Psoriasis - The Effects Of Aloe Vera As A Treatment

Psoriasis is a common skin condition that featured in Dr Peter Atherton’s  research fellowship at Oxford when he was looking at the effects of aloe vera as a treatment . He went on to publish ‘Aloe Vera The Medicine Plant’ which I will refer to in this post.

He concludes that Psoriasis is in fact a general disorder of the immune system that manifests itself as anything from a little flakiness of the scalp to raised red plaques affecting the whole body. The disorder can be exacerbated by stress, alcohol consumption and digestive problems.

As to the use of Aloe Vera as a treatment he suggests that Aloe Vera shampoos, topical crèmes and gels can soothe the rashes, it is the drinking gels that play a key part because of their effect on the immune system.

Psoriasis is a collection of symptoms which vary in different people, it is referred to as a syndrome, so he believes only certain types of Psoriasis can be helped.

Case Study:

“I have been suffering from chronic psoriasis for seven years. One morning whilst shaving, I noticed a small circular scale over my right ear. Then, when having a haircut, I noticed more scales around my hairline.

My doctor informed me that it was psoriasis. He explained that it was an ailment for which there was no cure and that very little was known about its actual cause. He recommended coal tar treatment called Oxipor. Rather than heal my condition, it made it worse and I broke out in new areas ; eight months later my whole body was covered.

During this time I made numerous visits to skin specialists. I was put on various treatments, all cortisone-based namely Diprosone, Bentovate, Dernovate and others. At this point my body was raw and bleeding and the itch was almost unbearable.

For six years I never went out in public without wearing a long sleeved garment and, because my shirt was red with blood, I also had to wear a jacket. The trauma and mental depression I went through was dreadful. At this point, I decided to find out as much about Psoriasis as possible. After a lot of research, I came to the conclusion that the side effects of Cortisone far outweighed the benefits, which in my case were none.

In my view, there are no chemical answers to this problem because the amount of chemical and toxins consumed by us each day are far too high. I always believed that the answer had to come from within because it was from there that the problem began. I tried various herbalists for a cure but once again to no avail.

One evening a friend called to say he might be able to help. He gave me a container of Aloe Vera gel, some Aloe Vera activator, some propolis crème, bath gelee and a loofah. He advised me to take two fluid ounces of the gel twice daily, and to bath once a day using the bath gelee and loofah to remove the scales.

I began the treatment on the Thursdy, by Friday morning the itch had completely disappeared. I rang Michael straight away with the good news. I applied the activator and propolis crème daily and within five days I could see a vast improvement.

The second week my skin flared up considerably for four days ( Authors note; This is referred to as ‘the healing crisis’ as new cells grow under the edpidermis displacing the damaged areas). After this, white patches of new skin began to emerge all over my body and thus I understood that healing had begun. These white patches grew larger and larger until three to four weeks later, my body was virtually clear. Pimples and spots of varying sizes appeared; these are what i called ‘secondaries’.

I am now at a stage where I have been taking the gel for six weeks and my body is clearing up at a steady pace. I have no doubt that I have found the answer to my problem and it is my dearest wish that I might be able to help thousands of people who also suffer silently with these problems.

I must also stress that, in my experience, alcohol greatly inhibited the healing process, so I abstained completely. I would strongly advise anyone on this treatment to do likewise until the course of treatment is complete.

I believe in my heart that we owe a great debt of gratitude to those who have given us an array of high quality natural healing products which cause no side effects”    Finbarr Lehane

From “Aloe Vera The Medicine Plant” by Dr Peter Atherton

Elsewhere in his book Dr Atherton recommends 100% stabilised aloe vera gel taken as a health drink and, furthermore, the drink needs to contain a substantial quantity of parenchymatous gel and that a product that is clear, looks like water and tastes like water, then it probably is water, and not particularly beneficial. Any container should bear the mark of the International Aloe Science Council.

I have concluded that the best products available are Forever Aloe Vera Gel, Aloe Lotion, Aloe Moisturising Lotion, and Aloe Propolis Creme.

Finally, using Forever products are covered by a 60 day money back guarantee that further ensure the quality of their products.

To see more visit my website http://myhealthourwellbeing.flp.com

My next blog post will be on the subject of Eczema

Until next time.... Anna