Testing of Medical Sheep Fur with Antimicrobial Properties – Part 2

There are a number of people with rheumatic, joint and muscle diseases, and the medical treatment of patients suffering from these diseases requires an improvement through alternative methods. Pain is the main symptom of rheumatic diseases and chronic pain affects the physical and mental condition, lowering quality of life and ability to work. Natural products derived from plants with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and chemo-preventive properties have been used for many generations in traditional medicine. The essential oils extracted from different plants have certain analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antibacterial, immunostimulating properties, etc. Products have been made based on essential oils with therapeutic properties (daphne, ginger, basil), which can be used to treat the surface of tanned sheep fur for medical purposes. Ecological requirements have led to the development of new fur processing technologies, such as wet-white tanning of fur to eliminate or reduce the amount of complex salts of trivalent chromium. The sheep furs were tanned (without metals) with syntans based on phenolsulfonic acids and aromatic oxysulfones and treated with products based on essential oils with therapeutic properties, to be used to make medical fur articles (lumbar and cervical belts, knee pads, elbow pads, bootees, etc.). They can improve rheumatic, muscular and circulatory conditions, complementing the medical treatment of patients suffering from these conditions. Heat can relieve rheumatic pains (transmitted through the application of natural fur). The work presents the chemical, physical-mechanical and microbiological characterization of natural furs for medical use.