How to Treat a MINOR Burn With an Aloe Vera Plant!

~*~ OKAY LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR, I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY ADVERSE AFFECTS OF TREATING YOUR BURN I N THIS MANOR. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE USE YOUR COMMON SENSE AS I CAN NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS OR INACTIONS. FOR THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES (THE NHS OF THE UK) ADVICE ON BURN TREATMENTPLEASE GO TO THE FOLLOWING LINK! www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Burns-and-scalds/Pages/Treatment.aspx  ~*~

Now we have the dreadful use of the CAPS lock key out of the way, please let me first appologise for its use, I loathe it... It makes my eyes want to explode, but I have to make sure i cover my bases. For the record I am a fully qualified HSE First Aider and am therefore qualified to administer emergency aid.

If you have the common sense to use this information without causing yourself injury ... please read on to the next step.

Step 1: Sitting Comfortably? Then I'll Begin

Let me explain this Instructable, The other night at Scouts, we where soldering an LED to some wires (I may make an Instructable of what we where making eventually) and I managed to drop the red hot soldering iron onto the back of my and burning my finger (see picture... I want sympathy dammit it hurt!)... I did the usual trick of running it under a cold tap immediately, and despite stinging like hell I carried on like a trooper and after the meeting went home. I didn't even swear infront of my Scouts, aint'cha proud? ;) hehe

Knowing that I had only obtained a MINOR burn, I decided to treat it with Aloe Vera which has many medicinal properties. In burns it soothes the sting, cools the skin and speeds up recovery time (IN MY EXPERIENCE)

Over the next few steps I shall show you how to harvest the Aloe Vera and how to administer it. Apologies for the poor photo quality, as when I burnt my self I only had my cellphone on me, so where I have googled the images I have accredited them to the sites they rightly belong to.

Step 2: Step One: Harvesting!

So in the attached picture, you can see my much abused Aloe Vera Plant whome we have affectionatly called Brian, If you notice from the picture, Brian has had several of his leaves systematically amputated for the treatment of many Iron, Fryingpan, or Sunburn related Injurys....

All you need do, is feel your plant and without pressing too hard, squease the 'leaves', if they feel soft and 'springy' they are good to use, as thease leaves are full of a Gel which I LOVE to call Aloe Snot, and shall be refering to it as thus from here on in. Once you have found a nice thick bit, grab a knife or a pair of scissors and chop a peice off. This doesnt damage the plant. As you can see Brian is quite happy, eventually  the severed end (thats still attached to the plant) will seal over and all will be well.

Don't bother harvesting any thin/ hard bits, as you will get very little gel.

If you are cutting from a pre-existing leaf stump... you'll only really need about an inch of leaf... depending on the size of your owwie

Step 3: Step Two: Aloe Vera Snot

Once you have harvested your piece of leaf, you must now put it on your owwie... You can EITHER squeeze it on ( this is VERY  satisfying) or you can slice down one of the leafs edges and wrap it around your finger, I went for the squeeze

Just let the Aloe Vera soak into the skin and re-apply as/when you think you need to (generally if it starts hurting again)

Step 4: Well... Thats It Folks!

Hopefully you have found this informative, All I can say is I use Aloe Vera alot, we learnt about it when my mother burnt herself quite badly, and a nurse at the local hospital suggested keeping a plant of it in the house....

Stay safe, and if you have any doubts please PLEASE PLEASE go to see a doctor... 'If in doubt check it out''

Yours

Biggsy