Wednesday, July 22, 2009

New Bandages Use Healing Honey

New Generation of Bandages
By Roxanne Stein, WPTV, 7/15/2009

Wound infections happen when bacteria enter a break in the skin. Since we already have large numbers of bacteria on our skin, a wound simply gives them a place to enter and reproduce. The rapid proliferation of bacteria prevents skin from healing. Open sores, large burns and bite wounds are more prone to infection than other types of wounds like cuts, tears and punctures (Source: Physicians' Desktop Reference). When infection persists, some wounds become chronic. Treating chronic wounds cost an estimated $5 billion to $10 billion each year, according to a recent JAMA article.

Healing Honey: The Medihoney bandage is made from a seaweed-based material full of manuka honey, a potent type of honey that is helpful in killing germs and speeding up the healing process. The dressing speeds up healing because bacteria find it hard to live and replicate within the honey due to honey's ability to suck up water and its high concentration of enzymes. Manuka honey can be found in Australia and New Zealand in the hives of certain bees that collect nectar from manuka. The Medihoney bandage was created in 2007 and has been shown to be effective in healing leg ulcers, second-degree burns, diabetic foot ulcers as well as wounds from diabetes, metastasis disease and cancer…

1 comment:

Douglas Joyce, D.O. Vein Specialist said...

This is very interesting information for the healing of leg ulcers. As a vein treatment physician however, readers should be advised that leg ulcers can be a sign of serious venous disease and should be evaluated by a vein treatment specialist. Patients with leg ulcers should use self care cautiously. More information including leg ulcer featured cases is available on my website.