aleo 2
July 20, 2020

Wonderful Aloe Plant

By Ange's Table

Hello there.  How are you today?  

 

I hope you are enjoying your summer so far.  It has been hot and humid here, not my favorite.  I do love the change of season, and I know this is par for the course of summer, but I will wait until the late afternoon before I enjoy my yard.  Thank God for AC. 😆

Today I want to talk to you about my most favorite plant ever, aloe.  We have aloe growing in our kitchen.  I remember growing up and my mom always had an aloe plant.  She had others as well, but since green things die in my house, we stick to just aloe inside.

close up aloe

Aloe has been around for thousands of years.  I have read that Cleopatra used it as part of her beauty regimen every day.  I have also read that Native Americans utilized aloe for a multitude of benefits and called  it “The Wand of Heaven.”

There are so many reasons why I keep aloe in the house.  My mom taught us to use it on burns, whether they came from cooking in the kitchen, or from being out in the sun too long.

I had an accident 2 years ago at work, where my arm got burned with phenol.  We were doing a procedure on a patient, and the little tiny tube of phenol got knocked over.  When that happened, the phenol sprayed my arm.  Oh boy, did I see stars.

phenol burn immediate
Phenol burn about 10 minutes after happening

I washed my arm immediately, but did not get any relief.  I left work, and went home to shower, thinking I needed to wash more of the chemical off my arm. By the time I got home, it was so much worse.

phenol burn 30 minutes
Phenol burn about 30 minutes after
phenol burn 1 hr
Phenol burn about 1 hour after happening

Thankfully we had a very large aloe plant at the time.  I just followed my instincts, and cut a piece to rub on my burn.  It felt so much better, that I cut a piece of the plant, and put it directly on the burn under the bandage.

Within 48 hours, the burn was healed.  I honestly do not know how long it would have taken to heal, but my friend the aloe plant came to my rescue again.

treating phenol burn with aloe plant
Cut piece of aloe that was placed directly on the burn
phenol burn 24 hrs
Phenol burn after 24 hours, I put another piece of aloe and re-wrapped it
phenol burn 48 hrs
Phenol burn after 48 hours

If you want just one plant to have in your house, for the greenery, to help with the air, or just to have a house plant, I recommend aloe for everyone.

I know that you can eat it, and drink it, and use aloe on your hair and skin.  I just keep it around for the occasional cooking burn, or sun burn.  But let me tell you, having it for this phenol burn was life changing.  I will never have a house without an aloe plant ever again.

Do you have an aloe plant?  What do you do if you get a burn in your kitchen?  Leave us a comment below, or tag us on Instagram @Anges_Table.  We love hearing from you.