[Image credit: Arvind Balaraman]

September’s word-of-the-month — demulcent (pronounced de-mul-cent) — is an adjective, and a noun, depending on the context of the sentence.  According to the Free Online Dictionary, demulcent as a noun means “a soothing, usually mucilaginous or oily substance, such as glycerin or lanolin, used especially to relieve pain in inflamed or irritated mucous membranes.”  Synonyms include medication and medicinal drug.  Used in a sentence, it may read: After he pulled the tooth, the dentist applied the demulcent to the patient’s inflamed gums to relieve her discomfort.  As an adjective, the word translates to soothe, soften or mollify.  Synonyms include salving and emollient.  A sample sentence may look like this: The ointment acted as a demulcent to her dry, chapped lips.  

What’s your favorite demulcent to soothe inflamed or injured skin?