Honey for Burns Treatment

Is honey an effective remedy for burns?

Burns are quite painful at times to endure. They can happen in various degrees from 1 to 3. 1st degree is only on the surface of the skin and appear red like a mild sunburn, 2nd goes a bit deeper and cause blisters, 3rd degree burns go deep down into the fat layers of the skin and these can damage some nerves. Many of the so-called treatments used for burns are not ideal, because they in some cases cause further damage as in butter. Honey for burns treatment luckily is quite effective without doing any further harm.

Burns Present Various Issues for Treatment

The problems associated with treating burns are not unlike that of other wounds. You must first heal the damaged area of skin. Then you must also prevent infection in said area. This means an environment must exist where the wound can take benefit of the body's own repair capabilities. These conditions must also be distasteful to microorganisms that cause infections.

The Way Honey Helps Burns Heal

Honey gives burns a moist environment in which to heal. It quickly cures any infection, lessens inflammation, reduces swelling and exudation and also deodorizes the wound.

Honey speeds up healing through stimulating the re-growth of new skin, which eliminates in some cases the need of skin grafting.

The honey also minimizes scarring that so many to suffer from skin burns.

The Journal of the American Medical Association has even recommended the use of honey. Also, in World War I the doctors on the battlefields used honey to treat wounds and burns. In addition, studies report success with honey treating burns.

Studies about Honey on Burns

"The Honey Prescription: The Amazing Power of Honey As Medicine" talks about clinical trials held in India on honey for treating burns. Dr. M. Subrahmanyam started the first clinical trials for honey on dressings for burn during the early part of the 1990s. He worked at the Dr. Vaishampayan Memorial Medical College in the Department of Surgery in Maharashtra, India.

The first study compared amniotic-membrane dressing to the honey-impregnated gauze, when treating partial thickness burns. This study included sixty-four patients suffering from superficial burns. Twenty-four of them received treatment with the amniotic dressing and the other forty received honey gauze as a treatment.

The results showed the honey helped the burns heal faster than those treated with amniotic dressings did. The honey one healed on average 9.4 days compared to the amniotic ones that averaged 17.5 days to heal. This study also showed that honey more effectively diminished burn scars.

Another of Subrahmanyam's studies written up in the British Journal of Surgery points to honey offering antibacterial benefits that are better than the ones offered by SSD. This study included 104 patients suffering from partial thickness burns over less than 40 percent of their bodies split into two different groups.

One group had their burns treated with honey, while the other one had their burns treated with SSD. Results showed the honey proved more effective than the SSD for healing the burns along with preventing bacteria in the wounds. The wounds in the honey group were sterile within a week, while only 7 percent of the SSD treated wounds showed sterile within the same time period.

The end results were 87 percent of the honey treated burns healed within about 15 days compared to only 10 percent of the ones treated with SSD.

An examination of previously performed studies in 2006 discovered that non-severe small burns healed quicker treated with honey gauze than the ones treated with other dressings or antibiotic creams.

Types of Honey to Use on Burns

Even though honey is great for treating burns, do not just grab any honey from the store. There are those types that are preferred for their healing powers. Raw, manuka and Medihoney are three such types. Raw honey needs heating and straining before using just to keep it from crystallizing, allow to cool before applying.

What Kind of Burn is Honey Effective Treating?

Honey is recommended for superficial burns on the skin's top layer or the partial thick burns that involve more damage to the skin layer or deeper layers. Honey at this time is not necessarily recommended on the full thickness burns that destroy many of the skin's layers.

Not Just for Humans

Honey is not just a valid treatment for human burns. One cup of it mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of the 1/2 teaspoon of tea tree oil, 1 teaspoon of lavender essential oil, 1 teaspoon of grapefruit seed extract, and 1 tablespoon of neem oil to treat dog and even cat wounds and burns. If the animal licks any of it off, it will not hurt it.

The healing power of honey is not new to many natural healers. It was used back in ancient times, but until recently, studies were not done to prove its effectiveness in the scientific community.