Had to use peroxide and tweezers today..

[getwitit]

Well I have a lump on the lip of my chameleon and here is what I did. Had him open his mouth and drew some pus from the abscess by pushing lightly from the outside with the blunt end of a tweezers. I then stretched down his lip a little and wiped out the little bit of pus that came out of a small dark brown dot where the abscess is. I then took a q-tip and put hydrogen peroxide on the sore and let him be. It is not a big sore but hope it doesn't get any bigger. Peroxide was a safe move right? It was a 3% which is kind of concentrated, but other than that, I think i did everything right.

 

[Carlton]

Just keep an eye on the area. Herp pus isn't very liquid and it can be hard to get every bit of it out of the abscess. I would follow up with some triple antibiotic ointment for a few days to fight any recurral. You could also dab some Betadine on the lip.

 

[Syn]

I have read somewhere before that peroxide doesn't really help in the ways we had thought it did. I will see if I can't get a link.

It would probably be useful to use antibiotic ointments (as stated by Carlton) as well as the Betadine.

Edit: I just closed the page somehow and my history cleared, oops.. but I got to copy and paste this beforehand:

H2O2 actually DESTROYS newly formed collagen tissues (on a microscopic level) that are needed in wound healing.The prolonged, repeated use of Hydrogen Peroxide actually SLOWS wound healing.

Hydrogen peroxide does harm because is a very unstable molecule that can easily liberate free oxygen radical, causing a a chain reaction within the cell membrane and other organelles.

I wish I had a good link, then again perhaps this does not pertain to reptiles. They are different in many ways.

 

[Carlton]

I have read somewhere before that peroxide doesn't really help in the ways we had thought it did. I will see if I can't get a link.

It would probably be useful to use antibiotic ointments (as stated by Carlton) as well as the Betadine.

Edit: I just closed the page somehow and my history cleared, oops.. but I got to copy and paste this beforehand:





I wish I had a good link, then again perhaps this does not pertain to reptiles. They are different in many ways.

I think the peroxide is more for cleaning out a bloody or contaminated wound initially, not to prevent further infection. The antibiotic ointment is what you want...you can also use OTC Polysporin.

 

[getwitit]

It looks almost flush with his lip now, it was a very small bump in the first place, the size of a freckle I had him open his lip a little again and found nothing to be concerned about.


Well I know my chemistry of peroxide and I believe both sides of the peroxide debate to be partially true. Bottom line is, it is an oxidizer at the cellular level and will do good with the bad. But overall, IMO, it will help the process of healing and getting rid of a bacteria. Since the problem is subsiding it think he will clear it up by himself. Thanks!

btw the part about peroxide not helping in prolonged use is VERY true. I had to argue with my pops many times to get him to stop using peroxide on his skin cancers as way to much oxidative reactions are going on to be helpful to the "healing" process when used daily.

 

[Syn]

Right, I had misunderstood your post, I had thought you were using it on something that was trying to heal.

Seems to be a long, ongoing debate either way, but I think overuse is what does people in.

Good luck!