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Aloe grows wild here in the Riverside-San Bernardino area of Southern California. It works better than an ice cube and you can't beat the price, if you are lucky enough to have wild aloe growing in your yard!

bloke wrote:REAL aloe...out of the middle of aloe leaves

<img src="http://www.indianspringherbs.com/Images/Aloe.jpg" width = 200>

I like the prepackaged aloe gel with lidocaine. Kills the pain for regular burns too, as in when you've picked up something before it's had a chance to cool off...

<img src="http://us.st11.yimg.com/store1.yimg.com ... "width=300>

You can usually find the stuff as a house brand in most discount drug stores. That and a tube of gel-type Super Glue are staples in my medicine cabinet.

Chuck(G) wrote:.... as in when you've picked up something before it's had a chance to cool off...

That would NEVER happen in MY shop Doesn't work too good on eyebrows, though.

zoro wrote:Super glue?!

Slice open a finger? Super-glue it. Honest--the military's been using SG instead of stitches in the field for years.

Vinegar...cider or white...doesn't matter. Yeah you'll smell like a pickle (or a freshly cleaned tuba ), but it works. Takes the pain away and often prevents peeling.

bloke wrote:I'm highly allergic...

...and every once in a while I'll get into some poison ivy.

Poison oak is very plentiful here (and grows to huge sizes) and I usually get one or two minor outbreaks early in spring and then I'm not too sensitive later on in the summer. Maybe it's all the fresh sap rising in the spring that does it, I don't know.

This stuff applied after you go into the brush works wonders:



Loggers use the stuff and swear by it.

A few years ago, I discussed the whole issue of contact dermatitis caused by urushiol exposure with a couple of biochemist friends in the employ of one of the major pharma firms. The bottom line is that once the oil gets into the skin, it bonds with the proteins there and there's a rash until the skin wears off.

So, when I get a rash, even after Tecnu, I shower for the next few days with a strong soap (Fels Naptha) and a stiff-bristled scrub brush. During the first couple of days, an antihistamine seems to keep discomfort down.

I have used aloe on my eyebrows with success. You need to get a big enough piece and make sure it isn't too drippy. Rub it in and the pain will be gone in a few minutes.