The Differences Between Nano Silver & Colloidal Silver

If you want to make the switch to silver-based health and wellness products, you have a lot of options in front of you. Colloidal silver has been around for a while, earning a reputation as a safe and effective antibacterial solution. Nano silver is newer, and a lot of people are only recently discovering the benefits it boasts.

While both utilize silver to kill bacteria, they do it in slightly different ways. One is a lot more effective than the other, and if you’re looking to destroy a lot of bacteria, nano silver is probably going to work out better for you.

How Silver Works to Kill Bacteria

Elemental silver likes to steal electrons. It has a perfect open space to scoop one right up. 

When a silver particle comes into contact with a bacteria cell, it takes an electron away from the bacterial cell wall. This loss of an electron weakens the cell wall, damaging the bacteria and shortening its lifespan. Each silver particle that comes along will take away another electron until the cell wall implodes.

While this process is proven to work, it’s very slow. With each silver particle only stealing one electron, you’ll need more silver than bacteria to effectively stop the spread of that bacteria. That’s why plain silver is only minimally effective. It would take dozens of repeated applications or uses of silver to effectively stop bacteria from causing illness or infection. 

Other types of silver, like nano silver and colloidal silver, are engineered to be more effective than traditional silver at destroying bacteria in one go. 

Why is Silver Better Than Other Antibacterial Ingredients?

Many antibacterial agents are harmful for your body. Solutions you use to sanitize your home will often come with warnings stating that it’s dangerous to get them in your eyes or on your skin. Many of them also create fumes that are toxic to breathe in. 

Antibacterial ingredients intended to be applied topically or used orally are technically safe, but they come with their downsides. Alcohol is the prime example. The alcohol that makes your hand sanitizer works often dries out your hands, stealing away all the moisture and leaving you with cracked skin. 

When you use an alcohol-based mouthwash, this irritation occurs to the soft tissue inside of your mouth. If you have sensitive teeth or gums, you might dread using mouthwash because the sting is jolting and unpleasant.

Alcohol will kill more than just bacteria. It kills healthy microorganisms and can upset the balance of good bacteria that your body needs to fight infections. These good bacteria help the mouth and the gut function. They help you digest food, synthesize vitamins, break down your medications, and manage your levels of bad bacteria.

When you’ve killed everything, there’s no balance anymore. Your body has to work hard to generate more good bacteria to restore that balance. 

If bad bacteria enter the space before the good bacteria have returned, you can ultimately make the problem worse. The bad bacteria will have an advantage, and your body might not be able to catch up. This creates a situation where you’re heavily dependent on sterilizing your body, rather than allowing it the chance to protect itself. 

There’s also topical antibiotic ointments used to treat small wounds at home. These antibiotic ointments are generally great at killing bad bacteria and preventing the infection of open cuts. The only problem is that they rely on antibiotics, and overuse of antibiotics can cause resistance. Bacteria become smarter and stronger, and even the most common of infections become more difficult to treat. 

Some of the ingredients in topical antibiotic ointments are also known to cause contact dermatitis when applied. People think they’re treating a wound, only to wind up with a rash that exacerbates the problem.

Since silver is neither a sanitizing agent nor an antibiotic, it isn’t known to cause any complications. It’s generally very well-tolerated and safe, and shows no evidence of interfering with the body’s necessary processes.

What is Nano Silver and How Does it Work?

Nano silver particles are very tiny particles of specially treated silver. Ag404 silver, the type of silver engineered with nano silver technology, is significantly boosted. The core of each silver particle is coated with this Ag404 silver, and this coating allows each particle to steal thousands of electrons from bacterial cell walls. 

This makes one nano silver treatment the equivalent of thousands of traditional silver treatments. 

What is Colloidal Silver and How Does it Work?

Colloidal silver products are usually liquids containing small silver particles that are intended to be ingested. These products claim to kill bacteria, among a laundry list of (often unsubstantiated) other claims.  

The theory behind ingesting silver is weak, and many health organizations question the practice. Colloidal silver will kill the bacteria in the stomach and intestines, many of which should not actually be eliminated. 

Large amounts of silver are unsafe to take by mouth. Accidental ingestion of small amounts of silver is normal and may not cause harm. The body can process and eliminate very small nano silver particles if they were accidentally swallowed. Colloidal silver, especially if taken daily, cannot give its users the same assurances. 

Ingesting too much colloidal silver can cause a condition called argyria. Argyria develops when the body’s tissues develop large deposits of silver. The skin turns visibly blue, and the condition is irreversible. 

Which is Better?

From the perspective of safety and proven results, nano silver wins out by far. 

Nano silver has been extensively studied in topical preparations and oral care products. Participants never reported any side effects like argyria or a loss of important gut bacteria. Nano silver’s nature is to be small, highly effective, and easy for the body to process in the event that small amounts are inadvertently ingested.

Since nano silver is thousands of times more effective than other types of silver treatments, users also require less nano silver to achieve significant results. This is another factor that makes nano silver users far less susceptible to any potential side effects. 

Switching to Nano Silver Products

If you’re interested in swapping out your current oral care products for oral care products containing nano silver, you might be surprised to learn of the benefits you’ll experience. You may never want to go back!

Nano Silver Toothpaste

Nano silver can be used as a natural bacteria fighting ingredient in toothpaste. This is an improvement over all other toothpastes, because toothpastes were never designed to kill bacteria. That was never the purpose of the product.

Toothpaste is designed to help scrub bacteria off of the teeth and gums, trap them in a lathery froth, and make them easy to spit out. Its primary focus is rebuilding the enamel of the teeth through the use of fluoride or other minerals. Killing germs was never really a part of the agenda.

Very few toothpastes contain ingredients like triclosan, which some toothpaste manufacturers claim can act as an effective antibacterial agent. The FDA often disagrees with these companies, regulating their claims and sometimes refusing them the ability to stock their triclosan toothpastes on store shelves.

Nano silver isn’t subject to the same regulations. Hundreds of studies show that nano silver is safe and highly effective for managing the bacteria responsible for causing common dental ailments like tooth decay and gum disease. 

Nano Silver Mouthwash

Nano silver mouthwash replaces drying and irritating alcohol with a gentler and more effective alternative. Nano silver mouthwash is used the same way as traditional mouthwash, but doesn’t damage your mouth’s natural biofilm.  

Your mouth creates a protective barrier around your teeth and gums to prevent unwanted bacterial intruders from setting up shop. Bacteria and alcohol can eat away at this biofilm, leaving your teeth vulnerable to erosion and attack. 

Nano silver is able to safely destroy bacteria resting within this biofilm without removing the film itself.

Topical Nano Silver Treatments

Doctors and hospitals sometimes use wound dressings infused with nano silver to keep wounds clean and sterile. You may not be able to purchase these dressings yourself, but you can purchase topical ointments infused with nano silver to treat minor burns, cuts, and scrapes at home. 

The Takeaway

Colloidal silver never proved to be the innovation it was intended to be. Silver isn’t meant to be eaten or consumed in large quantities on a daily basis. 

Nano silver is much safer and easier for the body to use, boasting a significant enhancement of its antibacterial effect that allows maximum benefits for a minimal amount of silver. If you aren’t sure which silver treatment is right for you, nano silver is likely the answer. 

 

Sources:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/14598-probiotics

https://www.verywellhealth.com/should-i-use-neosporin-on-my-cut-1298910

https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/argyria-overview#1