Honey has a long history of medicinal use dating back thousands of years. While the health and healing properties of honey are wide and varied, it is raw honey’s antibacterial and antifungal properties that make it ideal for use on wounds, burns and infections. With its low pH and high sugar content, honey inhibits the growth of pathogens in much the same way that sugar is used to preserve jams and jellies. The hygroscopic nature of honey allow it to draw the moisture out of any bacteria or mold that are unfortunate enough to find themselves in contact with it. In this way, the bacteria found in infectious wounds are dehydrated and killed off by the application of honey. As if that was not enough, honey contains the enzyme glucose oxidase that upon contact with the skin, breaks down and slowly releases hydrogen peroxide in the process. Thus, honey provides a degree of antiseptic action that is unparalleled in the world of medicine.
When it comes to burns, raw honey is miles ahead of other treatments. In less than a minute after application, a honey poultice will stop the pain associated with even nasty burns by sealing off the wound from the air. In addition to the antibacterial action described above that prevents infection, honey keeps the burn site moist so that the typical pain associated with the changing of burn wound dressings is significantly diminished. Additionally, the typical discoloration and scarring associated with burns is greatly reduced and in many cases eliminated completely. Now if the pharmaceutical industry could manage to manufacture a treatment with the above attributes, the FDA and AMA would mandate that it be used as the primary treatment for all burn victims throughout the United States. So why do we not hear more about the miraculous effects of raw honey on wounds, burns or infections? It is because honey is a natural product, like herbs and food supplements, and as such it is unpatentable and therefore its manufacture and distribution can not be controlled and monopolized. Our capitalistic system holds so much promise, and yet contains a fatal flaw…it only produces and encourages that which makes the most profit, not what is necessarily best for society.
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