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Archive for January 3rd, 2012

Acne is one of those health problems that doesn’t have a significant impact on the functioning of the body but has a very negative effect on the person’s looks. A person experiencing acne breakouts tends to become slightly isolated from social activities because acne seriously affects the person’s attractiveness, which can be crucial during teenage and early adulthood when social activities are most important. And during this stage people most often fall prey to myths and misconceptions about acne that can lead them to taking wrong decisions or contemplate about things that are actually unimportant. Let’s look at some of the most common acne myths and debunk them with hardcore facts to set your perception about acne straight:

Acne are caused by bad hygiene

Most people think that acne breakouts are caused by bad hygiene of the skin and if you wash your face and other parts of the boy affected by acne frequently it will help get rid of the problem. In fact, acne breakouts have nothing to do with skin hygiene. Sure, some infections can give you a rash and if the pores get clogged the oil produced by the skin can lead to inflammation. However, by rubbing your face three times a day and applying countless hygiene products you will only damage your skin more and cause more irritation that will certainly not be good for your acne.

Acne wear off with sexual activity

Another very common misconception that is particularly widespread with teens is that sexual activity can cure acne while long term abstinence causes breakouts. There’s a little sense in this statement since the start of sexual activity is often associated with particular hormonal changes (which often cause acne development in the first place) and when these processes overlap one can think that sex can make acne disappear. However, there’s no direct link between sexual activity and acne breakouts confirmed by doctors and scientists.

Bad diet can provoke acne breakouts

A lot of people believe that a diet rich with fatty and processed products, snacks and fast food can cause acne breakouts. Others believe that particular products such as chocolate, coffee, sweets or other foods can trigger acne formation. However, despite this common belief there is no actual link discovered between the food you eat and the factors causing acne formation. You can still get acne by sticking to the healthiest diet possible and get rid of acne by eating fast food and taking Accutane.

Antibiotics are the best solution for acne

It is believed that antibiotics are the most effective solution for acne breakouts because they eliminate bacterial infection in the skin that is causing acne. It’s true that doctors commonly prescribed antibiotics as part of the treatment for acne. However, antibiotics can also eliminate beneficial bacteria from the skin and cause more serious skin problems. Accutane, on the other hand doesn’t kill the beneficial bacteria and only regulates the production of oil in the skin that is the primary reason for acne breakouts.

Some Basic Background Information

Cold sores are the external symptoms of an active oral herpes outbreak (aka “herpes labialis”) that appear most typically on the lip and/or around the mouth–they are very rarely found *in* the mouth, and if this is the case it’s much more likely that you’ve got something known as a canker sore which is caused by a bacteria and completely unrelated to cold sores and the herpes simplex virus.

Herpes is transmitted from one person to another through contact with open sores or bodily fluids–the most common way that people get oral herpes is by being kissed by a close relative when they are a small child who has an active outbreak or, possibly, is experiencing something called asymptomatic viral shedding (this is where you’re still shedding the virus and are contagious despite the fact that you don’t have any visible symptoms such as sores or lesions on the skin).

There is no cure for herpes, and once you got it you’ve got it for life–the herpes virus spends the majority of its time in what’s called the “remission phase” where it remains dormant in the sensory nerve cells of your face near the site of initial infection, sometimes for years at a time between active outbreaks–just because you haven’t had an outbreak for several years does NOT mean that you don’t have the herpes virus anymore and can’ t ever get another outbreak. Even if you haven’t experienced a cold sore in 20 years, if you ever had one that means you’re infected and the virus is still there and could potentially emerge at any moment.

Fast and Simple Treatments

There’s plenty of prescription and OTC (over-the-counter) treatments such as anti-viral pills like Acyclovir and OTC creams like Abreva that you can check into if you so desire, but this article is about home remedies for cold sores that work, so let’s dive in.

Over the years I’ve tried a great many various treatments, and most of them are simply anecdotal wives tales that simply don’t work or work to a very negligible degree, a few are consistently pretty effective, and from that I’ve come up with a little system that I’ve found to be very effective (do each of these steps once every 2 hours as soon as you feel the tingling of an oncoming cold sore):

1. Keep the cold sore clean and dry by washing it with a damp wash cloth and soap–use a new wash cloth each time and toss the old one in the laundry after you use it to keep from re-infecting yourself. It would also be a good idea to replace your toothbrush with a new one and then again after the cold sore has gone (I actually rinse mine in rubbing alcohol each time after I use it if I’ve got an outbreak to disinfect it).

2. Sterilize a needle with rubbing alcohol or boiling water and use it to puncture the cold sore(s), then squeeze and drain every last drop of clear/yellow fluid from them (dab with a kleenex to soak it up).

3. Apply a q-tip with benzyl alcohol (“Zilactin”) or, alternatively, isopropyl alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol), but use benzyl alcohol if you can, to the affected area. This is one of the few “cold sores home remedies” actually recommended and endorsed by the Mayo Clinic (source: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cold-sore/DS00358/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs )

4. Apply clearasil or nail polish remover to the area with a q-tip–this will keep it completely dry and soak up any fluid for the next 2 hours until you repeat this process.

This is a VERY effective little procedure and, in my experience, will have that sucker GONE within 24-36 hours if you’re on top of things and stay on schedule with the treatment. It may also help to take some Vitamin C supplements to boost your immune system along with some l-lysine which has been shown in multiple scientific studies to interfere with the virus’ replication thereby shortening the duration and severity of a cold sore outbreak. (Source: Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis. See the study here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3115841 )

Cold sore is caused by a virus, and generally speaking this virus will remain in your body possibly for a life time, however there are cases where the virus completely disappear using a combination of natural cold sore relief and food supplements that increase your immune system.

Curing cold sores can be done in 3 steps.

Step 1 – Watch The Outbreak

These cold sore blisters can break out virtually anytime. You should watch over it carefully, you don’t want the blister to break out since it can be painful and may leave a scar.

You want to avoid direct contact with outside air as it can trigger a break out at the wrong moment, making the cold sore spreads out even faster over all of your mouth. Using ice cube and apply it on the affected area every 15 minutes every hour can help ease the pain.

Step 2 – Prevent From Spreading Out

Because the cause of cold sore is a virus, once it breaks out it can spread very easily and can be extremely contagious. Wash the cold sore with alcohol and keep it dry, you don’t want to infect your child or friend right? Applying a tea bag to the infected area for 15 minutes also can help control the spread of the cold sore.

Step 3 – Use Natural Cold Sores Treatment

You can also apply natural cold sore relief to cure your sore completely, even though the virus will remain in your body after the medication, there are many cases where the virus is completely gone after the medication. Some of the best natural treatments are lemon balm, tea tree oil or a combination of tea tree oil, herbal sage, and violet.

Curing cold sore can be easily done in 3 steps. Step 1 is to watch the outbreak, step 2 is to prevent the cold sores from spreading out, and the last is to use natural treatment to cure the cold sores.

Introduction:

Sinus headache is extremely infectious and could be caused due to allergy. It should be treated by some pain killers like ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and aspirin in the case of adults. Medicines containing caffeine may also be used. A person having sinus may have swelling or irritation and this has to be treated using humidifier medicines and also the drain of mucous must be controlled by surgical means. Meditation, yoga and relaxation may facilitate in the relief of sinus headache. However, some prefer homeopathy treatment and acupuncture which gives more relief.

Treatment for sinus headache and side effects:

As already stated medication is the best treatment for sinus headache and especially pain killers and caffeine content. Xylometazoline, phenylpropanolamine, oxymetazoline, pheylephrine, and pseudo ephedrine, are all decongestants which help in controlling the symptoms of irritation or swelling due to sinus.

Easy tips for home treatment:

We can treat our self in home for sinus headache. Here are some of the ways we can get rid of the headache:

Having a nap will do better. Putting a cold water towel in your forehead is also one of the home treatments. We can take peppermint steam which help in smooth inhalation and gives immediate relief. Cinnamon or elachi can be grounded well and applied to the forehead for relief of sinus headache. You can have jalapeno pepper or ripe grape juice for sinus headache. Dry ginger paste can also be applied to forehead for immediate relief. You can also take peppermint steam after applying dry ginger paste for more effective relief. You can also mix with the dry ginger paste a few basil leaves along with cloves and apply on the forehead. If you have severe sinus headache you may try having a hot bath for foot and cold water towel on your forehead. A mixture of mustard seeds powder and water inhaled through nostril will give better relief for sinus as well as migraine.