I’ve heard about dmso for thirty years or more. My vet gave me some as an anti-inflammatory for my dog’s swollen ear. (He told me not to get it on my own skin because it’s suspected to hasten balding.) Anecdotal reports say it’s great as a pain reliever. Most articles about it say that it can’t be properly tested because of its distinctive smell (garlic?) and the taste (oysters?) that you get the minute the stuff gets in your bloodstream. I’m not sure which you taste and which you smell, and posters in past dmso-related threads apparently can’t remember, either. Anyway, couldn’t the testers mask the taste and smell by giving the subjects spicy, garlicky oysters first? I gare-on-tee I could whomp up a garlic sauce that could mask just about anything, ammatellayouwhat!
A search of Cecil’s archives turned up only two columns, and they didn’t mention testing. A search of the SDMB turned up several threads, but the ones I read didn’t mention testing, either.
DMSO is very commonly used a liniment for horses (and dogs, it appears). It is also a “universal solvent” meaning it mixes with nearly anything AND it is absorbed through the skin. A friend who got some on her while applying it to a horse says that, absorbed through the skin, it puts a funny taste in your mouth, “as if you’ve eaten a mouse.” To me, mouse-flavor cannot be covered up with garlic. Cal me crazy. Sorry, I can’t tell you anything more about the testing.
I’ve never eaten a mouse (as rmariamp’s friend apparently has,) but I’ve eaten the genetically similar rabbit and squirrel, and I found them tasty. My cat seems to like mouse. As I said, with a strong enough sauce, I believe you could suddenly taste oyster, mouse, or moose, and not notice the difference.
With the right marketing, you might have a new diet aid. Of course, I don’t know whether you’d market that mousey flavor as a plus,[ul]Yumm! It’s mouse-flavored![/ul] or as an appetite suppressant.[ul]New diet-ease ointment. Just rub it on and
“Ewww! I’m not hungry any more!”
[sup]Use of this product may lead to excessive pouncing.[/sup][/ul]
~~Baloo
I had to use that particular anti-inflamitory on my golden retriever when he had ‘hot spots’ <dog owners probably know what I’m talking about>… anyhow…
although it isn’t the universal solvent as rmariamp suggested (notice it’s kept in a container, and therefore doesn’t disolve everything)… it does quickly penetrate the skin and you do taste something similar to bad garlic…
however I’ve never heard of dmso causing balding, but if you check out http://www.dmso.org you’ll find more data
DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) is bad news. I am surprised that they use it for any medical purpose even in animals. As for being an anti-inflamitory agent I don’t know. It dissolves almost everything. Perhaps it dissolves inflamations but I can’t imagine it being a good pain killer.
DMSO is quickly absorbed through your skin. Not only is the DMSO absorbed but anything disolved in it. Suppose you just washed your hands and have soap on your skin. That will be carried through your skin with the DMSO. It is a quick way to develop a soap allergy. If your hands aren’t clean than who knows what goodys will get into your bloodstream. If you are handling DMSO you should be using gloves.
It seems to me that at one point it had been considered as a drug delivery system. This technique of drug delivery was abandoned for humans. Perhapse the stuff you are using on animals is a solution of an anti-inflamitory agent in DMSO. I am not a doctor, so I cannot speculate on the medicinal properties of this compound. Like I said it is possible that it would dissolve the tissue in a localized area.
I am not a doctor either but I know someone who gets monthly injections of DMSO by her doctor. The treatment has gone on for years with no side effects (other than the aforementioned garlic smell, which seems to last a day or so). As I understand it, DMSO was developed as an industrial solvent but it does, in fact have some useful medicinal properties.