Join us as we discuss a lesser known wound care therapy with Dr. Ronald Sherman.

These small but mighty creatures do really important work and won’t harm you in the slightest. They remove dead tissue from infected wounds, they even help in the case of antibiotic resistant organisms and they do so in a matter of a couple of days. They get a bad rap for being gross but actually they are quite the opposite. They are helping humans heal where modern medicine cannot. For instance, they have the potential to save someone from having their foot amputated due to diabetic foot ulcers. There are many use cases for them.

They only get a bad rap because of their association. You typically find these little creatures in the trash, scavenging on a dead animal, etc. These powerful and healing creatures  are maggots.  

Learn more about maggot therapy click here.

Episode Takeaways: 

What is a maggot? 00:05:40

• Larval stage of the fly
• Blow flies feed on dead tissue and are instinctively motivated to get as far away from the host as possible after a couple of day so they don’t get eaten by the next scavenger

 

How do maggots help us heal?  00:09:00

• They dissolve the dead enzymes by secreting digestive enzymes and suck the juices up 
• Some species can only dissolve dead tissue not live tissue
• They remove dead tissue
• Feed for two days and leave the host 
• They kill microbes (bacteria, fungus, virus’)
• They create growth stimulating activity - clinical observations, lab evidence, studies show proof of this

 

Historical use 00:10:00

• There is some historical literature that suggests the Mayans and Native australians used maggots in their medical care
• Europe - military doctor observations - soldiers whose wounds had maggots had a better chance of survival 
• A practitioner - Johns Hopkins - intentionally placed maggots on children with bone infections

 

Why is maggot therapy not more widely used 00:14:30

• In europe maggot therapy is much more popular and widely used
• In North America - this therapy is not widely used enough
• Much of it is due to the way insurance works in north america 
• There are over 100,000 limb amputations per year due to diabetes, where maggot therapy could be useful
• Less than 2% are given a trial of maggot therapy 
• The research shows that 50% or more of patients with diabetic foot ulcers who are given maggot therapy as a last resort, are able to heal their wounds and do not have to get their limbs amputated. .
• In a Kaiser Permanente study, 74% of their patients given maggot therapy as a last resort avoided amputation or ended up with a more conservative amputation.

 

How do maggots control bacteria 00:20:00

• When they feed on the dead tissue, they are sucking up a lot of bacteria as well. 
• Clinically, several researchers have been able to describe a decrease in the number of pathogens on the wound as well as a decrease in the population size of those organisms.
• Some researchers have looked at antibiotic resistant organisms such as MRSA and seen success with maggot therapy killing those organisms. 

 

How does Maggot therapy work? 00:35:38

• They feed for 3-4 days depending on temperature and abundance of food
• Once they finish feeding, they leave the host 
• The maggot crawls like a worm away from the host
• For treatment purposes, in order to keep the maggots on the wound, they cover them with a porous net fabric that allows air to get through, or they contain them in a bag 

 

Is it painful? 00:42:00

• No direct pain-reducing affect 
• Most people have no wound pain and don’t feel the maggots 
• For those who can feel their wounds - the maggots could cause pain after 24 hours so practitioners are encouraged to help the patient with an analgesic  

 

Interested in learning more about maggot therapy? 00:45:00

• Visit Bterfoundation.org for lots of information on how and where to get this therapy 

 

Where to learn more about

• PBHealthcenter.com
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