The influence of essential oils on the process of wound healing: a review of the current evidence.

The management of wounds over the millennia of medical history reads like a catalogue of human ingenuity, a combination of trial and error, word of mouth and quizzical speculation. Since Flemming stumbled across the mould that changed the face of mankind’s battle with infection, antibiotics have been a mainstay of the treatment of infected wounds. However, they only help to combat one of the factors that prevent wounds from healing instead of truly accelerating the speed of tissue recovery. As we approach an era when pathogens are increasingly immune to our arsenal of antibiotics and their ability to mutate1 is outstripping our inventiveness in creating new ones, many ‘forgotten’ remedies are once again gaining appeal.