While waiting in line at the grocery store today, I picked up a Reader's Digest and read an article about several traditional first aid measures that are no longer approved. Some were ones I've known for a long time, such as putting butter on burns; my mother knew half a century ago that cold water was a much better choice. However, I did not know that hydrogen peroxide is no longer recommended for cleaning wounds. Hydrogen peroxide kills germs, but apparently it also damages healthy cells, and inhibits healing. The proper way to clean a wound? With clean, running water.
Not that I consider Reader's Digest to be the ultimate medical authority, but I wish I could have read that article a year ago, before I had a small, basal cell carcinoma removed from my face. Following the dermatologist's instructions, I cleaned the wound frequently with hydrogen peroxide. It took a long time to heal, and left a nasty scar. Since I normally heal well and quickly, it's hard not to think there's a connection there.
Posted by
sursumcorda on
Tuesday, October 5, 2004 at
6:59 pm
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It makes me think that most people do not follow the doctors orders, at least very faithfully, and if they don't tell the whole truth "Yeah, I cleaned it..." I wonder how much harm is done by us saving our poor egos? It also kind of reminds me of my relationship with dentists...
One random blog question. Why is there (more) at the end of entries that don't have more? I find it a little annoying to have to go back and forth because I don't know if I've seen everything or not. Is there a way I can tell by looking at the blog page?
I had that problem too on my blog, and I think the way I fixed it was to turn off the WYSIWYG editor stuff. Although it is nice to have it on, as then you don't have to write html, but I found the "more" links more annoying than having to write html.
I think you can also fix the entries by editing the post after you write it and removing the <br/> tag that is in the second block.
That was it, thanks. I love the WYSIWYG editor, and am sorry it's not available to comment-writers. But it does seem to have a mind of its own, and kept sticking the <BR /> back in, until I learned to save the post with WYSIWYG turned off. That seemed to do the trick.
All the posts should be fixed now, and (more) really means more.
Back to the original subject: that's a good point, Janet. I fear that a patient's tendency to stretch the truth leads doctors (and dentists) to recommend more stringent treatment than they would, because they "know" that the patient will follow half of it at best. In the days when a doctor knew his patients well, he could tailor his instructions based on that knowledge, but the "factory farming" version of medical practice precludes such common sense.
And it's probably a problem not just in medicine, but in schools and businesses and government and all large organizations, not excluding churches.
Just wanted to add my own experience with dermatologists and wound care. After I had a mole removed, they told me to put vaseline on the wound after washing and before putting on the new bandage. This is supposed to "reduce scab formation."
Aren't scabs part of the healing process? I guess if you care about scarring, you'd like to do that. But my mole was in a place most people will not see. It was also in a place that is very hard to keep dry.
So this weekend, it got infected. I promptly stopped the vaseline treatment, and just put a bandaid on - and I tried to change the bandaid frequently. This morning it is looking much better.
