Aloe Vera

Aloe, also known as Aloe Vera is a genus of shrubby succulent plants in the lily family growing a collection of sharp, pointy, spiny leaves at its base, but producing no flowers. The plant’s medicinal properties come from the stick sap-like substance that is found inside of its leaves. It is a powerful laxative and is an effective treatment for any number of skin irritations and wounds.

What has been found is that applying aloe to skin that has been damaged in some way, greatly reduces the amount of time for recovery. Aloe is used to help genital herpes, psoriasis, and seborrhoea (Fairly common skin condition, leading to oily, red, and scaly eruptions in such areas as the eyebrows, eyelids, nose, ear, upper lip, chest, groin, and chin.). A study showed that using aloe cream 3 times daily for 5 days to external genitalia decreases the amount of time for liaisons caused by herpes to heal by 60 percent. A different study found that the use of aloe cream was also more effective than using pure aloe on the same genital herpes.

Although many of us are lead to believe that Aloe Vera is an excellent treatment for burns and minor skin wounds, experts may choose to disagree. In fact, in some cases when studied carefully, the use of Aloe Vera on a burn or wound sometimes impairs the skins own healing abilities. It was shown to be ineffective when treating burns on women who had undergone radiation treatment for cancer. One such study evaluated aloe soap in 73 men and women undergoing radiation therapy for various forms of cancer and, overall, failed to find benefit.

Topical aloe vera cream typically contains 0.5% aloe, and is applied 3 times daily.

Avoid use in pregnant, nursing women, children and patients who have a history of liver and kidney problems. It should also be mentioned that diabetics who may choose to use Aloe Vera should reconcider because of the chance of blood sugar levels dropping too low.