Treatment and healing of simple skin wounds with the use of medicinal plants
Authors: Dorantes Escobedo Guadalupe , Ramírez Marce Juan Carlos , Cuamatzin García Leonel 
Published: May 2023

Introduction: According to the WHO, more than 80% of the world population uses herbs as therapy or adjuvant in the health-disease process, due to their analgesic, anti-inflammatory, carminative, diuretic, emmenagogue, hypnotic, hypoglycemic, immunostimulant and thermogenic properties1. Specifically in terms of superficial skin wounds, 8.1% of medicinal plants are used directly on the lesion, and another 11.8% are administered by other route as auxiliary analgesic treatment2. Objective: Determine the effects of medicinal plants in the healing of simple skin wounds. Methodology: A bibliographic review was carried out (May-September 2022) of several scientific articles in the Google Scholar and PuBMed databases. 18 articles published since 2016 with the following keywords were included: “wound healing, herbal therapy, medicinal plant, traditional medicine” as well as the scientific name of the reviewed plants. Results: Optimal healing was achieved from 1 to 5 weeks in 28.6% of cases, from 6 to 10 weeks in 14.3% and from 11 to 15 weeks in 42.9% of them. Among the most used herbs is Aloe Vera (61%) and Calendula Officcinalis L. (17%), used mainly on bedsores, superficial abrasions, ulcers, and first/second-degree burns. Aloe vera and Calendula Oficcinalis mainly reduce pain and regenerate mucocutaneous tissue, accelerating cell proliferation3,4. Chamamobile nobile has antibacterial and healing activities5. Conclusion: Herbal therapy is a very important aid in various social strata and becomes a necessity in low-income populations or where health services do not exist. The adjuvant therapy with medicinal plants can contribute to the reduction of economic expenses and the use of drugs, in addition it has been shown that this type of therapy (relatively innocuous) significantly reduces the healing time in simple skin wounds; however, more studies are needed to reveal all the effects (including side effects) of each plant, mainly in developing countries. References: 1. Gobierno de México. Plantas medicinales: Nuestro patrimonio [Online]. México; 2020 [Consulted on June 19, 2022]. DOI:Plantas medicinales:Nuestro patrimonio|Sembrando vida|Gobierno|gob.mx( www.gob.mx ) 2. Ávila-Uribe MM et al. Plantas medicinales en dos poblados del municipio de San Martín de las Pirámides, Estado de México. Scielo. 2016; 42(11):215-24. 3. Gok MZ et al. Effects of Aloe vera in adults with mucocutaneous problems: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of advanced nursing. 2021; 77(3):1105–1126. 4. Machado AF et al. Low-level laser therapy and Calendula officinalis in repairing diabetic foot ulcers. Revista brasileira de enfermagen. 2016; 50(04):628–634. 5. Houshmandfar R et al. In vivo Antibacterial and Wound Healing Activities of Roman Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile). Infectious disorder drug targets. 2018; 18(1):41–45. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.