Honey as a Dressing for Wounds, Burns, and Ulcers (Part 4).

Honey is made up of 35 percent protein and contains half of all the amino acids, and is a highly concentrated source of many essential nutrients. Honey contains large amount of some minerals, B-complex vitamins, and vitamins C, D, and E.

Because honey is derived from the nectar of flowers and, unlike refined sugar, consists of various sugars that enter the blood stream at different times. It therefore has less effect on blood sugar levels than refined sugar.

Honey as a Dressing for Wounds, Burns, and Ulcers: A Brief Review of Clinical Reports and Experimental Studies.

Evidence of Effectiveness: Clinical Study.

What was effectively a form of cross-over trial was conducted in a study of 59 patients with recalcitrant wounds and ulcers, 47 of which had been treated for what clinicians deemed a "sufficiently long time" (1 month to 2 years) with conventional treatment (such as Eusol toilet and dressings of Acriflavine, Sofra-Tulle, or Cicatrin, or systemic and topical antibiotics) with no signs of healing, or the wounds were increasing in size.

Honey has been used as a remedy for everything from arthritis and asthma, to burns, constipation, hay fever to hemorrhoids, migraine, and shingles, from varicose ulcers to battle wounds. One of the powerful benefits of honey was that it could ward off infections and speed healing.

The wounds were of varied aetiology, such as Fournier's gangrene, burns, cancrum oris and diabetic ulcers, traumatic ulcers, decubitus ulcers, sickle cell ulcers and tropical ulcers.

Microbiological examination of swabs from the wounds showed that the 51 wounds with bacteria present became sterile within 1 week and the others remained sterile.

Honey has bactericidal, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antibiotic, antifungal and antibacterial. Honey's high sugar content kills many kinds of bacteria, including some antibiotic-resistant germs. Honey also forms a moist environment, which speeds healing of wounds and minimizes scarring.

In one of the cases, a Buruli ulcer, treatment with honey was discontinued after 2 weeks because the ulcer was rapidly increasing in size. The outcomes of the 58 other cases were reported as "showed remarkabl e improvement following topical application of honey".

Some general observations reported for the outcomes from honey treatment of these recalcitrant wounds were that sloughs, necrotic and gangrenous tissue separated so that they could be lifted off painlessly, within 2 - 4 days in Fournier's gangrene, cancrum oris and decubitus ulcers (but it took much longer in other types).

A study by Robert Bloomfield, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reports, "Applied every 2 to 3 days under a dry dressing, honey promotes healing of ulcers and burns better than any other local application. It can also be applied to other surface wounds, including cuts and abrasions..."

Sloughs and necrotic tissue were rapidly replaced with granulation tissue and advancing epithelialisation. Surrounding oedema subsided, weeping ulcers dehydrated, and foul-smelling wounds were rendered odourless within 1 week. Burn wounds treated early healed quickly, not becoming colonised by bacteria.

Heals abrasions, skin rashes and burns by drawing excess water from the tissues and reducing swelling. Honey also contains a germ-killing substance called inhibine, which helps prevent infections. Spread the honey directly on the wound and cover with a sterile bandage.

A similar study, but with less detail given, was carried out on 40 patients, half of which had been treated with another antiseptic which had failed. The wounds were of mixed aetiology: surgical, accidental, infective, trophic, and burns; the average size of the wounds was 57 cm2. One third of the wounds were purulent, the rest were red with a whitish coat.

As a moisturizer - smooth a small amount of honey lightly over the skin; easily remove later with splashes of cold water or comfortable warm water. It will leave your skin baby soft.

The number of microorganism isolates from the wounds dropped from 48 to 14 after two weeks of treatment. Seven of the patients had necrotic tissue excised after treatment with honey, and three of these had skin grafts.

For relief of asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory ailments -honey is an outstanding household remedy that can be used in combination with various medicinal herbs. For relief of coughs and wheezing associated with bronchitis or other minor respiratory ailments, mix 1 teaspoon of finely chopped fresh thyme in a little honey. Take the mixture as needed to soothe inflamed lungs and airways... [read more]

It was noted that the honey delimited the boundaries of the wounds and cleansed the wounds rapidly to allow this. Of the 33 patients treated only with honey dressings, 29 were healed successfully, with good quality healing, in an average time of 5 - 6 weeks. Of the four cases where successful healing was not achieved, two were attributed to the poor general quality of the patients who were suffering from immunodepression, one was withdrawn from treatment with honey because of a painful reaction to the honey, and one burn remained stationary after a good initial response.