Hydrogen Peroxide - Medicinal Uses

Hydrogen peroxide – chemically represented as H2O2 – is one of the most common household disinfectants in the world. In fact, odds are pretty good that you have a bottle in your medicine cabinet or under your kitchen sink right now.

Clean and disinfect minor wounds

The 3% solution you can buy at the drugstore can be applied directly to minor wounds to clean away dead tissue.  It can halt minor bleeding, and can help to clear up infections or prevent infections from setting in.  It is generally recommended to only apply the hydrogen peroxide once, since doing it too many times may also inhibit friendly bacteria which help to facilitate healing.

Get rid of acne and boils

If you have infected acne, you may be able to speed up the healing process by applying a little hydrogen peroxide to the infected sites.  It will act just the same way it does on wounds, helping to kill the unwanted bacteria and cleanse the area.  Just as with wounds, you do not want to overdo this! Just apply it once.  If you apply it too many times, you will kill the good bacteria too.

Cure canker sores

If you have canker sores in your mouth, you may be able to get them to go away faster by swishing some hydrogen peroxide in your mouth.  Combine it with water so that you don’t cause any irritation or blistering in your mouth (too high a concentration of hydrogen peroxide can do this in large amounts).  Swish it around for half a minute or so, and then spit it out and rinse with fresh water.

Expunge bad breath

One great alternative to mouthwash for bad breath is hydrogen peroxide.  Since hydrogen peroxide kills the unhealthy organisms in your mouth which cause bad breath, all it takes is half a minute of swishing to get bad breath to go away.  You may be surprised how effective this is.  In fact, if all you have is minor bad breath once in a while, just swishing with hydrogen peroxide once a week could mean you are good to go for the rest of the week.  Just make sure you don’t overuse it, because it can kill good bacteria in your mouth too.

Fight foot fungus

Athlete’s foot is no fun!  If you are tired of all that itching, you may find that hydrogen peroxide is a helpful antidote, thanks to its antifungal properties.  This is largely an anecdotal use, but many people claim that they have successfully cured foot fungus infections just by applying a mixture comprised of equal parts water and hydrogen peroxide.

Clear out ear wax

Try adding a couple of drops of olive oil, and then follow it up with a couple drops of hydrogen peroxide.  Keep your head tilted for about a minute, and then tilt it back the other way and let the mixture drain out.  You may also want to gently flush your ear out with warm water.

Take a detoxifying bath

If you want to give your bathwater a detoxifying boost, try adding two quarts of peroxide to your bathwater.  Soak in the bath for half an hour.  This can be a great idea if you are sick and want to make sure you emerge from the bathtub actually clean of germs.

Disinfect Toothbrushes

Soak toothbrushes in hydrogen peroxide to kill staph bacteria and other germs common to the bathroom environment.

Soften Corns & Calluses

Mix equal parts hydrogen peroxide and warm water to make a foot soak that will naturally soften corns and calluses.

Prevent “Swimmer’s Ear”

Mix equal parts hydrogen peroxide and vinegar in a small dropper bottle. Put several drops in each ear after swimming to prevent infection.