Honey?

[nepenthes]

Ahhh! I got an infection because of an ingrown hair on my elbow and my doctor said that It might be because of honey, because the bacteria that currently resides in my body is also found in honey.

A friend from another forum posted this, and Im not sure I udnerstad how this would work.

Is this even possible? could some one explain? Im not sure where to post this, if its in the wrong spot could some one move this?

[Kathyp]

that's crap.

an ingrown hair irritates the skin and causes a local reaction.  the irritated tissue can abscess.  typically, the abscess will be very small and contain a batch of white cells that have rushed to the area to fend off the irritation.  usually pressure will build and the offending intruder will be expelled with what we call "puss".  same thing happens with splinters etc.  if the offending item is not expelled, the body will try to wall it off and build scar tissue around it.

SOMETIMES the area will get infected.  this usually happens because the hair, splinter, etc. has taken some bacteria into the wound with it.

if your friend had put honey ON it, it might have gotten better faster!  honey has antibacterial properties.  they are similar to hydrogen peroxide, but much milder.

[Mici]

true what you said about honey, but i've heard that at some stage it even developes hydrogen peroxide, not a lot of it but enough.

[Michael Bush]

Honey had been used as wound dressing for as long as we have written history, so it's pretty safe to assume it's been longer than that.  It's quite effective at preventing and TREATING infections.  Try a search on google for honey and infections.  You will not find entries on it CAUSING infection.  You will find a lot of entries on it HEALING infection.

It has antimicrobial properties.