Anyone Remember DMSO Solvent ?

[LoneRanger]

I've not googled it I've not looked it up any other way, just crossed my mind reading the inflammation thread. Anyone remember the 1980's fad relating to some stuff called DMSO Solvent or whatever? I never paid much attention back then but I think it was an industrial solvent that people would rub topically onto their joints for relief from arthritis or other forms of joint discomfort. Always figured it might be a bad idea to do so and have long term consequences. It faded into obscurity I think.

 

[Shannow]

No, it's currently used for transdermal research into moving drugs into the system.

Triclosan was the one that I always though was dodgy...faded into being into everything. Industrial solvent to toothpaste ingredient...

 

[Oldtom]

DMSO used to be sold at vet supplies for use on horses. Horse people used it " off label " for their own aches and pains. I have used it for soreness and knee pain. It works, but, has odd side effects. One minute after rubbing it on, you have an odd garlic taste in your mouth and a faint garlic smell on your breath and body. The ability of this stuff to penetrate intact skin is amazing. You do not want to apply it over linament or any other skin creme as it will carry that along with it. My wife got a rash when using it full strength, best to mix it 50/50 with water.

I have read that the average NFL team uses a gallon per season! Millionare athletes are willing to take risks for the big payoff.

 

[Trav]

Oh yeah, guys soaking their head in it to grow hair.

 

[InhalingBullets]

It is primarily sold as a Horse liniment, that said we (as in the whole TEAM) used it in college. It seemed to help but in college there were other pain relievers used as well.

 

[Phishin]

It's a great solvent!!

When I worked at Eli Lilly in early phase drug discovery, all compounds were stored dissolved in DMSO. Literally, almost EVERYTHING dissolves in DMSO.

 

[spackard]

I tried it a few times but the outer layer of my skin started peeling off, so stopped. (No, not an exaggeration.) No garlic side-effects though.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

It was suggested (no idea if it was effective) as a means to drug or poison people amongst some of the world's less scrupulous people. It carries into the blood through skin, so assumably it would carry agents as well. Supposedly you could do things like paint doorknobs and it would persist and transfer on contact.

 

[Boomer]

If I remember, DMSO is made as a by-product of the paper making process. It is indeed almost a universal solvent and can be very dangerous because of its property of passing through the skin. Just imagine what would happen if you had cyanide or strychnine or any one of many toxic compounds dissolved in DMSO and then spilled it on your skin! Because of this, I always was extremely careful when handling this stuff in the lab.

 

[camrydriver111]

I am a chemist and I would never think of putting an organic solvent like DMSO on my skin.

It does appear to have pain killing properties. It is absorbed through the skin and travels to your CNS.

https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1983.tb47281.x

Research states there are toxic side effects. I am not surprised.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0024320581902551

 

[rideahorse]

It is still widely used in the horse industry.

 

[2009Edge]

I used it on a tennis elbow and alternated between hot and cold and that fixed it.

 

[csandste]

This is bringing back all sorts of memories from thirty years ago. Think there was a 60 Minutes segment on it right? Another 60 Minutes segment was devoted to something called Willard Water which was invented by a rather strange faculty member at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Remember seeing it in a store in Rapid City but I didn't bite.

Web MD contains nothing but glowing reviews, apparently it's good for everything..."I am reading some negative comments re Willards Water and that it's a scam. That is simply NOT true. It is not a scam. I've been using WW since I found out about it in the 90s. I don't know HOW it works, I just know that it DOES work. I've used it on chicken pox (me and my daughter), shingles (my son), burns (the other son), acne, cuts, stitches.... you name it. WW causes whatever you have to heal faster. My son just got over a serious bout of shingles. We sprayed WW on the lesions about 3-5 times per day. He was completely healed within 2 weeks. Shingles are known to last 4-6 weeks. I would not be without my WW. Everyone should have some pre-mixed in a small spray bottle - especially if you have kids. Don't listen to the negative scam comment on this page. He probably didn't use it, or he didn't use it long enough. Is WW a "cure all" for everything? No. But it sure does work for everyday burns, cuts, scrapes, etc."

You spray it, you drink it, you get variations for yourself, your dog and your plants. According to their web page (guess it's still being sold--" The micelle is an extremely small, very high energy particle with a powerful negative magnetic field. When added to ordinary water, it causes a change in the “ordinary” water molecules that can be likened to the difference between diamonds and graphite — both being made of carbon but with differing molecular structures. This new water molecule structure serves as a catalyst that seems to accelerate and enhance the body’s natural processes. Both Dr. Willard’s Water® and ordinary water consist of H2O molecules but the structure makes all the difference!"

If anyone has a better scientific background than me, does this sound like anything but gobbledygook? If I remember the 60 Minutes episode correctly this guy was a long term faculty member--maybe he had tenure when he started his business.

Willard Water mixed with DMSO and we could all live forever. Maybe throw some MMO in the mix for good luck.

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted By: csandste
Willard Water mixed with DMSO and we could all live forever. Maybe throw some MMO in the mix for good luck.

BITOG Cocktail

 

[sleddriver]

Dimethylsulfoxide. It is indeed a fantastic organic solvent capable of dissolving both polar and non-polar compounds. I remember it well during organic chemistry. Never used it on my body.

 

[bunnspecial]

I too am a chemist, and the thought of putting it on my skin gives me creepy crawlies also.

The issue is not so much that DMSO is toxic(or at least not overly so) but the fact that it's such an excellent solvent and also goes right through your skin into your blood. ANYTHING dissolved in it will carry right through.

A few years ago, someone at work got thallium poisoning. He was working with thallium compounds dissolved in DMSO, and despite wearing a lab coat and nitrile gloves he got just enough on his skin over the course of several months to reach dangerous. It very nearly killed him.

I don't handle DMSO that often, but after the thallium poisoning incident I mentioned the rare times I do I wear 22 mil nitrile gauntlet type gloves. It's probably overkill for what I'm doing with it, but I don't want to take any chances even with our "standard weight"(6-8 mil) nitrile.

 

[Leo99]

I used to use DMSO a lot. It's a very strange liquid. It freezes at about 62°F and it freezes into very strange large crystals. We learned this the hard way. Coming into work early one day to batch some experimental drugs, I grabbed the gallon bottle of DMSO from the cabinet in the back of the building where the heat goes down overnight. It was frozen solid.

When working with it, you'd use safety precautions and then you'd taste it. You'd know you got it on your skin somewhere. It's a very peculiar taste. Some say garlic but it's its own taste to me.

 

[Blaze]

Originally Posted By: spackard
I tried it a few times but the outer layer of my skin started peeling off, so stopped. (No, not an exaggeration.) No garlic side-effects though.


I use it almost everyday on my si joints. Dilute it down and you won't have any skin peeling. I buy the 99% stuff and mix with water about 30% DMSO to 70% water.