Study: Onions - The New Beauty Product ?

Want to fade some of those left over C-section scars, those teen-age acne pock marks, or shhhh, those nasty little reminders of your face lift? Well say hello to onions !

If new research is right they could just become the new tool in your anti-aging beauty war chest.

A new study just published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology found that a gel made from onion exact was able to significantly reduce scarring after the removal of several different types of benign growths, including angiomas, those pesky little red bumps that can become more apparent after menopause.

The study followed a group of 60 patients who had growths of at least 8mm in diameter on both sides of their chest. Doctors medically "shaved" and removed each growth and sent patients home to heal for two to three weeks.

When healing was completed the patients returned to the study site where 47 of them were given a gel containing onion extract, and asked to massage it into one scar site only, leaving the other untouched.

Additionally, thirteen patients were told not to apply anything to either side. Over the following ten weeks the scar wounds were observed and documented by medical photography at 2, 4, 6 and 10 weeks.

The end result: The side of the body where the onion gel was massaged into the wound site showed markedly less scaring and redness, and less abnormal skin texture!

Overall doctors found that scars treated with the onion gel were softer and the general appearance of the skin around the surgical site looked markedly better than the untreated side.

But researchers weren't altogether surprised by what they found since this is not the first time onions have jumped from the kitchen table to the examining table.

Earlier studies found a natural chemical in onions known as cepanes contains anti-inflammatory properties, while another known as thiosulfinates offers anti-infective properties - similar to what you might find in an over-the-counter antibiotic cream. In still one more study, onion oil was shown to have anti-microbial properties against some specific bacteria.

Now there's no guarantee that massaging onion extract into older scars every night will show the same result. And if you try it, be sure to have a few extra bucks in the cookie jar to quench your partner's sudden cravings for a burger and fries. That said, since the study also showed the onion caused no redness or irritation to the skin, it might just be worth a try. Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce.

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