If someone in your home gets a little nick, scrape or burn, dab
a coating of fresh aloe vera on the injury. Clinical studies have shown fresh aloe vera gel to promote wound healing by
stimulating tissue repair.
Whenever I apply it on an injury, I leave a thick coating on
because of the known hydrating, insulating and protective properties of the
gel. It dries up pretty quickly and isn't noticeable after a while. In fact, I favor it over the drugstore-bought bandages when it comes to
sunburns and those minor but common burn accidents in the kitchen. Research compiled indicates that healing time for
burn injuries is about eight days shorter than those in control groups.
The gel I’m talking about, though, is taken fresh from the
plant—not the type you can buy in tubes or jars in retail stores. Many of the
active ingredients appear to deteriorate with storage or pasteurization at high
temperatures.
Aloe Vera is Easy to Grow
Fear not, you brown thumbs reading this! Aloe vera is a
tropical plant that feels right at home in the Philippines, making it
incredibly easy to grow. It can be grown outdoors or in the house by a sunny
window. It doesn’t need much watering; in fact, it prefers infrequent watering.
It’s a succulent, making its care similar to what you would give a cactus. And
because it’s also very easy to propagate, you can buy it at a very affordable price
from most plant stores.
When cutting a leaf for your use, make a clean cut at the
base of the leaf (use a sharp knife or garden shears; don’t just break it off),
as close as you can to where the plant meets the soil surface. Since you can
extract a lot of gel from just one cut leaf, you can reuse it over several days
as your wound heals. Wrap the aloe vera in a plastic sheet or foil and keep it
in the refrigerator. Cut off the end and extract from the newly exposed part
each time you need to get more gel, then reseal.
Other Uses of Aloe Vera
Given all the research going on
about this low-maintenance plant, there’s no reason for a home not to have at
least one pot around. I’ve heard of
people keeping the gel on for half an hour as a facemask to keep skin
moisturized and youthful looking. Others mix it with rubbing alcohol to make
homemade hand sanitizers. They add a few drops of essential oil to give it a
nice scent.
What about you? Do you have a handy use for aloe vera that
you’d like to share?