How to Treat an Infected Scrape With Sugar

In ancient times, honey was reputed to have healing powers and applied to wounds, says World Wide Wounds. More recently, sugar has been successfully used by doctors to treat infected wounds. One 1980 medical trial in Argentina reported that the use of sugar paste on 120 infected wounds produced a cure rate of 99.2 percent, with all odor and weeping from these wounds vanishing within 96 hours of treatment. According to the U.K. Surgical Materials Testing Laboratory, sugar paste is successful on most types of wounds but is particularly suited to the treatment of infected and malodorous wounds.

Things You'll Need

• Water
• 5 oz. granulated white sugar
• 1/2 oz. Betadine solution
• 1 1/2 oz. Betadine ointment
• Bowl
• Spoon
• Cotton gauze
• Surgical tape
• Scissors

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Instructions

• 1

  Wash the wound gently under running water. Your aim is to rinse out any debris and to dilute the bacteria in the wound, says mothernature.com. Do this as soon as possible after the cut or scrape has occurred.

• 2

  Mix the sugar, Betadine solution and Betadine ointment thoroughly together in a bowl using a spoon. Keep mixing until you produce a smooth, well-blended paste.

• 3

  Check that the wound has stopped bleeding. If it has not, applying the sugar paste could cause it to bleed more. Wait until the cut or scrape is no longer bleeding, says mothernature.com.

• 4

  Apply the sugar paste gently to the cleaned cut or scrape. Cover the wound over with cotton gauze, and secure the dressing with surgical tape.

• 5

  Change the dressing and wash the wound twice daily, then reapply the sugar paste. According to the U.K. Surgical Materials Testing Laboratory, this gives the optimum antibacterial effect. In clinical trials on severely infected wounds, full healing took between three and six weeks using this approach.