What is cauterization and what is meant by the term astringent?
” “Tarun, an astringent is a drug which precipitates proteins and causes contraction of tissues. The term comes from Latin astringere which means “to draw tight”. Astringents have so little penetrability that only surface of cells is affected. Application of astringent often arrests secretions or discharge, so it is often applied to lesions which are discharging secretions. Precipitation of proteins also kills the cells. The idea of applying these drugs was also that it would kill any infective microorganisms lurking in the lesions, by precipitating proteins in their cells. The most popular astringents are salts of zinc and aluminum. Zinc sulfate (0.25%) is often recommended as an eye medication. Another common astringent is tannic acid. Cauterization is the destruction of tissues by the application of an astringent. Of course cauterization can be done by heat too. Warts can be cauterized by heat or by some astringent substance. There was a time when silver salts were popularly used fo
