Active Manuka Honey Research. (Article 1).

Treating Burns and Scars on Dog, Cats and Horses.

The major goal in treating burns in your dog, horse or cat is to relieve the pain and heal the burn without infection or major scarring.

Article 1: What's Special about Active Manuka Honey?

For over past 19 years, honey researchers at the University of Waikato have been investigating what many local New Zealanders have accepted as common wisdom: our local manuka honey is a superior treatment for wounds and infections.

First degree burns usually don’t require any medical treatment, since the fur of your dog or cat will have protected it more than likely from being burned.

Manuka honey is gathered in New Zealand from the manuka bush, Leptospermum scoparium, which grows uncultivated throughout the country. (More recently, as a result of systematic screening of Australian honeys, a honey with the same properties has been found to be produced from Leptospermum polygalifolium, which grows uncultivated in a few parts of Australia.)

Second degree burns need to be checked by a vet if they exceed an area of more than two fists. The blisters that usually occur with second degree burns should be left alone if they look normal. The skin will start healing on its own underneath the blister. The function of the blister is to protect the new skin from infections and further damage. The only thing you can do is applying a light gauze to the blister. Then, once the blister bursts it is important to gently remove the dead skin, for example by washing it off the affected area.

After the results of my work became known through scientific journals, many people contacted the Honey Research Unit to find out what is so special about active manuka honey. A thorough and scientific response is available in articles listed on my Web site, http://www.honey.bio.waikato.ac.nz/. However, I have compiled the pertinent facts here:

• Approximately 50 reports in medical journals detail the effectiveness of honey as a wound dressing and as therapy for eye infections and diarrhea.
  
  
The new skin that formed under the blister lays open now and needs to be protected. The best way to treat the wound is applying a wound dressing under sterile gauzes. There are various wound dressings for burns available.
• Honey has an antibacterial activity, due primarily to hydrogen peroxide formed in a "slow-release" manner by the enzyme glucose oxidase present in honey, which can vary widely in potency. Some honeys are no more antibacterial than sugar, while others can be diluted more than 100-fold and still halt the growth of bacteria. The difference in potency of antibacterial activity found among the different honeys is more than 100-fold.
  
  
Active Manuka Honey has proven many pet and horse owners how fast and effective a completely natural wound dressing can help healing their animals’ second degree burns, without leaving any scarring, just beautiful new skin and fur!
• "Active manuka honey" (and its Australian equivalent) is the only honey available for sale that is tested for its antibacterial activity. It contains an additional antibacterial component found only in honey produced from Leptospermum plants: "unique manuka factor" (UMF). There is evidence that the 2 antibacterial components may have a synergistic action.
  
  
Before treating the second degree burn of your animal with Active Manuka Honey, be sure that your hands and all instruments are clean. Clip back the hair of your pet that could be in the way. If possible clean the edges of the wound.
• Unique manuka factor is not affected by the catalase enzyme present in body tissue and serum. This enzyme will break down, to some degree, the hydrogen peroxide which is the major antibacterial factor found in other types of honey. If a honey without UMF were used to treat an infection, the potency of the honey's antibacterial activity would most likely be reduced because of the action of catalase.
  
  
Now you can apply Active Manuka Honey to a sterile gauze. Then apply the gauze with the honey to the wound. Change the honey wound dressing twice a day, approximately every 12 hours.
• The enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide in honey is destroyed when honey is exposed to heat and light. But UMF is stable, so there is no concern about manuka honey losing its activity in storage.
  
  
If the burn you are treating is already infected it is recommended to change the wound dressing more frequently.
• The enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide in honey becomes active only when honey is diluted. But UMF is active in full strength honey, which will provide a more potent antibacterial action diffusing into the depth of infected tissues.
  
  
If your animal has been burned on the leg or paw you will have to use more than just one sterile gauze.
• The enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide in honey needs oxygen to be available for the reaction, so may not work under wound dressings or in wound cavities. Honey with UMF is active in all situations.
  
  
In order to keep the gauze with the wound dressing in place you can place cotton balls between the toes and wrap adhesive tape around. Then you can bandage the leg loosely for a good blood circulation.
• The enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide in honey becomes active only when the acidity of honey is neutralised by body fluids, but then the honey is diluted.
  
  
• The UMF antibacterial activity diffuses deeper into skin tissues than does the protein-digesting enzymes that are in wound fluids.
  
  
If you bandage a leg try to flex the knee to make sure that the bandage is not too tight and to assure movement of the joints.
• Honey with UMF is more effective than that with hydrogen peroxide against some types of bacteria. For example, active manuka honey with UMF is about twice as effective as other honey against Eschericihia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, the most common causes of infected wounds.
  
  

If you notice a swelling of the leg or paw, loosen the bandage. Some people use socks over the gauze or bandage to keep the dressing in place.

Many medical professionals are using active manuka honey-and getting good results-in patients with wounds that have not responded to standard treatment. For example, a successful trial of active manuka honey on unresponsive skin ulcers was recently published in the New Zealand Medical Journal.

When wrapping adhesive tape around the affected area, try to not overlap the tape. The tape should stick to your animal’s hair in order to keep the bandage in place.

In addition, staff at a large hospital in Brisbane, Australia, recently used active manuka honey as a wound dressing on a patient for whom honey without UMF had failed.

Especially after a surgery it is important to treat the healing wound properly in order to prevent an infection of the fresh scar. Treating the healing skin of your dog or horse with Manuka Oil can speed up the healing process.

None of the results being obtained clinically should be considered evidence that active manuka honey is more effective than other honey - a comparative clinical trial will be needed to establish that. Nevertheless, when asked, I recommend active manuka honey with a good level of antibacterial activity for management of infections.

Manuka tea tree oil is antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. Many pet owners trust natural Manuka Oil for their pets’ scar treatment. Manuka Oil is very soothing, strengthens the skin and has no known side effects.

Medical professionals in New Zealand use active manuka honey with a rating of 10 UMF or higher. Although good results may be obtained with lower levels of activity, there is a chance that the lower activity will not be enough to fully clear an infection. In addition, honey with a lower level of activity will not allow as much of the antibacterial elements to diffuse into infected tissue, which could mean that effective control of infection may not be achieved in deeper tissue.

Use a cotton ball and simply massage the oil onto the healing scar twice a day... [read more]

To rate the potency of antibacterial activity of honey, I devised the testing method and the UMF number. The UMF numbers come from a standard laboratory test of antibacterial activity, with honey being compared with a standard antiseptic (phenol) for potency. For example, a honey with a UMF rating of 4 would be equivalent to the antiseptic potency of 4% solution of phenol, a carbolic disinfectant; a honey with a rating of 10 would have a potency equivalent to a 10% solution of phenol. To alleviate any concern over the possible risk of introducing infection by the use of an unprocessed natural product on wounds, honey can be sterilised by gamma irradiation without loss of any of its antibacterial activity.