Aloe Vera the Burn Plant

The big aloe vera with one broad leaf left for my burned
hand

The Easter of 2011 I rediscovered my aloe vera the burn plant, and what a miracle-worker it is for second-degree burns. Have you got time for my story?

My brother Tom lived in my city, but in an apartment of his own. He was disabled and lives in a wheelchair. On holidays I usually prepared a meal at home, and took it over to his apartment to share with him. (It was only a five minute drive and easier than trying to cook in his not-so-clean kitchen). After we had enjoyed our hot turkey and mashed potatoes Easter meal, with mixed vegetables, I did dishes (after I'd cleaned his sink). Then I spied his coffee maker and saw how grundgy it looked.

What's a few more minutes? I grabbed it and started to scrub it down. Somehow without realizing it, I had flicked the switch to on, and when I put my left hand down on the element to steady it while I scrubbed the other side, Whew! My hand flew up fast as soon as I was aware of the heat.

I watched my skin curl back in white crepe-like wrinkles, exposing a very raw-red area in the middle!

Usually I reach for an ice cube to cool a kitchen burn until the affected nerves settle down from the shock. But Tom didn't have any ice. He produced a cold gel pack, and I held it against the burn for a moment while I looked around and assessed what to do.

Obviously, this was going to hurt worse and worse yet this evening. I had better get myself home and to my aloe vera the burn plants. If that didn't help I might have to take myself to Emergency at the hospital, but I suddenly yearned for my aloe vera burn plants. I gathered up my dishes into my carrying bag, said good bye and hurried home. I had nothing over my burn on the drive home and the pain was increasing minute by minute.

I dropped my purse and bag of dishes as soon as I was in the back door and head straight for the large aloe vera the burn plant my friend Rosalie had given me. It couldn't bear it's own weight so I had leaned it against a mirror and had been cutting off it's broad healthy leaves and eating the gel straight or putting it into the blender when baking, but it wasn't all used up yet.

With a kitchen knife I cut off a length of almost three inches of a leaf that was about two inches wide. Back in the kitchen I wiped the outside with a piece of paper towel, then sliced the piece up from the side. Quickly I cupped it over the burn side of my left hand. --"Ah-h-h!" How good that felt! The cool gel fed the moisture-thirsty wound, and calmed the pain right down.

Now, how do I keep it there? I prowled around looking for something suitable, and grabbed up a headband from the bedroom. A couple of crossed-over twists and it was wrapped over my hand and the aloe vera leaf three times. However, it was still loose enough that I feared the aloe vera leaf would slip out. I found elastic bandages in the bathroom. The kind you wrap around and around an arm or leg. I wound an old strip of such elastic bandaging around my hand and felt quite pleased. If I didn't bend my hand so that the wound had to bend, then I was pain-free.

Well, there was still clean-up work to do in the kitchen. Left over turkey to put away, the bones to toss back in the roaster and to simmer in the oven for stock soup, and my cooking dishes to wash. I managed to do all that, using the fingers of my left hand to steady things while my right hand did most of the work. (I was born left-handed but have become more ambidexterous over the last couple of decades). Later I sat at the computer and tried to catchup on my backlog of emails.

My burn the morning after a night of aloe vera application

This photo shows how the wound looked when I unwrapped it the next morning. The white creped skin had flattened out some and seemed to be attaching itself back to the red layer below. Letting the air at it made it sting with some pain again, so I just cut a fresh chunk of aloe vera leaf, opened it up, and made my wrappings neater. I was also afraid of bumping the burn side of my hand as I went to work, so I managed to cut a nicer length of better quality elastic wrap, which was not quite so bulky, and then I got a hand-wrist brace out and put it over my hand with the velcro strips. There. Now I could still work at the computer with my fingers but pamper my burn safely.

about two daays later the wound is healing well

By Wednesday morning, the burn had improved quite a bit. However, I was wondering if it would be better for it to remain exposed to air for faster healing. Now the air actually felt quite comfortable on it. So I went to the internet to see what would be recommended.

Imagine my surprise when I found some sites with photos of burns that were similar to mine and they said this was a second-degree burn! They strongly urged going to the doctor, and that a tetanus shot might be in order.

Well, I like to do the right thing - so I called my doctor's office and made an appointment for right after lunch. I took the precaution of hunting up my tetanus card from three years ago when my cat scratched me up bad. The card said that it was good for ten years, and I've heard that if you can't prove when you last had one, you might end up getting another tetanus shot. I sure didn't want an unneccesary one!

just a week later I mostly let air at it

But my doctor was very pleased with how the wound was doing when I told him my story. He gave me a small sample tube of antibiotic ointment, and let me go. I squeezed a lot of the ointment on the wound when I got back to the office, and wrapped it up again - for safety's sake.

After work I went to a drugstore and bought some large bandages and a package of no-stick gauzes. For the next few days I just smeared some aloe vera gel over the wound, laid on a gauze and then a big bandage. I was afraid the bandage might fall off when I bent my hand, so as an extra precaution, I cut a length of discarded pantyhose, snipped a hole for my thumb, and slipped it over my hand, just to hold the bandage in place. I used the hand/wrist brace just for walking to and from the office, in case I fell and landed on my hand, but otherwise everyone at the office was amazed at how well my hand was healing.

with just a bandaide a week later

By Sunday was tickled to see how few people noticed my hand. Only those that I showed it to and to whom I told my story were even aware of my small crisis. Of course, I praised my aloe vera burn plant. The flesh-coloured pantyhose over the bandage was comfortable and unobtrusive in public.

Three weeks later, and I'd nearly forgotten the incident. I had to remind myself several times in that week or so, to take more photos and write up this story for the encouragement it can be to you and others who are searching for how to cope with such a burn. Obviously, I advise: use aloe vera the burn plant!

healed and no scar - even the discolouration should disappear soon

Soon there was just a reddish colour and some tough, scaled skin in the center, but no pain at all, and I dide not even have a scar! Aloe vera is just that good! No wonder it's known as aloe vera the burn plant.

I've found an article that I have permission to reprint, which explains some research that proves that aloe vera is more effective, and just how it prevents scabs and scars from forming. Here's the guest article on aloe vera aids burn treatment

which of my hands had the burn

Look at this photo, and see if you can tell which of my hands, from the little finger down, had that Easter burn? No one can tell. Even I have to check my written records.

Say! Have you got a story and photos too of how aloe vera the burn plant healed a serious burn? If you are willing to share it, I'll put it up as another testimonial to aloe vera the burn plant here on this site. Just follow the instructions below.

Update: June/2013. Since that experience I have discovered some very helpful aloe vera products. You may want to ask me about them.




Get all your Forever Living (Aloe) Products HERE!


Join Forever as a Preferred Customer or a Distributor, and get 15-30% off your own purchases!





How has aloe vera healed a serious burn for you?

Do you have a great story about a burn and how aloe vera helped or healed you? Share it and I'll turn it into a page like this. Photos are always a great help as well.

[ ? ]

Upload 1-4 Pictures or Graphics (optional)[ ? ]

 

Click here to upload more images (optional)

Author Information (optional)

To receive credit as the author, enter your information below.

(first or full name)

(e.g., City, State, Country)

Submit Your Contribution

  •  submission guidelines.


(You can preview and edit on the next page)

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Radiator Burn 
I got burned from the radiator, opening it up to fill it with more water. A friend of mine got burned in the same area. I put aloe vera on mine …

Motorbike Exhaust Burn 
G'day I remember one stupid New Year's eve out on the country block I went motorbike riding in shorts and thongs. I decided to do a small jump, …

Click here to write your own.