manuka honey for preventing and clearing up skin infections

this picture was taken in the early morning on tues., 5/22.

scaling, cracking and discolored scabbing are classic symptoms of impetigo - a staph-based infection.

this is 6 hours after beginning applications of manuka honey exclusively, afternoon on tues., 5/22.

the yellowish crust is gone and the scaling is drastically reduced, leaving healthier-looking pink tissue - though still with cracks and flaking and some irritated redness.

this is bedtime on tues., 5/22. i was thinking this was as good as it might get and that i'd start topical prescription antibiotics in the morning to finnish clearing this up.

this was the morning of wed., 5/23 in full morning sunlight. redness and irritation were almost completely eradicated overnight, scaling was almost non-existent, the cracks were totally healed and there was only a tiny bit of flaking around the newly-healthy, pink and healed skin!

it seems that my little allergy guy is starting to "catch" infections in his ravaged skin. in february, our other children had strep throat and 'lou (4 yrs old) developed a strange, bubbling, oozing and cracking rash around his neck and face. when cultured, it grew strep pyogenes and he had to be hospitalized immediately for treatment.

 i was hoping it was a fluke, but it seems we have traded in his isolated but constant outbreaks of bumps, sores and localized reactions for a more global inflammation with deteriorating skin at his extremities and face. in other words, his skin is always so thin and fragile and breaking open, that it cannot protect him from agents that normally infect other parts of the body. of my 5 children, 4 had strep in their throats and he did not - he caught it in his skin!

since then, he's had impetigo that we managed to get under control with prescription strength topical and oral antibiotics once. then last week, another bout of impetigo while on oral steroids that i cleared up with guess what? honey!

not just any honey, but manuka honey. here's the research on it:

Manuka Honey Research

The intracellular effects of... [Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI

 and here's the brand i used:

STAKICH, Inc top quality bee pollen, royal jelly, propolis, honey, beeswax, herbal extracts, chlorella, spirulina, lecithin, American ginseng, skin creams at wholesale prices.

we walk the path of  our son's chronic and debilitating skin allergy condition with a foot in each world: modern and mainstream medical options as well as natural, homeopathic remedies. when one doesn't work, we try switching to the other modality. i hate putting the prescription strength antibiotics on him - not only do they burn him like fire ants biting into his skin, but i worry about the ever-increasing frequency and amounts we are becoming dependent on. not to mention that this hyperallergic guy might become allergic to them. 

so i tried manuka honey for this last emerging infection. i was skeptical at first, to say the least. i literally had the antibiotic ointment sitting on the shelf next to the honey each time i applied it - ready to go back to the traditional remedy if i didn't see any improvement. i saw immediate improvement within 6 hours of application. not only that, but it didn't burn nearly as badly. 

another benefit is he could eat some while i applied it, keeping him distracted and happy through the appliation! i applied it almost every time i thought about it and looked at him and noticed it had dried or been licked off. probably about 6-8 times the first day, once after he fell asleep for the night and then started all over again in the morning. i will definitely continue to use this when i see early signs of infection - and keep the prescription tube at the ready if there's something the honey isn't working well on! in researching and asking around in my food allergy groups, i'm learning that many people swear by regular manuka honey use for all kinds of skin conditions ranging from acne to eczema and psoriasis.

for the sake of full disclosure, i do have to add that this particular infection was spreading to 'lou's entire body and while i used manuka honey exclusively for the 3 days of these pictures on his face, his body began to show signs of infection at his extremities and so we did end up having to put him on oral antibiotics anyway - but he wasn't on them at the time of these pictures. i wish i could buy this manuka honey by the bucket and use it on his entire body!