Jennifer Eddy vividly remembers the 79-year-old old man with foot ulcers so severely infected that his dried and deteriorated skin caused the loss of two toes.
Two surgeons urged amputation of the man’s lower legs to save his life, but the man opted to go home, and he then lost a third toe. Eddy, a family physician taught to never give up on a patient, approached the man with an idea she’d first heard about during medical school.
She told him that honey had been used since the early days to treat wounds and asked if he’d be willing to try it. The man agreed and placed a thick application of honey he’d purchased at a supermarket on his sore each day.
Within three weeks, Eddy says, the man’s foot began creating nice, healthy tissue. It took about a year for the ulcer to clear up.