I write about shadow-dwelling vampires, but I like to counterbalance that with time spent in my sunny herb garden. I’m a big fan of using food and herbs to heal, and I wanted to share with you my latest discovery: honey heals cuts.
(Pardon? What, you thought I was going to write about something salacious? Some naughty use for honey? Me??? Get your minds out of the gutter! 
)
Raw honey—and it must be raw or it’s useless—is a bit of a miracle substance. It’s a naturally soothing antibiotic and has been used as such since ancient times on cuts and burns. I dab honey on pimples before I go to bed and have found it very effective in clearing up little breakouts. Yet I never had the guts to push the envelope and try honey on an open wound—until now.
Two weeks ago, while getting ready for a party, I was frantically cutting lemon slices on a mandoline, and because I never learn my lesson (i.e never, ever, use a mandoline while in a rush), I took a deep divot out of the back of my ring finger.
Instead of using Neosporin as I usually would, I smeared the wound with raw honey, wrapped it in a Band-Aid and went to greet my guests. In the back of my mind I hoped I wouldn’t end up with a raging infection—or an invasion of ants!
What happened exceeded my expectations. My wound knitted neatly and quickly. Today it’s just a thin pink line. You would never guess how broad and deep the cut was, and by the looks of it, I won’t have a scar at all. That’s significant, because I scar easily.
So go to your health food store or local farmer’s market and get yourself a jar of raw, organic honey. It will be expensive compared to the processed commercial stuff, but it never goes bad (really, never!) and you don’t use much of it for this sort of thing. One small jar will last you forever as long as you refrain from snacking out of it!
Does anybody have any honey cures that they’d like to share?
Honey photograph courtesy of alsjhc’s photostream
No stinging sensation? That’s a great remedy for a wound. Which is cheaper, Neosporin or the honey? Had to ask?
Hey Suzette,
It stings just the tiniest bit for a short time. More like warmth than a true sting. Not bad at all. And I think the honey is cheaper, all in all. After all, those tiny tubes of Neosporin are pretty pricey. It’s hard to give you a per ounce break down, since honey prices vary regionally and by quantity.
I have a big jar of organic raw honey that I use for many things, and I just scooped some of that into tiny jar and moved it to the medicine cabinet. From my point of view, it’s “free.”
Honey is amazing. I use it every week on my face. Because of my allergies I find it soothes my skin. I’m actually allergic to most of the creams out there and pretty much anything to put on my face. A soothing honey mask does the trick everytime. And indeed – not the store bought honey – must be raw.
Great post
~Ann