SINGAPORE PODIATRISTS USE MAGGOTS TO HELP HEAL FOOT WOUNDS
posted: Mar. 03, 2019.
The first thing he thought of when he heard the words "maggot therapy" was an image of a corpse with festering wounds. Retiree Velusamy Odiathavar, 60, admitted that he became alarmed when podiatrist John Moody at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) suggested this form of therapy last year. Maggot medicine is a tried-and-tested therapy which dates back to the 1800s, when it was used to help heal battlefield wounds.
John Moody |
Today, the therapy makes use of the larvae on people having trouble with their wounds. National University Hospital (NUH), which introduced it in early 2010 as part of a multidisciplinary limb-salvage program under the vascular surgery department, sees about 40 to 50 patients undergo the treatment every month, said Lynn Toh, a podiatrist at NUH. While there are other ways of removing dead tissue from a wound, like going under the knife, using maggots takes away any surgical risk, Toh said.
Courtesy of Barry Block, editor of PM News.
Brought to you by Doctor John A. Hardy, owner of Toronto's foot clinic, Academy Foot and Orthotic Clinics.