An unguent is a soothing preparation spread on
wound
A wound is any disruption of or damage to living tissue, such as skin, mucous membranes, or organs. Wounds can either be the sudden result of direct trauma (mechanical, thermal, chemical), or can develop slowly over time due to underlying diseas ...
s,
burns
Burns may refer to:
Astronomy
* 2708 Burns, an asteroid
* Burns (crater), on Mercury
People
* Burns (surname), list of people and characters named Burns
** Burns (musician), Scottish record producer
Places in the United States
* Burns, ...
,
rash
A rash is a change of the skin that affects its color, appearance, or texture.
A rash may be localized in one part of the body, or affect all the skin. Rashes may cause the skin to change color, itch, become warm, bumpy, chapped, dry, cracke ...
es,
abrasions or other topical injuries (i.e. damage to the skin). It is similar to an
ointment
A topical medication is a medication that is applied to a particular place on or in the body. Most often topical medication means application to body surfaces such as the skin or mucous membranes to treat ailments via a large range of classes ...
, though typically an unguent is oilier and less
viscous
Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for example, syrup h ...
. It is usually delivered as a semi-solid paste spread on the skin, and it is often oily in order to suspend the medication or other
active ingredient
An active ingredient is any ingredient that provides biologically active or other direct effect in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease or to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or animals.
...
s.
During the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
, the use of the unguent
macassar oil
Macassar oil is an Vegetable fats and oils, oil that was originally compounded from Diospyros celebica, Macassar ebony oil that was used primarily by Western European men throughout the 1800s and early 1900s as a hair conditioner to groom and styl ...
on the hair became so popular that
antimacassar
An antimacassar is a small cloth placed over the backs or arms of chairs, or the head or cushions of a sofa, to prevent soiling of the permanent fabric underneath.Fleming, John & Hugh Honour. (1977) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Ar ...
s were invented to prevent damage to furniture.
[Fleming, John & ]Hugh Honour
Hugh Honour FRSL (26 September 1927 – 19 May 2016) was a British art historian, known for his writing partnership with John Fleming. Their ''A World History of Art'' (a.k.a. ''The Visual Arts: A History''), is now in its seventh edition and ...
. (1977) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts. '' London: Allen Lane
Sir Allen Lane (born Allen Lane Williams; 21 September 1902 – 7 July 1970) was a British publisher who together with his brothers Richard and John Lane founded Penguin Books in 1935, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-fictio ...
, p. 26.
Mercurochrome unguent
Various preparations of
mercurochrome
Merbromin (marketed as Mercurochrome, Merbromine, Mercurocol, Sodium mercurescein, Asceptichrome, Supercrome, Brocasept and Cinfacromin) is an organomercuric disodium salt compound used as a topical antiseptic for minor cuts and scrapes and a ...
unguent are occasionally used as
adjunct therapy
Adjuvant therapy, also known as adjunct therapy, adjuvant care, or augmentation therapy, is a therapy that is given in addition to the primary or initial therapy to maximize its effectiveness. The surgeries and complex treatment regimens used in ...
in the treatment of
furunculosis, and palliative relief of
Kaposi sarcomas, although mercurials should only be used in extreme cases due to high toxicity and severe hypersensitivity or idiosyncratic reactions.
It was also used by the Egyptians to help soothe their skin from the dry heat.
See also
*
Aegyptiacum
*
Salve
A salve is a medical ointment used to soothe the skin.
Medical uses
Magnesium sulphate paste is used as a drawing salve to treat small boils and infected wounds and to remove 'draw' small splinters. Black ointment, or Ichthyol Salve, also ca ...
*
Cream perfumes
Solid perfumes or cream perfumes are perfumes in solid state rather than the liquid mix of alcohol (ethanol) and water used in eau de parfum, eau de toilette, eau de cologne, etc. Normally the substance that gives the cream its base comes from a t ...
Further reading
*
References
Routes of administration
Ointments
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