Calendula Cream for Soothing Your Skin
Posted by MD Connect on Mar 2nd 2016
All About Calendula Cream
The colorful pot marigold, Calendula officinalis, can provide a soothing balm to rough, dry or irritated skin. The Hungarian calendula is the flower used in My Girls™ Skin Care calendula cream. Once known by such colorful names as Gold-Bloom, Holligold, Pot Marigold and Marybud, calendulas are not actually related to garden marigolds, but belong to the same family as daisies, chrysanthemums and ragweed. The cheerful gold, yellow and orange flowers have been used in skin creams and salves for thousands of years. Native to the Eastern Europe, calendula flowers have spread widely and now brighten gardens all over the world.
The Benefits of Calendula Cream
The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) notes that calendula petals are loaded with flavonids, a type of plant-based antioxidants. Antioxidants protect against unstable molecules in the body -- called free radicals -- that can damage skin cells. For example, the active ingredients in calendula petals include beta-carotene – a well-known strong antioxidant and the same thing that makes carrots and squash orange. Calendula also helps fight against inflammation, according to the UMMC. Calendula can help increase water content in the skin and improve skin firmness. Research has shown active ingredients in calendula help increase blood flow and oxygen to irritated or damaged areas, which can help promote new tissue growth.
Breast Cancer and Calendula
Women who have breast cancer may develop irritated, inflamed skin from radiation therapy, a skin related side effect. Homeopathic doctors often recommend calendula cream to heal minor burns and sunburns and their helpful properties for the skin are documented in the U.S. Homeopathic Pharmacopoea. Medline Plus reports calendula cream may be effective for skin conditions like diaper rash or to reduce radiation dermatitis in people who are receiving radiation therapy for breast cancer. The 2005 practice guidelines from Cancer Care Ontario, in Ontario, Canada, recommended the use of calendula ointment to decrease the risk of a Grade 2 or higher skin reaction from radiation therapy. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center reports that calendula ointment reduced painful swelling and the irritation that often accompanies radiation therapy in breast cancer patients.
A Gift of Skin Comfort
If you have a friend or relative facing radiation for breast cancer, it makes a perfect “I care about you” gift. A woman who is dealing with breast cancer needs all the support and affection she can get. My Girls™ Skin Cream has a texture very much like that of whipped cream. It is so soothing, many patients use it even after radiation therapy as a facial cream or general moisturizer. It can also soothe sun and wind burns or skin that is chafed, or reduce redness associated with facial treatments for ingown hairs, acne, eczema or rosacea.
Source
http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/calendula
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/235.html
https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/calendula