Tichenor was born in Ohio County, Kentucky, on April 17, 1837. Tichenor served as a surgeon for the military of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, and experimented with the use of alcohol as an antiseptic on wounds. He was badly wounded in the leg in 1863 and amputation was recommended, but he insisted on treating his wounds with an alcohol based solution of his own devising, and successfully healed and regained the use of his leg.
His potential reputation as a humanitarian was no doubt clouded by his fierce regional loyalty; Tichenor insisted that his techniques be used only on injured Confederates, never on Yankee prisoners.
After the war he started bottling Dr. Tichenor's Patent Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana; the formula, consisting of alcohol, oil of peppermint and arnica, was originally marketed as useful for a wide variety of complaints, to be used both internally and externally, for man and beast. The company producing this liquid was incorporated in 1905 and is still in existence, though the recommended uses are now more modest, principally as mouthwash and topical antiseptic.
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