Cold Sore

Cold sores are caused by a type of herpes virus (HSV-1, which most often is not sexually transmitted) so they're contagious from person to person. Once you get this virus it stays in your body, meaning you'll probably get cold sores every now and then throughout your life.

Here are ways you can help prevent cold sores from making an appearance (or reappearance if you've had them in the past).

--> Avoid getting cold sores in the first place by not sharing stuff like lip balm, toothbrushes, or drinks with other people who might have cold sores. The virus that causes cold sores is transmitted through the nose (in mucus) and the mouth (in saliva).

--> People who have the virus know that cold sores can flare up from things like too much sun, stress, or being sick. Just one more reason to lather on that suntan lotion, eat well, exercise, and get plenty of sleep!


If you do have a cold sore, here are some tips for keeping yourself comfortable:
--> Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen if the cold sores are painful.

--> Suck on ice pops or cubes to ease pain and keep cold sores cool.

--> Stay away from acidic foods (like oranges, tomatoes, and lemonade) and salty, spicy foods, which can cause irritation.

--> Don't pick at cold sores while you're waiting for them to go away. They may bleed or become infected with bacteria.


Usually, cold sores go away on their own after a week or 2. But if you get them frequently or they're a problem, talk to your doctor or dermatologist. He or she may be able to prescribe a medication to alleviate symptoms and shorten the amount of time cold sores last.

Sun and Skin

When we're outdoors, we all know we need to protect our skin from the sun's harmful rays. Of course, it's impossible to avoid the sun - who wants to hide indoors all summer when it feels so great to get outside and be active? And the sun's not all bad, anyway:

Sunlight helps our bodies create vitamin D. So follow these tips when you're outdoors to help manage sun exposure:

--> Wear sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15, even if it's cloudy or you don't plan on spending a lot of time outdoors. If you go swimming or plan to stay outside, reapply sunscreen (even if the bottle says the sunscreen is waterproof) every 2 to 3 hours.

--> Choose a sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB rays. Look for the words "broad spectrum protection" or UVA protection in addition to the SPF of 15 or greater. Select a sunscreen that says "nonacnegenic" or "noncomedogenic" on the label to help keep pores clear.
--> The sun's rays are strongest between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM, so make sure you reapply sunscreen frequently and take breaks indoors if you can. If your shadow is longer than you are tall, then it's a safer time to be in the sun (you should still wear sunscreen, though).

--> Apply more sunscreen (with higher SPF) when you're around reflective surfaces like water, snow, or ice.

--> We all know that the sun can damage skin, but did you know it can contribute to eye problems, too? Protect your face and eyes with a hat and sunglasses that provide 100% UV protection.

--> Some medications, such as prescription acne medications or birth control pills, can increase your sensitivity to the sun, so if you're taking medication, increase your sun protection.

--> If you want the glow of a tan, try faking it with self-tanners or salon tanning treatments. Avoid tanning beds, though, because although manufacturers claim that tanning beds are free of UVB rays, they still use harmful UVA rays.

25 Reasons Why You Should Start Drinking Green Tea Now

1. Green Tea and Cancer

Green tea helps reduce the risk of cancer. The antioxidant in green tea is 100 times more effective than vitamin C and 25 times better than vitamin E. This helps your body at protecting cells from damage believed to be linked to cancer.

2. Green Tea and Heart Disease

Green tea helps prevent heart disease and stroke by lowering the level of cholesterol. Even after the heart attack, it prevents cell deaths and speeds up the recovery of heart cells.

3. Green Tea and Anti-Aging

Green tea contains antioxidant known as polyphenols which fight against free radicals. What this means it helps you fight against aging and promotes longevity.

4. Green Tea and Weight Loss

Green tea helps with your body weight loss. Green tea burns fat and boosts your metabolism rate naturally. It can help you burn up to 70 calories in just one day. That translates to 7 pounds in one year.

5. Green Tea and Skin

Antioxidant in green tea protects the skin from the harmful effects of free radicals, which cause wrinkling and skin aging. Green tea also helps fight against skin cancer.

6. Green Tea and Arthritis

Green tea can help prevent and reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis. Green tea has benefit for your health as it protects the cartilage by blocking the enzyme that destroys cartilage.

7. Green Tea and Bones

The very key to this is high fluoride content found in green tea. It helps keep your bones strong. If you drink green tea every day, this will help you preserve your bone density.

8. Green Tea and Cholesterol

Green tea can help lower cholesterol level. It also improves the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol, by reducing bad cholesterol level.

9. Green Tea and Obesity

Green tea prevents obesity by stopping the movement of glucose in fat cells. If you are on a healthy diet, exercise regularly and drink green tea, it is unlikely you'll be obese.

10. Green Tea and Diabetes

Green tea improves lipid and glucose metabolisms, prevents sharp increases in blood sugar level, and balances your metabolism rate.

11. Green Tea and Alzheimer's

Green tea helps boost your memory. And although there's no cure for Alzheimer's, it helps slow the process of reduced acetylcholine in the brain, which leads to Alzheimer's.

12. Green Tea and Parkinson's

Antioxidants in green tea helps prevent against cell damage in the brain, which could cause Parkinson's. People drinking green tea also are less likely to progress with Parkinson's.

13. Green Tea and Liver Disease

Green tea helps prevent transplant failure in people with liver failure. Researches showed that green tea destroys harmful free radicals in fatty livers.

14. Green Tea and High Blood Pressure

Green tea helps prevent high blood pressure. Drinking green tea helps keep your blood pressure down by repressing angiotensin, which leads to high blood pressure.

15. Green Tea and Food Poisoning

Catechin found in green tea can kill bacteria which cause food poisoning and kill the toxins produced by those bacteria.

16. Green Tea and Blood Sugar

Blood sugar tends to increase with age, but polyphenols and polysaccharides in green tea help lower your blood sugar level.

17. Green Tea and Immunity

Polyphenols and flavenoids found in green tea help boost your immune system, making your health stronger in fighting against infections.

18. Green Tea and Cold and Flu

Green tea prevents you from getting a cold or flu. Vitamin C in green tea helps you treat the flu and the common cold.

19. Green Tea and Asthma

Theophylline in green tea relaxes the muscles which support the bronchial tubes, reducing the severity of asthma.

20. Green Tea and Ear Infection

Green tea helps with ear infection problem. For natural ear cleaning, soak a cutton ball in green tea and clean the infected ear.

21. Green Tea and Herpes

Green tea increases the effectiveness of topical interferon treatment of herpes. First green tea compress is applied, and then let the skin dry before the interferon treatment.

22. Green Tea and Tooth Decay

Green tea destroys bacteria and viruses that cause many dental diseases. It also slows the growth of bacteria which leads to bad breath.

23. Green Tea and Stress

L-theanine, which is a kind of amino acids in green tea, can help relieve stress and anxiety.


24. Green Tea and Allergies

EGCG found in green tea relieves allergies. So, if you have allergies, you should really consider drinking green tea.

25. Green Tea and HIV

Scientists in Japan have found that EGCG (Epigallocatechin Gallate) in green tea can stop HIV from binding to healthy immune cells. What this means is that green tea can help stop the HIV virus from spreading.

Starting from today, try to get a cup of green tea for total wellness.

Food as Medicine (Part Two)

MEMORY PROBLEMS?

EAT OYSTERS! Oysters help improve your mental functioning by supplying much-needed zinc.

COLDS?

EAT GARLIC! Clear up that stuffy head with garlic. (remember, garlic lowers cholesterol, too.)


COUGHING?

USE RED PEPPERS!! A substance similar to that found in the cough syrups is found in hot red pepper. Use red (cayenne) pepper with caution-it can irritate your tummy.

BREAST CANCER?

EAT Wheat, bran and cabbage!! Helps to maintain estrogen at healthy levels.

LUNG CANCER?

EAT DARK GREEN AND ORANGE AND VEGGIES!!! A good antidote is beta carotene, a form of Vitamin A found in dark green and orange vegetables.

ULCERS?

EAT CABBAGE ALSO!!! Cabbage contains chemicals that help heal both gastric and duodenal ulcers.

DIARRHEA?

EAT APPLES! Grate an apple with its skin, let it turn brown and eat it to cure this condition. (Bananas are good for this ailment)

CLOGGED ARTERIES?

EAT AVOCADO! Mono unsaturated fat in avocados lowers cholesterol.

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE?

EAT CELERY AND OLIVE OIL!!! Olive oil has been shown to lower blood pressure.

BLOOD SUGAR IMBALANCE?

EAT BROCCOLI AND PEANUTS!!! The chromium in broccoli and peanuts helps regulate insulin and blood sugar.


Kiwi:

Tiny but mighty. This is a good source of potassium, magnesium, Vitamin E &fiber. It's Vitamin C content is twice that of an orange.

Apple:

An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low Vitamin C content, it has antioxidants &flavonoids which enhances the activity of Vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon cancer, heart attack & stroke.

Strawberry:

Protective fruit. Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits &protects the body from cancer causing, blood vessels clogging free radicals. (Actually, any berry is good for you..they're high in anti-oxidants and they actually keep us young.........blueberries are the best and very versatile in the health field........they get rid of all the free-radicals that invade our bodies)

Orange:

Sweetest medicine. Taking 2 - 4 oranges a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent & dissolve kidney stones as well as lessen the risk of colon cancer.

Watermelon:

Coolest Thirst Quencher. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione which helps boost our immune system. They are also a key source of lycopene - the cancer fighting oxidant. Other nutrients found in watermelon are Vitamin C &Potassium. (watermelon also has natural substances [natural SPF sources] that keep our skin healthy, protecting our skin from those darn suv rays)

Guava &Papaya:

Top awards for Vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high Vitamin C content. Guava is also rich in fiber which helps prevent constipation. Papaya is rich in carotene, this is good for your eyes. (also good for gas and indigestion)

Tomatoes are very good as a preventative measure for men, keeps those prostrate problems from invading their bodies.

Food as Medicine (Part One)

HEADACHE?

EAT FISH! Eat plenty of fish -- fish oil helps prevent headaches. So does ginger, which reduces inflammation and pain

HAY FEVER?

EAT YOGURT! Eat lots of yogurt before pollen season. Also-eat honey from your area (local region) daily

TO PREVENT STROKE DRINK TEA!

Prevent buildup of fatty deposits on artery walls with regular doses of tea. (actually, tea suppresses my appetite and keeps the pounds from invading....Green tea is great for our immune system)!

INSOMNIA (CAN'T SLEEP?)

HONEY! Use honey as a tranquilizer and sedative.

ASTHMA?

EAT ONIONS!!!! Eating onions helps ease constriction of bronchial tubes. (when I was young, my mother would make onion packs to place on our chest, helped the respiratory ailments and actually made us breathe better).

ARTHRITIS?

EAT FISH, TOO!! Salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines actually prevent arthritis. (fish has omega oils, good for our immune system)

UPSET STOMACH?

BANANAS - GINGER!!!!! Bananas will settle an upset stomach. Ginger will cure morning sickness and nausea.

BLADDER INFECTION?

DRINK CRANBERRY JUICE!!!! High-acid cranberry juice controls harmful bacteria.

BONE PROBLEMS?

EAT PINEAPPLE!!! Bone fractures and osteoporosis can be prevented by the manganese in pineapple.

PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME?

EAT CORNFLAKES!!!! Women can ward off the effects of PMS with cornflakes, which help reduce depression, anxiety and fatigue.

Let's talk about acne prone skin

My skin is acne prone skin. I have acne problem since early 20's and now I'm 30's, beginning to experience adult acne. Early, 20's the acne is like others teenagers can be treated by taking oral antibiotic. The antibiotic was subscribed from my dermatalogist. I took it for almost two years and the acne fade away for couple years. But it coming back in late 20's.

You might be wondering what is the different between acne and pimple. A couple of pimples is just pimples - but a large number of pimples clustered together that refuse to heal is considered acne. In other way, pimples are like one two or three spots on your face that tend to go away after a week or so. Acne is when you look like what they call "Pizza face". You probably have scars too from the acne and the acne does not go away (they look like indentations all over your face... or for lack of better word "crater face").

Now, what is acne? Acne is a term for the over production of oil, which results in plugged pores and outbreaks of lesions called pimples or zits, whiteheads, blackheads, nodules or cysts. Acne most commonly appears on the face, neck, chest, back, shoulders and arms. Teenagers are affected the most by acne, but acne can also affect adults between the ages of 20 to 40. After age 40, acne may lessen because of lower levels of hormones.

We use to hear complaints from our friends about pimple, whiteheads and blackheads. But now, what is nodular and cysts? Pimples are formed when the follicle wall breaks down and allows oil and bacteria to spill into your tissue. This results in redness, swelling, and pus.

A whitehead is a firm white bump that appears because your pores are clogged with oil as well as sebum that cannot reach your skin's surface.

A blackhead is a darkened duct opening that is plugged with dead cells and bacteria. When this material gains pigmentation and is exposed to air, it will oxidize and turn dark. It is important to remember that a blackhead is not caused by dirt, so do not panic by scrubbing your face. Rigorous scrubbing will only cause more irritation.

A nodule is a large, painful, solid lesion that is lodged deep within the skin.

A cyst is a deep, painful pus-filled lesion that can cause scarring. Nodules or cysts appear when there are large amounts of oil, bacteria, and pus embedded in the skin layers.

Both men and women are affected by acne, young men are more likely to suffer the effects of acne for longer periods of time because testosterone tends to make acne worse.

But what caused acne? The exact causes of acne are unknown, but it is believed that it can result from several factors, primarily, an increase in hormones called androgens, which both males and females have. Increases in androgens cause your oil glands to enlarge and produce more oil. This oil can also change into a thick white substance called sebum. An increased oil production clogs your pores with oil and sebum that can breakdown the cellular walls in your pores, which causes bacteria to grow and pimples to develop.

Acne caused scarring. This is really make me sick and felt terribled especially when I look at mirror. I'm suffering from serious acne that's what my derm said. It left a lot of scars on my cheek and need a lot of concealer to cover it. In other post, I will share with you the treatment for acne.

What is your skin type?

What is your skin type category?

1. Acne Prone Skin

Whether an occasional pimple or a painful, chronic condition, acne can occur on anyone at any age. It was characterized by pimples, whiteheads, blackheads, redness,inflammation and irritation.

Is genetically determined and hormonally triggered.

· Has three primary influencing factors:

.An overabundance of surface skin cells (hyperkeratinization)

.Oil glands influenced by androgen hormones that elevate excessoil (sebum) production

.Bacteria (P-acnes bacteria) mix with sebum, which irritates thepore wall, and results in inflammation.


2. Dry or Sensetive Skin

Dry or sensitive skin requires special care and handling because it is susceptible to irritants of all kinds. It was characterized by tightness, fine lines, and sometimes, evenflakiness. Can be exacerbated by too much sun, wind or harsh soaps.Medications and poor diet may also be factors.

3. Normal or Combination

Normal skin is balanced and trouble-free. Combination skin, which is oily in the T-zone, also requires balancing. They may experience excess oiliness in the T-zone, while the cheek and eye areas are drier. Sometimes experienced occasional breakouts at T-zone area.


4. Oily Skin

Oily skin feels thicker, may have large pores, and requires care to prevent it from becoming a breeding ground for acne. An overproduction of oil (sebum) and may appear greasy, shiny, or with large pores. May have enlarged pores or be prone to blackheads, whiteheads, and pimples.

I fall into category acne prone skin. I have experienced acne problem since 20's until today. Sometimes it worst and need to take oral treatment. I will share my experienced with you in other post on treating bad acne.

A beautiful and natural skin

Skin is the largest organ of our body. The skin, sometimes called the third kidney, is the body's largest eliminative organ after the liver. The skin often mirrors the health of the whole body. One of the greatest treasures that a woman or a man can have is healthy, radiant skin. A radiant clear complexion begins with proper nutrition, efficient digestion and assimilation of nutrients by the body and regular elimination.

Skin problems are a reflection of internal health and are often a reflection of overall body and blood toxicity and/or stomach problems. Almost anything that cleanses the blood or intestines will also show a result on the skin. Skin problems can also be as a result of allergies, hormone imbalances, nutrition or dehydration. If the balanced of the skin becomes disturbed especially through poor nutrition the functions associated with the skin cells cannot act in a balanced manner and can result in dryness, excessive oiliness, and inability to protect against infectious organism.

It is the skin which holds our bodies together, and gives us our glow, color and tone. Our skin absorbs what ever we put on it. So, you must very becareful to whatever chemical apply to your skin. The important thing is to know the ingredients inside it. Look for their active ingredients. You must know how the active materials will effect you. Many of these chemicals are found in percent levels in personal care products, nearly all easily penetrate the skin, and some are ingested directly after they are applied to lips or hands.

Get the knowledge from your dermatalogist or internet. It will guide you to choose the best personel care without damaging your skin.