# Hydrogen peroxide for wounds or not?



## Brianna6432 (Jan 25, 2010)

Many have said to not use it on wounds because it kills healthy tissue but my mom's a nurse and she says that's not true...
So, in your opinion, do you think hydrogen peroxide is ''bad''?


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## Juniper (May 4, 2007)

I have always heard do not use hydrogen peroxide. Curious what your vet says.


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## Pro (Apr 23, 2009)

I use it and was told it was good (in moderation). Just enough to clean the wound. As long as you don't use it more than once a day (maybe twice depends on the wound) it shouldn't dry out the wound. Just make sure the injury heels from the inside out, even if that means you have to kinda open it so all the puss and bad stuff doesn't stay inside after the skin starts to close up.


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## jimmy (Aug 26, 2009)

a friend of mine used it on a bad cut on a horses neck and it did the job great, cleaned it and it healed without a scar so in that particular case it worked ,made the horse jump about very lively though


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## Ryle (Jul 13, 2007)

While there are uses for hydrogen peroxide, in general it is not something you want to apply to wounds. The body produces a sufficient amount at the wound site to provide the positive benefit that hydrogen peroxide has on wound healing, but excess hydrogen peroxide is damaging. 

The Bactericidal And Cytotoxic Effects Of Antimicrobial Wound Cleansers
Hydrogen peroxide inhibits human keratinocyte migration

ACVS - General Wound Management
"Hydrogen peroxide is not recommended for cleaning wounds. For some reason, probably its foaming action, hydrogen peroxide has an undeserved reputation as being a good agent for cleaning wounds. Hydrogen peroxide damages tissues and is not very effective against most bacteria."

http://heartlung.osu.edu/article.cfm?ID=2229


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## Tink (Feb 15, 2009)

My vet recommends using a saline solution instead (like the stuff you get when you get a piercing).


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## BlueJayWay (Feb 8, 2010)

My horse had some cuts on his legs and I used hydrogen Peroxide but no higher then 3% then I'd wait 5 minutes and put water on it so it didn't dry up. His legs are all healed and no scarring, which should have had .


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## AlabamaHorseMom (Jan 20, 2010)

I dont use peroxide on wounds only because I've "always heard" that it damages the NEW tissue as well as killing bad bacteria. For wounds, if the vet it not needed (which is a rarity when the word "wound" is used) I simply wash the area out with warm (like warm to the touch, not hot) water and a betadine surgical wash. Rinse well and keep clean. 
I will use peroxide on small "boo boos" like a scrape or a small bite. A quick sqirt and then spray the topical purple antibiotic spray.


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## ridergirl23 (Sep 17, 2009)

I use peroxide on my 'wounds' haha me and my cousins used it when he refused to tell ur parents that he fell off the quad and hit a log, haha worked great. ive never tryed it on horses, but you can buy a lot of wound cleaning things for them at hrose stores, so i dont think i would use it.


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## Appyt (Oct 14, 2007)

I used to use it often, then started hearing the "not good" reports.. I will say I have had more than one booboo on my hands that continued to be problems that would not heal. I would put triple antibiotic on them and kept them as clean as possible considering I am out with horses a lot. I dribbled HP on them for a few days and BAM, all better.. So, I will use it.. I believe in it. I wouldn't soak in it, but I will use it whenever i feel that it is applicable.


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

I use it on myself for small things - slivers and such - that get infected, or have some pus build up and don't heal right away, but not for initial cleaning. Certainly seems to work.


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## welshies rule (Feb 7, 2010)

I have heard it can be used to help with foot thrush?


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

I confess that I still use it for the *initial* cleaning of a new wound, particularly for a puncture or a jagged wound. Like Cindy said, I am one of those people who believes that the foaming action will carry out deeply embedded debris in the wound. However, after the initial cleaning, I'll use saline, betadine or something less irritating to the tissue.


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## Appyt (Oct 14, 2007)

welshies rule said:


> I have heard it can be used to help with foot thrush?


Yes it can.


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## gilchrist (Feb 16, 2010)

Hi, I have used it on hooves, well, inside, if there are signs of thrush, I have used it on it, please let me know if anyone has done the same?


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

I heard it's not good to use as well. BUT I use it all the time on myself, dogs, cats, and horses. I tried both with and without and when I used it the wound dried out and healed faster.


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## Ryle (Jul 13, 2007)

kitten_Val said:


> I heard it's not good to use as well. BUT I use it all the time on myself, dogs, cats, and horses. I tried both with and without and when I used it the wound dried out and healed faster.


The question with these types of experiences becomes how do you know that it dried out and healed faster than it would have without the use of peroxide? Unless you have 2 exactly the same wounds and treat them in 2 different ways, you can't know if they would have healed any differently with a different treatment. This kind of comparison is one of the ways that the people who study wound healing assess the different products that are advertised for use on wounds. So, these anecdotal reports really have to be taken with a grain of salt. As they say at A&M, often the body heals despite what we do rather than because of it. 

There are definitely situations where peroxide is beneficial, however for general wound cleaning it should not be used. There are other options that don't damage cells and are more effective at killing bacteria that will serve better for wound cleaning.


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## Juniper (May 4, 2007)

I love it when you answer Ryle!! So when is peroxide beneficial? And what would you initially use to clean a deep wound before you get to the vet, or a superficial one if you are not thinking you need to have it seen by the doctor?


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

Juniper said:


> So when is peroxide beneficial? And what would you initially use to clean a deep wound before you get to the vet, or a superficial one if you are not thinking you need to have it seen by the doctor?


It's not. Pour it on a sterile tray and it will still bubble due to the oxygen content.

The best thing to clean a wound is running water. Flushes the wound without adding anything or pushing an object deeper. If you think it will need stitches and the vet can't get there right away, gentle flushing will keep the edges from drying.


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## Ryle (Jul 13, 2007)

Peroxide can be helpful when dealing with a deep puncture to help remove debris from down in the wound. But it's not something you should use more than initially without veterinary advice because even then you can end up doing more damage than good. It can also be used on the hoof. And then there may be very special circumstances but you would need a vet to determine when else it might be appropriate.

I would not use it on a superficial wound--the risks outweight the benefit in that situation because you can remove debris and clean the wound with betadine or chlorhexidine without causing the tissue damage.


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## tealamutt (Aug 21, 2009)

I agree that people "love hydrogen peroxide" because it foams up and it looks like it is really doing something. Well it *is* doing something- destroying the tiny blood vessels remaining around the edges of the wound. These blood vessels are what must migrate into the wound to allow healing. Anyone swearing you had terrific results must have had them despite the use of peroxide, not because of it.

As Ryle said, your best bet, especially on a superficial wound, is diluted betadine or chlorhex. Not only are both of these less damaging, but they both kill a broader spectrum of bacteria and viruses as well as maintain MUCH better killing ability for much longer when left on the wound. They also don't change the pH of the wound as much which is very important to let the body do it's job and heal.


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## Juniper (May 4, 2007)

good to know, thanks


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## Appyt (Oct 14, 2007)

I will reiterate my experience with HP. I do not use it for everything, do not use it for deep wounds or necessarily initial cleaning. But, when I have had a sritchscratch surface wound on me and use other things like Triple Antibiotic and IF that doesn't work I will and do use HP as it does the job. Bubble or no bubble.. Do I advise using exclusively? no. But it has it's place..


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## wingedhorse (Feb 3, 2010)

HP does indeed kill cells. that is it's function in nature. it is (when naturally occurring) a cellular product that is dispatched to kill bacteria. 

i would recommend avoiding it as well as alcohol for wound care. 


if the vet is coming and you think you may need stitches, just clean with saline. plain water is also bad--it creates a hypo-osmotic situation around the cells, drawing liquids in. this can cause them to burst.


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## Pro (Apr 23, 2009)

All of this is good to hear. I've always used it since one of the vets hear recommended it and still does after I talked to him about it again (after reading all this I questioned him). He says as long as it's not pure (mix it with water) and not very often it's ok as long as the cut doesn't start to dry out. When Pro got hurt the vet even used it mixed with a bit of water to rinse out the cut. I think I will talk to another vet and see what he says...


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## onlyrodeoqueen (Feb 13, 2010)

I don't see why peroxide would hurt anything. Humans can use it so why can't horses? There is also a wound spray that you can get called Wound-Kote. It's an antiseptic and germicidal. I used it on my mare when she had a cut on her leg and it worked really good. Just a suggestion. =)


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