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.