Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Sea buckthorn/olive oil mixture had 28% greater healing rate compared to controls.
In a 2014 study (1), 60 male rats between the ages of 8 and 10 weeks were anesthetized after which researchers applied rods heated to 194 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 seconds to a clean-shaven section of skin to produce a burn. The wounds were then cleaned with saline and one of 5 treatments was administered once daily for 28 days (12 rats per group), sea buckthorn only (no dosage given), olive oil only (no dosage given), a mixture of sea buckthorn and olive oil (no dosage given), a 1% silver sulfadiazine cream which is a common burn treatment, or saline (control group). At days 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28, the burned area was assessed as in previous research (18)
By day 14, wounds treated with the sea buckthorn/olive oil mixture had 28% higher contraction compared to the control group (p < 0.05) and 37.5% higher contraction than the SSD group (p < 0.05). By day 14, the sea buckthorn and olive oil-only groups, wounds treated with the sea buckthorn-olive oil showed 20.7% greater skin contraction compared to the sea buckthorn-only group (p < 0.05) and 25.9% greater skin contraction compared to the olive oil-only group (p < 0.05).
For the researchers, the sea buckthorn/olive oil mixture “enhanced and accelerated the healing process of the burn wounds when compared with silver sulfadiazine, which is used as a current standard care for burn wounds” and that the sea buckthorn/olive oil mixture “could be considered an effective dressing for full-thickness burns.” Hopefully this preliminary study will lead to research with more subjects.
Source: Edraki, Mitra, et al. “Healing effect of sea buckthorn, olive oil, and their mixture on full-thickness burn wounds.” Advances in skin & wound care 27.7 (2014): 317-323.
© 2014 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams
Posted August 8, 2014.
References:
- Edraki M. Healing effect of sea buckthorn, olive oil, and their mixture on full-thickness burn wounds. Adv Skin Wound Care 2014 Jul;27(7):317-23. doi: 10.1097/01.ASW.0000451061.85540.f9
