After being forgotten as a viable treatment source, honey is being rediscovered as a preferred method of healing a wide spectrum of health conditions, both internally and topically on the skin.

Many cultures have embraced the concept of using honey as a medicine. Cave paintings in Spain dating as far back as 7000 B.C. show men collecting honey from a bee colony. The medicinal properties of honey have been known since ancient times. A Sumerian tablet from around 3000 B.C. prescribes honey to treat an infected skin ulcer. Papyrus writings dated 2000 B.C. from Egypt prescribes honey to treat a gaping wound of the eyebrow. Before modern-day medicine as we know it was invented, honey was used for its medicinal properties.

The ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, Chinese, Greeks and Romans all used honey to treat a variety of ailments. Around 350 B.C., Aristotle wrote about honey being used to treat wounds and sore eyes. Muhammad, the Muslim prophet, recommended honey to treat diarrhea, and the Koran mentions the curative properties of honey.

Once the therapeutic value of honey was discovered, it was widely used regularly as for medical purposes. Ancient cultures accepted the use of honey as a medicine. The medicinal benefits of honey were passed on from generation to generation, and today honey is a popular medicine in many parts of the world, with a notable exception of the United States.

Why not the U.S.? Many in the American medical community still view honey as a food item and well outside the mainstream of medicine. Many U.S. doctors are reluctant to even experiment with honey for fear of being ostracized by their peers. However, European and other countries have a long history of honey and its medicinal benefits.

One U.S. company has made major strides in bringing the use of honey as a medicine back into the limelight. Honeymark International, a New York-based company uses a particular type of honey from New Zealand known as Manuka Honey in its products. Even though all types of honey have medicinal qualities, Manuka Honey seems to have more than others.

When using Manuka Honey to treat internal ailments, such as stomach ulcers, strep throat, acid reflux, etc., ingesting it is easy because many of us enjoy eating honey, and it tastes better than medicine. However, using Manuka Honey topically on the skin can be somewhat of a sticky mess. Honeymark has developed skin care products containing active Manuka Honey as a natural healing agent to avoid this inconvenience. Honeymark's cream-based products and lotions make it easy to take advantages of the health benefits of Manuka Honey.

Honeymark offers a line of Manuka Honey skin care products to treat conditions such as infected wounds, burns, eczema, ringworm, acne, arthritis and even wrinkles. Manuka Honey has very powerful antibacterial properties that make it ideal for eliminating infectious bacteria that are responsible for many health concerns. One of Manuka Honey's greatest accolades is its ability to health MRSA Staph infections, where antibiotics and other traditional forms of medicine have failed.