Tell me about DMSO....

[RiverBendPol]

I’ve used the stuff for years and have never had any kind of ‘bad reaction’. In fact, I just rubbed it into my own calf muscle the other day. Gosh, I didn’t wear gloves either. I rubbed it for about 5 minutes, till the skin on my leg was all dry again. What a wonder, my muscle felt MUCH better within about an hour. I have used it on all sorts of horse ailments too. NEVER EVER on open skin, certainly never on scratches but hot/sore tendons, pulled muscles, etc. swaets too. Our vet mixes it with Furacin in little bottles with built in swabs. She can also put a bit of steriod in there if necessary. She also uses it for IV treatments of colic or laminitis. (that’s when your barn will stink). I love the stuff.

[Woodsperson]

DMSO IV was used to treat one of my horses for West Nile. He reeked for weeks.

[EllenAspen]

my vet recommended a mixture of DMSO, dex and silvadene for scratches…it worked…

[chrissygt]

foundationmare- what is a little less ball solution? How much liquid dex should I use? I am hoping to try to use for hock and stifle issues.

[J-Lu]

This is a very old thread!!!

[mmeqcenter]

DMSO is an industrial solvent, Dimethyl Sulfoxide. It has a long history of use in veterinary and human medical applications due to its apparent anti-inflammatory properties.
As a solvent, yes, it can carry many nasties through the skin into the bloodstream. Although many people have used DMSO topically by itself for decades, as a chemist, I would never. Always use it in a mixture of Furazone to kill off any potential bacteria that may introduced through the DMSO. And always, always, always wear gloves. Although DMSO is not toxic itself, it can carry through many things that are. Also, Furazone is a known carcinogen, which DMSO will absolutely carry right into your blood. Gloves are very important, and washing your hands very well afterwards.

@alakazam

I learning in toxicology class that DMSO causes birth defects and you should always glove up while handling the chemical and scrub your hands afterwards.

Super curious where your toxicology class is, and where they got this information from? Only very large quantities of DMSO have shown any teratogenic effects, and the effects are caused by overt maternal toxicity, therefore it is not widely considered to be teratogenic.

https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+80

https://www.researchgate.net/file.PostFileLoader.html?id=547d95e4d2fd6436518b468c&assetKey=AS%3A273644578639890%401442253359624

[mmeqcenter]

@J-Lu

This is a very old thread!!!

LOL I didn’t even notice that

[HoofHeartSoul]

@mmeqcenter

DMSO is an industrial solvent, Dimethyl Sulfoxide. It has a long history of use in veterinary and human medical applications due to its apparent anti-inflammatory properties.
As a solvent, yes, it can carry many nasties through the skin into the bloodstream. Although many people have used DMSO topically by itself for decades, as a chemist, I would never. Always use it in a mixture of Furazone to kill off any potential bacteria that may introduced through the DMSO. And always, always, always wear gloves. Although DMSO is not toxic itself, it can carry through many things that are. Also, Furazone is a known carcinogen, which DMSO will absolutely carry right into your blood. Gloves are very important, and washing your hands very well afterwards.

I thought bacteria,viruses,etc were far too large for DMSO to be carried through the skin. Also thought DMSO in and of itself was antibacterial?

[Outyougo]

I live in PNW. Where the native Americans used a precursor of today’s DMSO. From rotting trees. This was studied in depth at Oregon State Health University decades ago. DMSO is still used in many medical situations. I do use a very dilute solution. 10% demos and water. And use a clean tooth brush. It is available at my feed store. But I do have to show ID and car registration because DMSO and its durivitave MSM are used to make crack. It has uses but take care.

[crosscreeksh]

@Auventera Two

DMSO can also be administered intraveneously for treating acute laminitis.

And cardiac issues!! Congestive heart failure where there is a large fluid build up!! The vet injected it IV into a dying horse of ours years ago…the horse stood up and walked back to the pasture!! Good stuff if used right!!

[mmeqcenter]

@HoofHeartSoul

I thought bacteria,viruses,etc were far too large for DMSO to be carried through the skin. Also thought DMSO in and of itself was antibacterial?

Viruses probably are too large.
Bacteria, not.
No, it is not an antibacterial itself.
It is a solvent, so is used as a cleaner, but a cleaner does not equal antibacterial.

[PonyPenny]

@HollysHobbies

It is supposed to help reduce swelling. I use it AFTER heat has subsided and the lump just won’t go away (my TBs seem to keep their lumps a while after a kick, for example). Apply using gloves or you get an awful taste in the mouth.

Do not use it on broken skin.

I’ve never wrapped over DMSO–just clean the area, rinse, apply, and allow to “airdry”

Many use DMSO as a much cheaper alternative to SURPASS. I haven’t used SURPASS yet, but people rave about it–I just can’t afford it! I think SURPASS might be better for “hot” swellings as well, and again, I use DMSO on cold ones.

I haven’t had a bad DMSO reaction yet–I’ve been using it when needed over the past 15 years–it seems to reduce persistent lumps and bumps that just won’t go away.

You can get Voltaran for humans and it is way cheaper than Surpass. I order it from a Canadian pharmacy as it is OTC there, but requires a script here.

[PintoPony]

I’ll never forget the horrified look on my high school chemistry teachers face when he mentioned DMSO during class and somebody said they used it on the horses at the race track.
He didn’t believe them so I said we used it on horses at the barn too and if you got it on your skin you could taste it in your mouth. Poor guy probably thought he should call CPS or the ASPCA or something, lol!

[dani0303]

I remember when I was young and a horse in the barn was on a DMSO IV for strangles. His stall was like a biohazard area with the smell.

[K8ee]

@alakazam

My vet mixed up a furazone sweat for a leg injury. He took half a jar of nitrofurazone and mixed in dmso untill it was runny. I smeared that on a CLEAN leg (lather, rinse, repeat with betadine surgical scrub due to it being and excellent solvent) and wrap plastic wrap around that. Then apply a standing wrap. I’d leave it on over night and wash it again in the morning. Did that for two nights and it took the swelling down. I learning in toxicology class that DMSO causes birth defects and you should always glove up while handling the chemical and scrub your hands afterwards. Also, if you read the jar of the yellow nitrofurazone, it says it causes tumors in mice. So, never handle that ungloved. We also would use straight DMSO on older injuries of fox hunters.

I boarded in a barn that kept DMSO/Furazone mix on the shelf for swelling, simple lameness, etc. In defense of the Furazone, the vet we had there was awesome and he said that the reason the Furazone caused the tumors in rats was that it had been applied at many times the rate that one would ever use it normally, This vet was not impressed with their lab test for that reason.

That said, always use gloves when applying DMSO and never use it on a pregnant mare or one you suspect may be pregnant.

[runNjump86]

Bumping this up again. I have a DMSO/Magma Paste/Dex scratches concoction that also works as a sweat. I’m trying to sweat a very difficult area…right around and below the fetlock. My thought for safely wrapping this area would be the mix on a clean, dry leg, blue shop towel, saran wrap, cotton batting, brown gauze, Vetwrap. Has anyone tried to sweat that area before?