Q. I want to thank you for the “sugar cure” column. I had a toe amputated in March, 2006, and here it is November, 2007, and it still is not healed. I read your column about using sugar for wound healing, took it to my wound treatment appointment, and asked the doctor about it.
She said, “Nothing else is helping, so go for it. It couldn’t hurt.” I applied the first treatment on a Friday afternoon and by Monday afternoon the improvement was very noticeable. At my next doctor’s appointment, she was very impressed.
I mixed the sugar into Polysporin and applied it. The improvement was so great that my doctor even gave me permission to shower without a bag on my foot. I had not done that in well over two years. Healing has slowed but it continues. Thank you!
A. We first found this old-fashioned approach in the medical literature two decades ago (Southern Medical Journal, Nov., 1981). There has been little research on it since then, but research in Africa suggests that both honey and sugar may be helpful (Journal of Wound Care, July, 2007). Medical supervision is essential whenever difficult wounds are treated.