Aloe Vera, the plant of mortality, is doing a miracle over the ages with its skin, health, beauty, and medicinal properties. If you look for only the gel extracted from the plant, medical researches have shown several aloe vera gel benefits.
The name aloe derives from the Arabic word Alloeh meaning shinning substances when vera in Latin means true. On the other, the Greek scientists in the ancient ages used to consider this plant as universal panacea.
If we go through the pages of history, we will see the use of aloe plants across different cultures over the millennia: Greece, Japan, India, Mexico etc. Egyptian queens like Cleopatra, Nefertiti used to use this plant for their daily beauty regime. We can see use of this plant by Alexander the Great and Christopher Columbus to treat soldiers’ wounds. In the mid-1930s, a turning point came into its usage as the doctors started to use this to cure severe and chronic radiation dermatitis.
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What is Aloe Vera Gel?
Aloe vera is a cactus-like plant that generally grows in a dry and tropical climate. The origin of the vera takes us to the south-western Arabian peninsula. However, it is naturalized in areas like- North Africa, Sudan, South Spain in Europe, etc. This stemless or short-stemmed plant have thick, fleshy, green to grey-green leaves with white flecks on the upper and lower surface.
This plant contains 75% potentially active constituents, such as- Vitamins, Enzymes, Minerals, Fatty Acid, Sugars, Hormones, Anthraquinones, etc.
Each leaf has three layers:
- The outer layer or Rind which is constituted of 15-20 cells works as a protective part and synthesizes carbohydrates and protein.
- We have named the middle layer as latex which contains anthraquinones and glycosides.
- The last layer is the inner gel containing 99% water and the rest are the amino acids
The last layer contains properties that are creating magic while applying on skin, hair, and face.
Benefits of Aloe Vera Gel
There are several aloe vera gel benefits for face, skin, and hair. As the doctors and researchers say that skin needs deeper nutrition for its rejuvenation and exfoliation, we will show you how to use aloe vera gel for different benefits–
Sunburns
Among the several aloe vera gel benefits, soothing sunburns is one of the major ones. Sunburns may turn into a dangerous health disease if we leave it behind untreated. So at the very primary stages, this requires action like moisturizing, soothing, reducing redness and healing. And fortunately, aloe vera gel does these all.
Researchers and scholars have shown that the gel contains sugars like acemannan and carboxypeptidase. These factors help in collagen synthesis and wound healing, and the sugar component helps in moisturizing the skin. Thus curing sunburn falls under another aloe vera medicinal uses.
Inflammatory Acne
Aloe gel helps to inflammatory acne such as pustules and nodules. Inflammatory acne are formed from the blocked pores. Blocked pores are causes of blackheads and whiteheads. These are not only unaesthetic but also turn into acne and pores.
Aloe vera gel contains exfoliating components besides some anti-bacterial properties, such as- salicylic acid. This helps to unclog the pores and acts as an anti-inflammatory on the oil-producing glands. Besides if one uses this gel along with benzol peroxide then it kills the pimple-causing bacterias and reduces the chance of forming acne at the first place.
This gel also acts as an astringent and reduces the size of acnes. Sufferers from such a problem thus receive benefits of aloe vera gel on face overnight. So fighting inflammatory acnes is also one of the major aloe vera gel benefits.
Psoriasis
Psoriasis is mostly observable among adult persons. It is a skin disorder where the skin cells multiply up to 10 times faster than normal skin growth. Then it further leads to bumpy skin build-up with red patch marks. Mostly it appears on the scalp, knee, lower back and elbow region.
Among the other aloe vera gel benefits, few study has shown that aloe gel does few elements which help in curing this disease. As this issue occurs from the disorder of the immune system, aloe gel reduces inflammation and modulates the immune system.
The few elements present help aloe gel to do the following things-
- Soothe the skin
- Helps the skin from drying out
Small abrasions
In general, abrasions are open wounds on skin. Rubbing against the rough surface causes such injury. It is also called scrape of graze. This wound is most likely to occur on elbows, knees, ankles and external extremities.
The range of abrasions can vary from mild to severe. While mild ones involve minimal bleeding the severe ones can involve the removal of all layers of skin.
In case of small abrasion, we can use aloe vera gel as a home remedy. We can list curing small abrasion as one of the aloe vera gel benefits.
According to the 2019 systematic review of 23 studies, aloe vera contains the compound of glucomannan, which promotes cellular regeneration and collagen production. Collagen is an essential factor protein in promoting wound healing. Aloe vera gel also helps in enhancing skin integrity.
Wounds
The extract from the miracle plant, when used as a gel, works like magic on wounds and cutaneous wounds. According to the University of Maryland medical center, aloe vera gel contains two powerful chemical components. These two components- polysaccharides and glycoprotein, work faster in wound-healing.
On one hand, polysaccharides help in cellular movement which leads to faster tissue growth. One the other hand, glycoprotein acts as both pain-reliever and controller of inflammatory response.
In case of cutaneous wound, glucomannan along with the above mentioned two helps in stimulating the growth of fibroblasts. These are these cells that act as the key factors behind the new build-up of collagen and tissue. Other chemicals in aloe gel foster the secretion of the body’s own insulin-like growth factors which accelerates the blood vessel regrowth.
Frostbites
Due to prolonged exposure to the extremely harsh and cold weather, one may suffer from frostbites. So frostbite is actually the freezing of the body tissue (usually skin). That results when the blood vessel contacts, reducing the supply of blood flow and oxygen to the affected area.
You lose your normal body sensation and also color changes occur on the tissues. Generally, the body parts which are far away from the body core get affected by frostbites. The sole reason behind this is the lesser blood flow to those areas.
If the frostbites are not that severe, you can use aloe vera gel as the home remedy for this. Its anti-inflammatory, wound healing components help to get rid of such serious issues.
Eczema
Eczema, which we also know as atopic dermatitis, causes a skin condition with patches on the skin. And that becomes itchy and irritating. Sometimes it causes the skin to break and bleed, making a person more likely to get skin infections.
So the treatment needs to hydrate and soothe the skin and people are turning to home remedies for that. In 2015 Systematic Review Study, it is observable that aloe vera gel contains the following properties which do magic on eczema-
- Anti-oxidant
- Antimicrobial
- Wound-healing
- Immune boosting
Moreover, aloe vera gel contains polysaccharides which help in new skin growth and healing process. Overall, the anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal components help the skin to keep itself moisturized, hydrating. Its immune-boosting property makes the skin less prone to bacterial and fungal infections.
Cold Sores
Cold sore is small sore or blister-like lesions formed on the lip, chin, cheeks, inside the mouth, sometimes on the gum areas. It is generally formed by the HSV type 1 and in some cases type 2. People feel burning sensation and itching until it gets burst and crust over.
Aloe gel can cure in case a person has a cold sore on the outer surface. Due to having anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties aloe gel can accelerate the healing process and reduces associated pain. This gel contains an amino acid, Vitamin B1, B2, B6 and C, and those factors help in fighting the harpes virus which is the underlying cause of the cold sores.
Hair Fall
Hair-fall generally results from dry scalp, dandruff, hair damage, etc. So according to the researches it needs deep nourishment. And to our great comfort aloe gel does have all the components that our hair needs. Besides the other aloe gel benefits, it promotes hair growth, prevents itching on our scalp, reduces dandruff, repairs the split ends and conditions our hair.
Diane Gage, author of Aloe Vera stated the fact that the prime protein of our hair, Keratin contains amino acid, oxygen, carbon, small portion hydrogen, nitrogen, etc. According to the author, the chemical make-up of aloe gel is as same as keratin. Thus it rejuvenates our hair, smoothen it and reduces the possibility of breakage.
Aloe vera contains protiolytic enzyme which repairs the dead skin cell on our scalp, acts as a great conditioner and also gives our hair a great elasticity.
Anti Aging
Aging is inevitable and irreversible and through the process of aging we can see of fine lines, wrinkles forming on our skin. Even at some point of time people loses the elasticity of skin. But we all want to look youthful at any age. For such reason, we ended up spending a whole lot of money for several anti-aging products.
For the best result, we can look for the aloe vera gel. Aloe gel is rich in Vitamin C, E, and Beta Carotene. These nutrients help in producing collagen in the body which reduces the problems of fine line and wrinkle. It not only tightens the skin but also improves the elasticity of skin. Ultimately it slows down the process of aging effect on skin.
Preventing anti-aging thus falls under the list of aloe vera benefits for men besides women.
Stretch Marks
Besides the preventing anti-aging, aloe vera benefits for men do include erasing stretch marks alongside catering women.
Stretch marks are the scars, prominent on skin in white and red color. It appears when our skin stretches itself over a capacity. There is numerous reason why this happens but the most common reason for is excessive and rapid weight loss or weight gain. If we leave it as it is without any treatment, then over the period our skins will remain with prominent scars.
So as one of the aloe vera gel benefits, we can prevent this issue by using this natural ingredient. The application of this gel works like a miracle. The containing components of this gel such as fatty acid, vitamin, enzymes help not only in reducing these marks but also in fading those away completely.
How to Use Aloe Vera Gel
After getting to know about several miraculous aloe vera gel benefits, a simple question arises on how to use aloe vera gel for a better result. Here you can get a list below-
- Aloe vera gel for dry skin- Take aloe vera gel, a pinch of turmeric, one tablespoon of milk and honey, and few drops of rose water. Apply the mix on the skin and it automatically makes the skin moisturized.
- Aloe vera gel scrub- You can use aloe vera gel with turmeric powder with sugar dust and lemon juice. When the use of sugar rubs off the dead skin cells, the aloe gel will deep clean the skin. The lemon will help to fade the scar and remove tan.
- Aloe vera gel for acne – You can mix aloe vera gel with blended walnut and honey. Aloe vera gel’s healing components coupled with the anti-oxidant factor of honey keep the skin fresh and smooth.
- Sensitive skin- For the sensitive skin grab some aloe vera gel with rose water, cucumber juice, and yogurt and apply it on the skin directly. Leave around 20 minutes and then rinse it off. One can use it overnight. The benefits of aloe vera on face overnight keep works magic on the skin.
Aloe vera gel can be used in hair pack and natural aftershave cream for better results.
The Bottom Line
Several aloe vera gel benefits show us that aloe gel indeed has unique therapeutic properties when specially applied on skin, face, and hair. Though it is a natural source for the treatment, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says they need more evidence to support the purported benefits of aloe gel. Apart from that, it is more or less safe while used on skin.
