Maggot therapy is the controlled, therapeutic use of live blow fly larvae ("maggots") to treat skin and soft tissue wounds.
The history of maggot therapy, and the mechanisms by which it works, will be discussed below. But first, some disclosures:
In the United States, Medical Maggots™ are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration as a prescription only medical device.
The Medical Maggots™ brand of medicinal maggots are cleared by the FDA for marketing under the following indications: "for debriding chronic wounds such as pressure ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, neuropathic foot ulcers and non-healing traumatic or post surgical wounds."
This page discusses maggot therapy in general, including recent research. Not all of the claims being made by clinicians or researchers were demonstrated with the Medical Maggots™ brand of medicinal maggots. Monarch Labs does not and can not claim that all of the benefits described in this article or in the published literature apply to the Medical Maggots™ brand of medicinal maggots.