Acceleration of wound healing by topical application of honey. An animal model.

Commercial unboiled honey was applied topically to open wounds of 12 mice. Twelve other mice served as a control group and their wounds were dressed with saline solution only. Wound healing was judged histopathologically by measuring the thickness of granulation tissue, epithelization from the periphery of the wound, and the size of the open wounds. The animals were killed 3, 6, and 9 days from the day they were wounded and treated, and their wounds were examined histopathologically. According to the three mentioned criteria, wounds of the honey-treated animals healed much faster than the wounds of the control animals (p less than 0.001). Unboiled commercial honey seems to accelerate wound healing when applied topically due to its energy-producing properties, its hygroscopic effect on the wound, and its bacteriocidic properties. Our results suggest that honey applied topically on open wounds accelerates the healing process.