July 31, 2024

Is Manuka Honey Good for Burns?
Honey has been cherished for its healing properties for over 4,000 years. 

In ancient Egypt, honey was commonly used for wound care, and in ancient Greece, Hippocrates, the father of medicine, recommended it for wound healing and scar treatment, praising its cleansing and healing benefits.

Modern research supports these ancient claims, showing that Manuka honey has remarkable antibacterial and healing properties that are effective in treating burns and wounds.

Let’s start by looking at the different types of burns and how Manuka honey can support the healing process.

Types of Burns

Burns can be caused by various factors, including thermal, radiation, chemical, or electrical contact. Each type affects the skin and underlying tissues in different ways.

1. Thermal Burns

Thermal burns occur when heat sources such as hot metals, scalding liquids, steam, or flames raise the temperature of the skin and underlying tissues. This intense heat leads to cell death or charring, damaging the epidermis and potentially deeper layers like the dermis and subcutis. These burns are common in kitchen accidents and fire-related incidents and can cause significant pain, swelling, and tissue damage.

2. Radiation Burns

Radiation burns result from prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun or other radiation sources like X-rays. This type of burn damages skin cells, leading to inflammation, redness, and sometimes blistering. If not properly treated, radiation burns can cause long-term skin issues such as scarring or an increased risk of skin cancer. The damage typically affects the epidermis but can penetrate deeper depending on the exposure level.

3. Chemical Burns

Chemical burns are caused by strong acids, alkalies, detergents, or solvents coming into contact with the skin or eyes. These substances cause a chemical reaction that damages the skin and underlying tissues. Chemical burns can occur in industrial workplaces, laboratories, or even at home when handling cleaning agents. They can lead to immediate pain, redness, blistering, and long-term tissue damage if not promptly neutralized and treated.

4. Electrical Burns

Electrical burns occur when an electrical current passes through the body, whether from alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC). These burns can cause significant internal damage, affecting muscles, nerves, and blood vessels, in addition to visible burns on the skin’s surface. The path of the current through the body can lead to severe complications and often requires immediate medical attention to address both external and internal injuries.

Understanding the type of burn is crucial for determining the appropriate treatment and care. Now, let’s look at what happens to your skin when it burns and how it heals.

What Happens to Your Skin When It Burns?

When your skin burns, the damage progresses through its layers, starting with the outermost layer, the epidermis

The epidermis is a thin, protective barrier. Its outermost sublayer, the stratum corneum, contains keratin, which keeps body fluids in and external substances out. Burns damage this layer, compromising its protective function and affecting keratinocytes, the cells moving toward the surface to replace the stratum corneum. 

Burns can also damage the basal layer, where new skin cells are generated, impairing the skin's ability to regenerate and causing pigmentation changes.

If the burn penetrates deeper, it reaches the dermis, the middle skin layer. The dermis houses blood vessels, lymph vessels, hair follicles, sweat glands, collagen bundles, fibroblasts, and nerves. Burns in this layer cause severe pain, swelling, and potential loss of sensation. Damage to blood and lymph vessels increases infection risk and impairs circulation.

Severe burns may extend into the subcutis, the deepest layer, composed of collagen and fat cells. This layer conserves body heat and acts as a shock absorber. Damage here results in significant heat loss and vulnerability to trauma, complicating the healing process.

The Power of Manuka Honey for Burns

Doctors widely recognize manuka honey for its effectiveness in treating burns. Unlike many traditional medications, it has no recorded antibacterial resistance, making it a safe and reliable option for burn care. Here are some properties of Manuka honey that can contribute to healing.

1. Acidic pH which promotes healing

Manuka honey has an acidic pH between 3.2 and 4.5, ideal for treating burns. This acidity is crucial for several reasons:

  1. It encourages oxygen release: The acidic environment promotes the release of oxygen from hemoglobin in the blood, which is essential for healing burned tissues. Increased oxygen levels in the wound area accelerate cell repair and regeneration.
  2. It reduces protease activity: Burns often elevate wound pH to an alkaline level, which increases the activity of proteases—enzymes that break down proteins and impair healing. By lowering the wound pH to a more acidic level, Manuka honey decreases protease activity, thereby protecting new tissue and supporting faster recovery.

2. Sugar has an osmotic effect

The high sugar content in Manuka honey creates a powerful osmotic effect that is particularly beneficial for burn treatment. Here’s how it works:

  1. Reduces swelling: The sugar in Manuka honey draws water out of damaged tissues. This process, known as osmosis, helps reduce burn area swelling. By pulling excess fluid away from the tissue, the honey alleviates pressure and pain, promoting a more comfortable healing environment.
  2. Encourages lymphatic flow: By drawing fluid out of the damaged tissue, Manuka honey encourages the flow of lymph, a crucial component in the body’s healing process. Lymph carries nutrients, oxygen, and immune cells to the wound site, aiding in repairing and regenerating damaged tissues.
  3. Dehydrates bacterial cells: The osmotic effect also pulls water out of bacterial cells present in the wound. This dehydration inhibits bacterial growth and multiplication, reducing the risk of infection. The high sugar concentration essentially creates an environment that is hostile to bacteria but conducive to healing.
  4. Facilitates autolytic debridement: Manuka honey promotes autolytic debridement, a natural process where the body breaks down and removes dead or damaged tissue. The moist environment created by the honey’s osmotic action pulls lymphatic fluid from deeper tissues, which helps in the automatic removal of necrotic tissue and pus. This process cleanses the wound and prepares it for the formation of healthy new tissue.

3. Antibacterial properties

Manuka honey has unique non-peroxide antibacterial activity and is effective against bacteria commonly found in burns, including antibiotic-resistant strains like MRSA and VRE. Research by Dr. Peter Molan highlighted that Manuka honey retains its antibacterial properties even under adverse conditions. 

4. Immunostimulant compounds

Manuka honey contains flavonoids and phenolic acids, which are crucial in promoting tissue growth and reducing inflammation in burn wounds. These compounds help control inflammation and prevent further tissue damage by scavenging free radicals.

5. High viscosity

Manuka honey’s thick consistency forms a protective barrier over burn wounds, shielding them from microbial infection and keeping the area moist. This moisture retention is essential for the healing process. 

Honey vs. Conventional Treatment for Burns

Manuka honey is commonly compared against conventional treatments for burn wounds due to it’s potent antibacterial resistant proper, and it has shown promising results. 

1. Silver sulfadiazine vs. honey study

A study compared the effectiveness of honey dressings versus silver sulfadiazine (SSD) dressings in 108 burn patients treated over five years. Fifty-one patients received honey dressings, while 57 were treated with SSD.

  • Healing duration: The honey group averaged 18.16 days to heal, while the SSD group took 32.68 days.
  • Sterilization: All wounds treated with honey became sterile within 21 days, compared to 36.5% for SSD. Wounds treated within 1 hour with honey became sterile in less than 7 days, unlike the SSD group.
  • Overall outcomes: 81% of the honey group experienced complete healing, compared to 37% in the SSD group.

"The average healing duration was 18.16 and 32.68 days for the honey and SSD group, respectively. Wounds of all patients reporting within 1 hour of burns became sterile with the honey dressing in less than 7 days while there was none with SSD" (Osman, S. et al., 2022).

2. Antibiotics vs. Manuka honey

Emerging antimicrobial resistance in burn wound pathogens is a serious challenge. Honey, especially Manuka honey, shows effective antimicrobial properties against antibiotic-resistant organisms like MRSA and multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This makes honey a valuable support for conventional antibiotics.

How to Use Manuka Honey for Burns

Using Manuka honey to treat burns is simple and effective. Follow these steps to ensure proper application and maximize healing:

  1. Prepare with clean hands and tools: Always start with clean hands and sterilized applicators, such as gauze and cotton tips, to avoid introducing any bacteria to the wound.
  2. Clean the burn wound: Gently clean the burn wound with a saline solution to remove any debris and prepare the skin for treatment.
  3. Apply honey to a dressing:
    • For mild burns, apply Manuka honey directly to a sterile dressing. This method helps to reduce the messiness of applying honey directly to the skin.
    • For deep wounds, if the burn has a deep wound bed, such as an abscess, fill the wound bed with honey before applying the dressing.
  4. Cover with a clean dressing: Place a clean, dry dressing over the honey-treated area. This can be sterile gauze pads or an adhesive bandage. An occlusive dressing is ideal as it prevents the honey from seeping out and maintains a moist healing environment.
  5. Monitor and replace the dressing: Change the dressing when it becomes saturated with wound drainage. As the honey starts to heal the wound, the frequency of dressing changes will decrease.
  6. Post-dressing care: Wash your hands thoroughly after dressing the wound to maintain hygiene.

By following these steps, you can effectively use Manuka honey to treat burns, promote healing, and reduce the risk of infection.

Things to Keep in Mind When Using Manuka Honey For Burns

 

To ensure the best results when using Manuka honey for burns, there are some things you should consider.

1. Make sure you are buying authentic Manuka honey

When using Manuka honey for burns, you must ensure you're buying authentic, high-quality honey. The New Zealand Ministry of Food has set specific standards for Manuka honey, requiring clear labeling as either Multifloral or Monofloral Manuka Honey. The honey should also be independently tested to determine its MGO level and have its MGO grade displayed on the jar.

For more detailed information, refer to our ultimate buying guide.

2. Use medical-grade Manuka honey

The industry generally recognizes Manuka honey with MGO levels above 250+ as medical grade.

For burn care, we would recommend an MGO rating of 550+ or 830+ is recommended for best results.

3. Patch Testing: Look Out for Allergic Reactions

Although Manuka honey is a natural product with many benefits, a select few people, especially those with bee sting allergies, might be allergic to it. To ensure safety, it's important to perform a patch test before using Manuka honey on burns.

Signs of an allergic reaction to the honey include:

  • Dizziness
  • Extreme swelling
  • Nausea
  • Stinging or burning sensation after application
  • Trouble breathing
  • Vomiting

If you experience any of these symptoms, immediately clean the honey off your skin and seek medical attention. Do not reapply the honey until you have consulted with a doctor. 

Conclusion

Manuka honey is a powerful natural support for burns. It offers antibacterial properties and promotes faster healing. As you consider incorporating Manuka honey into your routine, remember to consult with healthcare professionals for severe burns to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment. 

For more information on selecting the right Manuka honey, refer to our in-depth buying guide.

FAQ

1. When should you get medical help for a burn? 

You can use Manuka honey to treat mild, superficial burns, often from home accidents. These first-degree burns can usually be managed with Manuka honey, showing improvement within a few days. For medium or severe burns that blister, seek professional medical care immediately.

2. Can you put Manuka honey directly on a wound? 

Yes, it is generally safe for most people to apply Manuka honey directly to a wound. It locks moisture into the wound, destroys bacteria, and helps regenerate damaged tissue. However, always consult a healthcare professional when using it for medical purposes.

3. What type of Manuka honey is best for wounds? 

High MGO grade Manuka honey is best for wounds and burns. Anything with an MGO rating of 250+ is considered medical grade, but we offer grades up to MGO 830+ - the higher the grade, the better the efficacy.

4. Does Manuka honey stain? 

Manuka honey can stain clothes and skin. It is sticky and can leave marks, so it’s best to cover the treated area with a clean dressing to minimize mess and staining.

5. Can children use Manuka honey for burns? 

Yes, children can use Manuka honey for burns. However, it's important to perform a patch test first to ensure they are not allergic. Always consult a healthcare professional before using it on children, especially for significant burns.



New to Mānuka Honey? Click here to learn about the different MGO levels. Check it out