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Maggot Therapy
Overview
Maggots are living fly larvae that eat decaying or dead tissue. Maggot therapy involves placing live maggots in a non-healing wound.
A non-healing wound is a wound that doesn't improve after four weeks or heal after eight weeks. Larvae of the green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata) are most often used in maggot therapy. By removing the dead tissue and bacteria on and around a wound, maggot therapy might help improve wound healing and prevent infection.
People use maggot therapy for foot sores related to diabetes, bed sores, leg sores caused by weak blood circulation, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support most of these uses.
Using non-sterile maggots in maggot therapy might lead to serious infections. Due to safety concerns, the US FDA started regulating maggot therapy in 2003. One specific brand of maggot therapy, Medical Maggots, is approved by the US FDA as a prescription product.
A non-healing wound is a wound that doesn't improve after four weeks or heal after eight weeks. Larvae of the green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata) are most often used in maggot therapy. By removing the dead tissue and bacteria on and around a wound, maggot therapy might help improve wound healing and prevent infection.
People use maggot therapy for foot sores related to diabetes, bed sores, leg sores caused by weak blood circulation, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support most of these uses.
Using non-sterile maggots in maggot therapy might lead to serious infections. Due to safety concerns, the US FDA started regulating maggot therapy in 2003. One specific brand of maggot therapy, Medical Maggots, is approved by the US FDA as a prescription product.
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