Your question is an important topic for us all to learn from.
As a nurse, wilderness medic and an herbalist, I have seen hundreds of wounds that the patient will say "just won't heal." In the vast majority of those cases, people are "dilgiently" applying antibiotic ointment every day. Multiple studies have shown that these antibiotic creams slow healing and even increase infection rates! For instance:
https://www.drugdiscoverynews.com/neosporin-may-slow-wound-healing-15294
Simple (not antibacterial) soap and water is the best thing you can do in most cases.
As for H2O2, Peroxide kills a layer of cells and slows healing. Should be reserved for non- human cleaning or as an entirely last resort in backcountry where infection is almost guaranteed and no other option is available. It is an unfortunately durable myth that it works well to clean wounds.
In the hospital, we do not use either antibiotic ointment or h2o2 with any regularity. We do, even in the hospital, use honey for very stubborn or deep and slow to heal wounds.
I make a salve that is phenomenal for stopping or preventing infection with pine sap, cedar, sagebrush, juniper and pine needles. I have seen it work miracles many many times. Even so, for most cuts I do not use anything but soap and water unless I start to suspect infection. Of course there are exceptions to this course of treatment, but wounds heal much better when they are clean, with bacterial microflora intact, and left alone (not scrubbed every day)
I hope this was helpful for all the wonderful people that visit these informative and interesting forums. Have a great day!
