Topical application of natural honey, beeswax and olive oil mixture for atopic dermatitis or psoriasis: partially controlled, single-blinded study.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

To investigate the effects of honey, olive oil and beeswax mixture on patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) or psoriasis vulgaris (PV).

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Twenty-one patients with dermatitis and 18 patients with psoriasis were entered for patient-blinded, partially controlled study; 11 patients with dermatitis used topical betamethasone esters and 10 patients with psoriasis used clobetasol propionate. Honey mixture contained honey, beeswax and olive oil (1:1:1). Mixtures A, B, and C contained honey mixture with the corticosteroids ointment in a ratio of 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 respectively. Patients with dermatitis were subjected to controlled bilateral half-body comparison to evaluate the efficacy of honey mixture against Vaseline, or mixture A against Vaseline-betamethasone esters mixture (1:1) in patients using topical corticosteroid treatment. In patients with psoriasis, the effect of honey mixture was compared with paraffin in an individual right/left-sites comparison, or mixture A against paraffin-clobetasol propionate mixture (1:1) in patients using corticosteroid topical therapy. In dermatitis, body lesions on right or left half-body were assessed for erythema, scaling, lichenification, excoriation, indurations, oozing and itching on a 0-4 points scale. In psoriasis, lesions of selected site were assessed for redness, scaling, thickening and itching, on a 0-4 points scale.

RESULTS:

In honey mixture group, 8/10 patients with dermatitis showed significant improvement after 2 weeks, and 5/11 patients pretreated with betamethasone esters showed no deterioration upon 75% reduction of corticosteroid doses with use of mixture C. In psoriasis, 5/8 patients showed a significant response to honey mixture. In patients using clobetasol propionate, 5/10 patients showed no deterioration upon 75% reduction of corticosteroid doses with use of mixture C.

CONCLUSION:

Honey mixture appears useful in the management of dermatitis and psoriasis vulgaris.

• Authors: Noori S Al-Waili
• Journal: Complementary therapies in medicine (Complement Ther Med) Vol. 11 Issue 4 Pg. 226-34 (Dec 2003) ISSN: 0965-2299 [Print] Scotland
• PMID: 15022655 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Comparative Study, Controlled Clinical Trial, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Anti-Inflammatory Agents
• Olive Oil
• Plant Oils
• Waxes
• beeswax
• Betamethasone
• Clobetasol

Topics

• Administration, Topical
• Adolescent
• Adult
• Anti-Inflammatory Agents (therapeutic use)
• Betamethasone (therapeutic use)
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Clobetasol (analogs & derivatives, therapeutic use)
• Dermatitis, Atopic (drug therapy)
• Female
• Honey
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Olive Oil
• Plant Oils (therapeutic use)
• Psoriasis (drug therapy)
• Single-Blind Method
• Waxes (therapeutic use)