I’ve been using it for years and it always seems to work to draw out infection (cuts and scrapes, or ingrown toenails) but don’t understand it at all.
In: Biology
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Is that [drawing salve](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salve)? It is used to “draw” infection out of a boil or help remove spliters. It help sooth irritation on the skin.
not sure what the chemical method of action is, so cannot speak specifically to that –
just swingin by to clarify that “skint” is cockney rhyming slang playing off of boracic lint (to mean “poor”) but that is not actually used to refer to boracic lint itself
A bit of poking around, as for why its not used it is a combination of it potentially being toxic in large quantities(say, you have a very large amount of burns wrapped or lots of infected skin) and over time the acid can irritate your skin as well despite the glycerin. There are better alternatives nowadays.
My uncle had a golden staff infection on his hand. Doc recommended he try Manuka honey and hey presto 2-3 weeks his golden staff infection gone!
(I think Manuka honey is from NZ, so might be hard to get outside of oceana)
Wound care specialist here. Wound care is an extremely evidence based field. That is to say there are so many wounds we can study the effect of different dressings and know whether it works or not. Unlike a lot of medicine we can know if an intervention is working objectively and immediately.
There is a whole bunch of old timey dressings that when we started looking at outcomes we found they did not help, or were harmful. Boric acid and boracic lint is in this category.
Boric acid acts as an antiseptic which is okay for short term use but all stuff that kills bacteria also hurts our cells. This is true about isopropyl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, and dakins (bleach + boric acid) as well.
Used immediately after a dirty cut it’s okay to wash out the wound but then topical antiseptics should be stopped as they slow healing. Honesty for a fresh cut/scrape gentle soap and water is better. For general wound cleansing we use saline or sterile water.
We also found that despite common ideas, wounds heal better when kept moist (not soaked) . Any dressing or wound left to dry slows healing considerably.
Also wet to dry dressings are now considered malpractice. But they were popular even until 2010. It is when a dressing is allowed to dry out so on removal it rips out the top layer of tissue and gunk. This has been thoroughly proven to be cruel and provided no benefit and only harm.
The best way to heal wounds is to remove barriers to healing and support the body in its own process for healing. You address the pathology and the wound will close.
Edit: in a funny turn of events the oldest medicine known to be used on wounds, honey, is actually super awesome and backed by science. It’s amazing stuff and you can buy medihoney OTC.
By popular request other things which are not recommended by current evidence but are still popular
Letting wounds dry out
Neosporin
Whirlpool
What is this magical substance that will draw out an ingrown toenail! I have one that reoccurs regularly, although I’ve had it treated ‘permanently’ to not grow back by my podiatrist.
Can I ask for deeper scars such as breast reduction surgery, once scars are closed and you are ready for scar care, what would be your best suggested day to day routine?
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