Honey Treatment for Burns

| Modified on Sep 08, 2024
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An effective home remedy for burns is honey. Many people have honey in their cabinets and are not yet aware of this powerful kitchen medicine! Honey is packed full of nutrients that work together to bring healing to burns (not to mention how it heals many other conditions as well!) Honey has anti-bacterial properties as well and will help to keep your burn from becoming infected, which is a risk if there is broken skin at the site of a burn.

How Do I Use Honey for Burns?

  • The first thing to do with a burn is to cool it. Hold the burn under cool (not cold) running water for 5-20 minutes depending on the severity of the burn. This will help to cool the burn and the body. Because the body retains heat, a burn that is not cooled property can continue to get worse from the heat retained in the body.
  • Make sure that the burn is clean before applying the honey. (If you have held the burn in cool running water, this should have removed any dirt.
  • Next, apply honey to the burn. Carefully cover with a bandage.

What Kind of Honey Should I Use for Burns?

  • The ideal honey to use for anything is local and raw if you have it. Pasteurized honey will have lost its beneficial enzymes during the pasteurization process. Local honey is preferred because it was made from pollen local to your area. While this is perhaps not very important when using for a burn, if you are using honey for allergies, this is very important.
  • If you do not have raw honey but have regular store bought honey, do go ahead and use it. Even generic grocery store honey has been effective as a natural medicine.
  • Manuka honey is a very expensive honey that has been found to be outstanding for health problems. If you are using honey for a serious burn, it may be worth your investment to get some manuka honey. You can even find very special manuka honey bandages for wound care. One of our readers reported that these bandages helped heal a serious second degree burn on the side of her arm.

If you have a serious burn, do seek medical counsel. Serious burns are at risk for infection. If you have large serious burns, you may also be at risk for dehydration.

Have you tried honey for burns? Please send us some feedback! And keep reading to see how our contributors have used this wonderful natural remedy for burns.


11 User Reviews


Posted by Deirdre (Atlanta) on 11/23/2015
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Here's an update to my 2nd degree burn recovery saga (see the aluminum foil section for my first post on aluminum foil)

I went to Whole Foods and purchased a small jar of Manuka honey from New Zealand. This do-it-yourself method of slathering a thick layer manuka honey all over the burn and then bandaging it up didn't work too well because the worst part of my burn is on the bony, curved side of my forearm and the honey didn't stay adhered to it. Exasperated a day later, I went to the pharmacy and bought a box of large manuka honey bandages.

It's now been 14 days since I started on the manuka honey bandages and the part where the large burn blister exploded is slowly closing. I strongly suggest people with a second degree burn invest in these bandages IMMEDIATELY because they are manufactured to stay in place and not drip all over the place! I wish I had done this right from the beginning as I believe the burn would have healed far more quickly. I bought a size that wrapped around my entire forearm.

I have been keeping the bandage on for 2 days at a time and then replacing it. The honey bandages stay moist enough so that you don't rip off new cells when you peel it off, which was my problem from the beginning (ie, the non stick bandages did indeed stick and caused excruciating pain when I removed them).

Soon I will start working the next phase of the healing process and will start applying Castor Oil packs. Hope this helps someone.

Replied by Katzie
(Calgary)
08/02/2022

Can't find Manuka Honey? THC Honey and/or CBD Honey work very well!!


Honey
Posted by Savannah (Atlanta, Ga) on 07/16/2013
★★★★★

Just burnt the tip of my thumb lighting candles. Poor college kid as well here, and luckily had some honey. It started swelling and still felt like it was on fire! Anyway I put honey on it and about 3 minutes later the pain was gone. Thanks!


Honey
Posted by Julie (Greeley, Colorado) on 02/09/2009
★★★★★

I burnt my knuckles while ironing; the skin was red and painful and it hurt really bad. I'm against using medications and really needed some relief. I looked up some remedies on this site, but being a poor college kid I didn't have most of the stuff people listed except honey. I was also told to soak my burn in warm water. I decided to try both. First I put honey on the burn for fifteen minutes then I soaked my knuckles in warm water. I did this for about an hour. The redness had gone and it hurt less. The pain is almost gone and I don't think it will scar. Thank you to this website and all the helpful hints.


Honey
Posted by Kamal (Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India) on 01/21/2009
★★★★★

Honey as a burn remedy is simply excellent. You will be astonished honey ameliorates the pain from burns almost instantly. I have tried and recommended honey to dozens of friends for the treatment of burns by local application of honey with excellent results. It not only does away with the burning instantly but also takes care of the treatment. Keep applying for as long as the injury is not healed.


Honey
Posted by Rose (PA) on 11/25/2006
★★★★★

I burned my hand by taking a pan out of the oven and I had a keloid by the same area. Well, I apply it directly to both areas and cover with a bandage before bedtime every night and within a week or 2 I saw it disappear. I also applied it to my keloid scar after surgery. It does wonders. I thank God. God is good.


Honey
Posted by Madiha (NJ) on 10/26/2006
★★★★★

1. I mixed honey with ginger juice (1 tb spoon ) three times a day. 2: raw honey on burns(really works). A mixture of ginger juice and honey works for sore throat ..it's the best remedy. I always apply raw honey on burn imediately after I get burned and it really works it keep skin soft ...i always keep honey in my kitchen.


Honey
Posted by Joni (Grafton, OH) on 10/06/2006
★★★★★

Honey is also great for BURNS. The other night we were burning some brush in the fire pit and being stupid I grabbed for a stick that wasn't in the fire, but instead grabbed a red-hot end of a burnt stick. OUCH. I ran to the house and put my fingers in ice water. I could tell I burned it deeply (the finger-pad of my forefinger) the other was small burn on the side of my thumb. Then I thought about what I had seen about burns and honey, so I put honey in a measuring cup and dipped my fingers in that. It took the pain right away, but it came back again quickly. So I alternated for an hour and a half between the ice water and honey. The next morning the blisters were unbelievably small and did not hurt AT ALL. In fact the burn felt less deep than it had the night before. Just the surrounding skin looked a little dry. The one on the thumb was completely healed. I have no doubt the forefinger would have been semi-serious if I had not applied the honey. Today (2 days later) you can barely see the blister, as it is flush with the skin and the skin all around the burn looks completely normal again. In fact I can see my fingerprint! I first found this website looking for honey cures and found a wealth of other things too. I love this place!


Honey
Posted by Richard (Boynton Beach, FL) on 06/24/2006
★★★★★

I spread honey over my 3 burned fingers which I had burned from boiling water and the pain went away after 10 minutes.


Honey
Posted by Lucy (Blue Island, IL) on 04/10/2006
★★★★★

After burning, cool burn by running under cool water. Immediately thereafter, cover burn with honey. Keep burn covered until burning sensation eases. You may keep burn soaked in bowl of honey if easily accessible. I have healed even severe burns that have already blistered. By the next day, the blister will be gone and the skin above the blister will return to normal if the blister had not ruptured before using the honey. My whole family uses honey for burns.


Honey
Posted by Soaring Hawk (USA) on 02/12/2006
★★★★★

When my son was 10 he went for his first ride on a farm tractor. A couple of hours later when he got off he reached out and grabbed the exhaust pipe to get off. We immediately poured Raw Unrefined Honey on it & wrapped it in a clean 'T' shirt. Took the pain away very fast & the next morning when we unwrapped it the hand was perfect. No sign of a burn at all!


Honey
Posted by Brenda (Vicksburg, MS) on 02/03/2006
★★★★★

I have used honey for years on any burn and the pain stops immediately and it will not blister. You may have to apply it a couple of times but well worth the stickiness.