Tincture of Merthiolate

[In The Woods]

For you older players out there, who remembers tincture of merthiolate? Or tincture of iodine? For those of us of a certain age, it was the Mothers' First Line of Defense against bacteria-laden cuts, scrapes, and other childhood mishaps where the skin got broken. Trouble was, the stuff burned like hot coals, or maybe melted glass!!! There were discussions amongst us youngsters about what went into the stuff. I think it was a combination of 200 proof rubbing alcohol, fuming nitric acid, concentrated habanero pepper juice, and hornet venom. We tried to cover up anything less than a total amputation when we were wounded and went home, rather than let Mom put that stuff on a cut. Of course, all of our moms were probably trained by retired Army of the Potomac doctors, who thought pain was good for you.

Anyway, I thought I'd ask around and see who experienced this stuff. Thank heavens for Bactine!

With best regards to all, and Happy New Year.

Steve Mack

[dubhlinn]

The Drink always worked fine for me.

Slan,
D.

[cowtime]

The very LAST time I had the stuff put on me I was 17 and -

My mare decided about the time I put my foot in the stirrup , that she really didn't want to be ridden at that time, so she took off. Down the wire fence row we went, with me hanging on her side and both legs (wore shorts that day)getting a good ripping from the top row of the fence(barbed wire is the top row) OUCH!

When I got her stopped, I was not happy. After firm correction, I told her she would be ridden inspite of her mood. So, I rode her for probably thirty minutes or more to make my point. By then the blood running down my legs had attracted every fly for miles around. I got her cooled down and squared away and back at the house , here comes mom with alcohol AND mecurchrome to clean and disinfect the wounds.

After the dousing, I ran around the house three times, litterally, before the flames died down enough to endure.

The ending of this is that by the next night I had developed a huge allergic reaction to the stuff and was in the emergency room with legs that looked like something out of a horror movie. The Dr. told her to never put that stuff on me or anyone else again, and she never did.

[dubhlinn]

I rest my case

Slan,
D.

[emmline]

I remember an old dried up stoppered-bottle of the stuff in the medicine cabinet. We used Bactine.

[Darwin]

We had mecurchrome around the house, but the theory was that if it didn't hurt, it wasn't killing the germs, so merthiolate was the antiseptic of choice around our house. It came in a long, slim glass vial, encased in a cardboard sleeve with little cutouts, so that you could see when it was all gone.

It only came out one drop at a time. That also made it better than mecurchrome, which had a relatively wide-mouthed bottle with a glass applicator rod in it. It was wa-a-ay too easy to spill mecurchrome, and there was nothing in the world that would get it out of clothes, furniture, and carpets.

The cool thing about it was that it was pale orange, but had some kind of green highlights--like demon blood. I think Steve's ingredient list is just about right.

[Mitch]

My sister who is a wound specialist at one of the local hospitals assures me that nothing astringent should be used on a wound as it retards healing. She uses steralised water to flush wounds with great success - if there is any question of infection then antibiotics are used in conjunction with water-flushing.

[Whistlin'Dixie]

I remember the sting!

My mom (a nurse) would also paint a little flower around the "boo-boo" to cheer us up, after she had doused the wound with the stuff!

M

[Doug_Tipple]

I have memories of my mother painting that orange stuff on my cuts and scrapes. I remember the glass rod applicator with the rounded end so that you could use it like a paint brush. I think that my mother, perhaps a repressed artist, used to get carried away. The orange color was really weird. What I don't miss, however, is what my mother used as a remedy for coughing. When I was coughing at night, she would come into my room and make me swallow a gob of Vicks vapo-rub, which was supposed to be used topically. I didn't die, and I probably stopped coughing because I didn't want any more of that stuff.

[Daniel_Bingamon]

I used to wonder about the cough syrup commercials when I was a kid.

It would show the medicine going in the mouth and down and coat the bronchial tubes. How in the world does is get into the bronchial tubes, for me it all seems to go down to the stomach, I guessed it wasn't working right. I told my mom that the medicine didn't work right, not like on TV, it went the wrong way.

[Joseph E. Smith]

When I was coughing at night, she would come into my room and make me swallow a gob of Vicks vapo-rub, which was supposed to be used topically.

You don't know how really close I just came to spewing after reading this.

[SteveK]

We always pronounced it muhthiolade. Like Darwin, I was told that it was a good thing that it stung because that meant that germs were dying. I feel your pain, germs.

And remember that Serutan spelled backwards spells Natures.

[Innocent Bystander]

Don't recall Tincture of Iodine although I thiink I've had it administered - never even heard of the other stuff.
But here is my cautionary tale from New Years Eve.
I thought I'd treat the wife to a home-made Indian meal. We used to cook a lot of Indian, but sort of got out of the habit. She was out shopping and I had asked her to get some green chillies. She got a packet of three green chillies. Meanwhile I realised I'd run out of fresh coriander, and dashed down to the local Greengrocers to get some. I got about a quarter pound of coriander for 85p. I used three tablespoons full after it was chopped, and put the rest (about ten tablespoonsful) in a bag into the freezer. I used half of one chilli for the Gujerati-style carrots and peas. We had our meal. And I thought I'd better chop the other chillies and put them in the freezer for later, too. So I did.

And then I went for a pee.

You would think I'd know by now, but it has been a while. And this was worse than I ever remembered it. So I thought "Water doesn't get rid of this stuff, but grease does. I'll wash it off with some soap."

WRONG!

It is a very long time indeed, if ever, that I have been in so much pain. One of the things I got for Xmas/Yule was a lump of jelly-soap for the shower. I was crying with pain by the time I got into the shower, and crying with pain for a while before I got rid of most of the unpleasant sensation.
Eventually it died down to merely the sensation of being equipped with a red-hot-poker. Painful, but bearable.

I think this has been the worst New Years Eve I can remember.

WEAR GLOVES TO CHOP CHILLIES!

(Or better still, get a female to chop them.)

[amar]

sorry...

[chas]

Fortunately, or un-, the pain lasts for about six minutes no matter what you do. The capsaicin dissipates pretty quickly, but the nerves fire for six minutes.

Ever heard of Atomic Balm? It's kind of like Ben Gay on steroids. Be equally careful putting it on a pulled groin. It doesn't go away in just a few minutes, either; it lasts for an hour or two.