Are you misusing this common item in your medicine cabinet? This emergency room physician’s assistant is telling viewers that they’re probably misusing hydrogen peroxide.
Gen Xers, Millennials, and even some Gen Y kids probably remember getting their first skinned knee or bad cut and having their parent pour a good portion of hydrogen peroxide over the wound and letting it fizz before a bandage was applied.
WebMD has stated that “Hydrogen peroxide is a mild antiseptic used on the skin to prevent infection of minor cuts, scrapes, and burns. It may also be used as a mouth rinse to help remove mucus or to relieve minor mouth irritation.”
But one medical professional is warning her viewers to be careful about overusing the popular remedy over the long term.
An Emergency Room pro’s warning
According to Rachel (@rachthepa), who claims to be an emergency room physician’s assistant (ERPA,) hydrogen peroxide can have adverse effects in certain circumstances which she lays out in a video posted on Aug. 9.
The video has since reached over 537,500 viewers and counting.
“Do you know how many people misuse hydrogen peroxide, ” Rachel asks her viewers in the video captioned, “plz stop hurting yourselves ..”
She goes on to claim that there are three ways people can harm themselves by using the antiseptic.
“I did the same thing,” she claims, speaking of using the solution to treat oral canker sores.
She states a patient had been using hydrogen peroxide to whiten her teeth after stopping smoking. “She was getting this really bad mouth ulcer that was not healing,” she states.
“So she comes into the ER and she has this horrible [mouth ulcer], and she was like, ‘It’s not healing,’” Rachel says. “Turns out, it was the peroxide… because the peroxide kills the good cells and the bad cells.”
Rachel then describes a diabetic patient who according to her, had a wound on the back of her leg that had ulcerated. Diabetes can affect the healing process of wounds.
“It was a huge ulcer now,” she claims. “She had been putting hydrogen peroxide on it for three weeks.”
It was now going to take her “months to heal” due to exacerbating the ulcer with hydrogen peroxide according to Rachel.
Rachel last describes a patient who she claims came in for “suture removal.”
“Her sutures were, like really, really scabbed over,” Rachel states. She claims that upon investigation, the patient’s mother revealed she had been applying hydrogen peroxide to the wound every day.
She claims she told the mother, “You’re basically just [re] opening this wound” with the peroxide treatments. “You’re just replacing the scab over and over again,” she says.
“I don’t like to make people feel bad,” she later states, “but like, people need to know better.”
Is Hydrogen Peroxide bad for oral canker sores?
According to a Jan. 2023 article published by Colgate.com, “You can use hydrogen peroxide on a canker sore. A review in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research advises mixing a solution composed of half hydrogen peroxide and half water.”
However, some scientists have disputed this. A 1986 abstract from the National Institute of Health states, “Several authorities, however, have suggested that this material may be harmful to oral tissues, especially if the tissues have been previously injured. The findings suggest that oral hygiene techniques emphasizing the use of 3% hydrogen peroxide in periodontal therapy may require reevaluation.”
Should you use hydrogen peroxide to treat wounds?
WebMD states, “Using hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol to clean an injury can actually harm the tissue and delay healing. The best way to clean a minor wound is with cool running water and mild soap.”
According to City MD, one should use caution when using Hydrogen peroxide as an antiseptic: “Hydrogen peroxide was a go-to remedy for cleaning cuts and scrapes for many years. However, while it kills bacteria, it might also harm the cells essential for wound healing.
Our skin and tissues have cells called fibroblasts, which play a crucial role in healing. When applied to a wound, hydrogen peroxide can harm these fibroblasts and the bacteria. This means that while you’re killing germs, you might also be slowing down your body’s natural healing process.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Web MD and City MD via email for a statement.
@rachthepa plz stop hurting yourselves .. 😅#emergencyroom #physicianassistant #emergencymedicine ♬ original sound – rach the pa
Viewer reactions
In the video’s comments, @missy_tina86 writes, “I’ve never fully trusted hydrogen peroxide.”
Another viewer states she had been using the solution conservatively. “I’ve only ever used hydrogen peroxide if I cut myself on a potentially dirty surface or outside or something,” they said. “I did not realize people were using it daily to clean wounds.”
On the topic of oral sores, one viewer commented, “My mom’s a dental hygienist, and she told me that mouth injuries are some of the quickest healing. I just leave them alone, and I swear they’re gone in 1-2 days.”
Rachel concurred, responding, “They are!! I hardly ever suture inside the mouth any more because of this.”
And in a completely “yikes” moment, one commenter claimed, “Had a patient putting it in his EYE today.”
Rachel stated in reply, “I’ve gotten Debrox in the eye complaints a few times.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Rach via email and TikTok messenger for further comment.
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