Honey, that luscious stuff that Lovely Hubby loves so much and wants to raise his own bees in the future to produce. He loves it on toast and it's gorgeous in so many recipes, flapjacks, cakes, drizzled over veggies for the final five minutes of roasting.
Last week though I slathered it onto a nasty burn I got from catching a slipping bread tin straight from the oven with my arm. I know we do the daftest things don't we, better to let it go but instinct takes over and you catch something, knowing full well how hot it is.
At first I did my old trick of putting on some Lavender Essential oil straight away, it takes the pain away and usually stops the scar from being as bad. But this time although it partly did the trick the burn was too deep and too wide and as it healed the scab kept being stretched and then coming off leaving sore exposed flesh once again.
So I changed tack and went to my second failsafe method, I put liberal amounts of honey onto the now scab-less burn and covered it with a sterile plaster. The next day I removed it and put a slightly less liberal application on and covered it again.
After two days the healing had really started and I left the dressing off whenever I wasn't doing messy or dirty jobs.
It healed together well ....
... and this is my arm after just over a week, the mark is perfectly flat, not sore in the slightest and no longer red and inflamed.
So two natural products both brilliant in their own way. In future if it is a small surface burn I will continue with my Lavender Essential Oil, but if it goes deeper or wider I will turn to Honey straight away.
No dashing to the chemist and buying special artificial burn remedies, just opening up the storecupboard and grabbing something that is already to hand.
Oh and by the way ... I can't stand the taste of the stuff .....
Sue xx
Yikes! Glad the Lavender EO and honey is helping!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all ouch! That looks painful! We don't keep honey - not one of us likes it - but thank you for the natural burn remedy tips.
ReplyDeleteI've heard local honey is good for hay fever too.
Gosh that looks painful so glad it is healing now. I always use honey on minor burns (not tht yours was minor) and find it does the job keeping out the air and obviously containing something which helps healing fast. Reflexes are wonderful things but not when it means you catch something hot!!
ReplyDeleteI have used a dab of honey in my eye if I have conjunctivitis. Not only does it sooth the eye, it gets rid of it without antibiotics.
ReplyDeleteA good idea with the honey as it is an antiseptic I believe. All burns though should be run under cool water for up to ten minutes so the skin in the deeper levels has chance to cool to help with healing. That was not a surface burn but am glad you were able to deal with it and that the wound is healing nicely.
ReplyDeleteGoodness, that looks nasty, it must have been painful. Glad it's healing now. There's only Eleanor here who likes honey, she stirs it in to warm lemon when she has a sore throat.
ReplyDeleteOuch - nasty, and glad it's healing OK. I've used a garlic infusion in the past to clean a wound when I've had no antiseptic, and that also works wonderfully. Wish I'd thought of honey when I burnt my thumb last week!
ReplyDeletewow that looks super painful! I honestly didn't know you could use honey like that.
ReplyDeleteWhen I burn myself, I break off a bit of aloe plant and slather the injury with the thick juice. Like your honey, I regularly repeat with the aloe. Glad the honey is doing the trick. Looks like that was a sizeable burn. Don't you hate it when quick responses somethings such a good thing. Feel better....
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness Sue that looked really nasty not to mention painful, so glad you found a natural remedy that healed it quickly. I can 't stand the taste of honey either!!
ReplyDeleteOuch, that really looks bad. Both my daughter and I managed to catch our arm on the oven in the last week, but neither was anyway as bad as yours. I really did not know about either of these natural remedies, but will keep this information for future reference. Hope it is fully healed soon. I do keep honey, but usually only use it when I have a sore throat, but do use it occasionally for cooking.
ReplyDeleteWow, glad you are OK, looks like the honey did a wonderful job. My usual first stop is also Lavender Oil - my stepdaughter had a very nasty burn on her leg (she did it on a moped in Asia) a few years ago - we thought at one stage she might lose her foot - in the end Manuka Honey was the only thing that worked to clean up and heal the wound - Mother Natures goodness at its best.
ReplyDeleteOuchies! Glad to see your burn is healing up nicely though. Honey is one of my favourite things to eat! I love it drizzled on muesli the best :)
ReplyDeleteOuch.. so glad your burn is healing.. honey is a great thing. We have our own bees, hubby started this year so no honey off them yet.. but looking forward to it when we do, that's if we can get them to survived winter. Tell your hubby to do it.. they are such fascinating little creatures to watch and they are so clever!
ReplyDeleteJulie :o)
What a nasty that was! It's healed very well. My Mum had a sore on her leg that was taking time to heal and she went to clinic where they put a honey treated plaster on. The next time she had something similar she just put honey on her own dressing and it healed. Do you have Melalin? It is some sort of dressing that Mum always uses.
ReplyDeleteIn hospital, years ago, sugar paste was used on pressure sores....and it wasn't THAT long ago
ReplyDeleteWow! That is amazing. I wish I had known about that remedy some years ago when I was a Cook, I have 'war wounds' all up my arms!
ReplyDeleteHoney has natural disinfecting properties as well as antibiotic tendencies, so I`m not at all surprised about your results after smearing it on the burn. Grandmothers old remedies don`t all turn out to be a load of old tosh. Honey was used as a base for many healing potions many years ago. Modern folk are beginning to re-discover the old ways again.
ReplyDeleteI believe Manuka honey is used extensively in New Zealand for open wounds. When I burned my hand with hot tea, my friend covered it in liquid soap which took the sting out of it.
ReplyDeletePleased you are healing, I'm with you on honey, can't stand the stuff.
Ooh that looks painful, those bread machine tins get hot. I'm glad the honey did the trick though, I will have to remember that tip.
ReplyDeleteOuch that looked painful, how amazing is the honey though, would be interesting to know the science behind that, totally agree about the lavender oil, it works wonders on everything!
ReplyDeleteTake care
Sarah x
is this a special type of honey? Would it help with eczema?
ReplyDeleteHoney lavender vinegar garlic - nature at its best. That did look sore - glad you had honey to soothe x
ReplyDeleteFirst - Ouch that must of really hurt - hope you are ok!
ReplyDeleteSecond - Wow - I never knew you could use either of those - what a fab thing to know - thankyou!
From
Stacey at Mortgage Free Journey x
I use honey with cod liver oil for sunburn, amazingly healing and helps reduce the scarring, if you are bothered about scars!
ReplyDeleteHope the bread was o.k LOL!
ALWAYS run cold water over a burn for 10 to 20 minutes. Yes a long time. It stops the burn. The honey and all the other things allow "wet" healing which reduces scarring. Glad your burn healed well.
ReplyDeleteGlad it has healed well. Ouch.
ReplyDeleteI always put it on my husbands scrapes etc.now. He's diabetic so has to be careful as he doesnt heal too well. A while ago he had a fall then another one then walked into something (klutz) all breaking the skin on his shin in the same place it was starting to look really nasty, I'd read about honey so put some onto a melalin dressing and stuck it on, within a week it was nearly healed couldnt believe it, it was just cheap honey from the supermarket too.
ReplyDeleteThe Burn Nurse treating Compostgirl mentioned they used Honey on some burns :) That looked nasty and I am glad it is healed so well - but I do think you should maybe have seen a Dr or Nurse about it. it looks more than superficial!
ReplyDeleteCompostgirl is healing well, palm now with new ( but fragile) skin and still dressings on - three weeks tomorrow,
Just wanted to say thanks for your post on bottling pasta sauce. I just made two jars of sauce using onion, courgette, home grown tomatoes and a tin of tomatoes. It was very satisfying hearing the dimples go pop!
ReplyDeleteGreat tip! I'm also toying with the idea of keeping bees. Although both my wife and I hate honey! At least we wouldn't eat all the profits I suppose!
ReplyDeleteMany (nearly 50) years ago, I was using a pizza baker in a cabinet to keep the pipes (which ran along the back of the cabinet) from freezing. I waited patiently, but not long enough. I reached in and grabbed the electric element with the tips of the fingers on my right hand. It was HOT and severely my fingers. I don't know what made go immediately to my aloe vera plant. Yanked off enough leaves to treat each finger and thumb. Sliced the leaves along the length and put the gooey side each on each finger. Then I got out the band aids and taped each leaf on its finger. I left that strangeness on until the next morning. I was amazed at how for the healing process had progressed over night. Barbara
ReplyDeleteOw, ow, ow - were there swear words ;)
ReplyDeleteThis time last year I had injured my leg coming off my bike and the nurses gave me honey ointment for the infected wound. I didn't know about lavender oil for burns though.
ReplyDeleteTo help the scar massage in chickweed ointment - marvelous stuff! Glad you're fixed up as that looked like a nasty wound.
Oh dear, have I missed something that you're going away? I hope all is well dear lady, and both you, LH and yours are ok? Have a lovely weekend Sue.
ReplyDeleteTake dare,
Rw
I'm sorry you suffered such a severe burn but many thanks for sharing your honey healing experience with us in pictures. If you want to produce an even more effective honey poultice, infuse honey with equal amounts of bergamot, apothecary's rose and evening primrose flowers. Leave in a cool dark place for 4 weeks then slather on any burn (after keeping under cold water for ten minutes) especially where there are signs or a danger of infection.
ReplyDeleteTrue Essential Oils never have alcohol in them. I think you are confusing them with fragrance oils which do.
DeleteAn essential oil is just that simply the oil from the plant it is called after distilled until it is totally pure and free of any water or anything else.
There are many brand names, just buy from a reputable dealer and read the label to make sure it is essential oil and not fragrance oil.
Any brand will do the same job, see my answer above. The same with honey, it does not even need to be branded just pure honey, it is completely sterile and natural.
ReplyDeleteThe ONLY time you should dot (not pour in any great quantity) lavender essential oil onto your skin is if you have a burn. Essential oils are too strong for direct contact with the skin. During massages etc, a carrier oil is used to dilute the essential oil.
Hope this helps.