Burrow's Solution

Jarnaes · Sep 22, 2006

"Burow's solution is a solution of aluminum acetate in water. It is used as an astringent wet dressing to relieve inflammatory conditions of the skin, such as insect bites, swelling, allergies and bruises. Burow's solution has antibacterial effects, and will inhibit the growth of bacteria commonly found in ear infections." (per Google search.)

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 23, 2006

Burow's Solution has been around for a long time. It is a solution of aluminum sulfate, acetic acid, precipitated calcium carbonate and water. It is used for compresses on skin and skin wounds as an astringent, antiseptic and an antipyretic. I have seen it come from the pharmacy in bottles and it is also supplied in pre-packaged gauze compresses. We would often use the compresses on stasis ulcers for a certain amount of minutes as ordered by a physician before applying a dry, sterile dressing. The idea is that the solution acts as an antiseptic to the open wounds. You wouldn't want to leave the compresses on the wound for longer than what the physician has prescribed because it is a weak acid and would ultimately damage the skin. Some patients have also complained of it burning when it was applied as well as stated that it felt cool. I would imagine that if they felt no burning it was because there was either circulatory compromise or neurological damage in the local tissues. You might post your question on the forum for the wound care nurses and see what kind of responses you get from them.

Quailfeathers · Sep 24, 2006

Thanks for the info! It would be interesting to see what wound care nurses' have to say.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 24, 2006

i found this site this morning when i was surfing around the web:

http://www.worldwidewounds.com/ - world wide wounds. an online resource for dressing materials and practical wound management information. has links at the bottom of the opening page to acute wounds, dressings and bandages, maggot therapy, miscellaneous, veterinary, diabetic feet, infected wounds, leg ulcers and pressure ulcers.

i did a search of the site for burow's solution and it came up with nothing. i was kind of surprised. however, it might be good to bookmark the site. you never know what might be of value there. you might need to know about maggot therapy some day. actually, the only time i ever saw burow's soaks ordered for patients was in nursing homes. i always thought it was kind of an old treatment. a few years ago i took a continuing education course on wound care and they gave us a book on all the different types of stuff out on the market for dressings. i was wondering last night where in the blazes i put that book. i have a storage locker, but by the time i get my sorry butt over there and find the boxes with nursing books in it, it may be too late for you to use the information, if it's even in the book.

witchypoo · Jun 29, 2010

back in the olden days (1980's). it was used much like saline is used today. it was used to cleanse and used as wet to dry treatments and to soak wounds like a foot bath or and hand bath or in one instance we used a sitzs bath for a sacral wound it was a mess but it did help.