Honey To Speed Wound Healing (and reduce scarring!)

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You already know I love honey to ease seasonal allergy symptoms… this pic shows the honey lollipops I love to make… and literally my son’s allergy complaints are non-existent this year.

And you know I scour the medical literature on your behalf to bring you all the positive, uplifting, cutting edge and natural health advice possible… (like how chocolate is great for brain and heart health! Yes sir! Give me another!)

So I’ve got something else easy and natural that is proven to work, even in the cynical and cold/calculating world of medicine… honey stood up as a wound healing champ!

Findings that were recently published on April 12, 2012 in the International Wound Journal show that when honey was used on all types of wounds, it:

  • promoted healing
  • minimized necrosis
  • minimized the amount of skin that sloughed off the wound
  • reduced wound size
  • decreased affected area around wound

Not only did it help speed wound healing, but we aren’t talking in just a handful of wounds. I’d be happy to use honey as a topical dressing even if it only had a small chance of helping… but it actually made a measurable improvement in over 84% of wounds!!!!

We are talking:

  • post operative wounds
  • general skin wounds
  • infections
  • burns
  • ulcers
  • pressure sores and more!

Honey has well-known antimicrobial benefits, doesn’t spoil, is easy to have on hand and is portable (no refrigeration required!) so it really makes perfect sense to use as a secondary wound dressing in children older than 12 months old.

First be sure to flush out any wound with lots of water… for a long period of time. Then, depending on wound type you may consider a topical antihistamine, anti-inflammatory, or antibacterial dressing, and then honey. Or maybe not, because honey does have those properties as well! So for very minor wounds I would feel encouraged to go with deep cleansing and then honey as a dressing, and having deeper or larger wounds evaluated by a physician.

Because honey is so safe and so effective for so many different types of wounds… and because it speeds healing and decreases the amount of skin that is affected by the wound, I am pretty confident that honey would reduce the appearance of scarring as well.

So for post operative wounds or acne infections or stretch marks or injuries that you want to minimize scarring in… bring on the honey!

Sweet news, indeed! xoxo, Laura