Maggots for medicinal purposes?

Question

I have been told during the civil war, maggots were used to
eat away infected and ghangreened flesh. While not eating healthy tissue.

Is this true, and if so could it be used on burn patience?

Appreciate any serious answer, or suggestion as to find further information.

Answer 1

Yes it's true, and in some cases it's used today. Maggots only eat dead flesh so it's a good way to clean out infection.

Answer 2

Yes, it is true. I am being serious. And they even do it today. Years ago, they decided to use it in hospitals and wound care clinics. They take laboratory bred flies and lay their eggs on the infected tissue. They cover it in bandages...usually after sedating the patient because of the creep-out factor. The next day, the eggs have hatched and the larva (maggots) go to work feeding themselves off the infected tissue. I heard that it hurts when the maggots have gotten through the dead, rotten tissue and begin to work their way down the clean flesh. When it gets to that point, they dip the patient in a whirlpool device to get all of the maggots off. It is very effective even if it does seem icky.

I am serious about this and I know because my mother was a burn victim from the waist down with bad circulation. She never really healed properly and had multiple infections and huge sores in her legs. She was one of the first people to try maggot therapy in modern times about 15 years ago. It worked well for her.

Answer 3

Yes, this is true. I have been in healthcare education for 25 years and have worked at a hospital and in home health. I have seen maggots used in a variety of situations, from an infected penile implant to burn wounds. For more information on maggot therapy, see http://www.medicaledu.com/maggots.htm. This is a very interesting and informative article on the subject.

Answer 4

This is gross, but...
Years ago I had a dog with a horrible ear infection that just wouldn't go away. We tried everything, including switching vets, and nothing helped. While we were on vacation the dog-sitter didn't use the dog's medicine in her ears and flies laid eggs in her ear canal. When we came home, her ear was full of maggots (it was so gross - we had to take her to the vet to get the maggots out! (and fired the dogsitter, too)) The vet said the maggots ate all of the infected tissue, and the ear healed. He said it was probably a good thing, even though it was miserable for my poor sweet dog.

Answer 5

Maggots are super-cool. There is a certain breed of sterilized blow-fly that will eat away dead flesh. Even cooler- it's excrement is a natural anti-biotic. It would work well on burn patients. You pack the wound, then when all the dead flesh is gone the maggots fall off. You can see why this isn't a popular method- it's kinda gross. Watch gladiator w/ russell crowe. The scene where he's taken away and the african dude is helping him, you'll see that his wound is packed w/ maggots.

Answer 6

Yes the practice is still used occasionally, in fact it is very sterile when the maggots are raised in captivity. I'm not sure how it would apply to burn patients, as I'm not a doctor, but the theory about Maggots having beneficial medical uses is certainly correct; they do eat infected and gangrenous flesh.

Answer 7

Though it may be true, you need to consider the sanitary issues. Foe example, the practice of using leeches for medical purposes are still used today. They can help keep blood flowing to reattached fingers/toes/etc, however, they are bred only for a SOLE medical purpose. Doctors just don't go into the waters and pick them out of nature. So I guess if maggots were to be used today for medical purposes, they also must be bred for that one sole purpose and dispose of immediately after use. But I'm sure that if they were used during the civil war, soilders weren't lucky enough to have them grown for a sole medical purpose...

Answer 8

Yes it is true. To the best of my knowledge they still use maggots for some medical purposes but I don't know about burn victims.

Answer 9

In fact the Marine Corps still teaches using maggots on wounds as part of their advanced survival training. And I think both the Air Force and Navy also teach that to their pilots in escape and evasion classes. i.e in case they are shot down behind enemy lines.
As far as using on burns to prevent gangrene if nothing else is available; they can be used.
Oh! forgot one other thing handy to know. Once they get all the dead skin eatten and fall off you can eat them, pure protien.

Answer 10

Yes. This was true in the civil war. Today many people are too scared to place maggots on their bodies.