“Canker sores have plagued mankind throughout recorded history.”
That’s the opening line to a new study published in latest issue of Quintessence International.
Dramatic? Sure, a little—but if you’ve ever felt the mind-boggling
sting of a canker sore in contact with a hot swig of coffee, “plague”
doesn’t seem like such an exaggeration after all. (We could probably
come up with a few more choice words, too, come to think of it). Docs
still don’t know exactly what causes these painful oral lesions—it could
be anything from stress to food allergies to genetic predisposition—but
this new study suggests that a fast, effective canker sore treatment is
hiding in our kitchen cabinets.
Researchers at Saudi Arabia’s Salman bin AbdulAziz University
gathered a group of 94 people suffering from canker sores and randomly
separated them into three groups. The first treated their sores with
plain old commercial honey, the second used an oral corticosteroid
cream, and the third got an over-the-counter product that forms a
protective paste to cover sores while they heal. Participants applied
their respective treatments three times daily while researchers observed
the effects.
Get this: In just 4 days, all sores in the honey group had
disappeared completely—but the number of sores in groups 2 and 3 hadn’t
budged. Honey even helped to soothe pain. After day 1, honey users
reported a 95.5% decrease in pain, with total pain elimination by day 2.
Groups 2 and 3 were not so lucky: It took them 8 days to reach the same
pain-free state.
The results only reinforce honey’s well-documented healing powers—and
it’s no surprise to experts that those benefits can work inside the
human mouth, too. “In the treatment of mouth ulcers, the main action
would be from the anti-inflammatory property of honey,” says Peter
Molan, founder of the Honey Research Unit at New Zealand’s University of
Waikato. “The potency of this can be seen if honey is used as first aid
on a burn or scald—it takes away the pain within about 10 minutes, and
redness and blistering do not develop.”
Other potential factors at work: some honeys (like manuka and thyme
varieties) have strong anti-bacterial qualities, and many are shown to
promote growth of tissues in wound healing. But, Dr. Molan explains,
these effects vary greatly depending on where and how the honey is
harvested, and some types can be up to 100 times more potent than
others. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what about this commercial honey
made it so effective—but it’s hard to ignore the impressive results.
Next time the plague descends upon your mouth, try the same method
employed in the study. After each meal, wet a sterile cotton ball and
wipe the sore clean. Then, apply a small amount of honey using a cotton
swab. Canker sores, meet our (very) sweet revenge
Source:
prevention.com
0 التعليقات :
Post a Comment