Aloe vera – the name is quite familiar to almost everyone. We often found it as a major ingredient in so many herbal products ranging from soaps, creams, gels, lotions or moisturizers, and even in foodstuffs and other hygiene products. It has earned its fame not only as an incredible skin care agent, immune energizer, and anti-inflammatory agent, but also as a skin rejuvenator and scar restorer. It has gained so much popularity due to its soothing and gentle effects on the skin and above all it is risk free to use without consulting the physician.
What is Aloe Vera
This is a kind of short tropical plant with thick and plump leaves. They grow best in hot tropical climate and very much sensitive to relatively cold and frosty climate. It is really very easy to take care of such plants. During winter, they could be kept indoors or in some artificially heated atmosphere.
Aloe vera gel is the internal thick fluid-like substance of these plants that is being used since ages as a healing agent for skin damages of different nature and even for digestive and intestinal problems. Though initially introduced by food industry like a food preservative to keep the freshness of fruits and vegetables intact, its strong rejuvenating attributes have made it so well-admired in the history of skin therapy.
Effectiveness on Acne Sufferers
For acne plagued people, this natural stuff has been well proven as an effective medicine to heal and prevent acne primarily due to its antifungal, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial nature, even more so, because it bears the capacity to boost up the healing process. However if you are looking for permanent cure then Aloe vera is certainly not the right choice for you as long as it is being used topically. In fact, external or topical medications can hardly bring complete cure.
However, it can be adopted as a good method of treatment in order to heal the existing lesions, and prevent further growth, thereby getting control over this persistent skin disorder. It happens due to the presence of a substance called gibberellin and mucopolysaccharides which help in stimulating the skin and healing up the lesions.
How to Apply Aloe vera
Some acne sufferers go to an extreme of even buying Aloe vera plants and then breaking open the stems to collect the gel. This, however, is unnecessary since today Aloe vera can be obtained in many forms like soaps, creams or moisturizers, and even in pure gel form. Just be sure that if you are going for pure gel, then the gel must be 100% natural and if you want it in your soaps and other lotions or creams then it must contain minimum amount and variety of other ingredients or chemicals apart from pure Aloe vera.
The risk of skin eruptions could be minimized by regular use of soaps containing this natural substance, twice a day. This would reduce the risk of infections and bacterial growth and clean up the skin surface from excess sebum or body oil. Yet for some people a better and substitute way is to apply the liquid before washing with soap, in order to eliminate excess oil. What else could be a better solution for unclogging skin pores?
Apart from external application, this substance has been well recognized in the field of medicine as well. Though initially its medical implication was limited to bum patients, of late it is being used as a main concern of medicinal studies related with acne treatment. And today they are available even in capsule forms.
Precautions
Though the implication of Aloe vera is harmless and doesn’t require consultation with a dermatologist, yet certain precautions are always essential. When it comes to internal consumption of capsules, one must avoid taking it along with other medications. Otherwise strange side effects might arise.
Side effects from external application are totally unheard or rare events. Still as a safety measure, before external application, one must test with a small amount on the skin surface. At the onset of any kind of irritation or uneasiness, it must be washed off and avoided totally.
