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Alternative claims

DMSO: the approved use, and the open claims

One approved indication, delivered one way. Everything else attributed to it is unproven.

Hypothesis Reviewer pending Updated 2026-11-05

Author: ProperHealth editorial desk, prepared at the request of Arshad Tariq, RPh (Clarkson Pharmacy). Reviewer: pending. Editorial pieces are opinion informed by the sources listed; they are not medical advice.

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is an industrial solvent with one approved medical use in the United States: RIMSO-50, instilled into the bladder for the treatment of interstitial cystitis.1 The label states that it has not been approved as safe and effective for any other indication,2 that there is no clinical evidence of effectiveness against bacterial infection,3 and that it is not for intramuscular or intravenous injection.5 Its best-known adverse reaction is a garlic-like taste within minutes of instillation,4 with an odour that can last days.

The claims made for it

Forbidden Health and the PIMA clinic's materials attribute to DMSO an extraordinary range of effects — antiviral and antifungal action, help for cataracts, scleroderma, myasthenia gravis and fractures, pain control in lymphoma, benefit after heart attack, and the removal of heavy metals. None of these is supported by a source in our library, and the only regulator that has assessed DMSO for human use confined it to one bladder condition. The clinic cards on the cataract, cancer care, joint pain, neuropathy and coronary heart disease topics set each specific claim beside the independent evidence.

How to read this

Established: the bladder indication. Hypothesis: the rest, with no independent evidence either way in our sources. The practical boundary is the one the label draws — DMSO is a prescription product for a specific route of use, not a general tonic — and the first question for anything sold as DMSO is what else is in the bottle.

References

Each passage was checked word for word against the saved copy when this page was built.

  1. 1 DailyMed, RIMSO-50 (dimethyl sulfoxide) prescribing information: “Intravesical instillation for the treatment of interstitial cystitis.” source
  2. 2 DailyMed, RIMSO-50 (dimethyl sulfoxide) prescribing information: “RIMSO-50 ® has not been approved as being safe and effective for any other indication.” source
  3. 3 DailyMed, RIMSO-50 (dimethyl sulfoxide) prescribing information: “There is no clinical evidence of effectiveness of dimethyl sulfoxide in the treatment of bacteri” source
  4. 4 DailyMed, RIMSO-50 (dimethyl sulfoxide) prescribing information: “A garlic-like taste may be noted by the patient within a few minutes after instillation” source
  5. 5 DailyMed, RIMSO-50 (dimethyl sulfoxide) prescribing information: “NOT FOR INTRAMUSCULAR OR INTRAVENOUS INJECTION.” source