honey
introduction
Honey found its way into medicine several thousand years ago and was used, among other things, in ancient times to treat wounds.
Honey supports the healing of cuts and burns and has antibacterial effects. In addition, honey can inhibit inflammation, alleviate allergies and be used in nutrition and gastrointestinal problems such as constipation.
Honey has also found its way into conventional medicine today. However, instead of using conventional honey, sterile honey specially made for medical purposes is used.
Indications for the use of honey
The most important indication for the use of honey in medicine is to aid wound healing.
The most common application is in the treatment of dry hands, which, strictly speaking, can also represent a wound.
Read more about dry hands at: Dry skin on the hands
Nowadays, countless creams contain honey and are particularly widely used in medical facilities. When applied regularly, these creams also protect against drying out of the hands.
Another indication for honey in the future may be chronic inflammation of the paranasal sinuses, as this is where the responsible germs are killed by the antibacterial effect.
For this reason, another indication for honey is its use in pediatrics or in cancer patients. Here it can happen that the immune system is not fully functional. This is supported to a certain extent by the honey. However, honey should not be used in children under one year of age.
Honey for improved wound healing
To date it has not been conclusively explained why honey has a positive effect on wound healing.
It is clear, however, that this helps well and reliably. The use of medicinal honey makes sense and achieves good results, especially in the case of long-standing and non-healing wounds.
The use of honey also makes sense in patients with a restricted immune system in order to support the immune system or to prevent colonization with germs.
Honey for tonsillitis
The use of honey also makes sense in the case of tonsillitis. Although this is not a wound, harmful bacteria can accumulate here and cause the typical signs of inflammation such as pain, swelling and redness.
If the honey is either applied locally or consumed continuously, for example dissolved in tea, the honey can also develop its bactericidal or antibacterial effect in the area of the almonds and support the body and the immune system in the process of healing.
Effect of honey
To date it has not been conclusively explained why honey has a positive effect on wound healing.
It is clear, however, that this helps well and reliably. Every honey contains traces of various vitamins. However, these are so small that their presence could not be reconciled with the improved wound healing.
The sugar contained in honey also does not play a decisive role in wound healing, although it is largely made up of it.
Nevertheless, the sugar also has a small part in the antibacterial effect. This is due to the fact that the high proportion of sugar and the low proportion of water remove water from the bacterium.
Rather, the hydrogen peroxide, which is continuously produced in honey and has a bactericidal, i.e. deadly effect on bacteria, plays an important role. It thus prevents or reduces the colonization or incorrect colonization of wounds.
It is also believed that some other ingredients of honey are involved in improving wound healing. If there is a blockage, the high sugar content plays the important role in contrast to wound healing. Here, too, honey has the property of attracting water in order to compensate for the relative lack of water. This leads to the accumulation of water in the intestines and ultimately to the resolution of the constipation.
Side effects of honey
If honey is used correctly, no side effects are usually to be expected. The honey itself generally has no side effects.
However, some side effects can result from various causes and have unpleasant consequences. If the honey is consumed in excess, it can also have a laxative effect, as with large consumption of sugar.
If this is not desired, this is also a side effect. The mechanism on which this is based is analogous to the mechanism described above. In addition, if the honey is consumed in excess, it has an impact on body weight as the body stores and stores large amounts of sugar.
Furthermore, the use of normal, non-medicinal honey can lead to contamination. If this is used to promote wound healing, this can produce exactly the opposite effect and contaminate the wound. Colonization with harmful bacteria is also possible.
Application forms of honey
The forms of application of honey are not very numerous. On the one hand, the honey can be mixed in creams. This cream is simply applied to the skin and distributed with the help of the hands. This must take effect for a total of a few minutes. If necessary, the process can be repeated several times.
If the honey is used to improve wound healing, it can be purchased in jars in its pure form. The chewy mass can either be eaten or applied to a wound or bandage. In any case, the wound comes into direct contact with the honey.
Honey can also be consumed dissolved in tea. This brings relief from colds and also supports the recovery process. However, this is usually not medicinal honey.
When should honey not be given?
Despite many other recommendations and hints, one should make sure that honey is not always given to everyone to eat.
Eating honey can even pose a mortal danger to children who are younger than one year old.
This is due to the fact that spores of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum can sometimes survive under the most adverse conditions in honey and can enter the gastrointestinal tract of an infant through the mouth. This is where the production of botulinum toxin or botox takes place, which can lead to death due to a lack of immune system maturity.
It should also be noted that honey is not a vegan product and is therefore not suitable for people who follow a vegan diet.
Dosage of honey
The dosage of honey is very different and has to be changed from person to person or from case to case. The dose depends, among other things, on the size of the wound or the degree of blockage.
As a general rule, large wounds need a larger amount of honey. Since the production is very strictly regulated, the quality of the honey should be constant. This is different from some other natural products. All in all, the opinion of the attending physician should be observed.
Price of honey
The price of medicinal honey does not vary very much. Only the amount can have an influence. The price ranges between 30 and 120 euros, depending on the quantity.
If you use a hand cream that contains honey, the price is significantly lower. The cheapest products are available from around two euros. Depending on the brand and quantity, this can increase a little, but does not exceed the price of ten euros.
Alternatives to honey
As an alternative to medical honey, in contrast to the natural product, conventional medicine can be used.
There are various dressing materials and wound dressings that have been developed for wounds that are difficult to heal.
These can contain silver, for example, and also support wound healing.
As an alternative to hand creams that contain honey, hand creams with, for example, urea can be used. In addition to honey, there are numerous other laxatives that can be used to treat constipation.
