Sabila (Aloe Vera as Herbal Medicine)

It is a succulent plant used to treat burns, cuts, eczema and other disorders. Aloe vera has antiviral, antifungal, antibiotic, antioxidant and antiparasitic properties.

Properties
• Aromatic, astringent, aperient, purgative, emmenagogue, emollient, cholagogue, laxative, stomachic, tonic, vulnerary.
• Considered antitoxic, anticancer, antimutagenic.

Parts utilized
Leaves, pulp, and sap.
Dried juice from leaves.
Harvest mature leaves and rinse with water; remove spines prior to use.

Uses
Use for dandruff.
– Juice of fleshy leaves is usually mixed with gogo by Filipino women and used to prevent falling of fair or as a cure for baldness.
– Juice from leaves mixed with wine used to preserve the hair
– In the Philippines, leaves used to poultice edema associated with beriberi.
– Juice from leaves mixed with milk used for dysentery and pains of the kidney.
– Fresh juice expressed from the leaves is spread on skin burns, scalds, scrapes, sunburn and wounds.
– Burns and scalds: Use ointment made by mixing equal amounts of powdered aloe and coconut oil.
– Used for wound healing.
– For conjunctivitis, leaf juice is applied to the outer eyelid.
– Used for sprains, sore throat.
– In small doses, used as a tonic; in larger doses, as aperient; and in still larger doses, drastically so; it is also used as emmenagogue and cholagogue.
– In small doses, considered stomachic tonic; in large doses, as purgative.
– In Costa Rica, the mucilaginous pulp of leaves is used as purgative.
– For contusions or local edema, bruised fresh leaves are applied as poultice over affected areas.
– For alopecia and falling hair, remove the spines, cut leaves and rub directly on the scalp. The juice of fresh leave may be mixed with gogo and used as a shampoo.
– Juice mixed with coconut milk used for dysentery and kidney pains.
– For bruises, equal parts of juice and alcohol are applied to affected areas.
– For hemorrhoids, cuticle from leaves used as suppository for hemorrhoids.
– In India and the Antilles the alcoholic tincture of inspissated juice is used for bruises, contusions and ecchymoses.
– In the Arabian peninsula, used for diabetes.
– For burns and scalds, an ointment is prepared by mixing 2 drams of powdered aloe with 2 drams
New uses
– Benefits are derived from a combination of all active components; the aequous form provides the most benefits.
– Leaf jelly used for various cosmetic and new-age concoctions for pimples, acne, stomatitis, hemorrhoidal itching, superficial burns. Aloe gel is a common household remedy for minor cuts, burns and sunburns.
– Salicylic acid content can inhibit prostaglandin and thromboxane formation by blocking the arachidonic acid cascade.
– UV-B protection through cinnamic acid.

Caution !
– Not for internal use.
– Some mineral cyto-toxicity of the juice. Should be rinsed off after 30 minutes.
– Allergies: People with known allergy to other plants in the Liliaceae family (onions, garlic, tulips) may have allergic reactions to aloe. Delayed allergic reactions – hives and rash – may develop with prolonged use.