsens more and more: it rises heat, consciousness becomes confused. Blood poisoning is difficult to treat and requires blood transfusion.

Dirt in a wound can also be the cause of another scourge - tetanus. The area where the skin is damaged begins to irritate and then hurt. Manifestations of the disease continue even after the wound has healed. A person may not associate the malaise with damage to the epidermis.

With the proliferation of tetanus bacillus in the head and spinal cord harmful toxins enter. As a result, muscle spasms and cramps begin. This condition does not go away even in sleep. Because of DC voltage The functioning of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems gradually deteriorates.

In other cases, the wound may become inflamed. Its surface turns red and is gradually covered with a purulent film. If the wound is not treated, you can become seriously ill. Body temperature rises to 39°C, chills occur, and temporary loss of consciousness is possible.

2 Correct approach to the procedure

You need to know how to properly treat a wound. Treatment of a wound at home begins with next steps. Specks need to be removed from its surface. To do this correctly, you need to take clean tweezers, hold a piece of bandage with it and dip it in alcohol or vodka, then wipe the wound with it.

After this, lubricate the damage with an antiseptic, which eliminates germs. You can treat it with iodine, brilliant green, potassium permanganate solution, and hydrogen peroxide. By the way, hydrogen peroxide is good for treating a bleeding wound. The blood stops quickly. If you don’t have antiseptics on hand, a thick water-soda solution will do. alcohol tincture calendula or chamomile. The wound can be generously sprinkled with salt or moistened with cologne. If the wound is on a child, it is better to resort to more gentle methods of disinfecting it. Treatment at home consists of washing the damaged area with a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate. You can also use laundry soap. Then the wound is lubricated with hydrogen peroxide.

You can also use pharmaceutical products, for example, sulfargin. It contains particles of silver, and this metal is known to have antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. When treating a wound painful sensations are missing. After manipulation of the wound, it is necessary to stick it on it. pharmaceutical plaster or tie it with a bandage. You should wear a bandage or patch until complete healing.

If the wound is lacerated or in case deep cut, you should go to the emergency room. It is quite possible that the health worker will not limit itself to simply processing it. In some cases, stitches are placed on the wound.

Doctors always know how to treat serious damage. Usually they first apply a damp bandage soaked in an antiseptic; the site of skin damage is bandaged.

The next day you need to visit the first aid station again. There, the gauze with antiseptic will be replaced with a bandage soaked in wound-healing ointment, and bandaged again. The procedure is repeated daily until the injury site heals.

If handled incorrectly or using non-sterile bandages, or performing the procedure with dirty hands, the wound may fester. It must be treated with alcohol again. Apply a bandage with an antiseptic. In some cases, when seeking help from medical institution the doctor prescribes a course of antibiotics.

After such a wound heals, a scar or scar forms at the site of injury.

3 Home treatments

If the wound is small, simply treating it with antiseptics is sufficient.

In a short time it will heal and heal without a trace. But serious damage to the epidermis often requires subsequent treatment.

The following home remedies help wound healing:

  1. Lubricating the damaged area fir oil. It not only disinfects, but also has powerful wound healing properties.
  2. Applying a paste of well-mashed plantain, lilac or beet leaves to the damaged area. In addition to the fact that they help heal the wound, they also prevent its suppuration.
  3. Applying compresses from calendula infusion. For this, 1 tbsp. l. fresh or dried plant flowers are steamed in a glass of boiling water. Leave for about 20 minutes. Use after the decoction has cooled.
  4. Fresh acacia honey has a wound-healing effect. Moreover, this effective antiseptic. After washing, the wound should be lubricated with a thick layer of honey. Repeat the procedure several times a day. After such treatment there are no scars or scars left. Even festering wounds are treated with honey.

4 Review of drugs

Various ointments have proven themselves to be effective in the treatment of difficult-to-heal wounds. AND pharmaceutical products, and their analogues homemade easily cope with old wounds, even those that ache and hurt.

The use of Eplan ensures rapid regeneration of damaged tissues and restoration of the integrity of the epidermis. But it is not recommended to treat bleeding wounds with ointment. It contains a component that reduces blood clotting properties.

Thanks to Levomekol, skin lesions with an inflamed surface heal: difficult-to-heal wounds heal quickly, pain goes away. The ointment is applied to gauze, applied to the wound, and then bandaged. The course of treatment is 10 days. In this case, every day you need to apply new gauze soaked in Levomekol.

Baneocin contains antibiotics. The ointment copes with the most complex and chronic wounds. It is applied to the damaged area in a thin layer and bandaged. Apply daily for 10 days.

For a long time non-healing wounds With pain syndrome cures special homemade ointment. For her take 1 tbsp. l. with a top of chopped burdock roots and 1 tbsp. l. crushed celandine roots. Pour everything into an enamel bowl, pour 1/4 cup of any vegetable oil. Boil the mixture over low heat for 15 - 20 minutes. The cooled potion should be applied to the affected area 2 times a day. Treatment is carried out until the wound heals.

Homemade ointment with propolis heals old wounds that hurt and do not heal. Cellular lard cut into pieces, add propolis. Melt the ingredients in a water bath. A homogeneous liquid mixture emerges. It is cooled and the damaged surface is lubricated.

A drug from the group of antiseptics, hydrogen peroxide (or peroxide) has a disinfecting and deodorizing effect. In medicine, hydrogen peroxide is used in the form of a 3% solution. They are used for washing and rinsing for stomatitis and gynecological diseases. As a disinfectant, hydrogen peroxide is used to clean fresh wounds.

The liquid is poured around and into the wound, after which a reaction occurs with a characteristic hissing and the release of grayish foam.
You can use peroxide to treat wounds in children. True, its effect causes a not very pleasant, painful tingling sensation in the child. There is a good antiseptic that will not sting, this is chlorhexidine bigluconate. It is used to treat wounds in very young children. Older guys are calm about both hydrogen peroxide and brilliant green, so you can treat wounds with both.

How to treat a child's wound

The first thing to do is wash the wound. Moreover, it is not recommended to do this with plain water, as this can lead to infection, and this is precisely what needs to be avoided. If there is dirt around the wound, try to remove it with boiled water and laundry soap. It is important not to touch the wound itself. The wound itself is treated with an antiseptic - chlorhexidine or hydrogen peroxide. Can also be used to cleanse wounds weak solution potassium permanganate or furatsilin. After rinsing with hydrogen peroxide, you need to carefully remove the resulting grayish foam, and then treat the wound with an antiseptic. This is the most unpleasant moment for a child, because antiseptics can “pinch” a lot, so make sure that the baby will not struggle and try to calm him down.

Alcohol or alcohol can be used as an antiseptic. alcohol solutions brilliant greens and fucorcin. It is not recommended to treat a wound with iodine; it can burn damaged tissue, so it is applied only to the edges of the wound, making sure that it does not get inside.
Such preparations as Eplan and oil provide a good disinfectant effect. tea tree and “Rescuer” balm. In camping conditions, it may also happen that a child gets injured, but there are no antiseptics on hand. In this case, you can make a strong solution table salt(a tablespoon per glass of water), moisten a clean cloth in it and apply to the wound.

Daily toileting of a newborn is not difficult if you have the appropriate experience. However, new parents are so afraid of inadvertently harming the baby that even treating the umbilical wound seems to them challenging task. But a little practice and everything works out.

You will need

  • cotton buds,
  • hydrogen peroxide,
  • brilliant green or chlorophyllipt,
  • pipette,
  • sterile wipes.

Instructions

How to treat a newborn's navel?

While the baby is in the maternity hospital, the navel is treated by medical staff. They apply antiseptic drugs- this is hydrogen peroxide, alcohol or a solution of potassium permanganate. Most often, the tip of the umbilical cord falls off already on the 5th day. But the wound is treated until it heals.


After discharge, the baby’s mother should handle the treatment. Doctors recommend carrying out procedures after swimming. To prevent infection of the wound, the baby should be bathed in boiled water with addition various decoctions herbs

How to properly treat your belly button

After the bath, gently pat your baby dry with a dry, soft towel. Using a pipette, drop a little hydrogen peroxide. When the solution stops foaming, you need to carefully spread the skin in the navel area and remove the crust using cotton swab or gauze. There is no need to tear off pieces of the crust; over time they will fall off on their own. Then the wound should be dried with a napkin and lubricated with brilliant green. Quite often you can hear from a pediatrician that you can’t use brilliant green, as you can see the inflammation that has begun.


Once the hydrogen peroxide stops foaming after the procedure, this means that the navel has healed.

It was believed that hydrogen peroxide - effective remedy cleansing wounds, as it is an antiseptic that does not cause pain when it comes into contact with an open wound. However, some studies have shown that hydrogen peroxide may not be useful in treating wounds because it can cause damage to newly formed tissue, which may slow down the healing process. Many experts believe that hydrogen peroxide is good to use to remove foreign particles and dirt found on the surface of minor wounds when soap and water are not available, but prolonged use of hydrogen peroxide on wounds is not recommended due to its abrasive nature.

Applying hydrogen peroxide to a wound causes effervescent bubbles to appear, giving the impression of a thorough cleansing of the wound.

Researchers who discourage the use of peroxide as a wound treatment do not deny that it does kill dirt and bacteria. However, the main disadvantage of peroxide is that the liquid is so abrasive (even when diluted with water) that natural process The healing that occurs in skin cells slows down significantly after its use. Damage caused to the skin by peroxide may include dryness, itching, and discoloration of the tissue around and inside the wound.

Wounds that have been treated with hydrogen peroxide usually take longer to heal than wounds washed with soap and water, and longer wound remains open, the higher the risk of infection.

While hydrogen peroxide is not recommended as a primary wound treatment method, it can be helpful in keeping a wound clean in an emergency. If soap and water are not available, hydrogen peroxide will help clean the wound by dissolving dirt and foreign particles or blistering them out.

Hydrogen peroxide It is inexpensive and space-saving and is often used to treat minor wounds resulting from outdoor accidents when other methods are not available. Hydrogen peroxide can be very useful when there is dried blood on the surface of a wound, as it will help dissolve the blood and cleanse the wound for subsequent application of other medications.

Antibiotic ointments can be applied to prevent infection or treat an infection that has already occurred. If the wound is severe or the infection persists for several days, you should seek professional help. medical care. Applying antibiotic ointments to the wound is preferable to using hydrogen peroxide because antibiotic ointments are gentle and have moisturizing properties, speeding up the healing process rather than slowing it down. Until the wound heals, you should wash it with soap and water at least twice a day, and if using antibiotic ointments, follow all instructions on the packaging.



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