5 Natural Items to Speed Up Healing

When you're camping, or in a 'shit has hit the fan' scenario, it's always a good idea to have a medical supply bag on hand. But - if items run out in a long term situation, there are a few food items that can double as ways to stave off potential infections, as well as speed up the healing process.

1) Coconut Oil

Coconut oil not only smells great, but stands out as an antibacterial aid. Applied to a cut or scrape, coconut oil can help ensure you don't develop an infection and even help lower the likelihood of scarring.

2) Raw Honey

Raw honey pulls double duty, offering minor pain relief, as well as fighting off infections. One thing to really note here is that it has to be raw honey. The stuff you'll often find in grocery stores has already had all the helpful bits cooked out of it. Honey is also great for treating minor burns, with some studies showing a drop in average healing time of about 4 days. The ideal method here is applying a layer of honey to clean gauze, and wrapping the wound with slight pressure. Change the wrapping every 24 hours.

3) Garlic

Garlic isn't going to smell as nice as coconut oil, but crushing a garlic clove and applying the resulting oil to a wound for about 15-20 minutes is a great way to prevent infection. (Leaving it on for longer than 20 minutes may cause issues, so be sure to rinse the wound off after that 15-20 minute mark.)

4) Aloe

The combination of vitamin E to aid in speedy healing and the antibacterial properties in the gel from aloe vera leaves make this similar to honey in its wound healing prowess. Also like honey, aloe can help soothe minor burns. Application is easy - just break off a leaf and apply the gel to a minor wound, reapplying every few hours.

5) Cayenne Pepper

Aside from being a perfect ingredient in hot wing sauce, cayenne pepper can be applied to a wound to stop bleeding, and kill bacteria.