Healing Wounds and other Health Conditions with Manuka Honey

Honey has been used for thousands of years to treat wounds, gastroenteritis and infections. Unfortunately, it was displaced from common usage by the advent of antibiotics in the 1940s. However, now that the widespread and rapidly increasing resistance of microbes to antibiotics has become a major global threat to health, there has been a renewed interest in the use of honey to treat infections.

It has been discovered that some honeys are better than others for treating infections. It was through scientific investigation that Manuka honey (from New Zealand) was discovered to have a unique antimicrobial component in addition to the enzymically produced hydrogen peroxide that is responsible for the antimicrobial activity of all honey. It has also been discovered that the unique antimicrobial activity of Manuka Honey is so powerful that it is effective against antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Unlike other topical antimicrobial agents used on wounds, Manuka honey does not slow the healing process by having adverse effects on the exposed wound tissue. This is considered to be a major advantage to using Manuka Honey for wound care. Clinical experience shows that active Manuka honey with high levels of this unique antibacterial activity gives rapid clearance of infection from heavily infected wounds that are not responding to other treatments, and gives rapid healing of chronic wounds.

There is also evidence showing that Manuka honey protects burns from becoming infected. Manuka Honey is now used prophylacticly on hospital patients that are at risk of acquiring infection through antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Manuka honey has a potent antibacterial action against MRSA, VRE, ESBL strains of various species, Acinetobacter baumannii, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and other species such as Pseudomonads and coagulase-negative Staphylococci that are difficult to control because of antibiotic resistance. The most common routes of infection for these bacteria, leading to fatal septicaemia in patients with a weakened immune system, are open wounds and where catheters are inserted into the body. Studies suggest the effectiveness of Manuka honey in preventing infection of catheter exit sites have given positive results.

In addition to rapidly clearing infection, Manuka honey has been demonstrated in clinical usage to have several other therapeutic actions that are of great benefit. It very rapidly causes pus and dead tissue to lift off messy wounds, so surgical debridement or the use of enzymes (which are generally too expensive to use) are not necessary to get a clean wound bed to allow healing to begin. It actively stimulates the healing process, so that rapid healing occurs and skin grafting is not necessary. It soothes inflammation and therefore decreases the exudation of serum from wounds, and decreases swelling and pain.

Manuka honey's anti-inflammatory action also hastens the healing process of wounds without the formation of a scar. This is because part of the inflammatory process is the stimulation of fibroblasts to produce scar tissue to repair the wound, and prolonged inflammation gives over-stimulation, so excessive amounts of scar tissue are produced.

One of the factors that has slowed the usage of Manuka honey in clinical practice has been the practical difficulty of handling a very sticky substance that, when it warms up to body temperature, becomes watery and runs off wounds. However, there are now products containing Manuka honey that are easy to apply to wounds. These are not only convenient to use but also increase the effectiveness of the Manuka honey on the wound. Because the water content of honey is strongly bound up with the sugar molecules, there is very little wetting of dressings applied to cover honey on a wound. Skin care products containing Manuka honey are showing good results when used on wounds, burns and dermatitis where the combination of the antibacterial activity with the moisturizing effect of Manuka honey on skin is beneficial.

Another use for Manuka honey is for the treatment of gastritis and peptic ulcers. Laboratory research has shown that the anti-inflammatory properties of Manuka honey are involved in its action, but its antibacterial action is also a factor, as the bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, is a major cause of gastritis and peptic ulcers. Laboratory testing of H. pylori has shown that its growth is halted by Manuka honey at concentrations as low as 5%, but not by any other type of honey. Manuka honey gives significant relief of stomach pain, whereas other types of honey do not. It has also been reported that Manuka honey reduces the duration of bacterial diarrhea.

For more information or to purchase Manuka Honey or Manuka Honey products, call 1-866-427-7329 or visit www.HoneymarkProducts.com.