Do you stock Hydrogen Peroxide?

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Sentry18

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I remember a long time being told my an experienced ER Doctor, with a nearby RN and a Paramedic agreeing, that Peroxide was pointless for treating wounds. They stated that it did not disinfect the wound at all, but instead delayed or destroyed your body's ability to develop a scab and repair itself. I found this hard to believe so I did a bit of research and it seems like the most common medical uses of peroxide were all myths. Just the same that doesn't mean peroxide is without merit. I know I have a few bottles in my preps but am not sure I really them. This person does not agree. Thoughts?

https://loadoutroom.com/113182/my-disaster-preparedness-secret-weapon-hydrogen-peroxide/


My disaster preparedness secret weapon: Hydrogen Peroxide
hydrogen-peroxide.jpg


August 11, 2019 by Loadout Room Guest Authors 2 Comments

When putting together a disaster plan, it’s important to prioritize human needs in the way that you prepare. To put together a solid short-term survival plan, you need only to address the most basic of human necessities: water, shelter, food, and security, but as short-term survival transitions into “well I guess this is what’s left of the world now,” it’s important to have a plan in place that can help you get by a bit longer than just the first few days after a disaster.

While ensuring you have adequate food and water will prevent death from hunger or dehydration, it’s important to remember that those are often the very easiest forms of death to avoid. We worry about supply lines drying up after the collapse of our infrastructure for good reason, but humans have been surviving without grocery stores and running faucets for millennia… what tends to kill us in such situations often isn’t a lack of food, but rather a lack of hygiene.

Enter my favorite survival item: hydrogen peroxide. Most of us are familiar with the brown bottle of bubbling goodness from our childhoods, when our mothers would pour a bit of the elixir onto our scraped knees to disinfect it before armoring the wound with a Batman band-aid and providing an emergency booboo-kiss for pain relief. While wound care is certainly one of the things hydrogen peroxide is good to have around for, it’s far from the only thing.


In order to discuss some of the other important uses for the magic brown bottle, I’m going to have to delve into some of the health issues that may impact a person in an extended survival scenario; some of which are likely to sound gross, but it’s important to plan for potential health hazards other than gunshot wounds and zombie bites, because dying of an infection all by yourself will leave you just as dead as the sexier alternatives we see on TV.

Hydrogen Peroxide for Mouth Care

I’m not normally one to close my eyes during a rough scene in a movie – but watching Tom Hanks remove an infected tooth with an ice skate in “Cast Away” was tough for me. I don’t like going to the dentist, let alone the idea of serving as my own using bits of trash I found on a beach, but I have to credit the movie for including an element of survival that is often ignored in movies and television: dental hygiene.

An infected tooth is a serious issue. If left unchecked, and infection can spread throughout your body, possibly even killing you without antibiotic treatment. Beyond that, an infected tooth can make eating an excruciating endeavor and can serve as a serious distraction when you need to keep your wits about you. If at all possible, one should avoid having to do their own oral surgery, and hydrogen peroxide can help.

That same brown bottle you use on cuts and scrapes is also a FDA approved mouth wash. Pouring a mix of hydrogen peroxide and water into your mouth and swishing it around once in a while may not give you the same fresh breath you’d get from a tooth-brush and a new tube of Crest Whitening, but it could keep the bacteria in your mouth from going rogue and rotting you from the inside out. Keeping your teeth intact will keep you eating, and hydrogen peroxide can help stave off infections and even cavities.

Hydrogen Peroxide to Fight Fungus

Athlete’s foot and other fungal infections of the hands and feet can be serious trouble for the long-term survivor. The reduction in available means of hygiene that may come after a disaster could leave you more vulnerable to this sort of ailment, and yet again, hydrogen peroxide can help kill the fungus causing itching and burning on your extremities.

Perhaps more important though, is hydrogen peroxide’s ability to combat yeast infections. While we tend to think of such things as a uniquely female issue, and in today’s world, we even see it as more of an inconvenience than a matter of life and death, developing a yeast infection in a survival setting is bad news and must be addressed.

Hydrogen Peroxide is safe to be used as a douche for women suffering from a yeast infection after the stores have long stopped stocking Monistat, and can be used externally for men suffering from the same ailment. Didn’t know men could get yeast infections? They absolutely can – and the resulting itching, burning and open sores could lead to any number of further infections, or simply leave you too distracted to handle your day-to-day survival needs with the level of focus they require. Hydrogen peroxide will not work as well as traditional anti-fungal medications, but as a multi-use tool, it’s good to know that you can keep the swamp-rot off your fingers and toes as well as out of your underoos with the same bottle you keep around for wound care and oral hygiene. I’d just recommend cleaning the spout before switching between uses (just kidding, do not put the spout inside any part of you, use a different means of application).

Hydrogen Peroxide for Cleaning (everything)

If you wear contact lenses, hydrogen peroxide and water can be used to clean them between uses – extending the life of your contacts and possibly your ability to see if you don’t have access to your glasses. It can also be used to clean food containers and utensils, water carriers, or even cooking surfaces to kill things like salmonella.

You can also use a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water to clean and disinfect your clothes. A clean pair of undies may not sound like the most important thing after the end of the world, but remember, we haven’t evolved to prefer the smell and touch of clean things for no reason. Cleaning your clothes will help prevent skin irritations and even infections. In fact, using hydrogen peroxide to clean your underwear could prevent you from having to using hydrogen peroxide to treat a yeast infection in the first place.

Hydrogen Peroxide for Farming

In a long-term survival situation, cultivating your own food may be a necessity, but if you weren’t blessed with a green thumb, you’ll likely need all the help you can get in order to turn your little garden into something that’ll feed your family. Believe it or not, hydrogen peroxide can also help you start to grow your own food.

Adding a small bit of hydrogen peroxide to the water you pour on your plants can help fertilize the soil, prevent mold and mildew from developing, and even help an ailing plant regain its health. Soaking seeds in water that contains a small amount of hydrogen peroxide will even make them germinate faster. It’s important to use the correct amount of hydrogen peroxide however, otherwise it could kill your plants before they have a chance to grow. Check out this chart to help you determine how much peroxide you should mix with water for various agricultural needs.

These handy uses for the old brown bottle in your medicine cabinet are far from all of the ways hydrogen peroxide can benefit a disaster victim attempting to transition from short-term to long-term survival. I highly recommend doing some research and attempting to use hydrogen peroxide for things like oral hygiene once or twice before the world comes crashing down on you.

And maybe grab an extra bottle or two of the stuff the next time you go shopping. Just in case.
 
I remember a long time being told my an experienced ER Doctor, with a nearby RN and a Paramedic agreeing, that Peroxide was pointless for treating wounds. They stated that it did not disinfect the wound at all, but instead delayed or destroyed your body's ability to develop a scab and repair itself. I found this hard to believe so I did a bit of research and it seems like the most common medical uses of peroxide were all myths. Just the same that doesn't mean peroxide is without merit. I know I have a few bottles in my preps but am not sure I really them. This person does not agree. Thoughts?

https://loadoutroom.com/113182/my-disaster-preparedness-secret-weapon-hydrogen-peroxide/
I have some stocked my medicine cabinet, first aid cabinet.
But I mainly use mine with vinegar for cleaning those really tight places I can't get my hands into.
And if it's grungy enough I don't want my hands in there either.
Q-tips, vinegar, peroxide will work just fine.
 
I have some bottles of hydrogen peroxide stored. I have wondered what the shelf life is.

I had someone tell me that it was worthless and water would work the same. It must be in med school teaching. Someone had a sore in his mouth that wouldn't heal and the dentist was trying to get it healed before he would do some other procedure. My suggestion was to rinse with h.p. a few times a day. It worked.

I rinse my mouth with it after I brush. Dental hygienist tells me I have very little plaque. Part of that might also be because of diet. Plaque feeds on sugar and carbs. She told me that there are clients who have huge amounts of plaque build up. I believe it is hydrogen peroxide that is used in tooth whitening tooth paste and products.

When we have wounds, we put some hydrogen peroxide on a tissue or cotton ball and clean the wound. We have done it with the dog as well. We only use it once or twice and then let the wounds heal on their own. The bubbling of the h.p. is cleansing, I believe.

I believe it is also good for some stain removal. I have read about it before.
 
The bubbling of the h.p. is cleansing, I believe.

That's what my Mom used to tell me. Turns out the bubbling is killing bacteria, but it is also destroying the enzyme called catalase and killing the healthy cells that are trying to heal the wound. So on cuts and scrapes it is doing as much harm as it is good.

But as a mild antiseptic it is good for use as a dental rinse.
 
I remember a long time being told my an experienced ER Doctor, with a nearby RN and a Paramedic agreeing, that Peroxide was pointless for treating wounds. They stated that it did not disinfect the wound at all, but instead delayed or destroyed your body's ability to develop a scab and repair itself. I found this hard to believe so I did a bit of research and it seems like the most common medical uses of peroxide were all myths. Just the same that doesn't mean peroxide is without merit. I know I have a few bottles in my preps but am not sure I really them. This person does not agree. Thoughts?

https://loadoutroom.com/113182/my-disaster-preparedness-secret-weapon-hydrogen-peroxide/

I don't really know where on the germ fighting scale HP factually rates. I've had dentists prescribe it to be used as a mouthwash to help knock down a gum infection before a bad tooth gets pulled, but they also prescribed antibiotics to be taken at the same time, which makes it difficult to determine how much of a infection fighting effect can be attributed to the peroxide alone. I'd guess that germs don't like it much though, so there is that.

.
 
I'm confused. Mama said the bubbles was killing all the bad stuff and now it's a lie?

I do keep cotton balls in a water tight container, and use 50% HP and 50% rubbing alcohol. This is what I clean my dogs ears, at the recommendation of my vet. I wonder if this a good remedy or not?
 
I'm confused. Mama said the bubbles was killing all the bad stuff and now it's a lie?

I do keep cotton balls in a water tight container, and use 50% HP and 50% rubbing alcohol. This is what I clean my dogs ears, at the recommendation of my vet. I wonder if this a good remedy or not?
The bubbles are killing the bad stuff. Evidently they aren't helping the good stuff.
Your dog's ears aren't open wounds so it will not damage anything. I'd listen to the vet.

The mouth is loaded with bacteria. the antibiotic will kill the infection. The HP will reduce the chance of reinfection. It is a symbiotic action. Here again no open wound where the HP might damage the cells.
 
In the past I would use HP if it was a particularly dirty wound or more likely, if it started to get infected. That has worked well for me. I'll have to consider this new information. It makes a lot of sense. I know that alcohol is the same way, it will kill cells in open wounds and impede healing. Sugar and honey are good for open wounds but I would think that they would kill cells as well. Perhaps sometimes the damage is less than the benefit and other times the damage is worse.
 
“The Incredible Dr Pol” always uses hydrogen peroxide to flush abscesses in animals. He opens the site then squeezes as much pus out as he can and then using a syringe he flushes the wound.
Not saying he is right, but he's been a vet for 40 or 50 years.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/the-incredible-dr-pol/
 
We haven't used toothpaste in about 49 years. Only baking soda and a couple times a week HP brushing.
Also it cures gum disease that most dentist can't totally get rid of. I know this for a fact from my cousin always dealing with gum issues and it cured his after decades of dental cleanings and scalings. That is when we started using it at least several times a month. Never had any gum problems in my life but just in case.
Also good for womens personal hygene.
 
After taking some time to think about it, I remember Navy Corpsmen using Iodine when they worked on me a few times. It was probably Povidone-Iodine. I remember it because when you slather it on, it leaves a distinct yellow-orange residual stain that takes awhile to clean off. They may have had HP, but I don't recall ever seeing them using it though. There are different types of prepared Iodine for different uses. One time they gave me glasses of water with a few drops of Iodine added, and used as an expectorant to treat a case of pneumonia I had. And I know you can use it to treat water to drink. I don't recall what specific Iodine they used for that, but looking it up would be easy enough. Some people can be allergic to Iodine, so it's not for everyone. But overall, pretty useful stuff as an antiseptic, or to disinfect surfaces.
 
If you are allergic to shrimp you are most likely allergic to iodine. Also the contrast solution they give you for a CT scan so let the tech know.
Shrimp occasionally cause me to break out in hives. My doctor was not amused when I told her I am not giving up shrimp just because of a few itchy spots. She said if it kills me I would give it up, I said maybe.:)
 
@Sentry18 and an ex nurse here.

I do stock hydrogen peroxide but the shelf life is about a year or a little over so you have to rotate through it.

Uses in medical treatment are to treat things like seafood injuries (think prawns and oyster cuts) as it is the only thing that draws out the pus and bacteria from those wounds, but once it is not red anymore do normal wound cleaning with sodium chloride, and they heal in no time (I used to work in a seafood deli).

It is also recommended by the Australian Government agencies for people with Q Fever to soak hankies and clothing in it overnight (about 1/2 a cup to soaking water) to get rid of the nasties before washing. Also on that note if you are packaging bulk meat on your kitchen counters you should wash them afterwards with hot soapy water and disinfect with hydrogen peroxide to get rid of the blood and Q Fever bacterium found in meat. Note that Q Fever is found in meat and it's blood in parts of United States. My husband has Q Fever from his early butchering animal days on a large cattle property and it is nasty and can kill you and recurs too and can only be treated with the strongest antibiotics available, Doxycycline.

Also useful for soaking clothing and hankies in overnight before washing if someone has the flu in your home. Stain removing you can also put it on white clothing stains and hang in the sun to dry and it gets rid of it and then wash as usual.

Cleaning as far as mould goes you can peroxide to clean in your bathroom on grout in the shower recess and floors with a toothbrush. It has been found that bleach does not remove or kill mould but just dyes it instead, peroxide does get rid of it.

In short it is well worth stocking in your preps or at least for us with DH's Q Fever or yourselves for people with flu and colds.
 
I sprayed HP on my seeds when I planted them early last Spring. Seemed to help, we had great germination rates and healthy seedlings.
I buy it at the dollar store so it's cheap.
It didn't seem to do me any harm as a kid. Mom always washed our cuts and scrapes with it then applied a heavy does of iodine or mercurochrome. Not sure it helped, but it made us to not mention small injuries because it stung so bad. Same thing with castor oil. Didn't complain because we didn't want the treatment.
 
Peroxide is good for cleaning grossly infected wounds. Yes, it is harmful to the new cells, but if the wound is that infected, there are probably not any healthy new cells to be affected. The bubbling/ foaming action helps loosen up debris in the wound, which HAS to be removed if the wound is going to heal. I would not use peroxide on a wound that is not hugely infected - soap and water are fine for that. Both peroxide and povidone iodine need to be diluted something like 1 part peroxide or iodine to 999 parts water in order to not be toxic to granulating (growing) tissue.
 
Peroxide is good for cleaning grossly infected wounds. Yes, it is harmful to the new cells, but if the wound is that infected, there are probably not any healthy new cells to be affected. The bubbling/ foaming action helps loosen up debris in the wound, which HAS to be removed if the wound is going to heal. I would not use peroxide on a wound that is not hugely infected - soap and water are fine for that. Both peroxide and povidone iodine need to be diluted something like 1 part peroxide or iodine to 999 parts water in order to not be toxic to granulating (growing) tissue.

That sounds like a solid medical clarification to me! Also sounds like a good reason to stock it, even if it does have a relatively short shelf life.
 
Hydrogen peroxide to clean the skin around the wound and soap for cleaning the wound.
A good antiseptic dressing is sugar or honey. It helps speed healing because it nourishes the growing cells while blocking bacteria.
 
peroxide is what women used to bleach their hair. no thanks.
 

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