fist lubricante substitude

[albear]

This is how I understand the whole Vaseline/bacteria thing (in a semi-medical opinion):

Petroleum based products such as Vaseline should be avoided as a lubricant, not only because they deteriorate the condom, but also because they are anhydrous, meaning they contain no water. Anhydrous products can seal in potentially harmful bacteria causing infection and owies (okay, owies isn't a medical term).

Thats just how I nut it out anywho

[mythicat]

My first reaction to that was "What about antibacterial ointments?", so I went and checked...and at least Bacitracin Ointment is made up of Bacitracin, light mineral oil, and white petrolatum (aka Vasoline).

Sooo...not sure about the anhydrous argument, unless the antibiotic present in the ointment works to kill off the sealed-in buggies. (okay, buggies isn't a medical term either. hehe)

Which now has me wondering if antibiotic ointment would make a good lube or would it throw off the buggie balance 'down there'?

[Garnet99]

I'm not an expert by any means, but any lubricant that is oil based gives me infections. I have to have water-based ones. Whenever my master uses the karma-sutra oils, or any other oil product, on me he has to make sure it doesn't get to my "lower half". It's a real pain - but those infections are no fun. I don't know if men are as susceptible as women, though. But I'd recommend finding a water-based product you can afford. Ultra-glide is our favorite.

[albear]

Thats a good point about the antibiotic ointments. I canvassed a few people at work, and the outcome was that the paraffin acts as a barrier so that it keeps the antibiotic on the area it's needed. So even though it's keeping the bugs inside, it's also attacking them. This is only not good if the bugs cause an infection that is too deep for the ointment to get to (in the tissue or *yipes* in the bloodstream in which case you need oral/intravenous antibiotics) The infection is what causes the owies because your body sends all the good guys (prostaglandins and what not) to fight the bad bugs and it makes the site inflamed.

I don't know about it being a good lube, but it'd sure be an expensive one!

[Dododecapod]

I find the best lubricant to be an unblended Olive Oil. My partner and I heat it in boiling water first (in a plastic bag) to ensure sterility, and have found it works better than anything else we've tried.

Does tend to be a bit messy though.

[mythicat]

I'm bettin antibiotic ointment would also be bad if you applied it to something which turned out to be a viral infection...tho not sure how common those are in topical wounds.

Regardless of price, I don't think I'd use it as a lube. I would be concerned about killing off the good bacteria and throwing things out of balance...just like happens with oral antibiotics.

I find the best lubricant to be an unblended Olive Oil.

Mmmmm...warm olive oil is my favorite too. Can't even open a bottle anymore without getting all warm and tingly from that deliciously rich aroma.

[Curtis]

I'd stay away from the ointment because unneccessarily medicating is never advisable. In this instance, it could lead to evolving a resistant strain of bacteria. It would kill off some/most/all of the flora in the areas it touched, but since it would only touch the lowest six or eight inches (15-20cm) of the colon, and essentially no digestion goes on in that region, probably no problem in that regard (there is a small amount of water resorption happening down there, but even that mostly happens higher in the large intestine).

I doubt your anibiotic ointment would have much effect on a virus, since most of them are specifically anti-bacterial. If it's dual-use anti-bacterial/anti-viral, it should say so on the label. I don't think many viruses are found on the skin; I think they're mostly active in the bloodstream, which a topical agent wouldn't touch.

Sounds like a topic for norcod!