Catalog of Herbs
James A. Duke in Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, 2018
Salicin, the popular analgesic derived from poplars and willows, probably decomposes, after ingestion, to salicylic acid, a compound first isolated from meadowsweet flowerbuds in 1839. Salicylic acid is an active disinfectant used to treat various ailments, especially skin diseases like eczema. Antirheumatic, salicylic acid is said to help fever, headache, myalgia, sciatica, neuralgia.11 The word aspirin owes its origin to spiraea, having been coined from a for acetyl and spinn from spiraea. The herb contains salicylic aldehyde, methyl salicylate, salicylic acid, heliotropin, and vanillin. The essential oil contains salicin, gaultherin, spiraein, spiraeoside, isosalicin, anthocyanin, anthocyanadin, quercitin, heh-otropin, vanillin, benzol, ethyl benzoate, phenyethyl, phenylacetate, methylsalicylate, sal-icylaldehyde (up to 70%), salicylic acid, citric acid, pyrogallol, isobutylamine, and isoamylamine.33 The leaves contain avicularin, hyperoside, filalbin, as well as the compounds listed for the flowers (except spiraeoside).
Adverse Effects and Intoxication with Essential Oils
K. Hüsnü Can Başer, Gerhard Buchbauer in Handbook of Essential Oils, 2020
Methyl salicylate is widely available in high concentrations as a component in many over-the-counter brands of ointments, lotions, liniments, rubefacient, and medicated oils intended for topical application to relieve joint and muscular pain (Davis, 2007). Among the most potent forms is wintergreen oil with a content of approximately 98% methyl salicylate. Methyl salicylate in oil of wintergreen is an infrequent cause of salicylate poisoning but is the most dangerous salicylate formulation by strength. One teaspoon of wintergreen oil contains approximately 6 g of methyl salicylate, which is equivalent to approximately 20 aspirin tablets of 300 mg. Childhood fatalities may occur after ingestion of as little as 4 mL of oil of wintergreen (Ellenhorn and Barceloux, 1988); 30 mL of wintergreen oil is equivalent to 55.7 g of aspirin (Johnson, 1985). This conversion illustrates the potency and potential toxicity of oil of wintergreen, even in small quantities. When applied to large areas of skin, topical salicylic acid may cause sufficient dermal absorption to produce toxic serum salicylate levels. Seneviratne et al. (2015) and Lucas (2000) reported four cases of accidental intoxication with small amounts of methyl salicylate, whereof three ended fatally.
Natural Preservatives
Philip A. Geis in Cosmetic Microbiology, 2020
Citric acid can be found in citrus extracts. Citric acid is widely used as an acidulent in creams and gels. It also has chelating activity, which may contribute some portion of its antimicrobial activity. Benzoic acid occurs naturally in many plants and is found in many berries, particularly cranberries. Benzoic acid and its salts and esters find usage in the formulation of oral products, including toothpastes, mouthwashes and dentifrices. It is also used in creams and lotions when these products are formulated with a sufficiently low pH to elicit antimicrobial activity. Sorbic acid was first isolated from the berries of Sorbus aucuparia (the Rowan tree), from which it derives its common name. Salicylic acid is found in a number of plant materials. Its most prominent natural source is willow bark extract.
Efficacy of 30% azelaic acid peel in the nonpharmacological treatment of facial acne
Published in Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 2021
Anna Szymańska, Elzbieta Budzisz, Anna Erkiert-Polguj
Normalization of hair follicle keratinization reduces the risk of sebaceous pus formation, which directly affects the reduction of primary acne changes. This type of activity is also demonstrated by chemical peels containing glycolic or salicylic acid. Preparations based on the latter are most frequently selected for mild to moderate acne. In the studies conducted by Lee et al., the use of peel containing 30% salicylic acid reduced the number of inflammatory and noninflammatory lesions in the majority of patients. However, in this case no statistically significant differences in the measurement of sebum secretion were observed (23). In our own study, apart from the statistically significant (p < .01) reduction in acne lesions and the severity of the disease according to the IGA scale, there was also a statistically significant (p < .01) reduction in the amount of secreted sebum. Additionally, salicylic acid caused dryness and exfoliation of the treated areas (24). In our own study, such side-effects were not observed.
Efficacious and safe management of thick scales, redness and flaky scalp condition using a specific shampoo containing urea, glycolic acid, salicylic acid, icthyol pale and laureth 9
Published in Cogent Medicine, 2018
Bianca Maria Piraccini, Nicolò Brandi, Aurora Alessandrini, Francesca Bruni, Michela Starace
The most common treatment for thick scales, redness and flaky scalp due to SD or to SP is the use of shampoo formulations that most often contain antifungal agents (Gomez-Moyano et al., 2014). Despite these products are effective in improving dandruff, antifungal shampoos can often reduce cosmetic appearance of the hair and, consequently, lead to a tendency to revert to a nonspecific shampoo, with an inevitable return of dandruff symptoms (Turner et al., 2013). Over recent years, other therapeutic strategies have been developed, such as the inclusion of low concentration of salicylic acid in shampoo preparations. Salicylic acid shampoo has no antifungal activity but it works by loosening the attachments between the corneocytes and allowing them to get washed off, causing cornified epithelium to swell, soften, macerate and desquamate (Kobayashi et al., 2016). In addition to its exfoliating action useful in removing scalp hyperkeratotic skin, recent studies support that salicylic acid even shows some protection against yeasts and dermatophytes (Ranganathan & Mukhopadhyay, 2010).
Successful treatment of primary cutaneous localized amyloidosis with a combined therapy of ablative fractionated CO2 laser, topical retinoid, corticosteroids and levovitamin C: Five cases with two-year follow-up
Published in Journal of Cosmetic and Laser Therapy, 2021
Yao-Jia Luo, Xing-Hua Gao, Hong-Duo Chen, Yuan-Hong Li
A fractionated CO2 laser (Lumenis Inc, Santa Clara, CA) was used, with a specific setting of Active Mode, 100mJ fluence, Shape 1, Size 7, Density 3 and a frequency of 600Hz. The topical medications used were 0.05% retinoid (Tretinoin Cream, Chongqing Huapont Pharmacy, China), Fluticasone Propionate Cream (Cutivate Oint, Glaxo Operations UK limited, Druham, UK), Recombinant Human Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) Gel (Guilin Pavay Gene Pharmaceutical Co., Guilin, China) and 23.8% Levovitamin C (C`smax, Sega, USA). All topical medications were applied on the laser treated area immediately after the treatment. These medications were required to be used twice a day for two weeks, and topical salicylic acid moisture was required for the two weeks leading up to the next treatment and the follow-up at the hospital during the one-month interval.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Acne
- Active Metabolite
- Ester
- Organic Compound
- Teratology
- Wart
- Aspirin
- Skin
- Plant Hormone
- Willow