HONEY THERAPY IN THE TREATMENT OF HARD TO HEAL WOUNDS
When and for whom?
Honey wound therapy works well in the treatment of injuries with skin damage, burn wounds and in the case of chronic wounds, often infected with bacteria.
It happens that traditional treatment is ineffective or is significantly hindered, e.g. by bacterial infections, resistance to antibiotics or general diseases (e.g. diabetes).
Honey, thanks to its extraordinary properties, overcomes the above obstacles - hence its high efficiency in the so-called. cases"hopeless".
The honey treatment protocol developed by Centrum ProAnimal (together with a specific disinfectant, which is potassium soap) was prepared on the basis of the experience of a great Krakow veterinarian and our clinical experience.
What about medicine?
The high effectiveness of the use of honey in the treatment of wounds has been proven inmany scientific studies.
The decisive factor for the effectiveness of such therapy is the high antimicrobial activity of honey components. It is mainly due to the production of hydrogen peroxide, water content (osmotic effect), low pH (acidic environment) and the presence of phenolic compounds, bee defensin-1 and, in the case of manuka honey, methylglyoxal.
The high viscosity of honey provides effective protection of the wound from the external environment while creating a moist environment that accelerates the healing process.
If you are interested, we recommend reading the review article
from 2022 availablehere.
How it's working?
In the first phase of treatment, honey applied to the wound supports deep woundsself-cleaning of the woundfrom impurities and purulent discharge without the need for surgical intervention.
In the case of extensive wounds, surgical suturing may not be possible
or ineffective (the wound may split).
In such cases, we use the action of honey, which accelerates the wound healing process from the outside to the inside (granulation).
Effective self-closing of even very deep and extensive wounds is possible because honey has a strong biocidal effect, significantly accelerating the formation of biofilm
and tissue reconstruction.
Importantly, honey fights bacterial resistance to antibiotics! Hence, honey therapy often works well as“last resort”when previous often long treatment
was not yielding any result.
The strength of honey is also the fact that it can be used without other drugs, which allows you to consider discontinuing drugs that burden the body where their use is not necessary or even impossible.
This does not change the fact that in certain cases it can be successfully combined with pharmacotherapy to support its action.
What does the therapy look like?
Initiation of therapy requires consultation with our specialist. An in-depth interview, analysis of test results and history of previous treatment are essential elements of qualification
to the procedure. The therapist determineslegitimacythe use of honey therapy and evaluates the chances ofeffectivenessher actions.
The treatment consists in wound disinfection, drying it (sometimes proper wound preparation), applying honey and dressing. The dressing is changed every 24 hours.The treatment plan provides for 5 - 10 days of therapy.It takes place at the patient's home
and does not require the therapist's personal participation (but always takes place under his constant, remote substantive supervision).
Thanks to this, we minimize the stress of a small patient,
and the family saves time and money.
It should be emphasized that the mere use of honey isinsufficientit is necessary to use the correct disinfectant andcloseuse of the provided therapy protocol.
Type of honey and disinfectant used,
the method of washing the wound, the frequency of the procedure, the method of securing the wound and the type of dressing will largely determine the success of the therapy.
Figure taken from the above-mentioned article.
The effect of using honey therapy:
