New research on honey as a topical wound treatment

Honey has been used in wound care since ancient times and over the past decade there has been a resurgent interest in honey as a wound treatment.

A review published this week has found that natural honey heals burns more quickly than standard dressings. The new research, published by the Cochrane Collaboration, looked at 19 trials including 2554 participants. The authors concluded that honey may help improve healing times in mild to moderate superficial and partial thickness burns compared with some conventional dressings. However, honey dressings, used alongside compression therapy, did not significantly increase leg ulcer healing at 12 weeks, and there was insufficient evidence to guide clinical practice for other types of wounds.

Reference

Jull AB, Rodgers A, Walker N. Honey as a topical treatment for wounds. The Cochrane Collaboration, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2008.

Further information

Waikato Honey Research Unit

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