title: Licking as an out-of-hospital burns treatment-An isolated cultural phenomenon?
abstract: Wound management in burns is a potentially complex issue. Salivary constituents have been shown experimentally to be of benefit in the treatment of thermal injuries. In our clinical experience we have encountered patients who have saliva directly applied to the burn wound prior to presenting to the national burns service. The practice is known as "Licking". We report two cases to illustrate the presentations we have encountered. We believe that these illustrate an isolated phenomenon unique to the Republic of Ireland.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Our Ladys Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, Dublin 12, Ireland. Deirdre.seoighe@gmail.com
authors.forename: Deirdre M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Seoighe
authors.forename: Joseph F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Conroy
mesh_terms: D000212:Acyclovir / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007494:Ireland; D008297:Male; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012463:Saliva; D012648:Self Care / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D016038:Skin Transplantation
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000212:Acyclovir