THIS week's contributor is Wendy White, Founder Wendy White WoundCare - Avoid doing damage to wounds: Since the 1880's Joseph Lister, the 'father of antiseptics' promoted cleansing, debridement, antiseptic use, and using sterilised instruments. This proved a significant turning point for healthcare professionals which guides practice principles still today.
Over the next 100 years antiseptic cleansers were widely used with limited understanding of their cytotoxic effect on living cells, or regard to the pain experienced by the wounded.
In the early 90's research identified the damage caused to wound healing cells by these early antiseptic solutions. International calls to refrain from their use saw a movement away from antiseptic solutions widely used at the time. However, some, such as hydrogen peroxide and alcohol, still remain.
Recently the pendulum has swung to the development and adoption of safe, non-cytotoxic and non-painful modern antiseptic solutions that support wound healing such as Microdacyn. These options are designed to meet the needs of consumers and professionals in a wide range of settings including home, hospital and primary healthcare.
Recent international consensus (International Wound Infection Institute) aims to raise awareness of the 'emerging science' of local acute and chronic wound infection (biofilm) and advocates the essential role of modern antiseptic cleansers that are effective, easy to use, comfortable to apply and 'do no harm'.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 10 Sep 18
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