The St John’s Wort plant and the Neem tree are highly valued in traditional medicine for their healing properties. Hypericum oil from the St John’s Wort plant has a long history of use in treating skin. Neem oil and other extracts from the Neem tree have been used in traditional medicine for many different purposes, as early as prehistoric eras.
Today, a combination of these oils in a natural olive oil base is available as an aerosol spray – Fix Wound Spray®. It is used by doctors including wound specialists to treat many types of wound, including deep wounds. Plus it is suitable for self-treatment of minor wounds such as cuts, abrasions and burns.
Discover how this combination of plant oils works, and the key studies that support its benefits in wound healing.
Hypericum oil and Neem oil in history
Hypericum oil (Oleum hyperici) has a long tradition as a topical treatment for wounds and burns.6 It is produced by processing fresh or dried flowers from the St John’s Wort plant (Hypericum perforatum) with vegetable oil such as olive oil. While St John’s Wort extracts are also used in natural remedies for depression, the Hypericum oil used in Fix Wound Spray is not the same extract as that used for depression.1
Neem oil (Oleum azadirachtae) used in Fix Wound Spray is produced by cold pressing the seeds and fruit of the Neem tree (Azadirachta indica), which commonly grows throughout India and Pakistan.7 Extracts from the Neem tree have played a role in traditional medicine as far back as prehistoric eras, including more than 4500 years of use in the Indian subcontinent.7 Its flowers have been used for bile disorders, its leaves have been used in ulcer management, and its bark has had a role in treating disorders of the nervous system.7 Because of its many important roles in traditional medicine, with all its parts used for various extractions and treatments, it is considered holy in India and sometimes referred to as the ‘Sacred Tree’.1,7
The specific extracts that SFI Health uses to make Fix Wound Spray
Fix Wound Spray is a natural formulation that is made with 2 key ingredients – Oleum hyperici (Hypericum oil) and Oleum azadirachtae (Neem oil) – which are traditional wound healing remedies. As well as theses oils, Fix Wound Spray contains oleum olivarum (olive oil), which acts as the ‘base’ or ‘carrier’ oil – this simply means that the olive oil dilutes the Hypericum and Neem oils so that they are at a suitable concentration for applying to wounds on the skin.
Fix Wound Spray also contains propane and butane – gases that help create an aerosol, so that the oil mixture can be applied as a spray. They are chosen because they have low toxicity and they don’t contribute to depletion of the ozone layer, so they help keep the formulation as natural as possible.
Warning: Please see the flammable warning and follow instructions for disposal of cannister when empty.
How Fix Wound Spray works
Fix Wound Spray is thought to assist healing with a broad range of therapeutic actions. These actions are brought about by the oil film that the spray creates, both on and around wounds, and the fatty acids that the spray contains.1,3
1. Maintaining a moist healing environment
The oil film created by the spray provides a beneficial moist environment that promotes healing, and also stops wounds and surrounding tissue from drying out. 1,3 The moisture provided is also thought to prevent damage to newly growing tissue.1 Also, the oil film is semi-occlusive, meaning that it allows free movement of moisture and materials that the body uses to heal wounds (substances called growth factor and cytokines). These actions are thought to help reduce healing time.1,3
2. Preventing infection
Fix Wound Spray has high concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids – natural substances that contribute to a gentle form of anti-microbial action.3 Plus the oil film created by the spray helps to keep wounds clean and free from infection, but without harming the body’s cells that are responsible for the healing process.3
3. Potentially preventing scars
Fix Wound Spray may help with the scarring process because of the fatty acids that it contains.8 These are thought to work by affecting the organization of collagen and dampening inflammatory processes. 8 The benefit of this is that scars can potentially be prevented to some extent, instead of being treated after they have already appeared.2,8
4. Creating a protective barrier that results in less pain
The oil film created by the spray helps to prevent dressings, such as bandages and plasters, from sticking to wounds and the surrounding tissue.1 This makes dressing changes simpler and less painful.1,4,5 It also prevents newly growing tissue from becoming damaged during dressing changes.1
SFI Health Difference
Fix Wound Spray
Many topical products and advanced types of dressings are used to treat and protect wounds, ranging from various creams and powders to specialised dressings such as silicon gauze. However, Fix Wound Spray is the only wound care product that contains a combination of Hypericum oil and Neem oil – natural remedies used for wound healing in traditional medicine – in an aerosol spray.
But it doesn’t end there. Unlike many products based on traditional remedies, Fix Wound Spray has been clinically researched and shown to be beneficial in wound healing. It has been studied in patients with a wide variety of wounds – ranging from deep wounds due to surgery through to burns, ulcers and bed sores.1-5 That’s the SFI Health difference.
Well tolerated
Fix Wound Spray has been found to be well tolerated, with no serious adverse events reported. A small number of cases of allergic reaction have been reported after use of the spray, but these only occurred in people who had multiple allergies.1
Hypericum oil and Neem oil: A Summary
5 CLINICAL RESEARCH PAPERS
Support the use of combined Hypericum oil and Neem oil spray in a wide variety of wounds1-5
SUITABLE FOR ACUTE AND CHRONIC WOUNDS
Ranging from deep wounds due to surgery through to burns, ulcers and bed sores1-5
BROAD RANGE OF ACTIONS TO ASSIST HEALING
Protects against infection and damage during healing, provides a moist healing environment, and may reduce scarring1,2,3,8
USED BY WOUND SPECIALISTS
Since 2011, the Fix Wound Spray formula has been used in hospitals, by doctors and other healthcare professionals1-5
Our source to patient philosophy
We make sure our natural medicines are consistent.
Not only do the clinical studies on our products demonstrate real health outcomes, they demonstrate the results you can expect from the same products you see on shelf. It’s all part of our Source to Patient philosophy.
References
- Lauchli S, et al. Hospital Healthcare; 2012: 1-3.
- Lauchli S, et al. Forschende Komplementarmedizin 2014; 21: 88-93.
- Lauchli S, et al. Journal of Wound Care 2012; 21(5): 228-233.
- Mainetti S and Carnevali F. Journal of Wound Care 2013; 22(12): 681-689.
- Eggenberger K, et al. Audit 2012: 1-19.
- Wölfle U, et al. Planta Med 2014; 80(2-3): 109-120.
- Kumar VS and Navaratnam V. Asian Pac J Trop Biomed 2013; 3(7): 505–514.
- Focus: Scar. Interview with Mischa Wiegand, MD (specialist surgeon and specialist for hand surgery). Available at: https://www.wound.ch/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Scar-support.pdf Accessed October 2018.
