6 Problem Solvers in Your Doctor's Medicine Cabinet

Don't Bother With: Antibiotic Ointment

Blackwelder says patients tell him that Neosporin is their go-to for everything from a hangnail to a shaving cut to a blister. But constantly exposing the skin to neomycin, one of the active ingredients in most antibiotic ointments, can lead to an allergic reaction over time. "People will then use the ointment and assume the resulting redness comes from the wound, when it's actually the neomycin affecting their skin." He says that plain old soap and water work just as well to clean and disinfect minor wounds.