Potassium permanganate bath: what it is for and how to use

The potassium permanganate bath can be used to help treat itching and heal common skin wounds, being especially useful in the case of chickenpox, a common childhood disease, also known as chickenpox.

This bath serves to eliminate bacteria and fungi from the skin, because it has antiseptic action, and is therefore a good healer for burn wounds and chicken pox, for example.

Potassium permanganate can also be used in the sitz bath to help treat discharge, candidiasis, vulvovaginitis or vaginitis.

How to use potassium permanganate

To enjoy the benefits of potassium permanganate, it must be used as directed by your doctor. Before use, 1 tablet of 100 mg should be diluted in about 1 to 4 liters of natural or warm water, depending on the problem to be treated and the doctor's recommendation. If the person is using the product for the first time, it should be tested first on a small region of the skin, to see if any reaction occurs, in which case, it should not be used.

After that, the solution can be used to prepare the bath, as follows:

1. Bath

To use potassium permanganate, you can take a bath and stay in the solution for about 10 minutes, every day, until the wounds disappear or until the doctor's advice, avoiding contact with the face as much as possible..

2. Sitz bath

To make a good sitz bath, you should sit in a basin with the solution for a few minutes. Alternatively, you can use the bidet or a bathtub.

Another way to use the potassium permanganate solution, especially in the elderly and babies, is to dip a compress into the solution and then apply it to the body.

Essential care

It is important not to hold the tablet directly with your fingers, opening the package and dropping the tablet into the basin where the water is, for example. The tablets are corrosive and should not come into direct contact with the skin as it can cause irritation, redness, pain, severe burns and dark spots in the contact places. However, when properly diluted, potassium permanganate is safe and does not cause any damage to the skin.

Care must be taken not to let the product come into contact with the eyes, because tablets or very concentrated water can cause severe irritation, redness and blurred vision.

Pills cannot be taken either, but if this happens, you should not induce vomiting, it is more recommended to drink large amounts of water and go to the emergency room as soon as possible. See more about the contraindications and side effects of potassium permanganate.

Contraindications and side effects

Potassium permanganate should not be used by people who are hypersensitive to this substance and should be avoided in areas such as the face, especially near the eyes. You should also not hold the tablets directly with your hands, to avoid irritation, redness, pain or burns.

Immersion in water for more than 10 minutes can cause itching, irritation and spots on the skin. Potassium permanganate is for external use only and should never be ingested.