What does hydrogen peroxide do and benefits?

When people think of hydrogen peroxide, they immediately think of hair products. It is the chemical that is commonly used to lighten hair. You’ve seen the videos where people lather their hair and end up with snow on their head that fall out in chunks. But is that all that hydrogen peroxide is good for? Do you remember your days in science class? You take one element and mix it with another element, and you end up with a completely different element. So here we have hydrogen and peroxide. Let’s explore.

What is hydrogen therapy?

First off, what is hydrogen? It is a natural, colourless, odourless, medical gas. It is used in therapy for advanced cancer treatment. But this isn’t pseudo-science. It is based on the discovery by Dr Otha, with more than 1600 researchers studying the biomedical component of hydrogen. Many scientific publications have conclusively demonstrated the therapeutic potential of hydrogen gas in the prevention and treatment of cancers. Hydrogen gas monotherapy demonstrated for the first time in December 2019 to be effective in the treatment of brain metastases. This was after conventional treatments failed. The thing about hydrogen gas is that, due to its unique size, it can cross the barrier posed by standard chemotherapy, and can penetrate all body cells. If your question is if hydrogen gas is even safe, the answer is yes, absolutely! Approved by the FDA plus all the clinical papers validating the 100% safety of hydrogen gas, it has no side effects, you cannot overdose on it, and is also safe and beneficial for pregnant women and infants. The reason for this is that it is not a foreign substance and is completely natural in the human body. Hydrogen therapy is administered through direct inhalation, and can be done at home. There are specially designed machines for this therapy that you can buy. All that you then need is pure or distilled water. You can also drink hydrogen infused water, and there are also tablets available.

Hydrogen peroxide therapy

This therapy differs from hydrogen therapy because it has the added element of peroxide. That does not make it less effective as a therapy. In fact, it has incredible disinfectant properties and can be used to clean cuts and abrasions, rinse the inside of your mouth, reduce seasonal allergies, prevent warts, and to treat shingles. But the big difference is that too much of hydrogen peroxide can be detrimental to your health. Although swallowing a small amount of hydrogen peroxide will probably be fine, but larger amounts can cause more serious health issues. You may experience stomach pains and cramps, have difficulty breathing, experience body aches and chest pain, and have nausea.

Can you drink hydrogen peroxide?

Immediately your brain is going to scream – NO! But the truth is that you can actually drink hydrogen peroxide. It does however need to be diluted, otherwise it may cause health issues as mentioned above. A few drops of hydrogen peroxide could hold many health benefits and treat a wide range of illnesses. Doctors do not agree with this, and warn against it. The reason for their concern is that if you consume more than you should, which could easily happen by accident, there are many dangers that you could face. Direct caustic injury, oxygen gas formation, and lipid peroxidation are just three of the major dangers you could be facing. The overall consensus is that you should not ingest hydrogen peroxide. That does not mean that you won’t find it in many health stores. 3-5% hydrogen peroxide is food grade, and is commonly promoted as a cure for many ailments and diseases.

But what are the benefits?

Just because doctors say you shouldn’t ingest it, it doesn’t mean that you should avoid it completely. There are still many health benefits to be gained from hydrogen peroxide. Besides the benefits described above, it has many other uses.

One of these uses is that it can improve acne. As we know, most acne stems from oil and dead skin cells that clog the hair follicles, or when bacteria damages the skin and causes inflammation. Hydrogen peroxide acts as a powerful disinfectant that kills this bacteria and cleans the skin of the excess oil and dead cells. It should be noted that home usage should never be more than 3% hydrogen peroxide, and that usage should be discontinued if there are any side effects. For acne control it is best to just buy a proper skin cleanser, as most of them does contain hydrogen peroxide.

Another use for hydrogen peroxide is to whiten teeth. Because it has natural lightener and bleach in it, many companies use it in their mouthwashes and whitening toothpastes. Yet again it is best to buy from the store, and to not try and make your own mixture.

One of the instances where you can use hydrogen peroxide in your home is to disinfect toothbrushes and hairbrushes. Since these items live in your bathroom, they pick up bacteria quickly. This is then transferred to your mouth and scalp, and can have unpleasant effects such as fungal infections or landing in the hospital with E.coli.

Having your ear clogged up with earwax is an unpleasant experience, and you don’t always want to go to your doctor to have your ear canal flushed. An easy at-home remedy is to mix a few drops of hydrogen peroxide with some warm water, then put a couple of drops in the ear to loosen the earwax so that it can fall out naturally.

The most popular use of hydrogen peroxide is its cleaning properties. It comes in very handy to clean surfaces and disinfect it at the same time. But this should tell you just why it is deemed as unsafe to ingest.

Does hydrogen peroxide expire?

Now that you’ve decided to buy a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, you have to know that it can indeed expire. If the bottle remains unopened, then it can last for up to three years. But, as with many things, once the bottle is opened, the shelf life shortens exponentially. The hydrogen peroxide starts breaking down immediately after opening the bottle, and will only last about a month after opening. It can last longer if you keep it in the original brown bottle that prevents light from making it decompose faster, and if you keep it in a cool, dark place. But even if you take these precautions, the hydrogen peroxide is basically useless after six months at most. I hope it gives you an answer to Does hydrogen peroxide expire ? It is also desirable if you keep it refrigerated after open.

Why does hydrogen peroxide bubble?

You will only see the bubbling and fizzing in action if you use it on a cut or abrasion. The reason that it does this is because blood contains an enzyme called catalase. This enzyme breaks down the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. The bubbles and fizzing is the oxygen gas escaping. But do not be alarmed! If it bubbles and fizzes, it means it is working. It is killing the bacteria and disinfecting the wound.