BigMuddyMama, I have only used DMSO for sore joints when I jam a toe or the like -- there are MANY different uses for DMSO that I've never had reason to delve into, and I'm not a very knowledgeable source for that reason. My protocol (ha!) is to use 70% pure DMSO (some believe that's too high -- and for some uses I'm certain it IS -- but for my use it's been fine), dab it on the joint with a Q-tip (AFTER making sure the skin is clean; DMSO will pull any contaminants INTO the body thru the skin), wait a minute or two, and then -- if needed, wipe off the residue. You don't want to get DMSO on most fabrics.

If you only have 99% pure DMSO, or anything above a sensible level for what you're using it for, only dilute it with distilled water, and NOT the kind that comes in soft-plastic bottles (loaded with nano-plastics) for ironing. Best to buy it at your local health food store or wherever already diluted to 50%, 70%, or whatever you've decided on.

The good news is there's a LOT of info about what DMSO can do and how to use it. Also, it's actually very safe, especially compared to Big Medicine and Establishment alternatives (see below, from https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/dmso-is-a-miraculous-therapy-for ).

However, while each of these applications, particularly DMSO’s utility in strokes, would completely change medicine and how those lifelong illnesses affect our society (and were what drove many doctors to spend decades researching DMSO), none of that accounts for why DMSO took America by storm and campaigns were launched (that members of Congress eventually joined) to overturn the FDA’s embargo on DMSO.

Rather, it was because DMSO solved three of the most common problems in medicine:

• It quickly heals a wide variety of musculoskeletal injuries (e.g., those routinely experienced by professional athletes or a chronic back injury leading to partial disability).

• It effectively treats a variety of joint disorders (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis).

• It’s an extremely effective and very safe painkiller.

Because of this, it was miraculous for many with chronic pain and disability (e.g., from osteoarthritis or a failed spinal surgery), particularly since all other pain-killing medications have significant (and frequently lethal) side effects and worse still—often don’t even work.

Note: a key theme to consider throughout this article is the immense difference in toxicity between DMSO and its conventional alternatives (such as corticosteroids and gabapentin). For example, NSAIDS and opioids each kill tens of thousands of Americans each year, whereas in over 60 years of use by millions of people, DMSO has not been linked to a single death. Likewise, NSAIDS are the leading cause of drug induced hospital admissions (because they are toxic to the heart and small intestine and particularly toxic to kidneys and stomach), whereas a systematic review of all published DMSO studies found the side effects associated with DMSO (e.g., typically skin irritation or a garlic-like odor and occasionally nausea, vomiting or diarrhea ) were minor and transient. Likewise, it’s very easy to overdose on an NSAID or Opioid, whereas a meticulous human study found taking 90 days of DMSO at 3-30 times the standard dosage did not cause any toxicity and was well tolerated by the research subjects (whereas almost any other drug would be extremely dangerous at doses that high).

(snip, including a video of the 60 Minutes report on DMSO from ~1980)

Additionally, shortly after this segment aired, a March 24, 1980, congressional hearing was held on the merits of DMSO, which grilled the FDA on its decades of stonewalling DMSO (leading to the FDA promising to treat DMSO fairly at the hearing).

1980 DMSO Hearing Transcript 21.9MB ∙ PDF file Download

Sadly, despite the incredibly compelling testimony presented at the hearing, a subsequent Senate subcommittee hearing being held over the drug’s status with the FDA on July 31, 1980, the former governor of Alabama being treated with it and a champion of DMSO becoming the Secretary of Health and Human Services in 1985, the FDA never relented, and DMSO remains a forgotten side of medicine,

In short, if DMSO were to become the standard of care due to its remarkably high success rate in treating a variety of common conditions, it would completely change the practice of medicine in the United States and likely knock many existing approaches out of business.