There have been some cases in which people have reported positive effects of using honey in treating wounds. Hurlburt, a borderline diabetic, with recurring cellulitis and staph infections tried taking antibiotics for months. However, they failed to alleviate the symptoms. Hulburt's physician, Jennifer Eddy of UW Health's Eau Claire Family Medicine Clinic, suggested that she should try topically applying honey. Soon after applying the honey, she began to feel better.
Hulburt said that she remembered thinking "holy mackerel-what a difference. It's a lot better than having to put oral antibiotics into your system."
A review published in The Cochrane Library indicated that honey may be able to help heal burns, the lead author of the study said that "topical honey is cheaper than other interventions, notably oral antibiotics, which are often used and may have other deleterious side effects."
However, it should be stressed that there is a lack of evidence to fully support this claim. In fact, a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases concluded that applying medical grade honey to wounds of patients has no advantage over normal antibiotic among patients undergoing dialysis.