Does Saliva Cure Wounds, Myths or Facts?

Medical Video: How to Make Cuts Heal Faster

Photo source: Flickr / Jonas Foyn Therkelsen

Instinctively, animals will lick their injured limbs, for example dogs. According to research conducted by Benjamin L. Hart and Karen L. Powell, dog saliva contains antiseptics that can be used to kill bacteria E. coli and Streptococcus. Apparently, this behavior is not only done by dogs, humans instinctively lick their wounds to heal quickly. But, is human saliva the same as "magical" with dog saliva?

Histatin, the ingredient in human saliva

Although human saliva does not have a womb epidermal growth factor (EGF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) is as high as in rodents (both of these ingredients are believed to be able to make wounds heal faster), human saliva has been shown to have histatin content. Histatin itself not only functions as an antifungal agent, but also has the ability to accelerate wound healing.

This fact is supported by research conducted by Jia J., Sun Y., Yang H., et al., Published in the journal PUBMED in 2012. The study was conducted on adult rabbits, which made 2.5 x 2.5 cm wounds on their backs.

This study applies 3 different conditions to see the duration and process of wound closure that occurs. The three conditions are giving different substances to see their effectiveness in wound healing. Rabbits are divided into three groups according to the substance that will be applied to the wound on his back. One group was given salt water, one group was given yunnan baiyao powder (a powder that has been widely used to heal wounds), and one group was given saliva.

As a result, in the group given saliva and Yunnan Baiyao, the wound healed faster than those given salt water. In saliva wounds, the recovery rate on the 5th, 8th and 11th day of the wound healing process was better than the other groups. In addition, in the group given saliva, the wound healed was much cleaner, with evidence that no swollen cells and wounds were re-covered with new skin after 15 days, this was far better than the other groups.

In addition to making wounds heal faster, there were reports that were raised by a group of researchers from The Netherlands. There is hope that this histatin content can cover wounds in people with diabetes and various other injuries that are difficult to heal. In addition, the content in saliva is easily mass produced.

Saliva can kill bacteria in acne

Spitting now can be one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get rid of zits. According to the Boston Globe, saliva contains antimicrobials and antifungals which can eliminate this condition. In addition, not only antimicrobial and antifungal, the acid content in saliva can accelerate the process of removing acne.

It's easy, before eating or drinking in the morning, apply your own saliva to the face with acne. After 15 minutes, rinse your face with water. The next day, the pimples will shrink by themselves, according to beauty blogger, Kristin Collins Jackson.

There is one tip given by Jackson. If you feel disgusted, you can add some ingredients that can also give a similar effect but with a different appearance and aroma. Add honey and nutmeg to make you feel more comfortable with this natural acne ointment.

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