Jenn (Coborra, Australia) on 01/04/2015:

Because the sap stains clothing permanently, it may be wise to wear old daggy clothes, when doing this process...so cut with a sharp knife, a leaf or a piece of same depending on the size of the leaf, about 6 inches, and put in a cup of cool water.... With this same knife, take leaf out and cut off the spines along the edge and discard it and the water which may have a brownish tinge. Rinse knife and cut open the leaf to reveal the white inner gel. Now this gel, although extremely bitter, can be taken internally for those die-hards out there, and will help with digestive and constipation problems and can assist if taken on a regular basis with internal cleansing and inner healing.

But, for healing of skin it's wonderful.

If using for this purpose, scrape as much of the inner leaf out as possible, put into clean drinking water in a cup ( preferably not tap water due to the chemicals) and discard the leaf afterwards. You may find it easier to put a small piece onto your scars and cover with a piece of clean cotton material or bandage, or a wide band-aid . You can change it as often as you like but try and leave it on for at least 2 days at a time, to allow it to heal. Try and use the Aloe vera gel in water within 5 days and make a fresh batch. After you have made it a couple of times all these instructions will seem like nothing, you'll just whizz through it because it is so easy to do.

Long term healing is possible if taking a good quality calcium, zinc supplement with possibly magnesium , silica, biotin or brewers yeast..some or all, as these help to renew your skin.

There is Aloe vera juice available in many places and is marketed as 99.92% pure and if you do not have access to the actual plant then this would be acceptable but it does generally have Potassium Sorbate or Sodium Benzoate as a preservative, which are necessary to stabilise the Aloe vera to market it to the public, otherwise it would go 'off' but is used only in very small quantities.

Fresh is best but if it is not available then the inner leaf juice available commercially can be used.

If using the commercial juice, soak clean cotton strips ( an old sheet, not flannelette will do) in the juice , wring out slightly and either use straight away or hang to dry and use as a medicated dressing. Sorry about this long answer! This can also be used for burns and general skin healing.

Hope this will be of assistance.