This is something I discovered after dropping a spice jar on my toe and breaking the skin. (Yes, it was THAT heavy) Shortly afterwards I went to Ensenada, Mexico for a weekend vacation (I live 2 hours north - so it is an easy drive.) That evening I took a shower in the hotel. Now...we are told not to drink the water because of bacteria; it never occured to me that there might be a problem with an open cut in the shower ...anyway...by the time I got home the toe that had been 'injured' was swelling and red with infection. I tried all sorts of over-the-counter medications for infection. Nothing was working.

I had read somewhere that putting a SLICE of the Aloe Vera plant directly onto a cut or sore would help in the healing. I have a very large Aloe Vera plant on my patio so I cut a piece of it off, slit it open and wrapped it around the toe, covered it up and went to bed. The next morning I took off the bandage and the infection was gone! Amazing!

That is only one story....a friend of mine had big sores in the middle of the bottom of each of his big toes. He had them all wrapped up in bandages. He is a Diabetic and poor circulation is one of many problems facing those with that disease. The open sores were all red and infected and all the Dr. could do was keep him on antibiotics and periodically cut away the dead tissue around the sores. I told him about my cut toe story and he asked if he could try the Aloe on his big toes.

As you can see, my plant is HUGE. It is root-bound so new little shoots grow off the roots. I pot these and give them away to friends and Reflexology clients.

I gave him one of the potted Aloe Vera plants. He went home and did what I did and called me the next day saying that his toes were MUCH BETTER!

I also did some Reflexology on his feet to assist with the circulation. Within a short time, his toes had healed. I love this story because the Dr. had told him that he might lose one of the toes if the infection got worse and entered the bone.