Healing

Polysporin may be in for some serious competition, as Swedish scientists have created a healing gel that not only kills antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but also reduces inflammation within wounds. It could someday replace antibiotic-based medications.

Although essential oils are typically associated with aromatherapy, new research indicates that medicines based on them could also help to heal skin wounds. It all comes down to a certain substance in some of the oils, that reduces inflammation.

When a bone-break occurs, the body floods the injury site with a healing biochemical known as adenosine. A new bandage is designed to absorb that substance, keeping it around so it can do more work.

Although sutures are routinely used to close wounds within the body, they can actually damage fragile biological tissue, causing infections or other complications. Scientists at MIT have developed what could be a better way to go, in the form of a double-sided tape.

When someone has a severe burn, a protective covering needs to be temporarily grafted onto the wound site. Although that covering typically consists of skin from a human cadaver, live-cell pig skin has now been used on a patient for the first time.

​Most people think of turmeric as a kitchen spice, or perhaps as a health supplement that's taken orally. Now, however, scientists have incorporated curcumin – a compound extracted FROM turmeric – into a porous foam that's designed to heal skin wounds with a minimum of scarring.

A number of research groups around the world have already produced promising experimental versions of futuristic bandages that could take our healing game to the next level. Here’s a look at some of the more interesting examples.

Slapping on a Band-Aid is the easiest way to help a cut on your skin heal, but things aren’t so simple for internal wounds. Now, researchers from Harvard have developed spray-on hydrogels, produced by bacteria, that can help heal these internal wounds.

​With a few experimental exceptions, bandages generally just cover wounds, as opposed to actively healing them. That's not the case with a new heat-activated "active adhesive dressing" (AAD), however, which forgoes antibiotics while mimicking embryonic skin.

​We've already heard how electrical pulses have been shown to help heal wounds, by promoting tissue growth. An experimental new implant uses that same principle to aid in the regeneration of cardiac tissue, potentially postponing or even eliminating the need for heart transplants.

​For many years now, scientists have been seeking methods of helping to heal chronic wounds such as those suffered by diabetics. One of the latest possible techniques involves re-engineering the membranes of stem cells, so that those cells essentially get welded together.

A woman in Scotland has been found to have a previously-unknown genetic mutation that makes her almost completely immune to pain. Her wounds heal faster and she seems to have less anxiety and fear. Geneticists are now studying the genes responsible to uncover new potential treatments for pain relief