Sunburn

[hairymick]

The juicy sap from the leaf of the aloe vera (barbadensus) plant is a miricle cure for bad sunburn.

strip the bark from the leaf and rub liberally into the burnt parts. Relief starts allmost immediately and as the skin absorbs the juice the relief increases.

For the guys in the warmer areas, It is well worth getting one of the plants and keeping it in a pot at home.

 

[Kayak Jack]

I carry a bottle of the gel for such use.

 

[oldsparkey]

Mick

It is a tradition around here to have several Aloe Plants in the yard for such emergencies but there are a ton of other things they can be used for.

" The gel from the inside of the aloe plant’s leaves is in cosmetics and skin treatments. Europeans use aloe as a laxative and digestion aid.

Aloe contains a component that acts against viruses such as the flu, chickenpox, and herpes and can also kill bacteria. Aloe also stops bowels from absorbing water. This speeds the passage and volume of the bowel’s contents, resulting in a laxative effect.

Aloe Vera possesses external healing properties and speeds the healing of skin injuries such as poison ivy, ulcerations, hives, and burns. Internal healing properties result from its use as a laxative; however, use as a laxative can cause agonizing cramping. "

 

[hairymick]

Hey Jack,

The bottled gel is good and more convenient but the raw stuff is better. I don't know how the plant would survive in your very cool environment, perhaps as an indoor potted plant?

I have had one for years that I totally ignore and it just keeps on keeping on. When I go away camping for a few days, I usually cut a couple of leaves and keep them in the cooler. I burn pretty easily and Robin is much fairer than me.

 

[Kayak Jack]

It is a potted plant here. As good as it is for so many and varied skin conditions, it sounds similar to tea oil from the tea oil tree that grows so wild in Australia. I wander if some active ingredients are similar?

 

[Mutinousdoug]

Ma keeps a couple of scrawny Aloe Vera plants around here in pots over the winter that look like they barely make it through. Every winter. They come back strong in the Spring and Spring skiing sunburn can be a killer. Always enough sap to last through the summer camping season.
In Colorado. They'll make it if you keep them from freezing and give them as much sun as you get. Minnesota or Michigan? I don't know. It's so grey there in the winter.
Fresh stuff really works. Better than store bought gel.

 

[hairymick]

Jack, the tee trees you are talking about are Melaleuca (alternifolia) that the oil is extracted from are a magical plant with huge medicinal possibilities. They are the same plant or very close to it to the melaleucas that have gone rampant in the Florida swamps.

Unfortunatly, the process to extract the oil is a long and difficult one that involves first harvesting the young trees, then extracting the sap and then distilling it into the oil. The process is still being developed here but as soon as the technology is successful, our government in its wisdom is giving it to third world countries that can produce the same oil at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Tea tree oil is barked for even gum disease. Don't know if it works, but it seems to treat anything on the skin.

I use Neosporin with pain reliever for burns on my hands. Sunburn doesn't seem to bother me too much; it turns to tan.