Honey is a natural healing agent that has been used since the beginning of time. Today, many hospital departments have adopted it to help heal wounds and limit infections while reducing the use of drugs with often deleterious side effects. Discover in the following article how and why the healing powers of honey have conquered the heads of various French hospital departments. 

Honey in hospital wards

In the four corners of France, digestive surgery departments (Limoges and St Brieuc University Hospitals), ENT surgery (Georges-Pompidou Hospital in Paris) or gynecological surgery (Bourg-en-Bresse Hospital), have adapted honey to disinfect deep wounds. 

Thus, ulcerations at the digestive level and postoperative mastectomy sequels are treated with honey dressingsor even injections when the cuts are deep. Other uses such as soaking tracheotomy equipment in honey to protect immunocompromised patients from any risk of infection. 

Since 1984, Professor Bernard Descottes, digestive surgeon at the University Hospital of Limoges, has treated nearly 3000 patients with thyme and lavender honey. 

Why this craze for honey in French hospitals?

• The honey is up to 200 times cheaper than conventional treatments without the side effects of the latter. 

• It facilitates and accelerates wound healing while improving its appearance (comparative study conducted by the specialist in digestive surgery at the Saint-Brieuc hospital center, Dr. David Lechaux on his patients. He took pictures of the scars of his patients treated with honey or with a usual healing ointment at 1 month intervals. Those who had benefited from the honey treatment had a better and more beautiful healing)

Where do the anti-infectious and healing powers of honey come from?

• The viscosity of the honey creates asealed dressing. Its role as a barrier prevents contamination by infectious agents

• The concentration of sugar in honey allows the absorption of water. Thus, the bacteria dry out, dehydrating on contact with it.

• The acidity of the honey's pH, which is between 3.2 and 4.5, limits the growth of bacteria. 

• Honey contains defensin-1 which is a protein from young worker bees that has the virtue of being a natural antiseptic. In addition, there are also enzymes, inhibitors and MGO (methylglyoxal) that reinforce this property.

Which honeys do hospitals use?

Depending on the flower, the properties of the honey will differ. According to the Swiss Beekeeping Research Center (2001), rapeseed honey would be the best wound healer. However, it is best to bet on freshly harvested honey or honey that is less than 6 weeks old because it contains beneficial lactic acid bacteria that produce a biofilm that protects against pathogenic bacteria.

The healing honeys used in hospitals are those produced by European Apis Mellifera or Tanzanian Apis Mellifera Sculleta bees. These honeys should not be too liquid because from 18% of water, the honey can ferment which would make it unusable for a medical use. 

Manuka honey is a New Zealand honey known for being an excellent antiseptic and healing due to its high MGO content.

In order to be used for medical purposes, honey must follow a very precise protocol:

• It must be sterilized with gamma ray because in fresh honey, it is not impossible to find exceptionally tetanic spores, botulinum toxins and ascosferosis, a fungus.

• Honey should not be heated above 43°C and should be as cool as possible. Indeed, after one year of conservation, honey gradually loses its healing properties (but not antiseptic)

Its application should not overflow the wound and should be done in a thin layer because its acidity could damage the surrounding tissues.

Honey in hospitals, a medicine of the future

The use of honey in hospitals is becoming more and more widespread. Scientific studies and field experience have repeatedly proven the healing powers of honey. This collaboration between modern and traditional medicine still has a long way to go!

Sources: article published in National Geographic: "Honey: a natural healer in the hospital" by Julie Lacaze https://www.nationalgeographic.fr/sciences/le-miel-un-cicatrisant-naturel-lhopital