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* Alcoholics forced into immediate and sudden withdrawal from all alcohol will often develop a fatal withdrawal syndrome called delirium tremens - and ''must'' be given alcohol again to end it and prevent death. Physically dependent alcoholics have to quit or reduce drinking ''slowly'' or be weaned off alcohol in a medical setting to prevent this from happening.
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* Alcoholic beverages, such as hot toddy's and hot buttered rum were once used to treat colds and flus. Not so much anymore, since, as mentioned before, they dehydrate you.
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* Alcoholic beverages, such as hot toddy's and hot buttered rum were once used to treat colds and flus. Not so much anymore, since, as mentioned before, they dehydrate you. Still valid enough as a treatment as long as proper hydration is done otherwise, and NyQuil is actually effective ''because'' of its high alcohol + antihistamine content over anything else in the mixture. The reason? Vasodilation (which helps congestion clear up) and the ability to induce sleep - which is one of the best treatments for colds, the flu, and similar illnesses. That said, don't administer with acetaminophen unless you want liver failure.
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* There is one instance where booze ''is'' a lifesaving antidote: methanol poisoning, usually resulting from the consumption of wood alcohol, alcohol fuels, windshield washer fluid, some antifreezes, and similar. If someone's been determined to have been poisoned by methanol consumption, the absolute antidote is ethyl alcohol - yes, plain old drinking alcohol. It's often administered by IV for faster effect.
** Similarly, if you are consuming something with a lot of aspartame (which metabolizes, in large enough amounts, to sublethal but possibly injurious amounts of methanol) have an alcoholic drink with it unless you are driving or operating machinery or otherwise have a contraindication for alcohol.
** Similarly, if you are consuming something with a lot of aspartame (which metabolizes, in large enough amounts, to sublethal but possibly injurious amounts of methanol) have an alcoholic drink with it unless you are driving or operating machinery or otherwise have a contraindication for alcohol.
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* In a famous cholera epidemic in England, brewery workers survived and didn't become infected because of their drinking beer rations instead of water. Boiling/high pressure and fermentation of beneficial bacteria ''both'' combat virulent bacteria, making the beer far safer than the standing well water at the Broad Street Pump.
* In a similar example, while alcohol is dehydrating, beer is the least dehydrating alcoholic beverage due to its fluid volume and often fairly low alcohol content, and if your hydration choice is between beer or non-fortified wine (especially that safely bottled or canned) and water of questionable sanitation or worse, seawater, ''drink the beer or wine.'' The diarrhea from infected water sources or the dehydration and purgative diarrhea from seawater will kill you much more certainly than any dehydration from the alcohol content.
** Also, while higher proof alcohol ''will'' dehydrate and possibly kill you if consumed instead of water, it ''can'' work as an emergency water purifier. If you have ''nothing'' else to purify water, pouring a half shot of tequila or vodka or whiskey or rum into it and shaking it, then letting it sit covered for around 3 minutes, will kill living contamination such as amoeba, bacteria, viruses, and parasites (though not remove chemicals or heavy metals or radioactivity), and the resulting mixture will be more hydrating than dehydrating.
* In a similar example, while alcohol is dehydrating, beer is the least dehydrating alcoholic beverage due to its fluid volume and often fairly low alcohol content, and if your hydration choice is between beer or non-fortified wine (especially that safely bottled or canned) and water of questionable sanitation or worse, seawater, ''drink the beer or wine.'' The diarrhea from infected water sources or the dehydration and purgative diarrhea from seawater will kill you much more certainly than any dehydration from the alcohol content.
** Also, while higher proof alcohol ''will'' dehydrate and possibly kill you if consumed instead of water, it ''can'' work as an emergency water purifier. If you have ''nothing'' else to purify water, pouring a half shot of tequila or vodka or whiskey or rum into it and shaking it, then letting it sit covered for around 3 minutes, will kill living contamination such as amoeba, bacteria, viruses, and parasites (though not remove chemicals or heavy metals or radioactivity), and the resulting mixture will be more hydrating than dehydrating.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' expansion DLC "Honest Hearts", you have to scavenge a first aid kit. When you find it, many of its components are contaminated. Not a direct usage of this trope, but hard liquors can be used to re-sterilize the contaminated components.
* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' expansion DLC "Honest Hearts", you have to scavenge a first aid kit. When you find it, many of its components are contaminated. Not a direct usage of this trope, but hard liquors can be used to re-sterilize the contaminated components.
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* In ''Film/DeathProof'', toward the end Stuntman Mike sterilises a wound with some liquor.
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* In ''Film/DeathProof'', toward ''Film/DeathProof''. After being shot by one of the end girls he tried running off the road, Stuntman Mike sterilises a sterilizes the wound with some liquor.liquor, screaming as he does so. Then he [[INeedAFreakingDrink drinks from the bottle to calm his nerves]]. Cue SpitTake when he sees the girls in their car speeding up in his rearview mirror, intent on revenge.
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* Inverted in ''Liquidate Paris'' by Sven Hassel, TheSquad have to do an appendectomy, advised by a doctor who's speaking to them over the radio. At one point he tells them there's a bottle of sterilising alcohol in their first aid kit.
->"There is! If I'd known that before, [[TheAlcoholic it wouldn't still be there!]]"
->"There is! If I'd known that before, [[TheAlcoholic it wouldn't still be there!]]"
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* Inverted in ''Liquidate Paris'' by Sven Hassel, SvenHassel. TheSquad have to do an appendectomy, advised by a doctor who's speaking to them over the radio. At one point he the doctor tells them there's there should be a bottle of sterilising sterilizing alcohol in their first aid kit.
->"Therekit. The soldier who looks says, "There is! If I'd known that before, [[TheAlcoholic it wouldn't still be there!]]"
->"There
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* Inverted in ''Liquidate Paris'' by Sven Hassel, TheSquad have to do an appendectomy, advised by a doctor who's speaking to them over the radio. At one point he tells them there's a bottle of sterilising alcohol in their first aid kit.
->"There is! If I'd known that before, [[TheAlcoholic it wouldn't still be there!]]"
->"There is! If I'd known that before, [[TheAlcoholic it wouldn't still be there!]]"
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->One for you, and one for your back.
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->''Giles knows his single malt antiseptics.''
-->-- '''Anya''', ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''
-->-- '''Anya''', ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''
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* ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. While patching up the Potentials after a big battle, Andrew and Anya get a bottle of whiskey for this purpose, but end up [[INeedAFreakingDrink drinking it themselves]].
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->One for you, and one for your back.
-->-'''Sgt. Pat Harper''', ''{{Sharpe}}'s Company''
-->-'''Sgt. Pat Harper''', ''{{Sharpe}}'s Company''
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* Happens multiple times throughout the ''{{Sharpe}}'' series, usually with rum.
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* [[TheBible In one of St. Paul's letters to his friend Timothy]], [[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Timothy%205:23&version=NIV Paul urges him to drink some wine for his stomach problems]], and that such an act is not sinful or bad because a) the intent is to make [[IllBoy Timothy's]] ailing stomach feel better [[hottip: And probably was a lot safer than water at the time anyway]], not to get wasted and/or engage in any kind of drunken debauchery and b) Paul acknowledges in other parts of his writings that ''a little'' worldly pleasure now and then isn't necessarily a bad thing.
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* [[TheBible In one of St. Paul's letters to his friend Timothy]], [[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Timothy%205:23&version=NIV Paul urges him to drink some wine for his stomach problems]], and that such an act is not sinful or bad because a) the intent is to make [[IllBoy Timothy's]] ailing stomach feel better [[hottip: [[hottip:*: And probably was a lot safer than water at the time anyway]], not to get wasted and/or engage in any kind of drunken debauchery and b) Paul acknowledges in other parts of his writings that ''a little'' worldly pleasure now and then isn't necessarily a bad thing.
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[[folder: Mythology and Religion]]
* [[TheBible In one of St. Paul's letters to his friend Timothy]], [[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Timothy%205:23&version=NIV Paul urges him to drink some wine for his stomach problems]], and that such an act is not sinful or bad because a) the intent is to make [[IllBoy Timothy's]] ailing stomach feel better [[hottip: And probably was a lot safer than water at the time anyway]], not to get wasted and/or engage in any kind of drunken debauchery and b) Paul acknowledges in other parts of his writings that ''a little'' worldly pleasure now and then isn't necessarily a bad thing.
[[/folder]]
* [[TheBible In one of St. Paul's letters to his friend Timothy]], [[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Timothy%205:23&version=NIV Paul urges him to drink some wine for his stomach problems]], and that such an act is not sinful or bad because a) the intent is to make [[IllBoy Timothy's]] ailing stomach feel better [[hottip: And probably was a lot safer than water at the time anyway]], not to get wasted and/or engage in any kind of drunken debauchery and b) Paul acknowledges in other parts of his writings that ''a little'' worldly pleasure now and then isn't necessarily a bad thing.
[[/folder]]
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* Done in the beginning of JohnCarpenter's ''Film/TheThing1982''. The Norwegian shoots a character in the leg and they're given a flask of booze that they take a swig from before pouring it over the wound.
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* Done in the beginning of JohnCarpenter's ''Film/TheThing1982''. The Norwegian shoots a character Bennings in the leg and they're given a flask of booze that they take a swig from before pouring it over the wound.
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You ever notice how in fiction no one ever has peroxide but everyone always has vodka? This trope occurs when a character pours liquor on a wound to disinfect it, or drinks alcohol as an anesthetic. Note that in the later case this trope would only occur when the character is using alcohol specifically as an antiseptic right before having a wound stitched up or a [[WeNeedToGetTheBulletOut bullet extracted]] etc, and not when a character is just generally self medicating with alcohol.
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You ever notice how in fiction no one ever has peroxide but everyone always has vodka? This trope occurs when a character pours liquor on a wound to disinfect it, or drinks alcohol as an anesthetic. Note that in the later case this trope would only occur when the character is using alcohol specifically as an antiseptic right before having a wound stitched up or a [[WeNeedToGetTheBulletOut [[WeHaveToGetTheBulletOut bullet extracted]] etc, and not when a character is just generally self medicating with alcohol.
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* The myth of [[SaintBernardRescue refreshing a frostbitten patient with a dose of brandy]] got debunked over time - alcohol causes vasodilation and a quick boost of warmness to the extremities of the body, but shortly afterwards the human cools himself or herself [[OhCrap even quicker]] and hypothermia ensues.
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* The myth of [[SaintBernardRescue refreshing a frostbitten patient with a dose of brandy]] got debunked over time - -- alcohol causes vasodilation and a quick boost of warmness to the extremities of the body, but shortly afterwards the human cools himself or herself [[OhCrap even quicker]] and hypothermia ensues.
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You ever notice how in fiction no one ever has peroxide but everyone always has vodka? This trope occurs when a character pours liquor on a wound to disinfect it, or drinks alcohol as an anesthetic. Note that in the later case this trope would only occur when the character is using alcohol specifically as an antiseptic right before having a wound stitched up or a bullet extracted etc, and not when a character is just generally self medicating with alcohol.
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You ever notice how in fiction no one ever has peroxide but everyone always has vodka? This trope occurs when a character pours liquor on a wound to disinfect it, or drinks alcohol as an anesthetic. Note that in the later case this trope would only occur when the character is using alcohol specifically as an antiseptic right before having a wound stitched up or a [[WeNeedToGetTheBulletOut bullet extracted extracted]] etc, and not when a character is just generally self medicating with alcohol.
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* The myth of [[SaintBernardRescue refreshing a frostbitten patient with a dose of brandy]] got debunked over time - alcohol causes vasodilation and a quick boost of warmness to the extremities of the body, but shortly afterwards the human cools himself or herself [[OhCrap even quicker]] and hypothermia ensues.
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* In one episode of the 2007 version of ''Series/FlashGordon'' Baylin had taken a bottle of vodka that she had mistaken for water in a decorative container. When she got injured Dale corrected her by pouring it on the wound.
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* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', Christa pours a bottle of wine on Reiner's arm after a Titan mauled it. This leads to a sad moment [[spoiler:when Gerger finds the bottle and tries to enjoy [[OneLastSmoke OneLastDrink]] as a Titan grabs him. He starts crying when he realizes it's empty and demands to know who drank it all. It's doubly sad considering Reiner is actually a Titan Shifter with a HealingFactor, meaning Gerger was denied one last drink for no reason at all.]]
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* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', Christa Krista pours a bottle of wine on Reiner's arm after a Titan mauled it. This leads to a sad moment [[spoiler:when Gerger finds the bottle and tries to enjoy [[OneLastSmoke OneLastDrink]] as a Titan grabs him. He starts crying when he realizes it's empty and demands to know who drank it all. It's doubly sad considering Reiner is actually a Titan Shifter with a HealingFactor, meaning Gerger was denied one last drink for no reason at all.]]
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typos
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* Alcoholic beverages, such as hot toddy's and hot buttered rum were once used to treat colds and flues. Not so much anymore, since, as mentioned before, they dehydrate you.
* Gin and Tonic was used to treat malaria. Technically it's the quanine in the tonic water that treats malaria, but the gin makes it easier to actually drink it since it's so bitter.
* Gin and Tonic was used to treat malaria. Technically it's the quanine in the tonic water that treats malaria, but the gin makes it easier to actually drink it since it's so bitter.
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* Alcoholic beverages, such as hot toddy's and hot buttered rum were once used to treat colds and flues.flus. Not so much anymore, since, as mentioned before, they dehydrate you.
* Gin and Tonic was used to treat malaria. Technically it's thequanine quinine in the tonic water that treats malaria, but the gin makes it easier to actually drink it since it's so bitter.
* Gin and Tonic was used to treat malaria. Technically it's the
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moved Serenity to \'Film\'
* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', after being shot through the leg by a Reaver harpoon, Jayne busies himself by pouring his flask over his leg wound... and then taking a swig.
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* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', after being shot through the leg by a Reaver harpoon, Jayne busies himself by pouring his flask over his leg wound... and then taking a swig.
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typo. Anesthetics are consumed to relieve pain; antiseptics are put on wounds to avoid infection
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You ever notice how in fiction no one ever has peroxide but everyone always has vodka? This trope occurs when a character pours liquor on a wound to disinfect it, or drinks alcohol as an antiseptic. Note that in the later case this trope would only occur when the character is using alcohol specifically as an antiseptic right before having a wound stitched up or a bullet extracted ect, and not when a character is just generally self medicating with alcohol.
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You ever notice how in fiction no one ever has peroxide but everyone always has vodka? This trope occurs when a character pours liquor on a wound to disinfect it, or drinks alcohol as an antiseptic. anesthetic. Note that in the later case this trope would only occur when the character is using alcohol specifically as an antiseptic right before having a wound stitched up or a bullet extracted ect, etc, and not when a character is just generally self medicating with alcohol.
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* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', Christa pours a bottle of wine on Reiner's arm after a Titan mauled it. This leads to a sad moment [[spoiler:when Gerger finds the bottle and tries to enjoy OneLastDrink as a Titan grabs him. He starts crying when he realizes it's empty and demands to know who drank it all. It's doubly sad considering Reiner is actually a Titan Shifter with a HealingFactor, meaning Gerger was denied one last drink for no reason at all.]]
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* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', Christa pours a bottle of wine on Reiner's arm after a Titan mauled it. This leads to a sad moment [[spoiler:when Gerger finds the bottle and tries to enjoy OneLastDrink [[OneLastSmoke OneLastDrink]] as a Titan grabs him. He starts crying when he realizes it's empty and demands to know who drank it all. It's doubly sad considering Reiner is actually a Titan Shifter with a HealingFactor, meaning Gerger was denied one last drink for no reason at all.]]
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* In ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'', Mansam used some booze to heal a ''gaping chest wound''. Granted, this was because the booze was absorbed by his Gourmet Cells.
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', Christa pours a bottle of wine on Reiner's arm after a Titan mauled it. This leads to a sad moment [[spoiler:when Gerger finds the bottle and tries to enjoy OneLastDrink as a Titan grabs him. He starts crying when he realizes it's empty and demands to know who drank it all. It's doubly sad considering Reiner is actually a Titan Shifter with a HealingFactor, meaning Gerger was denied one last drink for no reason at all.]]
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', Christa pours a bottle of wine on Reiner's arm after a Titan mauled it. This leads to a sad moment [[spoiler:when Gerger finds the bottle and tries to enjoy OneLastDrink as a Titan grabs him. He starts crying when he realizes it's empty and demands to know who drank it all. It's doubly sad considering Reiner is actually a Titan Shifter with a HealingFactor, meaning Gerger was denied one last drink for no reason at all.]]
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* Gin and Tonic was used to treat malaria. Technically it's the quanine in the tonic water that treats malaria, but the gin makes it easier to actually drink it since it's so bitter.
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Added example, ST:TNG, The Final Mission
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* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode, The Final Mission, Captain Picard and Wesley Crusher crash-land and are stranded on a desert moon along with the shuttle pilot. Picard confiscates an alcoholic beverage from the shuttle pilot, stating that it would be better used as an antiseptic and drinking it will only increase dehydration (correct, see the RealLife examples).
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* Referenced in ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', when Dan offers a couple of [[FantasticDrug ninja-drug-using]] punks a drink. He chooses something with a higher alcohol content, [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/4p3/ promising that it'll "sterilize all those cuts on [their] face."]] Then pointed out as a [[DontTryThisAtHome bad idea]] by the AltText:
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* Referenced in ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', when Dan offers a couple of [[FantasticDrug ninja-drug-using]] punks a drink. He chooses something with a higher alcohol content, [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/4p3/ promising suggesting that it'll "sterilize it might "help sterilize all those cuts on [their] face."]] Then pointed out as a [[DontTryThisAtHome bad idea]] by the AltText:
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-->'''Phoebus:''' Great, I could use a drink. [cries in pain as she pours in on wound] AAAh! Yes! Hmmm. Feels like a 1470 Burgundy. Not a good year.
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-->'''Phoebus:''' Great, I could use a drink. [cries in pain as she pours in on wound] AAAh! [=AAAh!=] Yes! Hmmm. Feels like a 1470 Burgundy. Not a good year.
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* Done in the beginning of JohnCarpenter's ''Film/TheThing''. The Norwegian shoots a character in the leg and they're given a flask of booze that they take a swig from before pouring it over the wound.
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* Done in the beginning of JohnCarpenter's ''Film/TheThing''.''Film/TheThing1982''. The Norwegian shoots a character in the leg and they're given a flask of booze that they take a swig from before pouring it over the wound.
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You ever notice how in fiction no one ever has peroxide but everyone always has vodka? This trope occurs when a character pours liquor on a wound to disinfect it, or drinks alcohol as an antiseptic. Note that in the later case this trope would only occur when the character is using alcohol specifically as an antiseptic right before having a wound stitched up or a bullet extracted ect, and not when a character is just generally self medicating with alcohol.
Not to be confused with BoozeBasedBuff, where the alcohol grants abilities and is basically a power up. If the alcohol instantly remedies a characters ailments, it's not an example of this trope.
-----
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Subverted in an episode of ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor,'' where the ship's doctor considers using his personal stash when crew injuries are piling up. He considers it, takes a swig, then decides it'd be a waste.
* ''Manga/ShamanKing'': Horohoro uses sake as a disinfectant after tangling with a bear in Colorado.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Film - Animated]]
* In ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', Esmeralda uses a bottle of wine on Phoebus' wounds.
-->'''Phoebus:''' Great, I could use a drink. [cries in pain as she pours in on wound] AAAh! Yes! Hmmm. Feels like a 1470 Burgundy. Not a good year.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* It happens in ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' (1995): Mel Gibson's childhood pal Hamish and his father Campbell have just helped Mel defeat the local English lord, but Campbell sustained a wound in the process. He's blind drunk on whisky awaiting his son and friends helping him to "Heal It With Fire". After a comedy moment where first one, and then a second clansmen say "Here, you do it, [cauterise the wound with the poker], I'll hold him down!", Campbell asks Hamish to pour some on the wound first: "Pour it straight in the wound, boy. I know it seems like a waste of good whiskey, but indulge me."
* In the beginning of ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'', Meacham the preacher pours whiskey over Lonergan's wound before stitching it up.
* In ''Film/DeathProof'', toward the end Stuntman Mike sterilises a wound with some liquor.
* In ''Film/TheFinalSacrifice'', Rowsdower pours a drink on a branded mark.
* Done in the beginning of JohnCarpenter's ''Film/TheThing''. The Norwegian shoots a character in the leg and they're given a flask of booze that they take a swig from before pouring it over the wound.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Literature]]
* In the ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' novel ''Death Or Glory'' he has a tracker who's helping guide their convoy to safety give his stash of whisky to the vet they've got working as a doctor (both because he's probably running out of antiseptic and because he wants to keep their tracker sober).
* In ''[[Literature/CoDominium West of Honor]]'', the main character gets a minor wound, but due to an alien fungus has to get sent back to base to receive weeks of treatment. He later meets with a Private who was also wounded in the same battle, but got out earlier. It turns out the soldier used Brandy to disinfect the wound.
* Variation in the ''Literature/{{Destroyermen}}'' novels. The [[PettingZooPeople Lemurians]] use the paste left over from fermenting polta fruit to make seep as an antiseptic and topical anesthetic.
* In the first book of David Eddings' ''Literature/TheElenium'', Sparhawk does first aid on one of his companions by scrubbing the wound out with some cheap wine before bandaging it. When he gets back to base, Sephrenia, the team's medic/sorceress, is less than impressed.
* ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'': April tries to treat Galahad's wounds and start a blood transfusion with limited 20th-century knowledge. She orders someone to get wine instead of water, as the water being germ-free is dubious at best.
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', there are some instances of rudimentary surgery/medical care performed wherein a wound is sterilized with heated or boiled wine. Justified, since it is a MedievalEuropeanFantasy, so there are no other antiseptics around.
* In ''Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat Is Born'', after his friend is injured, the protagonist treats him with moonshine in some widow's home.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* In an episode of ''Series/BurnNotice'', Michael gets [[BruceWayneHeldHostage trapped in a bank robbery]] with Special Agent Bly. Bly goes cowboy and gets winged in the arm for his trouble, and Michael starts pretending to be a doctor. While treating Bly, he pours vodka over the wound both to disinfect and to punish him for being a jerk.
* In one episode of the Russian TV series ''Dalnoboischiki'' ("Truckers") a provincial doctor complains that he has to use vodka as both disinfectant and anesthetic, since he has no real medical drugs.
* In ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' the two protagonists are on probation for running moonshine for their uncle. He no longer does the bootlegging, but he's stated to still distill a little, "for medicinal purposes."
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Spectre of the Gun". Morgan Earp punches Captain Kirk in the face and injures his lip. [=McCoy=] treats Kirk by touching his lip with a cloth and Kirk flinches.
-->'''[=McCoy=]:''' What's the matter?
-->'''Kirk:''' What do you call that stuff? Fire?
-->'''[=McCoy=]:''' Taos Lightning straight bourbon.
* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', after being shot through the leg by a Reaver harpoon, Jayne busies himself by pouring his flask over his leg wound... and then taking a swig.
* Sam & Dean Winchester from ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' have used this method for years. Demonstrated one time when they were TrappedInTVLand on "Dr. Sexy, MD" - Doctor Dean got shot and Doctor Sam had to operate.
-->''"I need a pen knife, some dental floss, a sewing needle, and a fifth of whiskey. Stat!"''
* Disney's ''The Swamp Fox'' series has one of these in the episode 'Tory Vengeance'. Francis Marion gives some to his nephew as an anesthetic after the boy is shot-sadly, he can't do anything for the wound. Justifed, though, as it was the 1700s, and medical care as we know it didn't exist.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:New Media]]
* ''The Straight Dope'' tested this experimentally. It turned out that [[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2978/can-liquor-be-used-as-an-emergency-antiseptic high proof alcohols do indeed work as a disinfectant, but lower proof ones (like beer or wine) don't]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Referenced in ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', when Dan offers a couple of [[FantasticDrug ninja-drug-using]] punks a drink. He chooses something with a higher alcohol content, [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/4p3/ promising that it'll "sterilize all those cuts on [their] face."]] Then pointed out as a [[DontTryThisAtHome bad idea]] by the AltText:
-->Please do not pour beer on your wounds and tell your legal guardian that I was the one who suggested it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In one ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'', Sylvester Stallone cauterised a wound by pouring alcohol on it and then lighting it on fire, causing the judges to reverse their opinions about him not being a badass.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* There was a case in 1995 where a woman had severe chest pains and breathlessness ''while the airplane was in flight'' (she'd had an accident earlier, and her injuries caused a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tension_pneumothorax tension pneumothorax]]) . Two doctors diagnosed this and performed surgery that [[http://www.omg-facts.com/Other/A-Surgeon-Performed-An-Operation-On-A-Pl/51130 MacGuyver would be proud of]]. ''Cognac'' was used as a disinfectant. [[HappyEnding The patient quickly recovered, was taken to hospital when the plane landed in London and recouperated quite nicely.]] The surgeon celebrated the successful operation by [[INeedAFreakingDrink drinking the rest of the brandy.]]
* Many a survival guide advocates bringing some high-proof alcohol along for this, but warns against actually drinking it, as it both dehydrates you (desert survival) and cools you off (tundra survival).
* Alcoholic beverages, such as hot toddy's and hot buttered rum were once used to treat colds and flues. Not so much anymore, since, as mentioned before, they dehydrate you.
[[/folder]]
Not to be confused with BoozeBasedBuff, where the alcohol grants abilities and is basically a power up. If the alcohol instantly remedies a characters ailments, it's not an example of this trope.
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!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Subverted in an episode of ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor,'' where the ship's doctor considers using his personal stash when crew injuries are piling up. He considers it, takes a swig, then decides it'd be a waste.
* ''Manga/ShamanKing'': Horohoro uses sake as a disinfectant after tangling with a bear in Colorado.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Film - Animated]]
* In ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', Esmeralda uses a bottle of wine on Phoebus' wounds.
-->'''Phoebus:''' Great, I could use a drink. [cries in pain as she pours in on wound] AAAh! Yes! Hmmm. Feels like a 1470 Burgundy. Not a good year.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* It happens in ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' (1995): Mel Gibson's childhood pal Hamish and his father Campbell have just helped Mel defeat the local English lord, but Campbell sustained a wound in the process. He's blind drunk on whisky awaiting his son and friends helping him to "Heal It With Fire". After a comedy moment where first one, and then a second clansmen say "Here, you do it, [cauterise the wound with the poker], I'll hold him down!", Campbell asks Hamish to pour some on the wound first: "Pour it straight in the wound, boy. I know it seems like a waste of good whiskey, but indulge me."
* In the beginning of ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'', Meacham the preacher pours whiskey over Lonergan's wound before stitching it up.
* In ''Film/DeathProof'', toward the end Stuntman Mike sterilises a wound with some liquor.
* In ''Film/TheFinalSacrifice'', Rowsdower pours a drink on a branded mark.
* Done in the beginning of JohnCarpenter's ''Film/TheThing''. The Norwegian shoots a character in the leg and they're given a flask of booze that they take a swig from before pouring it over the wound.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Literature]]
* In the ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' novel ''Death Or Glory'' he has a tracker who's helping guide their convoy to safety give his stash of whisky to the vet they've got working as a doctor (both because he's probably running out of antiseptic and because he wants to keep their tracker sober).
* In ''[[Literature/CoDominium West of Honor]]'', the main character gets a minor wound, but due to an alien fungus has to get sent back to base to receive weeks of treatment. He later meets with a Private who was also wounded in the same battle, but got out earlier. It turns out the soldier used Brandy to disinfect the wound.
* Variation in the ''Literature/{{Destroyermen}}'' novels. The [[PettingZooPeople Lemurians]] use the paste left over from fermenting polta fruit to make seep as an antiseptic and topical anesthetic.
* In the first book of David Eddings' ''Literature/TheElenium'', Sparhawk does first aid on one of his companions by scrubbing the wound out with some cheap wine before bandaging it. When he gets back to base, Sephrenia, the team's medic/sorceress, is less than impressed.
* ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'': April tries to treat Galahad's wounds and start a blood transfusion with limited 20th-century knowledge. She orders someone to get wine instead of water, as the water being germ-free is dubious at best.
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', there are some instances of rudimentary surgery/medical care performed wherein a wound is sterilized with heated or boiled wine. Justified, since it is a MedievalEuropeanFantasy, so there are no other antiseptics around.
* In ''Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat Is Born'', after his friend is injured, the protagonist treats him with moonshine in some widow's home.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* In an episode of ''Series/BurnNotice'', Michael gets [[BruceWayneHeldHostage trapped in a bank robbery]] with Special Agent Bly. Bly goes cowboy and gets winged in the arm for his trouble, and Michael starts pretending to be a doctor. While treating Bly, he pours vodka over the wound both to disinfect and to punish him for being a jerk.
* In one episode of the Russian TV series ''Dalnoboischiki'' ("Truckers") a provincial doctor complains that he has to use vodka as both disinfectant and anesthetic, since he has no real medical drugs.
* In ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' the two protagonists are on probation for running moonshine for their uncle. He no longer does the bootlegging, but he's stated to still distill a little, "for medicinal purposes."
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Spectre of the Gun". Morgan Earp punches Captain Kirk in the face and injures his lip. [=McCoy=] treats Kirk by touching his lip with a cloth and Kirk flinches.
-->'''[=McCoy=]:''' What's the matter?
-->'''Kirk:''' What do you call that stuff? Fire?
-->'''[=McCoy=]:''' Taos Lightning straight bourbon.
* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', after being shot through the leg by a Reaver harpoon, Jayne busies himself by pouring his flask over his leg wound... and then taking a swig.
* Sam & Dean Winchester from ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' have used this method for years. Demonstrated one time when they were TrappedInTVLand on "Dr. Sexy, MD" - Doctor Dean got shot and Doctor Sam had to operate.
-->''"I need a pen knife, some dental floss, a sewing needle, and a fifth of whiskey. Stat!"''
* Disney's ''The Swamp Fox'' series has one of these in the episode 'Tory Vengeance'. Francis Marion gives some to his nephew as an anesthetic after the boy is shot-sadly, he can't do anything for the wound. Justifed, though, as it was the 1700s, and medical care as we know it didn't exist.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:New Media]]
* ''The Straight Dope'' tested this experimentally. It turned out that [[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2978/can-liquor-be-used-as-an-emergency-antiseptic high proof alcohols do indeed work as a disinfectant, but lower proof ones (like beer or wine) don't]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Referenced in ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', when Dan offers a couple of [[FantasticDrug ninja-drug-using]] punks a drink. He chooses something with a higher alcohol content, [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/4p3/ promising that it'll "sterilize all those cuts on [their] face."]] Then pointed out as a [[DontTryThisAtHome bad idea]] by the AltText:
-->Please do not pour beer on your wounds and tell your legal guardian that I was the one who suggested it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In one ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'', Sylvester Stallone cauterised a wound by pouring alcohol on it and then lighting it on fire, causing the judges to reverse their opinions about him not being a badass.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* There was a case in 1995 where a woman had severe chest pains and breathlessness ''while the airplane was in flight'' (she'd had an accident earlier, and her injuries caused a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tension_pneumothorax tension pneumothorax]]) . Two doctors diagnosed this and performed surgery that [[http://www.omg-facts.com/Other/A-Surgeon-Performed-An-Operation-On-A-Pl/51130 MacGuyver would be proud of]]. ''Cognac'' was used as a disinfectant. [[HappyEnding The patient quickly recovered, was taken to hospital when the plane landed in London and recouperated quite nicely.]] The surgeon celebrated the successful operation by [[INeedAFreakingDrink drinking the rest of the brandy.]]
* Many a survival guide advocates bringing some high-proof alcohol along for this, but warns against actually drinking it, as it both dehydrates you (desert survival) and cools you off (tundra survival).
* Alcoholic beverages, such as hot toddy's and hot buttered rum were once used to treat colds and flues. Not so much anymore, since, as mentioned before, they dehydrate you.
[[/folder]]
