Answer:
Although zinc in the form of zinc oxide or calamine has been used in the treatment in skin wounds for over 3000 years, its exact role in wound healing is still not completely understood. Zinc is known to be a constituent of numerous metalloenzymes including DNA and RNA polymerases which play important roles in wound healing. Animal studies have suggested that topical zinc may promote healing and analyses of wound fluid have shown increased zinc concentrations compared to intact skin. However, it is also thought that too much zinc at the early stages of wound healing may have a retarding effect. In practice however, topically applied zinc has little positive effect on healing wounds.