# Pain from Alcohol/Iodine/Salt in a Wound **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-alcohol-iodine-salt-in-a-wound/261411 "2004-08-25T07:14:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gregongie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@gregongie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregongie)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-alcohol-iodine-salt-in-a-wound/261411/1 "2004-08-25T07:14:39Z")
Why does it occur? ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-alcohol-iodine-salt-in-a-wound/261411/2 "2004-08-25T08:01:26Z")
ummm… because it’s a _wound_? It’s your bodys way of saying “hey, we got a crack in the hull. Watch it” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-alcohol-iodine-salt-in-a-wound/261411/3 "2004-08-25T10:15:51Z")
In the case of salt, I think it’s an osmotic thing; the water inside the exposed cells moves out toward the stronger salt solution, causing them to tend to collapse; fresh water can also cause a wound to sting because the osmotic gradient works the other way - water migrates into the cells, bloating them. In theory, flushing a wound with a salt solution of similar concentration to your body’s own fluids shouldn’t hurt at all, except in that it might directly stimulate exposed nerve endings ---
**Author:** ![gregongie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@gregongie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregongie)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-alcohol-iodine-salt-in-a-wound/261411/4 "2004-08-25T21:30:21Z")
Then how about alcohols? The only extraordinary property I can think of is their quick evaporation and drying action. Do alcohols work to dry out the cells, and does this account for the pain sensation? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-alcohol-iodine-salt-in-a-wound/261411/5 "2004-08-25T22:50:33Z")
I don’t know about alcohols, except that they very quickly kill micro organisms (presumably by interfering with some cellular function or other, or lots of them) - the pain in this case could be because cells are actually destroyed by the alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-alcohol-iodine-salt-in-a-wound/261411/6 "2004-08-26T02:07:21Z")
In all of the cases, I’d imagine it’s from exposed nerve cells dying (from the salt, alcohol, iodine). ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-alcohol-iodine-salt-in-a-wound/261411/7 "2004-08-26T02:31:01Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I don’t know about alcohols, except that they very quickly kill micro organisms (presumably by interfering with some cellular function or other, or lots of them) - the pain in this case could be because cells are actually destroyed by the alcohol. I think alcohol can actually dissolve the lipid membrane around cells, meaning that it’s gonna kill exposed body cells as well.