Alcohol or Hydrogen Peroxide? When to Use

By Cassidy Alexander, @MyCarolinaLife.com

Pop quiz: Your child falls and gets a minor cut on his or her knee. You need to clean the wound, so you head to your medicine cabinet. Do you reach for rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide?

The answer is neither, says Nichole Esteppe, a nurse practitioner at Tidelands Health Family Medicine at Myrtle Beach.

“Neither are recommended for wound cleaning anymore,” she says. “They are both antiseptic solutions, but both can damage the healthy tissue and the skin around the wound.”

Both rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide kill germs, making them tempting to use on a cut or wound. But with those germs, they’re also killing good bacteria and irritating your skin.

Rubbing alcohol is good for sterilizing medical objects such as thermometers or cleaning technology like your phone. It can kill bacteria including E. coli and staph within 10 seconds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hydrogen peroxide can help thoroughly clean produce of pesticides and germs and even remove stains from white clothing and carpet, since it has a bleaching effect.

“They’re just not good for your skin,” Esteppe says. “Use warm water and soap to clean minor cuts or wounds.”

After cleaning with soap and water, apply a thin layer of antibiotic ointment and keep the wound covered until healthy tissue starts growing back. It’s usually fine to leave the wound uncovered at home, but you’ll want to cover it when you leave the house, Esteppe says.

You should see a doctor if you notice the redness around the wound getting larger, if there’s any drainage from the wound, if you develop a fever or if you can’t get the bleeding to stop.

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MyCarolinaLife.com is a news service of Tidelands Health.

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