Historical medicine suggests a new way to use modern treatments (Vinegar with honey on wounds)

Medical Xpress / Microbiology Society / Microbiology ^ | July 13, 2023 | Freya Harrison et al

[P.O.E.]

Local lore around here tells of a midwife who would apply grapefruit skins to heal superficial burns and the like (I’m talking over 100 years ago). Turns out she was right.

[torqemada]

As a diabetic, I’ve had experience with tough to treat and extremely slow to heal skin ulcers. All of these treatments (Manuka, vinegar, peroxide) cause unrelenting pain that doctor’s fail to treat. Take it from me - when you have a skin wound that is a constant source of excruciating pain, it’s pretty hard to accept adding to one’s misery by the use of Manuka, vinegar, or peroxide. It’s as barbaric as pouring salt into wounds as a form of torture.

[Albion Wilde]

Madonna, take note.

[gleeaikin]

As a child I had a number of ear infections with respiratory disease. Fifty years ago I tried to prevent such infections in my 2 little sons. I would mix a crushed 500 mg. C tablet, a spoonful of honey, and 1/4 tsp. of garlic powder in an 8 oz baby bottle filled with water, shake well and leave in their crib to drink at night when they woke or started to cough. [NOTE; never give unpasturized honey to a baby under 1 year] They never had an ear infection. Below is a quote from the link at comment #13 (I think) that shows my instincts were right on.

“Profound, in vitro antiviral activity of a mixture of natural honey, ginger and garlic extracts against various strains of influenza virus was observed, moreover they showed in their study that this mixture promotes the proliferation of human lymphocytes (Vahed & Batool Jafri 2016).”

Another handy trick, especially for a general emergency is using an orange or lemon to make penecillin. If you let the fruit develop green mold, that is penecillin. I have rubbed this mold on minor scratches and sores, and it works well. Apparently the acidic aspect of the fruit prevents alkaline type molds from developing. I think I saw somewhere that infections are usually alkaline in nature.

[gleeaikin]

Here is a chart from the link at comment #13 that may be of interest: [I hope this prints better than it looks in the reply box.]

Antimicrobial activity of honey bee products.

Bioactive compound Bee product Medicinal effect References

Phenolic compound: propolis benzofuran Propolis Antifungal (Pasupuleti et al., 2017;Salatino et al., 2005;Viuda-Martos et al., 2008)
Phenolic compound: 2,2-dimethyl-8-prenylchromene Propolis Antimicrobial (Salatino et al., 2005)
Phenolic compound: 4-hydroxy-3,5-diprenyl cinnamic acid (artepillin C) Propolis Antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer (Cornara et al., 2017, Pasupuleti et al., 2017,Salatino et al., 2005)
Phenolic compound: 3-prenyl cinnamic acid allyl ester Propolis Antimicrobial (Cornara et al., 2017, Pasupuleti et al., 2017,Salatino et al., 2005)
Terpenoid: isocupressic acid, a labdane diterpenoid Propolis Antifungal (Pasupuleti et al., 2017;Salatino et al., 2005)
Terpenoid:13C-symphyoreticulic acid, a clerodane diterpenoid Propolis Antitumor (Pasupuleti et al., 2017;Salatino et al., 2005)
Phenolic acid: ellagic acid Honey Antioxidant, chemopreventive, antiproliferative (Cornara et al., 2017, Pasupuleti et al., 2017)
Phenolic acid: syringic acid Honey Anti

[gleeaikin]

Here is a chart from the link at comment #13 that may be of interest: [I hope this prints better than it looks in the reply box.]

Antimicrobial activity of honey bee products.

Bioactive compound-— Bee product-— Medicinal effect-— References

Phenolic compound: propolis benzofuran; Propolis; Antifungal; (Pasupuleti et al., 2017;Salatino et al., 2005;Viuda-Martos et al., 2008)
Phenolic compound: 2,2-dimethyl-8-prenylchromene; Propolis; Antimicrobial; (Salatino et al., 2005)
Phenolic compound: 4-hydroxy-3,5-diprenyl cinnamic acid (artepillin C); Propolis; Antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer; (Cornara et al., 2017, Pasupuleti et al., 2017,Salatino et al., 2005)
Phenolic compound: 3-prenyl cinnamic acid allyl ester; Propolis; Antimicrobial; (Cornara et al., 2017, Pasupuleti et al., 2017,Salatino et al., 2005)
Terpenoid: isocupressic acid, a labdane diterpenoid; Propolis; Antifungal; (Pasupuleti et al., 2017;Salatino et al., 2005)
Terpenoid: 13C-symphyoreticulic acid, a clerodane diterpenoid; Propolis; Antitumor; (Pasupuleti et al., 2017;Salatino et al., 2005)
Phenolic acid: ellagic acid; Honey; Antioxidant, chemopreventive, antiproliferative; (Cornara et al., 2017, Pasupuleti et al., 2017)
Phenolic acid: syringic acid; Honey; Anti (something missing)

NOTE: The 4 categories at the top are now separated by colons or semicolons. Items within a category are separated by commas.

For a better chart, go to the link on comment #13.

[gleeaikin]

In trying to reproduce Table 1 in the link here at comment #13, I failed to see advice to Click at a place to get a separate window. When I did access the separate window I found it includes 4 more lines of information about the various kinds of honey compounds and uses. I give up trying to transfer this complex chart but it is intereting, so click the link, and then the separate window at Table 1 to see the entire list.

[gleeaikin]

Both Vitamin C and Vitamin E are essential for wound healing. You can mix some Vitamin E from a capsule with a small amount of powdered C and it may be less irritating to your wounds. They can also be taken internally, but fairly large amounts may be needed. If you want to do that, discuss it with your doctor, and/or Private mail me. Too much Vitamin E taken at one time can cause a large drop in blood pressure, so the amount has to be increased slowly over days. Too much C will cause diarrhea or burning gas, but then you just reduce the amount a bit until there are no such symptoms.

[bgill]

I got ear infections as an adult while living in one specific house. None before and none after. I suspect there was some nasty something growing in the water pipes and it came out in the shower. It is expensive to move, but a lot less expensive than getting worse and dying.

[MayflowerMadam]

About 30 years ago I have my mom a book, “Miracle Cures From The Bible”.

I glanced through it. I wasn’t extremely impressed with the Bible angle, but there were natural and old-timey remedies. But Mom has won out that book, and she turns 99 in August.

Lots of vinegar and honey remedies.

[HDML]

Iodine in as little as 1/500 ratios also kill bacteria.

[Dubh_Ghlase]

Another old-timer (country boy) remedy passed down from my elders is the use of Zinc Oxide Ointment on wounds, Especially for infections. We would cleanse a wound in your favorite manner (even infected ones), apply the ointment, and bandage. Usually within 1-2 days the wound would be well on the road to healing.

As kids, we were constantly being ripped up, and proactive use of Zinc Oxide attested to a fairly healthy life. Wifey (city girl, medically trained) never heard of zinc oxide before meeting me, and was amazed at the results. works on baby-butts too...

[Sacajaweau]

zinc oxide was a favorite for diaper rash

[Dubh_Ghlase]

Still is...