Tincture of iodine

Tincture of iodine is an alcoholic solution of elemental iodine, often containing iodide to improve solubility. It is used chiefly as a topical antiseptic.

Iodine: Iodine is a chemical element whose molecules and compounds have antiseptic, nutritional, and industrial uses. Elemental iodine is the active antiseptic ingredient dissolved in the tincture.
Wound antisepsis: Wound antisepsis is the use of agents on or around an injury to reduce microbial contamination. Tincture has historically been applied to skin around minor wounds, though it can irritate tissue.
Jean Lugol: Jean Lugol was a French physician who developed an aqueous iodine-and-iodide solution in the nineteenth century. Lugol’s solution is an aqueous iodine preparation, unlike alcoholic tincture.
Lugol's iodine: Lugol’s iodine is an aqueous solution of iodine and potassium iodide. It contains iodine and iodide like many tinctures but uses water rather than alcohol as its main solvent.
Potassium iodide: Potassium iodide is an ionic salt used in medicine, photography, and chemical synthesis. Iodide helps dissolve iodine in the alcohol-and-water mixture.
Skin disinfection: Skin disinfection reduces microorganisms on skin before a medical procedure or other intervention. The tincture is a topical skin antiseptic, but other preparations are often preferred clinically.
Joseph Lister: Joseph Lister was a British surgeon who pioneered antiseptic surgery in the nineteenth century. His antiseptic work helped establish chemical disinfection as a medical practice.
Alcohol: Alcohols are organic compounds containing a hydroxyl group; ethanol and isopropanol are common disinfectants. Alcohol serves as the tincture’s solvent and adds its own antimicrobial and irritating effects.
Iodophor: An iodophor is a complex that carries iodine and releases it gradually, often in water-based preparations. Iodophors deliver iodine without the tincture’s high alcohol content.
Povidone-iodine: Povidone-iodine is an iodophor antiseptic formed from iodine and the polymer povidone. It is a widely used alternative that is less dependent on alcohol as a solvent.

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