Which natural remedies help minor burns and wounds heal?

Burns: cool first. Cooling is thought to stop heat from continuing to injure the skin. A review of first-aid options recommended cold running tap water, not ice and not plant remedies¹. A meta-analysis of seven studies found that 20 minutes of cool running water within three hours of the injury lowered the odds of needing skin grafts or surgery². The NHS adds that afterward you should lay cling film loosely over the burn and avoid creams, oils, butter, sticky dressings, and bursting blisters³.

Cuts and scrapes: stop bleeding, rinse, cover. Press firmly with a clean cloth, rinse with water, and cover the wound⁴. A Cochrane review of 13 trials (2,504 people) found that tap water cleansing may make little or no difference to healing compared with no cleansing, and that its effect on infection compared with saline is uncertain; all of the evidence was low or very low certainty⁵. Clean tap water is therefore a reasonable choice. A moist dressing helps: moist wound environments help new skin grow over the wound and reduce scarring compared with dry ones⁶. In a trial of 922 people after skin surgery, plain white petroleum jelly and an antibiotic ointment healed wounds equally, though staph infections were more frequent with petroleum jelly¹¹.

Honey. A Cochrane review of 26 trials (3,011 people) found that honey dressings healed partial-thickness burns about 4.7 days faster than conventional dressings, and healed about as well as silver sulfadiazine, a standard burn cream; for minor acute wounds the effect was unclear⁷. The trials tested honey dressings, so they do not show that jar honey works as well. See manuka honey.

Aloe. Four controlled studies of burns (371 patients) suggested aloe vera shortened healing by about 8.8 days, but the products and outcomes differed⁸. A Cochrane review of seven trials (347 people) found no advantage over silver sulfadiazine for burns, and one trial found aloe delayed healing of surgical wounds by about 30 days⁹. See aloe vera.

Calendula. A systematic review of 14 studies (7 in animals, 7 in people) found supportive animal data and mixed human results, including no benefit in one burn trial¹². See calendula.

First aid for burns. Griffin's systematic review and meta-analysis included seven studies of fair to good methodological quality, most from Australia and New Zealand, and concluded that 20 minutes of cool running water within three hours of injury significantly reduced the odds of skin grafting and surgical intervention². Cuttle's review of first-aid options (water, ice, oils, powders, and plant therapies) found that many traditional treatments lack sufficient evidence and recommended running tap water at 2 to 15 °C, not ice or plant therapies¹.

Honey. The 2015 Cochrane review included 26 trials (3,011 participants): 3 in minor acute wounds, 11 in burns, 10 in chronic wounds, and the rest mixed⁷. For partial-thickness burns, two trials (992 people) found honey dressings healed 4.68 days faster than conventional dressings (95% CI 4.28 to 5.09; graded high quality), though whether adverse events or infection differed was unclear. Against silver sulfadiazine, four trials (332 people) found faster healing with honey by 5.12 days (very low quality), while six trials (462 people) found no difference in the proportion healed by six weeks (risk ratio 1.00; high quality) and fewer adverse events with honey. In minor acute wounds (three trials, 213 people) and venous leg ulcers (two trials, 476 people) the effects were unclear. The reviewers conclude that heterogeneous populations and comparators and mostly low-quality evidence make overall conclusions difficult.

Aloe vera. Maenthaisong's review pooled four controlled burn studies (371 patients): healing was 8.79 days shorter with aloe (P = 0.006), but products and outcome measures differed, and the authors asked for better-described trials⁸. The Cochrane review (seven trials, 347 participants) found that aloe mucilage did not increase burn healing against silver sulfadiazine (risk ratio 1.41; 0.70 to 2.85), made no difference after skin biopsies or in a pressure ulcer trial, and delayed the healing of surgical wounds by 30 days in one trial; it concluded that no high-quality evidence supports aloe in acute or chronic wounds⁹. The reviews differ in scope: Maenthaisong looked only at burns, while the Cochrane review also covered surgical and chronic wounds and judged the trials too poor for firm conclusions.

Petroleum jelly versus antibiotic ointment. Smack's randomized, double-blind trial in 922 people having dermatologic surgery (1,249 wounds; 440 evaluable in the petrolatum group and 444 in the bacitracin group) compared white petrolatum with bacitracin¹¹. Infection occurred in 2.0 percent with petrolatum and 0.9 percent with bacitracin (P = 0.37), but all eight Staphylococcus aureus infections were in the petrolatum group (P = 0.004). Allergic contact dermatitis occurred in none of the petrolatum group and four people (0.9 percent) on bacitracin (P = 0.12), and healing did not differ. Surgical wounds are cleaner than most scrapes, so the result may not carry over.

Water for cleansing. The 2022 Cochrane update of 13 trials (2,504 participants) found that the effect of tap water compared with saline on infection was uncertain (risk ratio 0.84; 0.59 to 1.19; very low certainty), and that tap water may make little or no difference to healing compared with no cleansing; there were no infection data for that comparison⁵.

Calendula. Givol's review of 14 studies (7 animal, 7 clinical) found faster resolution of inflammation and more granulation tissue in five animal studies and one randomized trial of acute wounds¹². Two venous ulcer studies showed smaller ulcers, but a diabetic leg ulcer trial and a burn trial showed no benefit, and two radiation-dermatitis trials were split. The authors call for larger trials.

Moist healing. Junker's review concluded that wet or moist treatment promotes re-epithelialization (new skin growing over the wound) and reduces scarring compared with dry treatment, while noting that few commercial products yet apply the principle⁶.

Bottom line. Confidence is 3 of 5. Cooling a burn and keeping wounds clean and moist have the strongest backing and almost no downside. Honey dressings have reasonable trial support for partial-thickness burns, but aloe and calendula do not have enough consistent evidence to recommend, and none of them replaces care for serious wounds.