How Much Wound Licking Helpful In Humans And Animals (Dog)
Wound licking is an instinctive response in humans and many other animals to lick an injury. Dogs, cats, small rodents, horses, and primates all lick wounds. Saliva contains tissue factor which promotes the blood clotting mechanism. The enzyme lysozyme is found in many tissues and is known to attack the cell walls of many gram-positive bacteria, aiding in defense against infection. Tears are also beneficial to wounds due to the lysozyme enzyme. However, there are also infection risks due to bacteria in the mouth.
Oral mucosa heals faster than the skin, suggesting that saliva may have properties that aid wound healing. Saliva contains a cell-derived tissue factor, and many compounds that are antibacterial or promote healing.
Why Animals lick their Wounds
Conclusion Animals lick their wounds because they have no other recourse.
We humans, however, are blessed with knowing how to use soap and water, as well as disinfectants and, if required, antibiotics. Licking your own wound or letting your pet do it for you shouldn’t cause disease, but it does come with risks. In most cases, the safest thing to do with your mouth is to ask for help. Otherwise, just use a band-aid.
Why Wound licking is beneficial For Animal and Human
Animal:- It has been long observed that the licking of their wounds by dogs might be beneficial. Wound licking is also important in other animals.
Humans:- There are many legends involving healing wounds by licking them or applying saliva. The Roman Emperor Vespasian is said to have performed the healing of a blind man using his saliva. Pliny the Elder in his Natural History reported that a fasting woman's saliva is an effective cure for bloodshot eyes.
Wound licking can be Risk or not
Wound licking is beneficial but too much licking can be harmful. Horses that lick wounds may become infected by a stomach parasite, Habronema, a type of nematode worm. The rabies virus may be transmitted between animals, such as the kudu antelopes by wound licking of wounds with residual infectious saliva.
A report by Scientists from The Netherlands identifies that Human Saliva related to Diabetes
A compound in human saliva that greatly speeds wound healing. This research may offer hope to people suffering from chronic wounds related to diabetes and other disorders, as well as traumatic injuries and burns. In addition, because the compounds can be mass-produced, they have the potential to become as common as antibiotic creams and rubbing alcohol.
Specifically, scientists found that Histatin, a small protein in saliva previously only believed to kill bacteria was responsible for the healing.
According to NEBH Infection Prevention Experts
This is fiction. Although a 2008 study found that saliva contains a protein called Histatin that can aid in healing, your mouth is also home to a number of other bacteria. These bacteria are harmless while in your mouth but can cause serious damage, like infection, if introduced into a wound through your saliva. After 16 hours the scientists noticed that the saliva treated "wound" was almost completely closed. In the dish with the untreated "wound," a substantial part of the "wound" was still open. This proved that human saliva contains a factor that accelerates wound closure of oral cells. Because saliva is a complex liquid with many components, the next step was to identify which component was responsible for wound healing. Using various techniques the researchers split the saliva into its individual components, tested each in their wound model, and finally determined that hesitation was responsible.
Dr. Nigel Benjamin
Specifically, scientists found that Histatin, a small protein in saliva previously only believed to kill bacteria was responsible for the healing.
According to NEBH Infection Prevention Experts
This is fiction. Although a 2008 study found that saliva contains a protein called Histatin that can aid in healing, your mouth is also home to a number of other bacteria. These bacteria are harmless while in your mouth but can cause serious damage, like infection, if introduced into a wound through your saliva. After 16 hours the scientists noticed that the saliva treated "wound" was almost completely closed. In the dish with the untreated "wound," a substantial part of the "wound" was still open. This proved that human saliva contains a factor that accelerates wound closure of oral cells. Because saliva is a complex liquid with many components, the next step was to identify which component was responsible for wound healing. Using various techniques the researchers split the saliva into its individual components, tested each in their wound model, and finally determined that hesitation was responsible.
Dr. Nigel Benjamin
A Clinical pharmacologist with St. Bartholomew's Hospital and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, claims that licking wounds is as beneficial to humans as it is to animals. His research showed that when human saliva comes in contact with skin, nitrite a natural component of saliva—breaks down into nitric oxide, a chemical compound that is effective in protecting cuts and scratches from unwanted bacteria. Benjamin also suggested that nitric oxide could be used as a medication to block infection in the treatment of wounds as well as other skin conditions.There are potential health hazards in wound licking due to infection risk, especially in immunocompromised patients. Human saliva contains a wide variety of bacteria that are harmless in the mouth, but that may cause significant infection if introduced into a wound. Despite the antibacterial agents found in saliva,
Risks
Why Many Scientists Caution against wound licking
Arguing that such a practice is neither safe nor health-promoting. Human saliva contains a wide variety of bacteria that are usually harmless in the mouth but can cause significant infection if introduced deep within an open wound. It is well known that the bite of a human can often be more serious than the bite of an animal.
Once the bleeding stops, all efforts should be directed at preventing a wound from becoming. For instance, there’s one odd case reported in 2002
When A Paper Published in New England Journal of Medicine.
The paper describes how German doctors were forced to amputate the thumb of a diabetic man who licked a small wound inflicted from falling off his bike. The diabetic patient had fallen victim to necrotizing fasciitis, which can destroy tissue in as little as 12-24 hours and absent urgent medical care can be fatal. Subsequent examination revealed two types of bacteria: Eikenella Corrodens, commonly found inside the mouth, and Streptococcus anginosus, often found on the skin and in the throat, were responsible for the infection. It should be noted that this sort of infection is rare and only occurs if the victim is vulnerable somehow; in this case suffering from diabetes.
Study shows a component of saliva is very effective in blocking AIDS virus.
New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Medical College of Cornell University website. Available at: nycronell.org🔗
