It is used predominantly as an herbal remedy for the skin, digestion, the reproductive system and detox. A gel or pulp can be extracted from the plants for many benefits, both externally and internally.

Primary Use Is For Skin

It is most commonly used to treat skin conditions by soothing the skin and easing pain and inflammation. It can even speed up the healing process of burns, eczema and other conditions. The plant’s gel can be rubbed to reduce redness after a couple of days. Rubbing the leaf over cuts in the skin can prevent infection and speed up the healing process by acting like a bandage. Because of its healing and moisturising benefits to the skin, it has been adopted by cosmetic companies and added in many products.

Aloe Vera Juice

The juice of Aloe Vera can be extracted by cutting the leaf, collecting the juice and then evaporating it. The juice has many benefits when drunk. This is partially due to the fact that it contains twelve vitamins (including A, B1, B6, B12, C and E), nineteen amino acids and over 20 minerals, which most of these are essential to the body. In Ayurveda, the Indian health practice, Aloe Vera is known as Kumari (‘the princess’) because of its positive effect on the menstrual cycle and female reproductive system. It is also known for its ability to clean the liver and protect the digestive system by reducing intestinal inflammation.

Overall, Aloe Vera can be used for cosmetics and healing the skin, or when consumed, as a potent cleansing and rejuvenating tonic that is very nutrient rich and beneficial to the body.  It is made only from the unfiltered inner gel of the whole plant, not the outer rind, which means less processing and more active ingredients are retained.

Technorati Tags: aloe vera, eczema, Hair Loss, medicine, moisturizing, Nutrition, pain relief, Skin Care, sun burn, Vitamins

Have you seen that commercial with the sympathetic lawyer asking you if you're having any problems with the folks running Social Security who are denying you benefits that you rightfully deserve?

know, he says something like "We're here to help you get what you deserve. Leave it to us. You've got more important things to do. Let us deal with the government." He's in his thirties or early forties and he's wearing a gigantic hat that looks weird and out of place, especially since the background is mid-town Manhattan. The hat is stylish, but it looks like a cowboy hat, and it dominates his facial appearance. My wife and I were watching that commercial for the umteenth time, and we both chuckled and I said, " I'll bet you a dinner at The Capital Grille that that guy is bald as a cue ball." We both laughed more, because I realized only too well what it's like to lose your hair, especially when you're in you're mid-twenties when you and your friends are hanging out in the River Shannon drinking Bud Light and trying to impress all the hot chicks who wander into the bar. Any time you see a male wearing a hat in a situation where it seems out of place, the reason is that he's self conscious about his baldness. The same goes for some of those men who shave their heads completely bald, too.

In my teens, I had several years where my face looked like someone had shot me from fifty feet with a sawed-off shotgun. Talk about zits! Wow, it was tough looking at myself in the mirror. I couldn't imagine what all the girls thought. I guess that explains why I didn't have many dates back then. I tried everything available on the market then, which were mostly cover ups that I feverishly tried to make blend in with my unblemished skin color. It's hard to do. But fortunately for me, Mother Nature came to the rescue and my skin cleared up by the time I reached 20. I was greatly relieved.

Darn That Mother Nature!

But as we all know, Mother Nature giveth and Mother Nature taketh away. It was in my twenties that I ran into the next problem that almost destroyed my life. When the first sign of baldness came about, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I mean, nobody in my family was bald, and no matter how many other problems I had; baldness was nowhere even on the horizon of my hypochondria. So to wake up one day and realize that when I wasn’t looking, my hairline had receded by a bit, there was a bald spot developing on my crown, and I was deathly afraid I was going to end up with a completely bald head. It was not a pleasant thought. And it was no use knowing that if there was any human condition that I was absolutely mortified of, it was baldness.

That's When I Started to Wear A Hat Everywhere

Having resolved to hide the ugly truth from all m friends, I went to all my graduate school hangouts, the coffee shop, the internet center and even the gym with a perky cap covering my head. Most of my friends were initially curious. Soon they became perturbed by my bizarre behavior. And when they ganged up to confront me I shamefacedly told them the truth about my baldness. Their first reaction was one of derisive laughter. But soon, they had calmed down sufficiently to try and help me out of my misery. Some of my older and wiser friends shared their own experiences with baldness. One of them in fact took the trouble to take me through all the baldness cures he had personally tried and why each of them didn’t work. Another friend told me in no uncertain terms that if baldness had decided to set in, there was nothing I could do to prevent it. I just had to grin and live with baldness for the rest of my life.

There Is Hope

Fortunately he was wrong. I was able to get some information about baldness, how to deal with it and what baldness remedies I might try out to get the best results. I started with a dermatologist. He said that there was hope for me because my baldness was not genetic, and he recommended some dietary changes together with some medication. For instance, I found that Minoxidil, a solution that was to be applied to bald spots was the solution most preferred by balding adults. Nearly two out of three people who had used this baldness treatment, had seen positive results. The other treatment was Finasteride – an oral baldness treatment that I could try. Finasteride seemed to enjoy a higher success rate among people with baldness. But it was not as popular as Minoxidil as it was reputed to cause some side effects which affected sexual performance. Tough choice eh? Lose your hair or lose your drive.

The dietary changes that my doctor recommended would slow the development  a competely bald head. He said a deficiency of Vitamin C could result in hair loss. The same for virtually all of the B vitamins. Also stress and a lack of sleep can affect hair loss. So now I'm drinking a lot more orange juice, taking a lot more naps, and taking dietary supplements. It seems my hair loss has been stopped, at least for now. On the brighter side, I've heard bald men have higher testosterone than men with a full head of hair. So I don't plan on taking any Minoxidil!

Technorati Tags: baldness, dermatologist, Hair Loss, Health, medicine, preventing hair loss

Losing your hair can be a devastating experience.  A full, healthy head of hair is a sign of youth and if yours begins

to thin it can be the first sign that you are maturing.  For some people they view it as a sign of older age setting in and the effects are not only cosmetic but psychological as well.

Hair loss can be stopped.  If you are looking for a cure for hair loss you’ll need to decide on which technique is best for you and your particular situation.
Natural Cure

One cause of hair loss is a poor diet.  Therefore it would seem obvious that the cure for hair loss in this case is to adjust the diet.  If a person is not eating healthy every part of their body will be impacted, including the hair.

There are some vitamins and minerals that are essential to healthy hair and if you eat foods that are rich in them, you’ll have the most natural cure for hair loss.

Some of those important elements are Vitamin C, all the B Vitamins and essential fatty acids.  Although these can all be taken in a supplement form, the body absorbs them better if they are consumed through food.

Changing your diet to incorporate these elements can have an impact on your thinning hair.  As you adapt to these dietary changes you can also include more water in your diet.  Water is important in the growth and maintenance of healthy hair and drinking a full eight glasses of water each day is also a good cure for hair loss.

Start With A Physician

There are many prescribed medications that claim to be a cure for hair loss. Some are taken internally in the form of a pill or capsule.  Many are creams or lotions that are applied to the scalp to stimulate hair growth.

It’s important to consult with a physician who understands that biology of hair loss.  He or she will first need to determine what the underlying cause of the hair loss is.  From there, they can effectively prescribe a treatment for it.

Of course if you’ve ever watched television late in the evening you’ve been subjected to infomercials that advertise a cure for hair loss.  They show models with before and after pictures.  The results seem outstanding and it’s easy to want to call immediately to start the treatment as soon as possible.

Although many of these products might work as promised, not all do.  Your best course of action is to consult with a medical professional and find the cause of the hair loss.  Once you do this you’ll be on the right path to finding a cure.

Technorati Tags: cure hair loss, fatty acids, Hair Loss, Medical, self image, vitamin B, vitamin C, youthful appearance