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Injuries, Minor

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Natural Therapies

Herbs and Supplements to Be Used With Caution

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Minor injuries are small cuts or bruises. It is important to care for them so they may heal.

They are treated with first aid to lower the risk of infection. Natural therapies have also been used to ease pain and promote healing.

Natural Therapies

Likely Effective

These therapies are likely to promote healing:

Hyaluronic acid is a compound made by the body that can applied to the skin as a gel or serum.A2
Nutritional supplements are taken by mouth to provide the body with nutrients.A8

May Be Effective

These therapies may ease pain and promote healing:

Aloe vera is a succulent plant that can be applied to the skin as a gel or cream.A1, A3, A4
Proteolytic enzymes are a group of compounds that help the body break down food.A6

Not Enough Data to Assess

Silver A5, A7

Editorial process and description of evidence categories can be found at EBSCO NAT Editorial Process.

Herbs and Supplements to Be Used With Caution

Talk to your doctor about any supplements or therapy you would like to use. Some can interfere with treatment or make conditions worse.

References►

Herbs and Supplements

A1. Khorasani G, Hosseinimehr SJ, et al. Aloe versus silver sulfadiazine creams for second-degree burns: a randomized controlled study. Surg Today. 2009;39(7):587-591.

A2. Voigt J, Driver VR. Hyaluronic acid derivatives and their healing effect on burns, epithelial surgical wounds, and chronic wounds: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Wound Repair Regen. 2012;20(3):3173-3131.

A3. Dat AD, Poon F, et al. Aloe vera for treating acute and chronic wounds. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 Feb 15;2:CD008762.

A4. Shahzad MN, Ahmed N. Effectiveness of aloe vera gel compared with 1% silver sulphadiazine cream as burn wound dressing in second degree burns. J Pak Med Assoc. 2013 Feb;63(2):225-230.

A5. Jamec GB, Kerihuel JC, et al. Cost-effective use of silver dressings for the treatment of hard-to-heal chronic venous ulcers. PLoS One. 2014;9(6):e100582.

A6. Chandanwale A, Langade D, et al. A Randomized, Clinical Trial to Evaluate Efficacy and Tolerability of Trypsin:Chymotrypsin as Compared to Serratiopeptidase and Trypsin:Bromelain:Rutoside in Wound Management. Adv Ther. 2017;34(1):180-198.

A7. Li HZ, Zhang L, et al. Silver-containing dressing for surgical site infection in clean and clean-contaminated operations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Surg Res. 2017;215:98-107

A8. Ye J, Mani R. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Nutritional Supplementation in Chronic Lower Extremity Wounds. Int J Low Extrem Wounds. 2016 Dec;15(4):296-302.

Other Therapies

B1. Westby MJ, Dumville JC, et al. Dressings and topical agents for treating pressure ulcers. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Jun 22;6:CD011947.

Last reviewed October 2019 by EBSCO NAT Review Board Eric Hurwitz, DC
Last Updated: 6/2/2020

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