Fashionable drugs usually sidelines “miracle” medicine that work too properly. Regardless of many years of proof displaying that the naturally occurring chemical Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) is a remarkably secure and versatile therapy for a variety of difficult circumstances — corresponding to strokes, head trauma, spinal wire accidents, dementia, and even Down Syndrome — it has been largely neglected.
This sidelining is especially outstanding as DMSO can be one of the vital efficient therapies for acute and continual ache, musculoskeletal accidents, and continual degenerative circumstances (e.g., arthritis).
DMSO, Nature’s Healer
DMSO is a robust, pure compound with a number of distinctive properties that make it an extremely versatile therapeutic agent:
Fast absorption — When utilized to the pores and skin or ingested, DMSO shortly spreads all through the physique. |
Mobile safety — It shields cells from deadly stressors like burns, frostbite, blood loss, radiation, and shockwaves, and can rescue already broken cells on the verge of dying. |
Security profile — DMSO is extraordinarily secure,1 and in nearly all instances, its solely unwanted side effects are momentary pores and skin irritation or making a garlic-like odor. In distinction, the usual of care (NSAIDs) kill tens of hundreds of Individuals annually and are the main explanation for drug induced hospital admissions. |
Conduction blocking — DMSO selectively blocks ache indicators from small nerve fibers (e.g., C fibers)2,3,4 which are sometimes concerned in continual ache (e.g., DMSO is one of the vital efficient therapies for advanced regional ache syndrome). This blocking impact is reversible and does not trigger tolerance. |
Choline esterase inhibition — By inhibiting acetylcholinesterase,5,6,7,8 DMSO boosts acetylcholine ranges, enhancing parasympathetic perform and decreasing ache. |
Anti-inflammatory motion9 — DMSO is extremely efficient at quickly decreasing irritation (e.g., it lowers inflammatory cytokines, scavenges free radicals, and drains edema that will in any other case compress tissues). |
Muscle rest — DMSO quickly relaxes skeletal muscle mass, easing ache from rigidity and spasms.10,11,12 |
DMSO and Tissue Therapeutic
DMSO tremendously improves wound therapeutic (e.g., from burns or surgical procedures). For instance:
• A research of 1371 continual pores and skin wounds that had usually remained unhealed for years (e.g., contaminated ulcers or extreme burns) discovered 95.04% had a speedy and full restoration (e.g., no burn scars).13 Likewise, a scientific overview discovered DMSO successfully handled ulcers.14
• Quite a few research present that DMSO accelerates limb regeneration in animals15 and surgical wound therapeutic in people.16 It additionally enhances the viability of pores and skin grafts and flaps, providing advantages for plastic and reconstructive surgical procedure.17,18,19,20,21,22
• Animal research have proven DMSO will increase the tensile power of surgical scars23,24 (which considerably improves surgical outcomes), decreases experimentally induced intestinal adhesions25 (a typical complication of stomach surgical procedures) by 80%, prevents hypertrophic (extreme) scar formation.26
• Human research present DMSO can flatten and loosen keloid scars27 and step by step remove subcutaneous fibrosis induced by radiation.28
• Lastly, DMSO can be generally used to restore keloid scars. For instance, in a single research of ten folks with keloids, making use of 50% to 80% DMSO a few instances a day induced scar flattening with the loosening of the collagen surrounding the fibrous bundles.29 Equally, one other research discovered DMSO eradicated (by means of a gradual softening and discount of it).30
DMSO and Musculoskeletal Accidents
Most of the early adopters of DMSO went from skeptics to believers due to the speedy and dramatic enhancements they noticed from it therapeutic acute accidents (e.g., as that they had sufferers with debilitating bursitis within the shoulder recovering inside minutes of receiving DMSO).
Because it was far safer and more practical than another solution to deal with musculoskeletal accidents, joint issues or continual ache, DMSO was quickly adopted by medical doctors and pharmaceutical corporations throughout the nation (e.g., hundreds of thousands have been invested to deliver DMSO merchandise to market and lots of of hundreds of Individuals had life-changing advantages from it).
Within the Nineteen Sixties a miraculous therapy for continual ache, traumatic harm, strokes and spinal wire paralysis was found that unfold throughout America like wildfire—till the FDA buried it.
Right here, 60 Minutes uncovered the FDA utilizing the identical playbook they used all through COVID-19. A🧵 pic.twitter.com/Bh0dcjNk5w
— A Midwestern Physician (@MidwesternDoc) October 14, 2024
Sadly, as DMSO’s use was skyrocketing, on November 10, 1965, the FDA determined to globally ban all analysis on it by falsely claiming it was extremely harmful. Due to this, there was an explosion after which sudden disappearance of DMSO analysis, which sadly continued even with Congress repeatedly making an attempt to get the FDA to overturn their indefensible prohibition of DMSO.
Word: An in depth overview of DMSO’s in depth security knowledge and toxicology research may be considered right here.
Consequently, little or no information now exists of DMSO’s use in human musculoskeletal accidents apart from it current in a couple of FDA authorised merchandise (the place it usually is mixed with one other agent). Remarkably nevertheless, it’s absolutely permitted in veterinary drugs (which led to numerous Individuals utilizing DMSO that was “meant for horses”) the place it’s regularly utilized for musculoskeletal accidents. These forgotten research embody:
A 1964 research,31 the place 22 out of 25 sufferers with subacromial bursitis skilled a speedy enchancment inside half-hour of DMSO, whereas in continual instances 32 of 40 sufferers improved and in some sufferers, a discount in shoulder calcium deposits was additionally famous (which in a later 1967 research,32 have been proven on X-ray to vanish following DMSO). |
This 1965 research:33 |
This huge 1967 research:34 Word: In that research,35 lots of the outcomes have been rapid and dramatic. For instance, this was one bursitis affected person. |
This 1967 research:36 |
This 1967 research:37 |
A 1967 research that discovered:38 Word: The miscellaneous circumstances handled on this research by DMSO included 19 instances of sciatica, 6 instances of coccydynia, and a couple of instances of lupus.39 |
One other 1967 research40 discovered: |
A 1967 research41 gave PT and 70% DMSO to 7 folks with frozen shoulders, 4 of whom had glorious ache reduction and improved movement. |
A 1967 blinded research42 for acute musculoskeletal issues (utilizing 10% DMSO gel as a “placebo”) that discovered: In that research, its creator (a former president of the Aerospace Medical Affiliation43) remarked:
He then carried out a follow-up double-blind research44 on sufferers with sprains, strains, bursitis, or tendinitis which discovered DMSO considerably improved these circumstances and lowered the time sufferers misplaced from work. |
A 1994 blinded research45 gave 157 sufferers with acute tendinopathies (e.g., tennis elbow) 10% DMSO gel or a placebo ointment thrice a day for 14 days inside 3 days of signs beginning. Ache of motion underneath loading and the mobility of the joints have been considerably improved after, respectively, 3 and seven days of therapy with DMSO. After 14 days on DMSO, an extra enchancment was noticed, and 44% of the sufferers (and 9% of placebo) have been pain-free. Word: DMSO has additionally been reported to be efficient for carpal tunnel syndrome46 (and different hand points like set off fingers). For these combating carpal tunnel syndrome, I mentioned our approaches to the dysfunction right here. |
Lastly, a 1967 evaluation47 of 76 research utilizing topically utilized (90%) DMSO for musculoskeletal circumstances discovered 72% improved. Particularly: Word: The overview additionally included 102 Traumas (contusion, fracture, and many others.), 29 Tenosynovitis, 27 Neuritis, 20 Muscle spasms, 20 unspecified varieties of arthritis, and 220 miscellaneous points (e.g., fibrositis, epicondylitis, synovitis, calcific tendinitis). To cite the authors:
Lastly, at a symposium on DMSO,48 knowledge on 9,521 sufferers have been introduced, which confirmed DMSO was efficient remedy in all kinds of acute traumatic circumstances, in acute and continual subacromial bursitis, osteoarthritis, gouty arthritis, and in some sufferers with rheumatoid arthritis (together with different circumstances corresponding to early Dupuytren’s contracture). Word: A later 1981 research49 additionally discovered DMSO was superior to indomethacin within the therapy of gout. |
Sports activities Accidents
“What I like about DMSO is that you simply don’t should interrupt your coaching each time you get a minor pull or sprain. It doesn’t pump you up like sure capsules. It’s merely a really helpful factor to make use of for easy athletic accidents.
Some folks have informed me that you simply should not use it as a result of it would masks the ache of a severe harm, however athlete is aware of his physique properly. Even after I’m utilizing DMSO, I do know after I can push and after I can’t.” — Al Oerter, a discus thrower and the primary American to win 4 consecutive Olympic gold medals.50
One of many biggest challenges skilled athletes face are sports activities accidents which stop them from returning to the sector, significantly since many sports activities accidents are a product of micro-injuries increase till a essential level is handed (e.g., from adhesions and scars within the comfortable tissue).
In flip, since DMSO each heals micro-injuries and quickly treats traumatic harm (returning them to full performance), DMSO was quickly adopted by skilled athletes as soon as they realized what it may do for his or her careers (and being off the sector was usually devastating to their careers).
In flip, as a result of voice their place afforded them, a couple of skilled athletes (e.g., Atlanta Falcons Quarterback June Jones51 — who now’s a coach52) turned a number of the most impactful advocates for DMSO (e.g., Jones said in Congressional testimony53 that “veterinary” DMSO was broadly used however athletes have been afraid of publicly discussing it). Likewise, in 2013, a Dallas Cowboys Lineman said:54
“You get it [from] the veterinarian and it goes proper to the bloodstream. It’s an ointment that’s like anti-inflammatory. You place it in your pores and skin and you place it on a muscle, and I assure you, in about half-hour you’d really feel it. It wasn’t on the checklist [of banned substances] … we used DMSO and other people knew it. Everybody knew about it.”
Moreover, in his riveting testimony, Jones offered instances that left the Congressmen in disbelief, corresponding to a teammate with a bone chip and a torn ligament (which might require months of restoration and therefore finish their season) taking DMSO instantly after the harm and seven or 8 days later returning to the sector (with the bone chip remaining however not inflicting points).
Likewise, at that Congressional listening to, the previous crew doctor for the Oakland Raiders55 testified that he’d used 70% topical DMSO on a cautious and managed foundation for his gamers 20 to 30 instances a yr for five years. From this, he noticed that DMSO was probably the most useful when given within the first 3 to 4 days of an acute harm the place a muscle or joint had extreme swelling, significantly of the extremities, particularly the ankle, elbow, arms, or wrist.
General, he said that DMSO offered good to glorious outcomes 70% to 80% of the time (e.g., by means of lowered ache and swelling) and the gamers felt they have been capable of return to play 50% to 75% sooner than that they had from comparable accidents previously. Conversely, they didn’t discover DMSO was useful for continual accidents, however this may increasingly have been resulting from it not getting used lengthy sufficient for the results to kick in.
Word: He additionally emphasised that DMSO would remodel the sector of occupational drugs. I absolutely agree together with his evaluation, particularly given simply how regularly Employee’s Comp fails to assist its sufferers.
Equally, podiatrist Lowell Scott Weil (who was the doctor for each the Chicago Bears and the USA Olympic gymnastics crew) used DMSO regularly (significantly injured gymnasts).
After 12 years of utilizing it, he shared,56 he’d seen it quickly heal accidents (e.g., he had a gymnast who suffered an ankle sprain anticipated to finish her season, however as a substitute shortly recovered and made the U.S. Olympic crew, and a soccer participant who tore his hamstring however was capable of quickly return to the sector).
General, he had a 60% therapy success fee and noticed the perfect response to DMSO for tendinitis, myositis, and post-injury conditions corresponding to muscle pulls, ankle sprains, strains, and tears of the comfortable tissue (and conversely the one unwanted side effects he had have been pores and skin irritation). Moreover, he additionally used it for arthritic sufferers (particularly rheumatoid arthritis) with many having dramatic reduction. Many different compelling anecdotes exist.
For instance, this ebook57 discusses the expertise of an Oregon State observe coach and early adopter of DMSO who had many wonderful tales of DMSO treating hamstring and achilles tendon accidents corresponding to an athlete having the ability to return to the sector at full capability 3 days after a usually disqualifying hamstring harm and the story of a blind lengthy distance runner who was capable of run resulting from DMSO fixing musculoskeletal accidents and (in accordance with the creator) then performed a pivotal function in opening the game to girls.
Word: A serious drawback in sure sports activities like soccer is repeated concussions (which at the moment are acknowledged to place them in danger for cognitive impairment and dementia later in life). As mentioned in the primary a part of this collection, along with treating strokes and spinal wire accidents, DMSO can be immensely useful for mitigating the results of concussions.
Analysis additionally straight demonstrates DMSO’s utility in sports activities drugs:
• A 1965 research58 handled 47 injured athletes from a variety of sports activities (e.g., tennis, diving, or wrestling) by making use of 90% DMSO utilized to the injured areas 3 instances a day initially after which after 2 days, twice a day. The 30 acute traumas (e.g., sprains, strains, dislocations, severe cuts) have been noticed to quickly resolve, generally “so spectacularly as to compel us to induce our sufferers to watch biggest warning with a purpose to keep away from additional harm to a joint.”
The ten continual circumstances (e.g., tennis elbow) and seven circumstances ensuing from extended immobilization additionally responded quickly and people athletes have been usually capable of shortly return to the sector. These outcomes and the dearth of noticed adversarial occasions led the investigators to argue DMSO urgently wanted to grow to be the usual of care in sports activities drugs.
• A research59 of 78 sufferers (principally athletes) with overstrained tendons obtained Dolobene gel (15% DMSO, dexpanthenol and heparin) for two to three weeks, with over 50% having a big enchancment of signs and people enhancements together with a 94% enchancment in ache, a 55% enchancment of swelling, 95% enchancment of redness and 92% enchancment of heat.
• A research60 gave Dolobene gel to 30 athletes with comfortable tissue accidents of the higher and decrease extremities twice each day for 4 weeks. There have been 4 athletes with contusion of the shoulder, 8 with distortion and contusion of the knee joint, 8 with muscle, tendon and ligament lesions, and 10 with distortion of the ankle joint.
Following DMSO, 10 had a superb response (enchancment), 5 had a superb to good response, 10 had response and 5 had a average response. Particularly, ache, irritation, swelling, reabsorption of hematomas, tenderness and restoration time have been assessed.
• A research61 gave Dolobene gel and ultrasound to fifteen topics who had obtained a blunt tissue trauma (with out fracture) to the decrease extremity throughout the final 24 hours. In comparison with 15 placebos, the therapy resulted in a sooner reduction of ache, discount of edema, and restoration of mobility.
• A 1966 research62 of 28 skilled baseball gamers discovered that giving them DMSO after accidents precipitated their downtime be one third of what was noticed by the treating doctor within the earlier yr with 42 gamers.
Word: Whereas not fairly the identical as getting tackled, I’ve additionally come throughout instances63 of people taking DMSO instantly after getting hit by a automotive whereas crossing the road (which precipitated accidents however no fractures) and instantly absolutely recovering.
Conclusion
Most of the advantages of DMSO are so extraordinary that they understandably invite a wholesome diploma of skepticism, and it’s for that purpose I’ve spent months fastidiously compiling the proof behind it. Likewise, after presenting the preliminary case for DMSO to the readership of the Forgotten Aspect of Medication, I put out a name for what those that’d tried DMSO had skilled.
In these feedback, dozens of readers reported outstanding experiences of DMSO, a lot of which mirror these described all through this text, but in addition different much more outstanding ones (e.g., for a kid with Down Syndrome, a person with Parkinson’s and a girl who had severed her spinal wire).
The suppression of DMSO has at all times deeply bothered me, and in flip, I really feel extremely grateful to be alive at a time when the world is able to be taught of the suppressed medical truths many earlier than me (e.g., the DMSO researchers) devoted their lives to deliver to humanity.
Moreover, I consider that is simply the beginning, as past open platforms like Twitter (X) quickly eroding the general public’s belief in corrupt medical dogmas, I do know by means of trusted confidants straight related to RFK Jr. that the following 4 years provides an unprecedented alternative to start rectifying lots of the beforehand insurmountable issues which have plagued our well being care system and make America Wholesome Once more.
Creator’s notice: That is an abridged model of an extended article that goes into better element on the factors talked about right here, others not as extensively lined (e.g., the wealth of proof DMSO is a life-changing ache therapy), and steering for topical DMSO use (e.g., dosing, therapeutic precautions and the place to acquire it).
That article and its extra references may be learn right here (together with a companion article discussing DMSO’s outstanding utility for quite a lot of musculoskeletal accidents and continual ache circumstances and an article about how DMSO treats quite a lot of “incurable” autoimmune and genetic issues).
A Word from Dr. Mercola Concerning the Creator
A Midwestern Physician (AMD) is a board-certified doctor from the Midwest and a longtime reader of Mercola.com. I respect AMD’s distinctive perception on a variety of matters and am grateful to share it. I additionally respect AMD’s want to stay nameless since AMD continues to be on the entrance traces treating sufferers. To search out extra of AMD’s work, be sure you try The Forgotten Aspect of Medication on Substack.