Maggot Wound Therapy

Since the earliest forms of recorded medicine, maggots have been used to assist in wound healing. Over the years and the advent of antibiotics, their use has declined, but recently they have had a re-emergence as an acceptable form or modern medicine.

Prior to maggot therapy, a surgical procedure was used.  The area was numbed and the unhealthy tissue  was cut away.  Now with the increase of drug resistant infections, maggot therapy for wound cleaning and healing is starting to make a substantial comeback as a recognized medical treatment.

Several studies on maggot wound therapy, has shown that the healing process is much quicker and less intrusive than conventional surgical wound cleaning.   Also the maggot larvae secrete a substance that helps fight wound infection.

Some practitioners of this type of therapy place the maggots directly upon the wound, where they eat away the dead tissue.  Others have developed a process where the maggots are placed strategically in a dressing that is placed over the wound and changed on a regular basis.

Believe it or not the FDA does regulates the use of maggots, and they are only available through a doctor’s prescription.  They may not be a treatment for all infected wounds, but they are an effective, inexpensive and safe alternative which many insurance companies are beginning to recognize and cover.