Medicinal plants: traditional healers’ indications for the treatment of wounds

Objective: To analyze the indications and knowledge of traditional healers on the use of medicinal plants for the treatment of wounds. Methods: Quantitative descriptive study conducted with 32 traditional healers from the municipality of Campina Grande – Paraíba, from November 2012 to March 2013. We used a structured questionnaire with 21 closedand open-ended questions on sociodemographic variables, information on the plant species indicated for the treatment of wounds, acquisition of knowledge on the issue and sale of plants. Data underwent descriptive analysis using absolute and relative frequencies. Results: Of the 40 medicinal plants dealers invited to participate in the study, 32 (75%) agreed to answer the interview; of these, 75% (n=24) were women, 50% (n=16) were 60 years old or older, 25% (n=8) lived in rural areas, and only 18.75% (n=6) grew the herbs they traded. In all, 87.5% (n=28) of the respondents worked for over five years in this sector, with the family transmission across generations as the most common form of knowledge acquisition (87.5%; n=28). In all, 18 plants were cited by the traditional healers, with the purple cashew tree as the most indicated (87.5%; n=28), followed by barbatimão (81.25%; n=26) and quixaba (50%; n=16). Conclusion: The present study leaves question about the level of popular knowledge of traditional healers on the use of medicinal plants for the treatment of wounds unanswered given that it comes from a family source without scientific evidence and imprecise therapeutic indication.