Using honey to cure infections?

Using honey to cure infections?

Honey has been used  to treat various conditions, including wounds, burns, skin ulcers, and scratches. Today, researchers are discovering powerful antimicrobial properties in a unique variety of honey made by bees who collect nectar from a specific flower native to New Zealand. This unique honey is called "Manuka Honey" and is now used as the main ingredient in various health products due to its incredible healing properties.

Skin ulcers

Although honey was used as a medicine thousands of years ago, it lost its popularity as a dressing when antibiotics were invented during World War II. However, new research is bringing this natural remedy back into medical use today, particularly with the increase in staph infections and the discovery of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.

Manuka honey helps wounds in several ways. Its  provides a protective barrier around the wound. The hydrogen peroxide it contains is slowly released and kills any bacteria that may be in the injury. Manuka honey also reduces inflammation and speeds up the growth of healthy tissue. It even makes wounds smelly. Scientists believe that this could be because bacteria in wounds give off smelling gas when they eat the sugar in honey. Patients who use honey dressings on their wounds report having less pain, loss of wound fluid, and scarring.

The unique bactericidal properties of Manuka honey come from the nectar of the flowers of the tea tree (Leptospermum), which grows wild in New Zealand. This antibacterial component is known as the "Unique Manuka Factor" or more generally as UMF. In clinical studies, Manuka honey has been shown to destroy MRSA and cure staph infections where antibiotics have failed. This is of growing interest in the medical community as cases of antibiotic-resistant bacteria plague our hospitals and organizations. Manuka Honey has worked on very desperate instances in which nothing else has worked.

To make manuka honey, beekeepers place their hives near tea trees so the bees can collect their nectar. As the Manuka tree is native to New Zealand and parts of Australia, this type of honey is a staple food.

Previous studies have not found any adverse side effects from the medicinal use of Manuka honey, either internally or topically, on the skin.