6 ms·

I think one of the reasons this particular situation went on this long is that aloe is kind of a bullshit product in the first place. What do you use it for, su

by nsxwolf 10y ago

I think one of the reasons this particular situation went on this long is that aloe is kind of a bullshit product in the first place. What do you use it for, sunburn? Can you honestly tell the difference between some putting some jelly with aloe in it on your sunburn vs some other jelly? I don't think it's obviously effective in the way that Tylenol is on a fever or headache.

semi-extrinsic 10y ago
FWIW, aloe isn't really a good remedy for sunburn. A sunburn, like any other skinburn, should be treated quickly with lots of running water slightly colder than lukewarm; i.e. a cold shower. That's a lot more efficient due to basic physics.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- dllthomas 10y ago
  Could you spell out the basic physics? I am having trouble connecting it to anything I learned in school. Biology/chemistry seems substantially more relevant.
  - semi-extrinsic 10y ago
    To help heal the sunburn you must cool the skin. Aloe can only cool by a very small amount, as compared to running cool water.
    - stouset 10y ago
      Sunburn has nothing to do with temperature. You can get a third-degree sunburn in sub-freezing temperatures.
      - Kroniker 10y ago
        It has to do with UV-irritation, I believe. This guy might be talking about getting burned by the sun, perhaps by being too close ;)
      - semi-extrinsic 10y ago
        Sunburn is inflammation of the skin. Inflammation is typically treated by cooling (e.g. when you put ice on a sprained ankle).
    - dllthomas 10y ago
      It's that first step that isn't clear to me. It may be the case, but it needs something other than physics to tell us that - and it doesn't tell us why slightly-cooler-than-lukewarm water is better than ice water.
      - semi-extrinsic 10y ago
        You generally treat mild inflammation by cooling. The reason why you don't want to use ice water is because that will cool the outer layer of your skin to the point of pain before it's cooled the deeper layers significantly. Using slightly cold water means you can stay in the water for fifteen minutes easily, cooling all the skin layers well. I thought this was common knowledge, i.e. basic first aid for burns in general?
        dllthomas 10y ago
        My point was merely that "basic physics" doesn't tell us much here. You have to know that it's really inflammation that you're treating. You have to assume that cooling is the only contribution of the aloe (clearly, cooling isn't the only thing that can treat inflammation). I mean, I know what's recommended as basic first aid for burns, and maybe that's common knowledge. The why of it, in enough detail, almost certainly isn't. Note also that aloe is quite commonly recommended as a part of "basic first aid for burns in general" following cooling.
will_brown 10y ago
I feel very confident you don't live in a tropical climate and have never experienced the application of fresh cut aloe plant. Aloe in plant form is the real deal, and more so than any commercially processed aloe product (w/added pain relievers) or other after sun product I am aware of. It significantly defies pain/discomfort, keeps the skin moisturized and in many cases can prevent peeling from burns. Plus you can eat/juice the gel and it has hydration and anti-toxin benefits.
- dpark 10y ago
  > I feel very confident you don't live in a tropical climate and have never experienced the application of fresh cut aloe plant. I feel very confident that this is irrelevant since lotion you might buy at Wal-Mart is definitely not fresh cut aloe regardless of whether it contains small amounts of aloe juice. > Plus you can eat/juice the gel and it has hydration and anti-toxin benefits. Whenever someone makes a generic reference to "toxins", I immediately doubt anything else that they say with respect to health or medicine. There are many things that are toxic to humans but there are no things that are generically "anti-toxin" except maybe water. I cannot imagine that aloe has any effect on mercury exposure, or cyanide consumption, or even tobacco smoke inhalation.
  - will_brown 10y ago
    >I feel very confident that this is irrelevant since lotion you might buy at Wal-Mart is definitely not fresh cut aloe Well it isn't irrelevant because in tropical climates you are much more likely to have experienced sunburn, have ready access to aloe plants and personal experience with its benefits. For example, processed aloe gels aside Walmart's in South Florida generally will have fresh cut aloe vera plant in their produce section, not sure if that is true in non-tropical climates. Nevertheless, my point is clearly not address the aloe lotion in the article but rather claim of the comment that aloe vera itself is bullshit. > I cannot imagine that aloe has any effect on mercury exposure, or cyanide consumption, or even tobacco smoke inhalation. Just because I didn't go into detail doesn't mean I am making a blanket claim anti-toxin benefits means you pick any toxin you like and aloe is the answer. That is on par with losing faith in anti-biotics because people discuss anti-biotics generally but we know a given anti-biotic may not be appropriate for any and all bacterial infections. Anyway because I didn't label the toxins doesn't erase the decades of scientific studies which are pretty conclusive toxic heavy metals, including mercury and lead, readily bind with aloe vera. For example, when plants grown in polluted environments where heavy metal toxins are present other plants might not even show traces but the aloe plants will be off the charts. In the human body this binding process allows you to expel some of the heavy metal toxins. I believe studies show cilantro have a similar effect with heavy metal toxins in the body particularly mercury.
WildUtah 10y ago
Evidence of the effectiveness of Tylenol on fever or headache is very, very weak. It's similar to the evidence for aloe. Mostly Tylenol is administered as a placebo. Fake aloe is at least useful as a moisturizer.
- chillacy 10y ago
  Really? I found several double blind studies showing the effectiveness of acetaminophen on headaches: http://www.neurology.org/content/48/1/103.short http://www.neurology.org/content/48/1/103.short http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/fullarticle/1032899 http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/fullarticle/10... http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2006.00376.x/full http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2006....

by nsxwolf 10y ago

semi-extrinsic 10y ago

FWIW, aloe isn't really a good remedy for sunburn. A sunburn, like any other skinburn, should be treated quickly with lots of running water slightly colder than lukewarm; i.e. a cold shower. That's a lot more efficient due to basic physics.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
dllthomas 10y ago
Could you spell out the basic physics? I am having trouble connecting it to anything I learned in school. Biology/chemistry seems substantially more relevant.
- semi-extrinsic 10y ago
  To help heal the sunburn you must cool the skin. Aloe can only cool by a very small amount, as compared to running cool water.
  - stouset 10y ago
    Sunburn has nothing to do with temperature. You can get a third-degree sunburn in sub-freezing temperatures.
    - Kroniker 10y ago
      It has to do with UV-irritation, I believe. This guy might be talking about getting burned by the sun, perhaps by being too close ;)
    - semi-extrinsic 10y ago
      Sunburn is inflammation of the skin. Inflammation is typically treated by cooling (e.g. when you put ice on a sprained ankle).
  - dllthomas 10y ago
    It's that first step that isn't clear to me. It may be the case, but it needs something other than physics to tell us that - and it doesn't tell us why slightly-cooler-than-lukewarm water is better than ice water.
    - semi-extrinsic 10y ago
      You generally treat mild inflammation by cooling. The reason why you don't want to use ice water is because that will cool the outer layer of your skin to the point of pain before it's cooled the deeper layers significantly. Using slightly cold water means you can stay in the water for fifteen minutes easily, cooling all the skin layers well. I thought this was common knowledge, i.e. basic first aid for burns in general?
      - dllthomas 10y ago
        My point was merely that "basic physics" doesn't tell us much here. You have to know that it's really inflammation that you're treating. You have to assume that cooling is the only contribution of the aloe (clearly, cooling isn't the only thing that can treat inflammation). I mean, I know what's recommended as basic first aid for burns, and maybe that's common knowledge. The why of it, in enough detail, almost certainly isn't. Note also that aloe is quite commonly recommended as a part of "basic first aid for burns in general" following cooling.

will_brown 10y ago

I feel very confident you don't live in a tropical climate and have never experienced the application of fresh cut aloe plant. Aloe in plant form is the real deal, and more so than any commercially processed aloe product (w/added pain relievers) or other after sun product I am aware of. It significantly defies pain/discomfort, keeps the skin moisturized and in many cases can prevent peeling from burns. Plus you can eat/juice the gel and it has hydration and anti-toxin benefits.

dpark 10y ago
> I feel very confident you don't live in a tropical climate and have never experienced the application of fresh cut aloe plant. I feel very confident that this is irrelevant since lotion you might buy at Wal-Mart is definitely not fresh cut aloe regardless of whether it contains small amounts of aloe juice. > Plus you can eat/juice the gel and it has hydration and anti-toxin benefits. Whenever someone makes a generic reference to "toxins", I immediately doubt anything else that they say with respect to health or medicine. There are many things that are toxic to humans but there are no things that are generically "anti-toxin" except maybe water. I cannot imagine that aloe has any effect on mercury exposure, or cyanide consumption, or even tobacco smoke inhalation.
- will_brown 10y ago
  >I feel very confident that this is irrelevant since lotion you might buy at Wal-Mart is definitely not fresh cut aloe Well it isn't irrelevant because in tropical climates you are much more likely to have experienced sunburn, have ready access to aloe plants and personal experience with its benefits. For example, processed aloe gels aside Walmart's in South Florida generally will have fresh cut aloe vera plant in their produce section, not sure if that is true in non-tropical climates. Nevertheless, my point is clearly not address the aloe lotion in the article but rather claim of the comment that aloe vera itself is bullshit. > I cannot imagine that aloe has any effect on mercury exposure, or cyanide consumption, or even tobacco smoke inhalation. Just because I didn't go into detail doesn't mean I am making a blanket claim anti-toxin benefits means you pick any toxin you like and aloe is the answer. That is on par with losing faith in anti-biotics because people discuss anti-biotics generally but we know a given anti-biotic may not be appropriate for any and all bacterial infections. Anyway because I didn't label the toxins doesn't erase the decades of scientific studies which are pretty conclusive toxic heavy metals, including mercury and lead, readily bind with aloe vera. For example, when plants grown in polluted environments where heavy metal toxins are present other plants might not even show traces but the aloe plants will be off the charts. In the human body this binding process allows you to expel some of the heavy metal toxins. I believe studies show cilantro have a similar effect with heavy metal toxins in the body particularly mercury.

WildUtah 10y ago

Evidence of the effectiveness of Tylenol on fever or headache is very, very weak. It's similar to the evidence for aloe. Mostly Tylenol is administered as a placebo. Fake aloe is at least useful as a moisturizer.

chillacy 10y ago
Really? I found several double blind studies showing the effectiveness of acetaminophen on headaches: http://www.neurology.org/content/48/1/103.short http://www.neurology.org/content/48/1/103.short http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/fullarticle/1032899 http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/fullarticle/10... http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2006.00376.x/full http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2006....