Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I've read many things about the usage of honey to treat wounds, the most impressive that I'm aware of is its use to treat necrotic tissue. They can use it on some of the largest wounds because the honey is naturally antiseptic and allows a prolonged open wound to not catch infection, and they use laboratory bred maggots that are completely sterile and insert them into the wound. The whole thing is then bandaged up and the maggots will clean the wound of dead tissue better than any surgeon could and for much, much cheaper. After about a week the maggots should have removed all the dead tissue and your body can completely heal the wound, sometimes with very little scar tissue proportionate to the wound. I believe one of the most common uses is on motorbike fall-off accidents due to people losing huge chunks of their leg and stuff.

It's an extremely impressive treatment and exceptionally cheap and successful compared to the alternatives.



A year or two ago, there was some reporting on its effectiveness (presumably backed by a study, but I no longer recall) in limiting further peripheral tissue damage and the need for amputation, in diabetics suffering from that problem. Applied topically; not ingested.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: