Practical effectiveness of honey application in the management of wounds and burns

Andrei Zbuchea, MD, PhD,

Department of Plastic Surgery, District Emergency Hospital, Ploiesti, Romania

Abstract

Acute and chronic wounds are an important public health problem, due to the spread in the
population, to the somatic and psychic effects, to the social and economic implications. Currently
there are a variety of products as well as a lot of research and studies that aim to highlight the
most appropriate solutions. In general, the therapeutic methods for wounds and burns are
examined in the direction of two major lines of action that can be interconnected, anti-infectious
action and wound healing action. In this regard, considering the financial implications, the
effectiveness and the availability of product, it is useful to consider honey, a remedy used since
ancient times to treat various wounds and whose remarkable properties have been highlighted in
recent times through research and scientific studies. Especially the anti-infectious properties of
honey, without the development of microbial resistance, are particularly useful in the present
times, of bacterial multiresistance to antibiotics and of increasingly limited financial access to
antibiotics of last generation. The administration of honey causes a lot of effects, which are
favorable for wound healing: antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-edematous and antiexudative,
antioxidant; free radicals control; providing moist local environment by viscosity of honey and
drawing fluids through osmosis; debridement of the wound; increasing the rate of healing and
nourishing action in the wound. Resistance to honey application in wound therapy due to lack of
standardization and to its sticky and fluid nature, can be overcome now by the production and
marketing of medicinal products based on honey, licensed and approved for the topical treatment
of wounds. Currently there are several trademarks (L-Mesitran, Activon, HoneySoft, Manuka
Health, Medihoney, MelMax, MelDra etc.) and a wide range of sterilized products containing
honey, and registered as medical devices available in the market. Next, practical effectiveness of
medicinal honey has been highlighted in a lot of patients in the Department of Plastic Surgery,
District Emergency Hospital of Ploiesti, Romania, by monitoring the clinical local evolution of
burns and other wounds. Applied medicinal honey exerted a quickly favorable action on healing
of burns and other types of wounds, sometimes in combination with surgical treatment, being
applied in these cases before or after surgery. Further clinical studies are necessary to establish
the best indications, methods and forms of administration of medicinal honey, sometimes in
conjunction with other natural products, such as propolis, beeswax and volatile oils.

Keywords: honey application, burns treatment, wound healing, effectiveness