Uses Of Aloe Vera In Skin Care

The leaves of the Aloe Vera plant, also known as Aloe Africana, burn plant, first-aid plant, Mediterranean aloe and Savila, exude a gel that is mashed into a pulp for medicinal purposes. Lotions made from the gel have been used for thousands of years, according to the National Institutes of Health and aloe is a common ingredient for modern, over-the-counter lotions and gels.

Minor Cuts

Aloe vera has long been a popular treatment for minor cuts and abrasions. The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) reports that aloe was typically prescribed for abrasions, minor cuts and skin irritations during the 18th and 19th centuries. Aloe remains the most commonly used herb in the U.S. today, according to the UMMC. Aloe gel is used on the tissue surface to assist in healing, but the skin must be carefully cleaned prior to application and never applied to an open sore or wound.

Burn Treatment

History records the use of aloe for the treatment of wounds and burns. Keeping a live aloe vera plant in the kitchen is suggested for an easy application for cooking skin burns. If a burn occurs, a quick treatment method is to snap off a leaf of the succulent plant, squeeze the leaf until moisture appears, and apply the liquid to the burn.
The aloe leaf is also used for relief of overexposure from the sun, but a clinical study done on 20 volunteers by members of the Division of Dermatology at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, reports that application of aloe cream has no impact in treating burns related to exposure to ultraviolet rays.

Dry Skin

Aloe is also used for treatment of dry skin, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. A study of 30 female volunteers with dry skin followed them as they wore aloe vera gel-treated gloves for several months to evaluate the efficacy of aloe in treating dry hands. One hand was moistened with aloe and the other was left without any moisturizer. The researchers at the Department of Dermatology at Northwestern University found a 90 to 100 percent improvement and reported the results in 2003.

Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a "...chronic, autoimmune disease that appears on the skin," according to the National Psoriasis Foundation. Some treatments for it incorporate the use of aloe. A joint study by researchers at the the Malmo University Hospital in Sweden, at the University of the Punjab in Lahore, Pakistan, and at the American Social Health Association at Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and reported in the Tropical Medicine and International Health Journal discovered that volunteers with psoriasis healed more than a week sooner when aloe was applied to the skin condition. The University of Maryland Medical Center reports that the conclusions of other studies do not support these results.

Expert Insight

The National Institutes of Health confirm that the ingredients of the aloe vera plant, notably the anthroquinone glycosides, have "well-established cathartic properties." A study done in 1988 by clinical researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Israel tested the efficacy of aloe on second-degree burns and found that its use actually hindered the healing process on tests done on animal guinea pigs with burns.