Maggot Medicine | National Geographic

omegate is the soft body worm-like
larvae of a fly that lays its eggs in
living or decaying tissues like this
deceased crocodile for instance you may
not think of maggots as being especially
well friendly you’ve probably never
heard of anyone having a pet maggot for
instance that’s because maggots are just
a transitional life stage for flies
they were eggs now they’re maggots soon
we’ll be in the pupa stage and then
adult flies so why would the word
friendly even be used in a story about
maggots
maggot medicine Western hospitals like
this one in Wichita Kansas are turning
back to a wound cleaning remedy that’s
as old as Civil War
if there’s a wound that won’t heal
sterilized starving maggots are placed
inside it to eat the infected tissue
that’s the beauty of using maggots they
only eat the rotting tissue they leave
behind everything healthy that surrounds
it after two days the maggots are
removed their work is more clean and
complete than a surgeon with a scalpel
maggots some people see them as slimy
disgusting repellent and some day they
just might save your life