How to Use Honey or Sugar to Treat Wounds

Doctors (and everyday folks) have used sugar and honey throughout history to treat cuts, burns and other wounds. Honey has long been touted for its bacteria-killing properties, while ancient Egyptians used sugar to treat wounds. Doctors also used sugar to treat battlefield wounds during the Civil War. Then, as modern times approached, hospitals employed other methods to hasten healing of wounds, from bandages containing protective gel to infection-fighting creams. But sugar and honey still work just as well when applied to most wounds. The same ingredients you use to bake a cake can also help to heal that nasty cut or scrape.

Things You'll Need

• Saline solution
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Petroleum jelly
• Sugar, granulated
• Honey, raw or organic
• Gauze
• Adhesive tape

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Instructions

• 1

  Wash the area to be treated, using sterile water or a saline solution, before applying either home remedy. Clean a deep cut with hydrogen peroxide, to eliminate debris.

• 2

  Surround the area with a thin layer of petroleum jelly.

• 3

  Determine whether to use sugar or honey on the wound. Small burns, cuts and scrapes respond to either sugar or honey, but honey works best on diabetic foot ulcers.

• 4

  Apply honey to the wound or burn; or sprinkle granulated sugar on the affected area, a little at a time, until the sugar hides it.

• 5

  Cut a piece of gauze to cover the wound, and secure it with adhesive tape.

• 6

  Change the bandage and reapply sugar as needed, up to four times a day. Change a honey dressing in the morning and at night before bed, or more often for a severe wound or burn.