Uh, I bought this along with the poncho liner...

-Blast

Scientific studies are great but the real question is how well does it work for you? For me, it seems to help enough to be a useful part of my FAK. I have never been sorry to use it and a few times wished I had used it sooner. And adding a pain relief component is like frosting on a cake. IMO.

i don't leave home without it..the stuff with the pain med
is the only one worth having..get the cream not vasaline base.
i find it heals wound fast and best of all on bug bites it
kills the itching so you don't keep opening the scabs up..

Blast:

I hope you actually learn a new skill, or improving on an old one, with that axe. In the immortal words of Pink Floyd.

"Careful with that axe, Eugene." In this case Blast...

Soap and tap water are recommended in the current copy of the Merck manual. Followed with a Betadine rinse at a 1:10 ratio. I had a previous post on Betadine use here I also see where rly45acp beat me to the link at world wide wounds.

I had seen the Merthiolate trick previously mentioned from a Australian firefighter/medic. He used the solution to treat a blister on a forest firefighters foot. He injected it directly into the blister until the blister "popped." When the poor fireman stopped dancing around, he then covered it with Neosporin, gauze pads, and moleskin. Within about 48 hours the blister was almost healed. Funny thing is the other firefighters always came to me for treatment unless they were from Australia. The medic told me he had learned the treatment in the Royal Australian Navy.

Just be careful we know your reputation.

Stargazer

I agree with Jeff's comments. Hydrogen peroxides one advantage is that debrides (cleans) the wound. Yes, it probably slows healing some, and may make the scar marginally more prominent. If I didn't have adequate, appropriate flush solution at hand, but did have peroxide, I'd use without a second thought. Wound cleansing, both initial and ongoing, is the most important part of preventing infection. Once infection starts, you'll probably need oral or possibly IV antibiotics. MRSA is now a disease of civilization, not just healthcare facilities, but in the community. In the wild MRSA would be unlikely, but not impossible, “civilization” seems to touch almost everywhere.

The blister treatment seems more than just a bit extreme. Why purposefully cause a patient pain by injecting merthiolate when you'll get better results draining the blister and then simply bandaging it, apply some moleskin or Spenco 2nd Skin and you're well on your way to a 48 hour cure anyway. I don't get that one at all.

John E

Nothing scientific here, but I once took a long deep slice across the bridge of my nose. Really needed stitches, but I was stubborn. Once I got the bleeding stopped (took 'bout an hour, with lots of cold water compresses), I gooped on some Neosporin, then a little bandaid, and went on my way. Healed up fine, not even all that much of a scar (compared to my other scars at least)...

If you trust Consumer Reports, they had his to say recently. I am copying this from the August issue. I am going to quote only relevant parts to avoid potential copyright issues.

Neo spray isn't Neosporin.

"New neo to go first aid spray from the maker of neosporin displays the brand name on its label and promises "infection protection, anytime, anywhere"...

"[Neo spray] ... is neosporin in name only, it does not contain the three antibiotics in the original neosporin ointment... "

"consider [the] single use packets for the same price as the spray. Tuck a tube of neosporin ointment in your purse or backpack..."

"Clean the affected area with soap and water before applying medication, our medical consultants say."

This is only related to your original question, and I respect Consumer Reports as a source of testing and unbiased information.

Blast, I think you would fare better by looking for the names of the three antibiotics on the tube, and searching for those on the internet to see exactly what they were good for. I would be curious to hear what they said.

Thanks very much clarktx for providing the Consumer Reports info. Without it, I would've assumed that the spray is identical to the ointment.

Nurit

Neosporin=neomycin, polymyxin B, and bacitracin.

Polysporin=polymyxin B, and bacitracin.

To say "Polysporin actually allows the wound to heal more quickly than neosporin" is nonsensical. That would imply that having an extra antibiotic on board would retard healing. If you are talking about the allergic potential for Neosporin, then yes, there is a higher incidence of allergic reactions to Neosporin than to Polysporin (the neomycin may have as high as 20% allergic rxn) But this does not mean that Neosporin heals any slower than Polysporin.

I disagree that flushing with betadine is better than treating with a topical antibiotic. Betadine won't stay resident is the wound as long as the ointment. Why would neosporin work less well in a dry environment? It works great in my state: a high plains, arid environment.

Flushing a wound is great, adding some betadine is a good idea. But leave the hydrogen peroxide at home. It's heavy (liquid) and is controversial...plus it hurts! There have been studies done comparing flushing wounds with sterile water or saline vs. just tap water...guess what? Tap water may be just as good!