Zelenka is the popular name for a solution of brilliant green, which has been used since the 19th century as a strong antiseptic. This is a topical drug that gained popularity in the form of an alcohol solution, but over time it began to be produced in the form of medical felt-tip pens.
Composition of Zelenka and pharmacological action
The brilliant green is based on a solution of brilliant green. This is an antiseptic substance that was developed by a British scientist. In his attempts to discover a cure for malaria, he was able to create substances with bright colors. At first these were purple and lilac solutions that were not removed from fabrics and other surfaces.
Doctors began to use this feature of giving color to substances to color reagents and microorganisms during microscopic studies. During this application, it turned out that microbes die under the influence of a brilliant green solution. This is how the antiseptic properties of brilliant green were discovered.
Zelenka for stomatitis
As a rule, modern doctors do not prescribe patients who complain of stomatitis to smear the wounds in their mouth with brilliant green. This decision, in most cases, is made during self-medication. But the use of this drug is not always justified or advisable.
Inflamed canker sores (ulcers) in the mouth require regular treatment for rapid healing. The goal of local treatment is to kill the bacterial or fungal infection and dry the affected area. Brilliant green solution, in principle, is suitable for these purposes, however, there are many specialized products and preparations, the smearing of which is many times more effective.
The medicine is not a panacea in the treatment of stomatitis; it is used only in extreme cases, if no other specialized remedy is at hand. Today, pharmacies have dozens of highly effective drugs in their assortment, which can be applied to lesions in the oral cavity at any age.
How to use brilliant green for stomatitis
Efficiency depends on proper use. As a rule, brilliant green is applied to ulcers only at the initial stage of the disease, if there are few lesions in the oral cavity. For advanced cases, or if the lesion is caused by a herpes virus, treatment will be ineffective.
If stomatitis is caused by a bacterial or fungal infection, and the ulcers in the oral cavity occupy a relatively small area, you can smear the resulting lesions with brilliant green. Let's look at how to treat stomatitis with brilliant green.
- You will need a green diamond solution with a concentration of 1% (this information should be indicated on the bottle). You can smear with either an alcohol or an aqueous solution.
- Before use, it is recommended to rinse your mouth with warm boiled water or a weak soda solution.
- Using a cotton swab dipped in the solution, spot treat the ulcers, as well as smear the tissue around them.
- After using brilliant green for stomatitis, it is not advisable to eat or drink for 1-1.5 hours.
If you experience discomfort after treatment - swelling, rash, redness - you should immediately stop using the brilliant green solution, as this may indicate an allergic reaction.
Zelenka for stomatitis in children
Stomatitis most often occurs in children from birth to 5-6 years of age. In the first years of life, it occurs during teething, when the immune response weakens, and in other periods it can accompany a cold or be the body’s reaction to the use of antibiotics. In any case, stomatitis in children, especially under one year of age, is a dangerous disease that cannot be treated independently at home.
Doctors strongly recommend not using any mouth ulcer treatment that is not specifically designed for that purpose. There are local medications that can be used to treat childhood stomatitis - they do not disturb the acid-base balance in the oral cavity, do not dry out the mucous membrane, and do not have age-related contraindications.
Under no circumstances should this product be used to treat children, especially if it is an alcohol solution. Treating stomatitis with brilliant green in the first years of life is dangerous! Alcohol greatly dries out the mucous membrane, which can lead to the spread of ulcers and an increase in the affected area.
Zelenka: indications for use
Since brilliant green has shown itself to be an active antiseptic, it began to be used in the treatment of wounds and abrasions. Later it turned out that applying the solution to ulcers and acne of bacterial origin reduces the severity of the rash, and soon completely clears the skin of papules.
In this regard, brilliant green is used for:
- mechanical damage to the skin (abrasions, cuts, deep wounds);
- rashes caused by insect bites, in particular mosquito bites;
- weeping allergic rash;
- chickenpox infection;
- fungal infections of the mucous membranes;
- the threat of joining and spreading superinfection.
Zelenka, in addition to its ability to destroy pathogenic flora, also has a drying effect, so it is often used for weeping rashes and wounds.
The solution is used strictly topically; it is not intended for oral administration. Zelenka is used to treat the edges of deep wounds; it is applied to abrasions, covering, if possible, the entire damaged surface. For rashes, use brilliant green in a targeted manner, applying it only to the papules with a cotton swab.
What is brilliant green
Brilliant green - this is the inscription on the bottle of the well-known antiseptic liquid, which is popularly simply called “green stuff”.
This drug has an interesting history - it was originally created as an ordinary household dye in 1879. Only a century later, the antiseptic potential of this substance was discovered completely by accident. Since then, in some countries they began to use such a liquid for external treatment, smearing it on injuries, for example, wounds and abrasions.
Zelenka is a solution of dye in ethyl alcohol, which is used for cauterization and disinfection of wounds and ulcers on the skin and mucous membranes. In Russia, it began to be used only in the twentieth century, and besides us, green diamond is used only in a few other countries. Although the familiar green stuff is included in the list of approved medications, medicine all over the world has excluded it from priority means in the treatment of wounds due to its low effectiveness and the presence of side effects.
However, brilliant green works when used correctly; it can be used to smear lesions with the following diseases: pyoderma, furunculosis, carbunculosis, blepharitis, gordeoluma (boils on the eyelids, stye), acne.
Since brilliant green practically does not cause allergic reactions, it is smeared on the umbilical cord of newborns and used to antisepticize postoperative scars. Zelenka is effective in destroying gram-positive bacteria, eliminates diphtheria bacillus, staphylococcus, and some types of fungus.
For these reasons, brilliant green for stomatitis is not used in all cases. We will look in more detail below at how this remedy works if you smear it on ulcers in the mouth.
Why use brilliant green for chickenpox?
Chickenpox is an infectious disease caused by chickenpox. This is a type of herpes virus. The disease manifests itself as specific rashes on the skin. The elements of such a rash contain fluid under the skin; rupture of the papule is dangerous for infection, therefore it is highly undesirable.
It is not difficult to recognize a child suffering from chickenpox - he is usually covered with brilliant green. Since the prosperity of Soviet medicine, it has been customary to treat each papule with brilliant green, despite the fact that this process has nothing to do with the direct treatment of chickenpox.
Chickenpox is caused by a type of herpes virus that acts from the inside. The appearance of a rash indicates that the body has begun to fight the pathogen. Dead microbes release toxins, which in turn cause a rash. It is by the nature of the rash that you can determine whether the disease is progressing or not. This is exactly what brilliant green is used for.
While the immune system fights the virus, new elements of the rash appear. Zeleka, due to the fact that it is not washed off from the skin for a long time, helps to monitor the appearance of new papules. As soon as new elements stop appearing, you can start counting 9 days, after which the patient ceases to be infectious.
In addition to its marking function, brilliant green has a certain protective effect. It is due to the fact that the chickenpox rash is watery. If a patient sweats profusely due to high temperature, the skin begins to itch. It is easier for an adult to endure and not itch than for a child. Young patients quickly succumb to instinct and scratch the rash, subcutaneous fluid comes out, and the closed vesicle becomes an entry gate for a bacterial or fungal infection.
Zelenka, having a drying effect, prevents severe itching, and also disinfects already opened elements of the rash. Pediatricians say that to prevent itchy skin, the child needs to be washed. The prohibition against swimming in case of chickenpox applies exclusively to prolonged stay in water. This suggests that you should not put your child in the bath for 15-20 minutes. But after sweating due to hyperthermia that often occurs, it must be washed with soap to remove sweat, salt and sebum from the surface of the skin.
Who is contraindicated for stomatitis?
Not always and not everyone can cauterize stomatitis with brilliant green. Excessive or improper use of the drug causes not only microtraumas, but also chemical burns to tissues. This is especially true for infants. After all, the baby eats often, and irritated mucous membranes will lead to refusal to eat. When the oral cavity becomes dry, discomfort and pain appear. Remember that the solution is effective when the patient has an infectious type of disease. For the herpes form, a drug against the virus is used.
Exposure to alcohol can even cause toxic poisoning and burns in adults. It's better to see a dentist. He will identify the pathogen and prescribe treatment. It is dangerous to have an allergy to the drug. If patients develop a rash, itching, or irritation, the product should be discarded immediately. In addition, the alcohol-based solution should not be used by pregnant women. It is contraindicated in case of hypersensitivity to any component. Antiseptics are not used if the patient suffers from chronic forms of pathology. It is best used in combination with basic products as prescribed by a doctor. It's safe and effective.
Why isn't brilliant green used in the West?
Zelenka has long been considered a domestic medicine, despite the fact that it was developed in London. This is due to the fact that Europeans and the British very quickly abandoned the use of coloring medical products. The mentality of residents of European countries does not accept therapy that somehow distinguishes a sick person from healthy ones.
It was thanks to this that the white domestic adhesive plaster in the West acquired a flesh color, and the brilliant green was replaced with colorless antiseptic solutions. Pharmacies and medical institutions do not sell brilliant green solution. It was abandoned even in laboratories and clinics, where it is necessary to process medical instruments, premises and the hands of personnel.
Stomatitis: features of the disease
There are different types of stomatitis, but they are all characterized by an inflammatory process in the oral cavity. To date, science does not have an exact explanation of the mechanisms of development of the disease, but there is an assumption that its appearance is associated with a drop in immune status. Simply put, stomatitis manifests itself as a result of a decrease in the effectiveness of the body's protective functions.
With stomatitis, ulcers form on the oral mucosa. The disease can be caused by:
- viruses (herpes);
- fungal infection (candidiasis);
- bacteria.
Treatment of the disease consists of local use of drugs that can destroy the infection that caused the ulcers, as well as taking medications to improve the patient’s immune status.
Contraindications to the use of brilliant green
In case of individual intolerance to brilliant green, treatment with brilliant green is contraindicated. In addition, if the skin lesion has a large area, it is not permissible to fill it with brilliant green, especially if the patient is a child. This is primarily due to the fact that using brilliant green in this case will cause severe pain.
In addition, you should remember that brilliant green is alcohol-based. Covering a large area of the child's body with alcohol solutions is contraindicated due to the high degree of absorption. Alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream through small superficial capillaries and ruptured vessels, resulting in an increased risk of alcohol intoxication.
Precautionary measures
Timely dental treatment is the golden rule of good health. If the patient regularly visits the dentist for preventive examinations, his oral cavity is in good condition. Eliminating the disease at an early stage or preventing it is the best therapeutic regimen. If tissue damage does occur, bubbles appear, and then ulcers, you should immediately respond to this. However, you need to use medications carefully so as not to cause harm:
- The concentration of the diamond solution should not exceed 1 percent.
- You should not cover the affected areas excessively, so as not to damage the delicate tissues.
- Re-application is carried out after discoloration and complete absorption of the product.
Stomatitis in young children should be treated especially carefully. After all, their mucous membrane is very delicate; it has not yet fully formed. It is not wise to use an alcohol solution; preference should be given to a preparation that contains water. This will reduce irritation of the oral cavity and will not cause intense burning.
The dangers of using brilliant green for stomatitis
Treatment of stomatitis is best carried out under the supervision of a physician, using medications prescribed by a specialist, both for oral administration and locally - for treating the affected mucous membrane.
The use of brilliant green for stomatitis is dangerous because it may be ineffective in cases where the disease is caused by a viral infection or is a consequence of tissue damage by gram-negative bacteria that are insensitive to this drug.
In fact, a person will simply waste time and instead of treating the disease, the infection will spread throughout the entire oral cavity. To prevent this from happening, it is important to consult your doctor initially.
In addition, the danger of using brilliant green solution in the treatment of stomatitis is that it can lead to severe chemical burns, since the base of the drug is pure medical alcohol. A burn can cause tissue necrosis, which will only worsen the situation.
