Everyone is familiar with the well-known in Russia Zelenka. However, few people read the labels on the jars with this coloring and healing solution. Well, Zelenka and Zelenka - everyone already knows her. Meanwhile, if you look closely at the packaging, you can read the following: "Brilliant Green". Perhaps you have seen this mysterious inscription before and could not understand what kind of diamond it is, when you can simply write "Zelenka", and everything would be clear to everyone. We hope that when you read the history of the origin of this substance, and after it the drug, many questions related to this rather ancient external drug will be clarified for you.
Dye
In England at the beginning of the nineteenth century, a young and very ambitious scientist, William Perkin, set himself the noble goal of saving the world from malaria. He immediately set about creating a cure for it. In the course of experiments with coal tars, a similar powdered dye was obtained. Brilliant green, along with many other dyes, was created by this scientist. Peace from sickness young man don'tsaved, but opened a plant for the production of dyes, which are much cheaper than those offered earlier.
Disclosure of the properties of the dye
Contribution to medicine was still made considerable. The first time the use of brilliant green aniline dye occurred in medical laboratories. However, over time, its use has become more widespread. Microorganisms tinted with brilliant green were better seen through a microscope. Over time, medical professionals began to notice that the study of organisms was difficult, despite improved visibility. The reason is quite interesting: the experimental microorganisms simply die in large numbers if this dye is used. A similar fact interested doctors.
The contribution of Zelenka to medicine
Several experiments were carried out, during which it turned out that an aqueous solution of brilliant green, like its alcohol counterpart, is capable of destroying pathogenic bacteria. So the antiseptic properties of the coloring powder were revealed. The solution began to be used to disinfect operating instruments, to treat the hands of surgeons and other doctors. Used brilliant green during childbirth and after surgery. Thanks to the properties of the green antiseptic, the mortality from sepsis patients has decreased many times over. For such great services to mankind, the scientist was awarded the title of knight, although he came from an ordinary peasant family. Now they called him sir.
Former Soviet Union countries only
In medicine today they are used inmainly brilliant green, which has alcohol in its composition. An aqueous solution of brilliant green is considered a very strong remedy. An antiseptic based on green dye is used only in Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union. In the West, they have long abandoned the use of this drug. The reason for this is not so much its inefficiency (according to foreign doctors), the unaesthetic nature of the drug was the reason for its rejection.
When treated with brilliant green, the stains remaining from the product stain the skin, bed linen and personal belongings of the patient. Washing does not remove this coloring matter well. And the person himself does not look very attractive during the use of brilliant green. Foreign doctors are very sensitive to the aesthetic side of treatment and try to do a lot so that a person feels comfortable during the treatment procedures and does not arouse suspicious looks from those around him with military malachite coloring.
Another reason for refusing to use this antiseptic was that even today brilliant green has not been studied by Western doctors, they do not understand how the solution can affect the patient's further he alth. It makes no sense to study the old drug, because the costs of laboratory research will be enormous, and the cost of brilliant green is very low and will not pay off this money. Instead of our well-known solution in the West, the colorless antiseptic liquid "Castellani" is widely used.
What is it made of?
In the composition of brilliant green, an alcohol preparation most often used in medicine,includes one or two grams of the coloring powder itself and about sixty percent ethyl alcohol. Zelenka is packed in glass bottles with a rubber or plastic stopper. Pharmacy chains offer vials of solution in dark glass screw bottles.
Now you can also purchase this antiseptic in the form of a marker (felt-tip pen or pencil). Zelenka felt-tip pen is very convenient because it does not stain everything around it during its opening and use. Hands stay clean and wounds treated.
How to save brilliant green?
Storage of brilliant green is done only in a dark place and at a temperature of fifteen degrees (the most optimal). From the date of manufacture, the shelf life of greenery is two years. Do not leave the diamond solution open to prevent the alcohol from evaporating from its composition. Powdered dye has no expiration date, or rather, it can be stored indefinitely.
Effective external antiseptic
Zelenka is an antiseptic and is widely used in our country. It effectively acts against gram-positive microorganisms, kills some strains of pathogenic fungi. Staphylococcus aureus and diphtheria bacillus instantly die under its influence.
How and where is the solution used?
The use of brilliant green solution is acceptable even in newborns. All due to the fact that this external antiseptic acts on the dermis very gently. Many people know thateven the umbilical cord in newly born babies is treated with brilliant green. The drug is also lubricated with vesicles for chickenpox in children and adults. Zelenka in this case not only disinfects the wound, but also slightly dries the liquid released from the chickenpox vesicles, and relieves skin itching.
Some children watch with interest how their mothers "decorate" them with green spots. A slight burning sensation that occurs when a cotton swab comes into contact with the wound can be relieved by blowing on the treated area. However, there are kids who run away from you as soon as they notice the presence of a "terrible" coloring solution in their hands, moreover, it burns.
Instruction brilliant green allows the use of funds for the treatment of inflammatory purulent skin diseases: staphylococcal infection (local), furunculosis and pyoderma. Lubricate cuts and abrasions with an antiseptic. In this case, brilliant green can be applied directly to an open wound. When dressing the wound, it is necessary to treat it again each time, refreshing the antimicrobial effect of brilliant green.
Coloring brilliant green is convenient in that it is perfectly visible which area has remained untreated and needs to be applied. Also, the drug promotes faster healing of wounds.
Contraindications for use
People use brilliant green everywhere, and few people think about the fact that it also has some contraindications. For example, the solution can cause noticeable allergic reactions in some people. They are most often manifested by unbearable skin itching and burning.
If the wound continues to bleed heavily, you can not use brilliant green either. This is because the blood washes out the antiseptic solution from the wound, and such treatment is ineffective. To increase the effect, it is necessary to stop the blood and only after that use brilliant green. It is forbidden to use brilliant green in combination with disinfectants, which contain chlorine or alkali. Iodine is also banned during the application of the green diamond solution.
Iodine
Along with brilliant green in every home first aid kit there is also a vial of iodine. What is the difference between these two solutions? How to understand at what point it would be most appropriate to use iodine, and at what point - a green solution? What do these antiseptics do?
Iodine comes from brown seaweed. Of these, a brown preparation with a characteristic odor is produced. The composition of the drug also includes alcohol. However, its effect on skin tissues is somewhat different. In no case should iodine be applied to an open (especially fresh) wound. Its use is effective only when applied to the skin around the wounded area.
Iodine is often used for bruises, bruises and sprains. In such cases, it is used for blood flow to the tissues of the diseased area. The mesh drawn with iodine is absorbed into the skin and causes blood to flow to the bruised areas to further heal the area.
