When do you use hydrogen peroxide as an antiseptic?

Answer 1

A recent study of antimicrobials showed that hydrogen peroxide is one of the least effective of the antimicrobials that are available now. Soap and water along with betadyne is probably the best choice.

Many studies have documented that the use of hydrogen peroxide in open wounds is not only cytotoxic (kills the cell by attacking cell walls) to bacteria, but also to white blood cells and vital wound-healing cells (such as fibroblasts).

While I too prefer Iodides, I hasten to add that hydrogen peroxide is, I believe, far more effective than alcohol in the role of an antiseptic.

More...Hydrogen peroxide, or H2O2 3% solution is very effective as an antimicrobial -- possibly too effective. While other testing has shown that it tends to kill bacteria extremely effectively (moreso than iodine), the above answer is correct in that it is indeed cytotoxic (can kill your own cells), which can interfere with wound healing. This means it's not the antiseptic of choice once the healing process has started, or near delicate tissue. Overall, hydrogen peroxide is very rarely used in healthcare nowadays for this reason.

Alcohol, on the other hand, is never used as an antiseptic -- on open wounds to kill off infection. Instead, alcohol is used as a disinfectant, which means it's applied on a surface. It's often used in cleaning and decontamination including instruments, and it's swabbed on to unbroken skin prior to an injection.