What are leeches used for?

Answer 1

Leeches suck blood and it was believed that leeches would actually suck the bad blood/diseased blood out of your body. Today leeches are used after reattachment of body parts, particularly fingers and toes. The leeches relieve the congestion of blood in the affected parts. The leeches also put a chemical into the blood in the area of the attachment that prevents blood from clotting.

Answer 2

Medically, leeches can and have been used for people who have ears reattached to their body. The leeches' saliva has a blood thinner in it so that when you attach the leech, it keeps the blood from clotting. And when you are having an ear reattached, doctors have done this so that the ear won't fall off from loss of blood. Naturally, it would clot, and the blood wouldn't go to your ear, and your skin cells would die, causing your ear to fall off.

Answer 3

Leeches suck blood. They can get rid of a blood clot a lot more safely then chemical agents used to thin blood. Leeches only thin blood flow from where they are feeding and release anti-clotting agents which are safer than man-made agents (especially if the person has a condition where their blood has a clotting deficiency).

Answer 4

They were used to "bleed" the patient. It was thought that this would have a theraputic affect on the patient. At that time, the bleeding of patients for various aliments had no real medicinal value like it does now. Back then it was particularly popular for those suffering from "consumption" and "the vapors". Whatever they were.

Answer 5

They use them for problematic wounds such as:

-diabetic foot ulcers

-pressure ulcers (bed sores)

-gangrene

The maggots excrete enzymes that help dissolve the dead tissue on your skin, disinfect the cut and help make healing of the wound quicker.

Answer 6

They can be used to suck blood for whatever reason, it is an easy way to do it and wont kill you-they only need to eat once or so a year. They are quite ideal for reducing swelling.

Answer 7

Yes - leeches are still bred for medicinal use - even in today's super high-tech society.

Answer 8

Some of the health benefits of leeches would be wound care. It is known of someone has a wound that is not healing properly, the use of leeches on the wound helps good tissue growth.

Answer 9

reconstructive surgery