Should i put hydrogen peroxide on my cut

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Should you use hydrogen peroxide to clean cuts and scrapes? Why does hydrogen peroxide fizz when you pour it on a wound? What are fibroblasts? Wonder What's Next? Try It Out Are you ready to experiment with hydrogen peroxide? Ask a friend or family member to help you with the following activities: Ask an adult friend or family member to take you on a field trip to a local grocery or department store.

Head to the healthcare aisle and look for hydrogen peroxide. You'll probably find it in a brown plastic container. Expand your search to look for other products that contain hydrogen peroxide. How many can you find? Hint: you'll probably find some in the dental section, as well as the cleaning products section! If you want to have some fun experimenting with hydrogen peroxide, jump online to learn how to perform the Elephant's Toothpaste experiment. You'll need just a few simple materials and help from an adult friend or family member.

No elephant required! Got a potato and some hydrogen peroxide? That's all you need to perform this Catalase and Hydrogen Peroxide Experiment. The sliced potato contains damaged cells leaking catalase, simulating a cut or scrape on your skin. Pour on the hydrogen peroxide and watch it fizz just like it would on a wound! Did you get it? Test your knowledge. Unfortunately, hydrogen peroxide's oxidation also destroys healthy skin cells.

This is why many physicians and dermatologists currently advise against using hydrogen peroxide to clean wounds , as it has been found to slow the healing process and possibly worsen scarring by killing the healthy cells surrounding a cut. Despite its negative effect on healthy cells, our bodies' cells naturally produce hydrogen peroxide when we metabolize food and turn it into energy. So how can a cell produce something that can destroy its own walls?

In fact, no antiseptic should be used to treat wounds. While highly reactive chemical agents such as hydrogen peroxide do indeed kill some bacteria, they do more damage to healthy cells that are attempting to heal the wound. This fact has been known to mainstream science for almost years.

During World War I, military doctors followed medical folklore and treated soldiers' wounds with antiseptics, and yet the soldiers still died from infection at an alarming rate. Biologist Alexander Fleming approached the issue scientifically. According to the biography of Fleming written by Beverly Birch, Fleming discovered that those whose wounds were treated with antiseptics had higher death rates and slower healing times than those whose wounds were not treated at all. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only.

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. See more conditions. First aid Cuts and scrapes: First aid.

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