Sweet Rehabilitation
When it comes to animal rehabilitation, thinking "outside of the box" is often key. Sometimes though, delving outside of the box means getting inside the kitchen. Loggerhead Marinelife Center rehabilitators frequently use honey in their treatment of the center's sick and injured sea turtles.
Using honey to heal wounds is often thought of as an old wives tale, passed down in certain families. However, there is evidence that Ancient Greeks and Egyptians used honey in wound care as well. Today, numerous studies have been done on the antibacterial and anti-fungal qualities of honey. The age-old food sweetener can be used with fresh wounds and old, necrotic wounds.
In addition to its antibacterial qualities, honey encourages the formation of new tissue at the surface of the wound; also known as granulation tissue. Due to its liquid state, honey is able to get into crevices of a wound and cover its entire surface area. Because honey is moist it allows a wound to stay moist, causing the new tissue to re-grow at the surface of the wound rather than at the underlying tissue layers beneath scar tissue. Honey both reduces inflammation around the wound and increases circulation, helping to accelerate the healing process. The same properties that allow honey to have an extended shelf life in your cabinet also help it to draw moisture out of the wound, reducing the growth of bacteria.
Most turtles that receive care at Loggerhead Marinelife Center are too weak upon arrival to be placed immediately into water. This time spent in dry-dock is an opportune time for the sea turtles to get extended contact time with the honey. Most of the time, Loggerhead Marinelife Center's rehabilitation staff uses honey with turtles that have open wounds that are most commonly caused by boat impacts, propeller strikes and shark attacks. Although the cost-effective remedy is best for open and infected wounds, its application can be incorporated throughout a sea turtle's treatment plan. The center has been known to go through entire gallons.
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