Honey's ability to produce hydrogen peroxide is one of the main reasons for its antibacterial activity, making it ideal for treating infected wounds.
Hydrogen peroxide can kill bacteria on contact and has been widely used for that purpose. However, straight hydrogen peroxide is unstable and rapidly loses its effectiveness when exposed to air or light. Hydrogen peroxide in high concentrations can also damaged skin tissue. Therefore, the use of pure hydrogen peroxide has lost its popularity among doctors and other medical professionals.
What most people don't know is that honey has the necessary components to produce small amounts of hydrogen peroxide in a slow-release manner. This makes honey an ideal substance to use in the treatment of infected wounds and other bacterial disorders.
The slow-release mechanism in honey that produces hydrogen peroxide is a chemical reaction. Honey contains glucose and an enzyme added by honeybees called glucose oxidase. Under the right conditions, glucose oxidase has the ability to break down glucose into hydrogen peroxide.
Honey itself does not have the right conditions for this reaction to occur. To become active and begin breaking down the glucose in honey, the glucose oxidase requires a pH of 5.5 to 8.0. The pH of undiluted honey is between 3.2 and 4.5 which is far too low to activate the enzyme. Another condition is also required before the glucose oxidase becomes active. For the enzyme to break glucose down into hydrogen peroxide, a certain amount of sodium most be present.
Honey alone does not contain enough sodium to make this happen. However, skin and body fluids have relatively high pH and sodium levels. When honey comes in contact with skin or an open wound, the high pH and sodium levels activate the glucose oxidase and it begins to break down the glucose, releasing hydrogen peroxide.
"It would take a pharmaceutical company many years and billions of dollars to develop an antimicrobial product that could even come close to being as effective in treating wounds as honey," says Frank Buonanotte, CEO of Honeymark International which is a manufacturer of skin care products that contains Manuka Honey as a natural healing agent. "Even then, it is doubtful that they could create a product that is equally as effective in treating infection as honey."
Manuka Honey from New Zealand is now being used for medical purposes because it seems to contain the most amount of healing properties than any other type of honey. Manuka Honey has even been found to be effective in treating conditions such as MRSA Staph infections, where antibiotics have failed. Buonanotte says that in addition to Manuka Honey's ability to naturally produce low levels of hydrogen peroxide, it also contains unique floral nectar components that are not found in other types of honey.
Many people have lost sight of the fact that honey was used for medicinal purposes many years before modern-day medicine was invented. It is believed that honey will soon make a comeback in the medical industry as antibiotics and traditional forms of medicine become less effective against more resilient mutated bacterial strains. Unlike many pharmaceuticals, honey has been found to have no negative side effects when used for medical purposes. Medical-grade honey can also be used in addition to prescribed medication without causing any conflict.
For more information or to purchase Manuka Honey products, call 1-866-427-7329 or visit www.HoneymarkProducts.com.
Showing posts with label wound dressings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wound dressings. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Benefits of Using Manuka Honey as a Wound Dressing
Manuka Honey is becoming a popular ingredient in wound care products because of its ability to rapidly clear infection and heal wounds. The following delineates the benefits of utilizing this amazing natural resource as a viable treatment alternative to conventional wound medications.
Honey has been used as a natural wound healer for many years. However, recent discoveries have concluded that one particular kind of honey, indigenous to New Zealand, contains plant-derived healing properties that sets it apart from other types of honey. Manuka Honey's greatest asset is its antibacterial properties. Most traditional forms of medicine used for clearing infections can be damaging to skin tissue. However, Manuka Honey has been found to have no known side effects.
In addition to being an excellent source for healing infection, Manuka Honey also helps to prevent scarring. During the healing process, a wound will form a scab in an effort to prevent further blood loss. The problem is that newly forming skin can only grow below the scab. This creates a deformity as the new tissue is not even with the rest of the skin. However, the moist healing environment created by Manuka Honey helps to lift the scab, therefore, allowing for the regeneration of new skin to grow flush with the surface of the wound.
In some more serious wounds, patients notice that the wound begins to smell bad. Wounds most commonly associated with malodor include exudating wounds, chronic pressure ulcers, venous leg ulcers, diabetic/neuropathic ulcers, fungating, cancerous or malignant lesions and wounds with necrotic tissue. Wound odor is mostly due to the degradation of tissue or bacteria that release compounds and fatty acids. When a Manuka Honey-based dressing is used, the bacteria feed of the sugars in the honey and give off better smelling gases, therefore minimizing or eliminating malodor.
Manuka Honey also has powerful anti-inflammatory properties that help to relieve pain associated with wounds. Once Manuka Honey is applied to a wound, tissue inflammation and swelling is immediately reduced. Since pain is never considered a desirable experience, this could possibly be one of Manuka Honey's more favorable qualities.
Perhaps the element that has brought Manuka Honey into the spot light as of late is its ability to destroy antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as MRSA and VRE. With the widespread concern of Staph infections and the lack of treatment alternatives, Manuka Honey has come through like a ray of hope, effectively healing such conditions where antibiotics have failed. News headlines around the world have described Manuka Honey's ability to go toe-to-toe with this deadly infection. The best way to describe it is that, by osmosis, Manuka Honey draws moisture out of the bacterial cells, making it impossible for them to stay alive. This is why no bacteria has ever been able to develop a resistance to Manuka Honey, and never will.
Below is a brief recapitulation of Manuka Honey's wound healing benefits:
If the thought of applying honey directly to a wound is less desirable, a company called Honeymark has developed a First Aid Antiseptic Lotion containing Active Manuka Honey that is extremely effective in treating wounds and burns. "Honeymark's First Aid Antiseptic Lotion has all the health benefits of using Manuka Honey as a wound dressing without the sticky mess," says Frank Buonanotte, CEO of Honeymark International. "This product also has other valuable ingredients that make it extremely effective in treating seriously infected wounds, burns or minor cuts and scrapes. It's a must-have in your medicine cabinet or first aid kit"
For more information or to purchase Honeymark's First Aid Antiseptic Lotion, call 1-866-427-7329 or visit www.HoneymarkProducts.com.
Honey has been used as a natural wound healer for many years. However, recent discoveries have concluded that one particular kind of honey, indigenous to New Zealand, contains plant-derived healing properties that sets it apart from other types of honey. Manuka Honey's greatest asset is its antibacterial properties. Most traditional forms of medicine used for clearing infections can be damaging to skin tissue. However, Manuka Honey has been found to have no known side effects.
In addition to being an excellent source for healing infection, Manuka Honey also helps to prevent scarring. During the healing process, a wound will form a scab in an effort to prevent further blood loss. The problem is that newly forming skin can only grow below the scab. This creates a deformity as the new tissue is not even with the rest of the skin. However, the moist healing environment created by Manuka Honey helps to lift the scab, therefore, allowing for the regeneration of new skin to grow flush with the surface of the wound.
In some more serious wounds, patients notice that the wound begins to smell bad. Wounds most commonly associated with malodor include exudating wounds, chronic pressure ulcers, venous leg ulcers, diabetic/neuropathic ulcers, fungating, cancerous or malignant lesions and wounds with necrotic tissue. Wound odor is mostly due to the degradation of tissue or bacteria that release compounds and fatty acids. When a Manuka Honey-based dressing is used, the bacteria feed of the sugars in the honey and give off better smelling gases, therefore minimizing or eliminating malodor.
Manuka Honey also has powerful anti-inflammatory properties that help to relieve pain associated with wounds. Once Manuka Honey is applied to a wound, tissue inflammation and swelling is immediately reduced. Since pain is never considered a desirable experience, this could possibly be one of Manuka Honey's more favorable qualities.
Perhaps the element that has brought Manuka Honey into the spot light as of late is its ability to destroy antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as MRSA and VRE. With the widespread concern of Staph infections and the lack of treatment alternatives, Manuka Honey has come through like a ray of hope, effectively healing such conditions where antibiotics have failed. News headlines around the world have described Manuka Honey's ability to go toe-to-toe with this deadly infection. The best way to describe it is that, by osmosis, Manuka Honey draws moisture out of the bacterial cells, making it impossible for them to stay alive. This is why no bacteria has ever been able to develop a resistance to Manuka Honey, and never will.
Below is a brief recapitulation of Manuka Honey's wound healing benefits:
- Antibacterial properties rapidly clear infection
- Causes scabs to lift, avoiding the formation of scars
- Eliminates malodor in more serious wounds
- Kills antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as MRSA
- Heals wounds quickly
- Repairs damaged skin and regenerates new skin growth
- Anti-inflammatory properties reduce pain
- No negative side effects
If the thought of applying honey directly to a wound is less desirable, a company called Honeymark has developed a First Aid Antiseptic Lotion containing Active Manuka Honey that is extremely effective in treating wounds and burns. "Honeymark's First Aid Antiseptic Lotion has all the health benefits of using Manuka Honey as a wound dressing without the sticky mess," says Frank Buonanotte, CEO of Honeymark International. "This product also has other valuable ingredients that make it extremely effective in treating seriously infected wounds, burns or minor cuts and scrapes. It's a must-have in your medicine cabinet or first aid kit"
For more information or to purchase Honeymark's First Aid Antiseptic Lotion, call 1-866-427-7329 or visit www.HoneymarkProducts.com.
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