Colloidal silver consists of tiny silver particles suspended in liquid. In 1999 the Food and Drug Administration issued a ruling that products with silver were neither safe or effective. While liquid silver ingested as a dietary supplement may have no known health benefit, silver has been used medicinally for generations to treat ailments topically. Although modern antibiotics have replaced the use of liquid silver for many of these purposes, it is nevertheless still used from time to time.
Newborn Conjunctivitis
Neonatal conjunctivitis occurs when a newborn passed through the birth canal of a mother infected with gonorrhea or chlamydia. To prevent the blindness that could occur from these diseases, doctors once routinely administered liquid silver eyedrops to newborn eyes. While antibiotic drops are more commonly used today for this same purpose, some still use silver drops.
Skin Conditions
Many of today's over-the-counter wart and corn removal treatments involve the use of salycic acid. Patient.co.UK, however, recommends a silver nitrate pencil-like tool to remove these irritating skin lesions. Because silver nitrate is caustic, it can erode warts and corns by causing skin layers to shed.
Burn Treatment
Another drug, silver sulfadiazine, can be used to treat burns. According to a 2004 study appearing in the "Journal of Wound Care," a wound dressing containing silver helped the second-degree burn wounds of over half of the study's 41 subjects to suitably heal.
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