Category:Dermatologic herbs

A dermatologic herb is a plant medicine used to treat skin conditions: wound healing, eczema and other inflammatory dermatoses, fungal and bacterial skin infections, burns, acne, psoriasis, and selected cosmetic indications. The category overlaps substantially with vulneraries (the Western clinical-tradition wound-healing herbs) and with topical antifungals (the herbal-derived component of the wider antifungal pharmacopoeia).

The foundational dermatologic herbs of Western clinical use include aloe vera (Aloe vera; the inner-leaf gel for burns and minor wounds, with substantial trial evidence for burn-wound healing), calendula (Calendula officinalis; the European pot marigold, with controlled-trial evidence for radiation-dermatitis prevention and wound-healing acceleration), witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana; the Native American astringent for minor skin inflammation and haemorrhoidal use), comfrey (Symphytum officinale; the powerful vulnerary, with pyrrolizidine-alkaloid hepatotoxicity that restricts use to topical-only application), calendula as above, St John's wort oil (Hypericum perforatum; for nerve-pain skin lesions and bruising), and the Australian tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia; the Aboriginal medicine adopted in modern dermatology for fungal infection, acne, and minor antiseptic use).

The traditional-tradition dermatologic herbs include the Ayurvedic neem (Azadirachta indica; the multi-purpose tropical medicine with substantial antimicrobial and antifungal use in skin conditions), the TCM Coptis (Coptis chinensis; the berberine-containing antimicrobial), and the Native American yerba mansa (Anemopsis californica).

Aloe vera (Aloe vera), calendula (Calendula officinalis), witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), comfrey (Symphytum officinale; topical only), tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia), neem (Azadirachta indica), centella (Centella asiatica; for scar and wound), St John's wort oil (Hypericum perforatum), chamomile (cross-listed; topical), plantain (Plantago major), goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis; for topical antimicrobial use), Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium; psoriasis), burdock (Arctium lappa; for chronic eczema in the alterative tradition), red clover (Trifolium pratense), turmeric (cross-listed; topical inflammatory skin), oat straw (Avena sativa; demulcent baths), and the historical European henbane and mandrake preparations (now restricted because of solanaceous tropane-alkaloid content).

The boundary of this category is "herb whose principal or important indication is dermatologic." The pharmaceutical dermatologic medicines (topical corticosteroids, topical antifungals, the topical retinoids, the topical antibiotics, the contemporary biologic medicines for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis) are listed under their primary umbrellas. The aromatic essential oils used topically (tea tree, lavender, peppermint) are cross-listed; the dilution and route-of-administration cautions are documented on the individual monograph pages.

This category page is an encyclopedia article about its subject. The actual index of herbs belonging to the category is generated automatically by the wiki engine, from category-membership declarations on the individual herb pages, and appears at the foot of the page below the references.