I’ve had very positive experiences with DSMO in the past and from what I have read in recent studies (see http://www.dmso.org) it has had unprecedented results in helping many ailments.
So my question is this; Why aren’t more physicians bolstering interest in getting this approved by the FDA?
Also, why is it so controversial?
-Waneman
I don’t know, is dyslexia a side effect? 
One reason is that it cannot be double blinded. The last time this was popular (1980?), it was pointed out that as soon as you rubbed it on your skin you tasted it. IIRC, it was an almond type taste. Since it would be obvious that you are actually using DMSO, you cannot swab on, say water, on some people and DMSO on others and see if there is a difference.
Therefore, it is difficult to prove that DMSO actually does anything.
Very quick of you. Maybe dyslexia is a side effect!
Of course it should be DMSO.
-Waneman
One problem is that it’s impossible to set up a true double blind test (DMSO supposedly has the side effect of a distinct taste of garlic once you’ve taken it). Without that, it’s hard to determine for sure if it does anything or not.
I didn’t check out your link, so I’m not sure if this is covered. Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) is one powerful solvent[sup]*[/sup]. This characteristic is what causes the user to taste it and others nearby to smell it on their breath, regardless of where or how much is used. I recall that users have breath that smells a bit like raw oysters. Having never used it, I can’t tell what the taste is.
One problem with DMSO is that there is no medical theory that could provide benefit of rubbing a solvent on your skin. In most cases (chemistry speaking) the interest is in the solute, not the solvent. For example, of you mixed an anti-inflammatory with DMSO and rubbed it on a muscle tear etc., there may be benefit of the anti-inflammatory, and the benefit provided by the DMSO would be in the ability to “infuse” the solute to the area.
[sup]*[/sup] I watched as a small drop of DMSO dissolved the thick varnish on a table top in a matter of minutes (like 2).
As far as double blind experiments go, why couldn’t we treat two groups.
group 1 —> DMSO + pill that generates taste experienced by DMSO users
group 2 —> Placebo + pill that generates taste experienced by DMSO users
Just a thought.
I’ve torn up my house looking for my book that addressed this, but I can’t find it, so I’m going to tell you the best information I can remember.
I am not a doctor, I am a pharmacist. I have therefore had more drug-specific courses than the average doctor.
DMSO is primarily a solvent. It is generally used on horses as an anti-inflammatory “liniment”. Therefore it’s a small jump to think that what works on the horse may help the man. Nice thought, but the effect, if you even get it, comes at a price. That’s what I can remember that I’m 100% sure of.
DMSO, IIRC, is liver-toxic, and damages the eyes over time. Therefore, you may be pain-free, but blind and waiting for a liver transplant that you may not get because you killed your liver with DMSO. That’s fuzzy memory, and may not be 100% correct. I can’t find anything on the few internet sites that I trust for medical/drug/chemical info.
DMSO also has a few interesting properties that I can be sure of (Merck Index) : it’s a very good solvent for petroleum-based substances. Therefore, DMSO can drag things through your skin that normally wouldn’t go through that barrier. This can lead to poisoning by substances that would not be considered contact poisons for someone not using DMSO. No one would be very worried about spilling some gasoline, say, on them. A DMSO user would have to be very concerned. (Again memory) This property was even tried as a delivery system for insulin. It worked great, but the patients would have wound up blind (a diabetic result) and dead (another diabetic result). Therefore, not a good outcome therapeutically.
I’m going to assume at this point that you’re arthritic, in pain unrelieved by “everything my doctor has tried”, and willing to “try anything to relieve my pain”. I’m sorry you’re hurting. I wish I could hand you a nice bottle that would kill the pain with no side effects whatsoever. There are people working day and night to help you, and when they get it done, I promise it’ll be available behind my counter. Until then, I would steer you away from the co-op or hobby store where you’re getting the DMSO. I don’t try to fight “alternative medicine” when I see it, there are loads of placebo effect out there. I just don’t want to see people hurt by known toxins.
As for FDA approval, don’t look for it. The first rule is, do no harm. DMSO breaks that rule.
I wish I had cites, electronic or otherwise. I’m telling you the same thing I told a guy the other day: the best truth I know.
Christopher Reves, D. Ph.
Ole Miss '95
Spritle,
My experience using it WAS as a solvent and I do indeed remember the taste and bad breath only moments after getting it on my hand. From what I remember, the DMSO we were using was very pure lab quality and that any contaminants could be brought into the system.
This was weird stuff and has recently peaked my interest because I had read it was in clinical studies for arthritis.
-Waneman
Well, having the opportunity to get some DMSO at work I cannot personally attest to tasting anything when I touched it to my skin. As well, knowing the Dead Kennedys song which mentions it, I tried tsking some home and mixing it with cinnamon to see if I could taste anything.
No go. The MSDS seems to agree with me there: “A garlic-like taste may occur in the mouth.” Well, apart from DMSO’s smell, which I find strangely gross, I couldn’t taste anything. :shrug:
If it improperly combusts it releases some serious toxins. I don’t know how the body goes about breaking DMSO down, so it is possible some toxins are released there too. Just possible, not trying to lay claim to it.
Frankly, there isn’t much to DMSO IMO. Its just another solvent.
Thought I might add:
Certainly one shouldn’t ingest it (the stomach is particularly low pH from HCl, even if that is a metal chloride instead of a non-metal one ;)).
Go buy a red ball to play with, that’s my advice. 
I got Error 404 on the link. Anyway, DMSO was all the rage around 1980. I knew a guy who swore it really relieved his pain. But it was, and probably still is, illegal for human use in Illinois. It was used on horses, as Spritle said. Also as Spritle said, it has serious side effects, altho the person I knew did not complain of any. It is a very strong solvent and the mechanism by how it alleviates pain is unknown, but it apparently does. If there is anything toxic or dangerous on your skin, that will be absorbed into your system. IMHO it’s something not to be used except as a chemical solvent.
Perversely, a lot of InfraRed laser dyes used to be dissolved in DMSO. Of course, they were all toxic, even carcinogenic. People eventually found substitutes.
IIRC, DMSO is what they mixed LSD into 'way back in the 1960s when some folks reportedly “painted” it onto drinking fountain handles. In an episode of “Quincy” someone murdered someone else by mixing poison onto DMSO and painting it onto his steering wheel. I don’t know if these scenarios are plausible, but they coincide with what I’ve been told in safety lectures about the ability of DMSO to transport things through the skin.
When I lived in Salt Lake some stores sold DMSO to people who used it for arthritis and the like. One problem is that it wasn’t high purity DMSO. If this stuff can transport stuff through the skin, I know I’d want very high purity.
DMSO is used in mainstreat medical circles for treatment of Interstitial Cystitis. It’s one of a number of therapeutic options. DMSO and Interstitial Cystitis
In my quest to try every illegal drug known to humankind, I tried applying DMSO to a badly jammed ring finger back in the mid-1980s.
I thought the taste was more akin to garlic than anything else.
More importantly, it absolutely did not block or even reduce the pain I was experiencing.
Just thought you might want the perspective of someone who actually used the stuff as advertised.
I appreciate all the viewpoints expressed here in this thread.
It should be understood that my “use” of DMSO was in an industrial environment. It would get on my fingers when opening the can, which, even then only happened a few times.
I knew I could count on diverse and intellectual opinions and comments from the fellow dopers.
Again, thanks for the help and I look forward to more info should it be added.
Oh and yes, I remember that Quincy episode! I was always facinated by that show!
-Waneman
…to devise a double-blind test that involved applying the DMSO (or placebo) to the patient and simultaneously putting flavoured drops on their tongue (so that they wouldn’t be able to tell if they were tasting the DMSO or the drops?
IIRC, all general anaesthetics are actually solvents, so is it possible that the relief of ailments is due to a light anaesthetic effect? General anaesthesia often produces a “garlicky” taste just prior to loss of consciousness.
Presumably the risks of absorbing a solvent through the skin (and I do recall several previous discussions about the manufacture of contact poisons in which DMSO has been suggested as the most effective agent for skin penetration) differ from those of inhalation only in degree.
The double-blind problem sounds like a furphy to me. I’m sure their must be millions of people like myself out there who, if put in a controlled study, wouldn’t know that we were supposed to taste garlic if we were recieving the correct treatment. Use DMSO, don’t use it, we’d never know the difference. Perfect subjects for a study.
Of course the other option is simply not to tell people that the treatment is DMSO. Just tell them all the pertinent information required ethically (known risks etc.) but omit the substance’s name so they wouldn’t know what to expect even if they were familiar with DMSO. I gather this is standard procedure in such trials anyway. After all many medicines have noticeable side effects that you could research if you were told their name. No one seems to have had any great problems testing these substances.
While flattered, I wasn’t the source of that information; it was miatachris. Credit where credit is due.
Waneman, I find this scary. Opening a potentially dangerous chemical like this with no protection is not a good idea. Even if you wear latex gloves, I understand the DMSO will penetrate, and might carry unwanted stuff through into your system.
I have been told that butyl rubber gloves are a more effective barrier to DMSO – but that even they will not completely stop it, especially after long exposure. My suggestion – wear butyl gloves when opening DMSO. Maybe even wear a face shield. Handle it for as short a time as possible/reasonable, then take the gloves off and wash them.