Patients of Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD) including Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease usually have certain symptoms like mouth ulcers. Two of them are Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis (RAS) and Recurrent Intra-oral Herpes (RIH). It is not exactly clear why ulcers occur along with IBD but they are usually concurrent with flare ups and remissions of the disease.
Mouth ulcers can be caused due to microbial causes like herpes, infectious mononucleosis and chickenpox; gastrointestinal causes like Coeliac, Crohn's, and Ulcerative Colitis; skin causes like erythema multiforme and liche planus; blood causes like neutropenia and leukaemia; rheumatoid causes like systemic lupus erthematosus, Reiter's syndrome and Behcet's disease or due to drugs like Nicorandril, cytotoxic agents, NSAIDs and oral nicotine replacement therapy. Other than these ulcers are also related to nutritional deficiencies or food sensitivities.
As a part of the macrobiotic food regime followed by ulcer patients in which nutritious yet bland soft foods are included patients are increasingly resorting to topical application of aloe vera. British Journal of Dermatology has published a study report confirming that use of aloe vera can aid treatment of mouth ulcers. The healing properties of aloe vera has been found to exceed expectations in terms of oedema control, pain control and quick healing.
Aloe vera has also been used in inflammation control. Due to its anti-bacterial attributes its been used in chemical burns, after tooth extraction, traumatized gum tissue, periodontal surgery sites etc to soothe the area and prevent violent swellings. As medication for mouth ulcers depend on contact time, Aloe users should keep this fact in mind. Aloe in any form should be given at least five minutes to engage the area before it is washed out. These are only few of the many medicinal properties of aloe vera. It is also used for its anti-fungal, laxative, astringent, anti-viral, anti-bacterial properties.
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