Showing posts with label care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label care. Show all posts

Monday, May 20, 2013

Best Cold Remedies - 7 Popular Home Cold and Flu Remedies

9:12:00 AM
During cold and flu season, it's normal to see commercials touting the latest cold and flu remedies on TV that claim to stop your suffering in their tracks. Most of these over the counter remedies treat the symptoms, but don't lessen the duration of a cold. Also, many of these medications can make you drowsy or feel drugged.
Home cold and flu remedies are more popular than ever and are an alternative to those who don't want to subject themselves to medicines with lots of mysterious ingredients. While there is no cure for the common cold or flu, there are several popular home remedies that can help lessen their duration and effects on your body.
Chicken Soup
Eating a bowl of savory chicken soup has long been one of the most popular home cold and flu remedies around. This old fashioned remedy has really stood the test of time. Chicken soup was prescribed for colds as far back as ancient Egyptian times. This remedy has probably survived so long because it does contains protein, which the body needs to get better, plus, it goes down easy and is warm and comforting. Recent research has shown that chicken soup does have anti-inflammatory nutrients. So, go ahead and make yourself a nice, warm bowl of chicken soup.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is prized for its immune boosting benefits to the body. When you get a cold or the flu, the virus tends to attack your healthy blood cells, which then have fight back - this makes you tired and drains you of energy. When you drink orange juice or any other citrus juice packed with vitamin C, you are literally giving your healthy blood cells a boost of power to repel those nasty cold germs. Many people choose to take the tablet form of vitamin C. Either way, vitamin C is one of the most powerful home remedies you can take to fight off a cold.
Echinacea
Echinacea is a popular herbal remedy that is used to lessen the duration of a cold. You can find Echinacea in capsule form, in lozenges or as an alcohol based tincture. While Echinacea does have curative benefits, its effect in cold fighting often has mixed results. Alcohol based Echinacea tinctures can last for several years, while the dry leaves found in many pills and capsules can lose their effectiveness over time. Also, the quality of the Echinacea varies greatly due to the nature of the plant. The upper part of the plant contains most of the benefits, while the lower part has little therapeutic benefit.
Spicy Food
Spicy foods that contain garlic, onions and cayenne pepper can help you recover quicker from a cold. These three foods contain powerful antioxidants and immune system compounds that will aid your body in expelling the virus. Eating a bowl of chili for lunch or dinner is a great way to eat your way to feeling better in no time.
Vaporizers and Personal Steamers
Hot steam rising up through your nasal passages and into your sinuses and lungs is a great way to clear congestion out of your system. One of the things that makes having a cold so miserable is that your nose is clogged and your chest if filled with gunk. Vaporizers and personal steamers work by adding water to a base and then heating it up until it becomes steam. You breath in the steam and it clears your system, allowing you to rest easier.
Steam Bath
Soaking in a nice, hot bath is relaxing anytime, but when you have a cold the steam rising up from the tub can have a soothing effect on your tired body. Steam is great for breaking up the congestion that clogs your sinuses and chest. To create an aromatherapy experience, add a few drops of peppermint oil or camphor oil to the hot water. Please do not use this remedy for babies and toddlers, as it may cause them injury.
Hot Toddy
Hot toddies are one of the long time favorite cold and flu remedies. Many people believe that curling up on the couch (or in a favorite chair) and drinking a hot toddy is a good way to fight off a cold or flu, but in fact, there is little evidence that this drink has any curative benefits.
A hot toddy is made with hot water, or tea, lemon juice, sugar or honey and either rum, brandy, or whiskey. While delicious, the American Lung Association cautions that drinking alcohol while sick with a cold will lead to dehydration, which can make a cold last longer. However, if you can't sleep and don't want to take an over the counter cold medication, drinking a hot toddy with alcohol will send you into a nice slumber.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Cleavage and Neckline - How to Keep Your Decolletage and Neck Skin Looking Young

8:57:00 AM
The cleavage and neckline skin, also called the décolletage has been the hallmark of youthful feminine beauty, sensuality and sexuality throughout history. Why then is the cleavage and neckline skin the most neglected when it comes to anti-aging skin care?
Lack of awareness I believe. We are used to carefully studying our face when we look in the mirror, but we don't see our cleavage or neckline skin in the mirror. Yet, the cleavage and neck skin is the most common indicator of aging skin in my plastic surgery practice.
Why Does the Cleavage and Neckline Age so Quickly?
o Sun Exposure- because the chest area is slanted out away from our face, the sun's rays strike the chest directly. The chest skin burns often before the face when you are out in the sun. We are also more likely to spend more time applying sun block to our faces, arms and legs than to the chest area. Sun damage causes brown spots, red spots and blood vessels, and wrinkles on our skin. Since the cleavage and neckline get more sun, skin aging changes are accelerated.
o Thin Skin- Our skin on the neckline, chest and cleavage is much thinner than the skin on our back, arms and legs. Thin skin is more susceptible to sun damage and aging changes because the sun can penetrate deeper into the vulnerable dermis, the deep skin layer where aging changes are most striking.
How Can We Remove Brown Spots, Blood vessels and Wrinkles from the Cleavage and Neckline or Décolletage?
o Intense Pulsed Light-IPL-Photo Facial-Intense Pulsed Light (IPL), also called Photo Facial is a miracle treatment for aging changes of the cleavage and neckline. IPL is not a laser. IPL uses a flash of visible light which is of an appropriate color to specifically target brown pigment and blood vessels in the skin. When the IPL light hits the brown pigment or blood vessel, the heat from the light energy breaks up the pigment or closes the blood vessel. The full effect of the IPL on the brown spots or blood vessels takes about five weeks. Usually three IPL treatments scheduled 5 weeks apart are required for complete removal of the brown spots and blood vessels. Results are usually spectacular. An aged sun damaged cleavage and neckline can be restored to a blemish free younger look. I don't know why more people do not have these IPL treatments.
o Retin A Topical Skin Care- Retin A is the only topical skin care product that has been proven to prevent and reverse aging skin changes and sun damage. Why then is everyone not using Retin A? I assume because Retin A is expensive and requires a prescription. But most people spend huge amounts of over the counter anti-aging skin creams that simply do not work and have no scientific proof of effectiveness. Dermatologists and Plastic Surgeons know the remarkable benefits of Retin A, that's why they prescribe it. Use Retin A on your face, neck, and chest. The chest area needs the Retin A as much or more than your face.
o Microdermabrasion-Microdermabrasion is the best, most effective form of deep exfoliation. Exfoliation removes dead and sun damaged skin cells from the surface of your skin. After the dead and damaged skin cells are removed the younger newer skin cells are revealed and your skin looks fresher and younger because the younger skin cells are visible. Microdermabrasion also stimulates the skin to grow new fresh cells. Microdermabrasion is also slightly irritating to the deeper skin dermis. This slight irritation stimulates the dermis to make new collagen to replace the collagen that has been lost from sun damage and skin aging. After microdermabrasion removes dead and damaged skin cells from the skin surface, Retin A, Vitamin C Serum and other topical skin care agents are absorbed more readily from the skin surface. Better absorption and penetration of these topical agents improves their performance. I strongly recommend that my patients have microdermabrasion of the neck and chest area when they have a facial microdermabrasion.
Lasers Are Too Strong for the Chest Area- Laser resurfacing goes too deep to be used on the chest area. As I mentioned earlier the skin of the chest and Décolletage is very thin. After laser resurfacing, healing occurs from cells in what are called skin appendages. Skin appendages are the hair follicles, sweat glands, and oil glands in the skin. The chest area in women has very few skin appendages and is quite thin, thus there is very little potential for healing of the chest area after laser resurfacing. The same is true with the hands and to a lesser degree the neck. New, more modern fractional laser resurfacing is more gentle, produces less skin damage and Erbium fractional laser resurfacing may be used cautiously on the neck. I am not comfortable yet using any laser on the chest. The IPL works beautifully on the chest, so in my opinion there is no need to take the risk of using the laser on the chest area.
How To Prevent Aging of the Chest and Neck
o Sun block-Be sure to put sun block on your chest and neck when you put it on your face. Re-apply every hour when in the hot sun.
o Sun Avoidance- From 11 o'clock to 4 o'clock wear a cover over your chest if in the sun. Better yet, go into a shady area during these hours when the sun is strongest. Wear a wide brimmed hat which shades your face and chest when in the sun. It protects you and is more of a fashion statement than your baseball hat.
o Never Use A Sun Reflector-the shiny aluminum foil on cardboard sun reflectors that people use to tan their face, can fry your chest. Never use them.
o Avoid tanning Booths-If you haven't gotten the message about tanning booths pay attention. I don't care what wavelength they use, UVB, UVA- both UV rays cause aging changes in the skin and I believe they can cause skin cancer. If you have to go to a tanning booth please wear a strong sun block. Sun block prevents a sunburn-you can still tan, it just takes 5-7 days to see the tan. All the color you see immediately after tanning is just a burn and your skin is damaged and aging changes will occur. You won't see brown spots, blood vessels, and wrinkles when you get out of the tanning booth, but I promise you they will come, certainly after a few years.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Facial Skin Care

9:53:00 AM
Because of the exposure it receives, the skin on your face is the most delicate skin on your body. Your facial skin needs special care to stay young, healthy, and beautiful.
1. Clean Your Face Gently
Toothpaste can be very irritating to the skin around the mouth. So brush your teeth before cleansing your face to remove any toothpaste residue that may be left on your lips and cheeks (You should use a natural toothpaste free from toxic Flouride- "Jasons" brand works well. Next, splash your face with lukewarm water and smooth about a quarter-size amount of a mild, natural cleanser over your face. You may use a washcloth or facial cloth if you wish, but fingertips are gentler on the skin. Use circular strokes to lightly massage the cleanser into your skin. Rinse the soap from your face with lukewarm water, and blot your skin dry with a clean, soft towel.
2. Use Toner Sparingly
Skin toning products often contain drying products, such as alcohol or acetone, that can be irritating to sensitive skin. Avoid using a skin toner if your skin has become dry and delicate over the years. However, a natural skin toner like the product "Oxy-Skin" will bind water to the skin and provide extra cleansing and moisture. This product would be useful for someone with dry or oily skin.
Use skin toner on freshly cleansed skin. Apply toner to a cotton tissue rather than a cotton ball as a tissue is less absorbent and you will end up using less toner on your face. Gently smooth the tissue over your face and allow the toner to dry.
3. Apply Eye Cream
The skin under your eyes is more delicate and sensitive than the skin on the rest of your face. It is the first part of your face to show signs of aging. An natural eye cream or serum can help to protect this fragile skin, even out skin tone, minimize dark under eye circles, and even temporarily tighten fine lines.
Use a pea-sized amount of eye cream (Parfait Visage) and apply to your skin with your middle finger. This finger will apply less pressure than your index finger. In a clockwise motion, smooth the cream from the center of the undereye area to the browbone and over your lids.
4. Moisturize Liberally
A good moisturizer is one of the foundations of an effective skin care routine. Use a moisturizer right after bathing to seal moisture into your skin. A moisturizing product that is not made especially for the face may be too heavy and it may leave the face looking and feeling greasy. Creams and lotions usually are the facial moisturizers of choice for a couple of reasons, as they contain some water and are lighter on the face. And many creams and lotions are humectants, an oil-free class of moisturizer that binds water to the skin so its effects are longer lasting.
Massage a nickel-size amount of facial moisturizer between your fingertips and then smooth over the skin on your face and neck using upward and outward strokes. Pulling down on your skin will aggravate the effects of gravity.
5. Protect Your Face
The best way to prevent unnecessary sun damage is to protect your skin from exposure to the sun. Excess sun exposure can cause damage to your skin in the form of freckles, roughness, age spots, wrinkles, and cancer. Skin cells can repair themselves to a certain degree even after they have been overexposed to ultraviolet light, as long as further exposure is avoided. So it is worth taking the precautions to protect your skin from sun at any age. Ultraviolet rays barrage your face even when you least expect it: in the car, at the bus stop, and even walking in and out of the house. Use a natural sunscreen product everyday, even if you don't plan on spending a lot of time outdoors.
Facial Skin Care Tips
Don't wait until bedtime to remove dirt, makeup, dust and pollutants from the face. If you're in for the night, wash your face as soon as you get home for the day and apply eye cream and moisturizers.
Avoid soda, coffee and other caffienated beverages. These drinks dehydrate your body and rob moisture from the skin. Instead, make sure you drink plenty of purified water throughout the day. Water helps to plump your skin with moisture and it improves circulation. Try to drink enough water that you are never actually thirsty. I recommend a "Wellness Water(TM)" purification system.
Use sunscreen everyday, not just when you are headed to the beach. It's never too late to start protecting your skin from the damaging effects of the sun. Wearing a sunscreen with at least SPF 15 everyday can protect your skin from premature aging, wrinkling, and age spots.
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