by John Torres, M.D.

Q. Is hydrogen peroxide good for cleaning minor cuts?

A. For years, people have used hydrogen peroxide to clean out wounds. Sometimes it's used straight and other times diluted with water. Either way, its bubbling action makes it look like it's doing its job by loosening up dead material and cleaning out bad bacteria.

The problem is that hydrogen peroxide not only does this but also damages the healthy cells trying to heal the wound. It can therefore slow down healing, making the wound stay open longer, which can lead to more infections.

To clean out a cut right after it happens, run it under tap water for a few minutes-until all the debris is gone. Later on, as the wound starts to heal, you can use water or over-the-counter wound cleaners to keep it clean. One is essentially as good as the other on clean wounds or ones with limited scabbing. With extensive scabs, cleaners, like ConvaTec Shur-Clens Wound Cleanser, can help you keep the wound debris-free.

Using an antibacterial ointment for the first seven days of healing can also help keep it from getting infected. If you have dried blood around the wound, a solution of half water, half hydrogen peroxide will get it off better than water. Just don't get it in the wound.

Of course, see a health-care provider for individual advice or for treatment if the cut is bad.

Board-certified emergency-medicine physician JOHN TORRES, M.D., is the medical director and owner of Premier Urgent Care
in Monument, Colo., and medical anchor at KDVR-TV (Fox) in Denver.

Last updated and/or approved: February 2010. Article first appeared in the September/October 2009 issue of the former print magazine.

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written by Ben , July 22, 2010

I am a Dr, and regularly treat wounds. Peroxide is an excellent wound cleaner. I have often used it as part of a regime to cure wounds that other doctors have pronounced incurable. It will burn tissues, but only if used excessively. in the operating room it is still popular for severe wound infections. So called 'wound care experts' have been told that peroxide has been proven to be harmful, and ineffective. This is not fact. I conducted a literature search on this subject in various wound care journals, and found a long running campaign to discredit peroxide, because its not making anybody any money. Some referenced articles state that peroxide is bad for wounds, but when traced back to the source literature which they reference, there is no evidence. The industry just want people to spend $30/day on faddish modern dressings for as long as possible, when they have a wound.


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