An adult female sea lion that was admitted with a wound on her back. It is a contaminated wound and is quite deep involving several muscle groups along the spine. The honey seems to be very effective in lifting debris out of contaminated wounds. The animals tolerate bandage changes well and I am under the impression the bandage changes with raw honey are not very painful to them. The honey dressing doesn’t adhere to the injured tissue. With wounds like this bacteria can be transmitted to other parts of the body via the blood stream or lymphatics and oral antibiotics should be used in addition to all topical treatments.
The use of honey as a remedy has been recorded in several historical references. As a wound treatment honey has received renewed attention in the medical community for several reasons; honey does not appear to induce bacterial resistance, many species of bacteria appear susceptible to honey, and wound healing is often more rapid than with standard treatments. Honey has several properties that accounts for its antibacterial properties including low pH, high osmolarity, and production of low levels of hydrogen peroxide that do not induce damage of healthy tissue. In addition, honey has been demonstrated to stimulate tissue repair by increasing the cellular response to a wound site. There are numerous testimonials as well as an increasing number of clinical trials that support the use of un-pasteurized honey as an effective wound treatment in both humans and animals.
When I started to use honey on the wounds I took a lot of jokes …. do you need any peanut butter with that bandage, doc? or ” too bad you don’t have two slices of bread to go with that…” but after everyone saw the results, the jokes have pretty much subsided. Now mostly people are just amazed at the results. I use raw honey almost exclusively now to treat surface wounds of this nature.
Thanks again,
Lauren Palmer DVM
The Marine Mammal Care Center Fort MacArthur
3601 S Gaffey St.San Pedro, CA 90731, (310) 548-5677
www.marinemammalcare.org
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BVT ( Bee Venom Therapy ) APITHERAPY AND ME
BOB HARDY, VERGENNES, VT 05491-9070
My connection to BVT apitherapy began about 15 years ago when I came down with an inflammation in my hip joints. We were at some cocktail party and I was complaining to someone whom I cannot recall about my condition which at that time was at my age of about 65 years young. The condition really bothered me as I love to walk and to ski! Anyway, the person said, “see that lady over there, that is my wife and she had bad hip arthritis and now look at this photo of her hiking in the high mountains carrying a 65 lb. back pack.. She got rid of her arthritis by bee sting therapy”. “WHAT!” I said I went on a bit about being allergic to bees I thought. He said, I doubt it, get hold of Charlie Mraz whom I had not the slightest idea of who and where he was. So next day, I found that Charlie Mraz lived in Middlebury, the next town and I called him and explained my situation. He said, “come on over we’ll test you. I have some people coming this afternoon anyway.” So began my life continuing symbiotic relationship with honey bees. Bottom line, by working with Charlie, he proved to me I was not allergic to honey bees, only wasps. He started me off on applying bee sting therapy to my hips and then taught me how to gather the bees in a jar so they would live to help me. Karin and I applied bee stings on and off about 3 times a week to each hip. After about six weeks of this, the hips one day became very itchy, red, and hot. The next morning all of that reaction was gone, and the hip inflammation along with it. Since that moment I have never felt any recurrence of the hip inflammation. Unfortunately Charlie has left us but he left behind his legacy “Bees don’t get arthritis” and the Apitherapy Society.
To this day, I consult with the Todd Hardie who applies bee sting venom therapy with care and precision, and making us appreciate the sacrifice the bees are making to make us healthy. Some other benefit of bee sting therapy I have found to be helpful and ameliorating cover the subjects of the following.
• SAD – Seasonal affected disorder. Bee venom therapy applied once or twice monthly when the days are short in Vermont uplifts the body to be more positive.
• Immunity – The long winters compromise one’s immune system in Vermont. The use of bee venom therapy can help maintain a strong immune system.
• Wound Recovery: I have had a recurrence of a melanoma which we treated entirely with holistic powerful herbs as the establishment medical procedure was not reliable as I learned to my dismay. In order to assist in the healing process of the herbal destruction of the cancer cells, we applied bee venom therapy near the cancer site which helped the healthy skin tissue to be rejuvenated more rapidly. (Charlie Mraz said that bee keepers do not get cancer!)
Cause and effect. It is our anecdotal belief that the application of bee venom therapy catalyzes the natural defense systems of one’s body to bring enhanced natural cortisone which everyone has, to the site of the bee sting for enhanced healing. The bee venom also marshal the body’s natural defense systems to get to work.