Maggots Not The Wonder Cure As Once Thought

Jacksonville – It is now being said that maggots might not have the healing properties that they once claimed. Maggots have been used to treat ulcers in the legs and are found to be similar to the popular hydrogel treatment in the way in benefits and costs.

For the ulcers to clear in the legs, the dead tissue on the surface has to be removed. This common treatment to do this is called debridement Hydrogel is often used for it. It has been thought that maggots will clear the dead tissue more quickly, start the healing process and lower the risk of infection.

Researchers have been comparing the treatment of leg ulcers by both maggots and hydrogel. They have found little difference in the two and think that putting maggots into open wounds may not be the best idea anymore. Maggots do clean the wound quicker but does not heal any faster. This was found in the first study of maggot medicine.

Researchers at Britain’s’ University of York studied 267 patients with venous leg ulcers. Each patient was treated with either maggot or hydrogel therapy. Their progress was followed for a year and there was no difference in the outcomes, healing time or in the cost. Many patient who had the maggot therapy stated that they had twice as much pain prior to healing as the other patients did who were treated traditionally with the hydrogel. Others found the therapy with the maggots to be more painful and some even had to have them removed because of the pain. The maggot therapy was not more effective than the hydrogel treatment at lowering the amount of bacteria. The only benefit from the maggots was that the dead tissue was cleaned out much quicker.

The use of maggots as therapy was approved for both the United States and the UK in 2004. Researchers have found there to be no significant evidence that the therapy of maggots would be recommend for use on the leg. They do speed up the cleaning but not the healing of the wound. The maggots will definitely work but is just not a good standard type of treatment. If you are an area where you do not have access to good medical care, then the option of maggot treatment might be a good idea.