Dr. Whitaker

If managing diabetes was simply a matter of controlling blood sugar, that would be one thing. But the condition is often accompanied by other troublesome complications, one of them being diabetic ulcers—wounds that heal slowly or not at all.

The good news is that there’s a far better natural treatment for these painful, persistent sores than today’s antibiotic therapies, and it’s one I’ve been using at the Whitaker Wellness Institute for more than 20 years. It’s a simple sugar dressing.

When white sugar or honey is packed inside and on top of a diabetic ulcer, it dissolves in the fluid exuding from the wound and creates a hyperosmotic, or highly concentrated, medium in which bacteria cannot exist. Scientists have tested the viability of many types of bacteria, including Klebsiella, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus pyogenes, and none of them have been able to survive in a honey or sugar solution.

In addition to curbing infection, this therapy facilitates healing in other ways. It draws fluid out of the wound, which reduces swelling. It provides a covering or filling and therefore prevents scabbing. It encourages the removal of dead tissue to make way for new growth. It promotes granulation, which is the formation of connective tissue and blood vessels on the surface of a wound. Finally, it supports the growth of new skin covering the wound.

Although we use them specifically to heal diabetic ulcers, sugar or honey dressings can be used to treat any kind of open wound or burn. However, they will not work on abscesses or pustules that are covered with skin. Also, do not use them on a bleeding wound, because sugar promotes bleeding. (By the way, sugar and honey are perfectly safe to use on diabetic wounds because they do not enter the bloodstream.)

Here’s how to use sugar to treat a diabetic ulcer:

• Unravel a 4” x 4” piece of gauze into a long strip and coat it with Vaseline. Place it around the outside edges of the wound, like a donut.
• Cover the wound with ¼-inch of sugar. (The Vaseline “donut” will keep it in place.)
• Place a 4” x 4” sponge on top of the wound. Bandage it firmly but not too snugly with a cling dressing.
• Change the dressing every one or two days. Remove, irrigate with water, saline, or hydrogen peroxide, pat dry, and repeat steps 1–3.

This is one diabetic complication you don't have to live with. Give this approach a try. I think you’ll be happy with the results.