ECZEMA TRIGGERS TO AVOID

Chemicals: Air Fresheners, Cleaning Supplies, and Smoke

To steer clear of chemicals that can make eczema itchy and to keep your skin happy:

1. Wear cotton lined gloves when cleaning.

2. Don't use air fresheners or perfume.

3. Stay away from smoke, and if you do smoke, now is a great time to kick the habit.

Hot Water: Turn It Down and Lotion Up

Choose lukewarm or cool water instead of hot to keep skin calmer after hand washing and showers. When you’re done washing, gently pat skin -- don't rub -- until it’s just damp. Then, slather on thick lotion right away to lock in moisture. 

6. Allergic to wool? Check the ingredients label of your lotion. Lanolin will irritate your skin. For people without a wool allergy, lanolin helps.

The Sun, Sweat, and Sunscreen

You can be out in the sun, but your skin may not like getting hot and sweaty. If that’s the case, stay cool and seek out shade. Always wear sunscreen. Sunburns inflame your skin and can lead to an eczema flare. If you’re sensitive to sunscreens, block out burning rays with mineral versions, like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Sunscreens made for the face may also give you gentle protection.

Clothes: Scratchy, Synthetic, New, Dry Cleaned

Loose, breathable cotton clothes may be your best bet. Wool and mohair can be prickly. Synthetic materials like polyester, nylon, and rayon can make you sweaty. Wash clothes before wearing them to help get rid of dye or chemicals used to keep them wrinkle-free at the store. Do you dry-clean? Take the plastic bags off and air them out for 24 hours if the chemicals bother you.

Detergents, Soaps, and Shampoos

Whether you're washing your body or your clothes, think gentle. Choose laundry detergent made for babies or sensitive skin, like fragrance-free types. Use only the amount suggested. If needed, rinse them twice. Skip fabric softeners and scented dryer sheets. For showers, pick a non-soap cleanser that is mild and fragrance-free. Shampoos are also available in clear, pH neutral, fragrance-free versions.

Stress

Flaring? Try relaxation techniques like yoga, meditation, deep breathing, or biofeedback. Anxiety and stress can make skin conditions like eczema worse. How? When you’re tense, your body’s stress hormones cause inflammation that irritates your skin. Even physical stress -- like when you're fighting a cold -- can take a toll. So take good care of yourself and make sure you get enough sleep on a regular basis.

Allergies

If you’re allergic to pollen, pet dander, dust mites, and mold- try to avoid them. At home, dust and vacuum regularly and wash bedding weekly in hot water. If possible, get rid of heavy drapes and carpeting. If certain chores irritate your skin, now may be your chance to ask for  help or hire some! If you’re still having allergy woes, talk to your doctor about other ways to get relief.

Food Sensitivities

Some studies suggest that food sensitivities might make eczema worse -- especially for babies and children. Peanuts, milk, soy, wheat, fish, and eggs are the most common culprits. Because kids need a well-rounded diet, don't stop giving them foods you think might be causing eczema flares. Talk to a pediatrician or dermatologist first. They can do tests for food allergies.

Dry Air

Does your skin get worse in the winter? The heater in your home keeps you warm, but it can suck the moisture right out of the air. When the air is dry, moisturize your skin regularly. If you live in a dry place, you may want to consider using a humidifier. If you do, clean it, as directed, at least once a week. Mold can thrive in humidifiers and make eczema worse for some people.

Exercise and Sweat

Working out is great for you and can help relieve stress. However, sweat from exercise can be aggravate the skin. Don’t let that keep you from moving! To keep cool, take breaks during workouts, don’t over-dress, and sip water when you get hot. Try exercising indoors or during cooler parts of the day. Remember to gently dab off sweat. Swimming can also help keep you cool, but be sure to shower and moisturize afterward since chlorine may be irritating.

Drool and Saliva

Prevent patches of eczema on your baby’s cheeks, chin, neck, and around her mouth by smoothing on a thick layer of moisturizing ointment before she eats or sleeps.

Skin Infections

Are you itching worse than normal? Do you have more red patches? See your dermatologist. Having a bacterial or yeast infection on your skin -- like staph or candida -- can make your eczema flare. A doctor can prescribe antibiotics to help with bacterial infections and antifungal medicines to help yeast infections. That way you can tame that flare and feel better.

Article source by WEBMD

WAYS OF REMOVING DEAD SKIN ON FEET

Calluses develop when there is too much pressure or friction against the skin. Our skin does this to protect itself from further injury. Examples of this include wearing shoes that are too tight or clothing, such as socks, that rub against our skin. Wearing high heels can also cause calluses, especially if you wear them without panty hose or any other type of footing.

Another culprit is walking barefoot. Think about it... what if you walk around on a rough surface such as pavement? What do you expect your skin to do when your feet are essentially rubbing on a rough surface? You're going to get unsightly calluses.

Maybe your issue isn't foot calluses but callus on hands? Or, do you have calluses on your knuckles? Many times, people get calluses on hands when they're constantly writing - like when holding a pen for long periods of time (i.e. doing school work or if you are a writer and still use pen and paper) - or any activity that puts friction on your hands.

So, how do you treat calluses on fingers or hands? Ease up on your writing instrument. You may be holding it too hard. Next, hydrate your body. Water is essential but also use a cream to help heal your skin after you've exfoliated. Apply generously and often.

For foot calluses, soak your feet in warm water for about 10 - 15 minutes. This will help to soften thick calluses on your feet making it easier to remove. Once done soaking, take an exfoliator and gently rub the thick dead skin. If your calluses are especially thick, don't expect to get everything off the first time. This is a gradual process so be patient. Dry your feet, moisturize and then put cotton socks on overnight. Repeat nightly until you notice an improvement. Then, maintain results by keeping up the regimen on a regular basis.

Further, I wouldn't recommend cutting off calluses only because you could cause more injury. More injury means more calluses or scarring and you don't need to add thicker skin on top of thick skin.

Take care of your feet (and hands) daily. Don't skip skin care just like you wouldn't skip brushing your teeth. It's necessary to maintain good health and to feel good about the way you look. Vanity isn't the goal here but feeling good and self confident is. Feeling good on the outside makes you feel good on the inside.

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Article by Irena Domaradzki

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REMOVING DEAD SKIN CELLS

Desquamation (the shedding of the outer layers of the skin) often becomes patchy or slows down when skin ages becomes damaged. Inadequate desquamation is what underlies dry or blemished skin. Dry skin simply looks flaky. Blemished skin may include clogged pores, acne, skin spots, or redness. Each of these conditions can benefit from actively exfoliating your skin to renew its youthful, glowing appearance.

Herbal skin care products can be especially powerful for promoting desquamation. The key is to use natural skin care products that are not irritating and that provide deep cleansing.

REMOVING DEAD SKIN CELLS

It may be surprising to learn that the outer layer of your skin consists entirely of dead skin cells. You are literally covered with them! Normally these outer cells have been dead for at least a month. They are crucial for forming a protective layer against damage by microbial infection and by environmental toxins, including overexposure to UV light. Normal skin sheds millions of dead skin cells every day. The amount of skin shedding is balanced with the formation of new cells for maintaining the integrity of the outer protective layer of cells.

This natural balance gets thrown off kilter when shedding slows down due to aging or external damage. This imbalance may cause the normally protective layer of dead skin cells to thicken beyond what is necessary, which causes dull-looking skin. That is when taking an active role in skin exfoliation becomes important for restoring the proper cycle of shedding and regeneration.

EXFOLIATING DRY SKIN

By the way, skin begins to dry out even before it becomes flaky-looking. A simple home test will tell you whether your skin is getting too dry. Gently rub a small piece of clear tape on your forehead. After you carefully remove it, look for any little pieces of flaky skin on the tape. They indicate dead skin cells that are not being removed quickly enough by healthy desquamation.

Removing dry skin cells is particularly important before using rehydrating creams. Rehydrating dead cells makes little sense. They should instead be removed beforehand by active exfoliation. Winter is the season when exfoliation is particularly important, since skin dries out more in cold air that holds less moisture. Indoor air in winter can be super-dry when it is heated by a natural gas furnace.

Exfoliating Blemished Skin

Skin cell buildup can clog pores, trap oil in follicles, cause patchy redness, and promote the growth of acne-causing bacteria. Any of these conditions will benefit tremendously from an active exfoliating program with the right herbal formulas. Such formulas consist of a mixture of herbs that cleanse, disinfect, and reduce inflammation while invigorating skin in preparation for applying anti-aging and moisturizing products.

Care must be taken to avoid common skin care ingredients that are overly drying or inflammatory. Such ingredients often include strong anti-bacterial agents and inflammatory organic acids. Especially watch out for substances such as alpha-hydroxy acids (AHA; e.g., glycolic acid) and beta-hydroxy acids (BHA; e.g., salicylic acid), since these are powerful oxidizing agents. Oxidizing agents may temporarily reduce wrinkles by inflaming cells to make them puff up to look smooth. However, this not truly beneficial for skin.

REVERSING SKIN WRINKLING

As the skin's natural desquamation slows, the accumulation of dry skin cells create a wrinkled appearance. This is when herbs that promote the structural proteins, collagen and elastin, in the lower levels of the epidermis can trick the skin into acting young again.

Many herbs impart such activities, led by green tea and also including Chinese Angelica root, white mulberry, and white peony, among others.

Article By Dr. Dennis Clark, Ph.D

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CANCER FIGHTING FOODS

Fighting Cancer by the Plateful

No single food can prevent cancer, but the right combination of foods may help make a difference. At mealtimes, strike a balance of at least two-thirds plant-based foods and no more than one-third animal protein. This "New American Plate" is an important cancer fighting tool, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research. Check out better and worse choices for your plate.

Fighting Cancer with Color

Fruits and vegetables are rich in cancer-fighting nutrients -- and the more color, the more nutrients they contain. These foods can help lower your risk in a second way, too, when they help you reach and maintain a healthy body weight. Carrying extra pounds increases the risk for multiple cancers, including colon, esophagus, and kidney cancers. Eat a variety of vegetables, especially dark green, red, and orange vegetables.

The Cancer-Fighting Breakfast

Folate is an important B vitamin that may help protect against cancers of the colon, rectum, and breast.  You can find it in abundance on the breakfast table. Fortified breakfast cereals and whole wheat products are good sources of folate. So are orange juice, melons, and strawberries.

More Folate-Rich Foods

Other good sources of folate are asparagus and eggs. You can also find it in beans, sunflower seeds, and leafy green vegetables like spinach or romaine lettuce. The best way to get folate is not from a pill, but by eating enough fruits, vegetables, and enriched grain products

Pass Up the Deli Counter

An occasional Reuben sandwich or hot dog at the ballpark isn't going to hurt you. But cutting back on processed meats like bologna, ham, and hot dogs will help lower your risk of colorectal and stomach cancers. Also, eating meats that have been preserved by smoking or with salt raises your exposure to chemicals that can potentially cause cancer.

Cancer-Fighting Tomatoes

Whether it's the lycopene -- the pigment that gives tomatoes their red color -- or something else isn't clear. But some studies have linked eating tomatoes to reduced risk of several types of cancer, including prostate cancer. Studies also suggest that processed tomato products such as juice, sauce, or paste increase the cancer-fighting potential.

Tea's Anticancer Potential

Even though the evidence is still spotty, tea, especially green tea, may be a strong cancer fighter. In laboratory studies, green tea has slowed or prevented the development of cancer in colon, liver, breast, and prostate cells. It also had a similar effect in lung tissue and skin. And in some longer term studies, tea was associated with lower risks for bladder, stomach, and pancreatic cancers.

Grapes and Cancer

Grapes and grape juice, especially purple and red grapes, contain resveratrol. Resveratrol has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In laboratory studies, it has prevented the kind of damage that can trigger the cancer process in cells. There is not enough evidence to say that eating grapes or drinking grape juice or wine (or taking supplements) can prevent or treat cancer.

Limit Alcohol to Lower Cancer Risk

Cancers of the mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, liver, and breast are all linked with drinking alcohol. Alcohol may also raise the risk for cancer of the colon and rectum. The American Cancer Society recommends limiting alcohol to no more than two drinks per day for men and one for women. Women at higher risk for breast cancer may want to talk with a doctor about what amount of alcohol, if any, is safe based on their personal risk factors.

Water and Other Fluids Can Protect

Water not only quenches your thirst, but it may protect you against bladder cancer. The lower risk comes from water diluting concentrations of potential cancer-causing agents in the bladder. Also, drinking more fluids causes you to urinate more frequently. That lessens the amount of time those agents stay in contact with the bladder lining.

The Mighty Bean

Beans are so good for you, it's no surprise they may help fight cancer, too. They contain several potent phytochemicals that may protect the body's cells against damage that can lead to cancer. In the lab these substances slowed tumor growth and prevented tumors from releasing substances that damage nearby cells.

The Cabbage Family vs. Cancer

Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, and kale. These members of the cabbage family make an excellent stir fry and can really liven up a salad. But most importantly, components in these vegetables may help your body defend against cancers such as colon, breast, lung, and cervix.

Dark Green Leafy Vegetables

Dark green leafy vegetables such as mustard greens, lettuce, kale, chicory, spinach, and chard have an abundance of fiber, folate, and carotenoids. These nutrients may help protect against cancer of the mouth, larynx, pancreas, lung, skin, and stomach.

Protection from an Exotic Spice

Curcumin is the main ingredient in the Indian spice turmeric and a potential cancer fighter. Lab studies show it can suppress the transformation, proliferation, and invasion of cancerous cells for a wide array of cancers.

Cooking Methods Matter

How you cook meat can make a difference in how big a cancer risk it poses. Frying, grilling, and broiling meats at very high temperatures causes chemicals to form that may increase cancer risk. Other cooking methods such as stewing, braising, or steaming appear to produce fewer of those chemicals. And when you do stew the meat, remember to add plenty of healthy, protective vegetables.

A Berry Medley with a Punch

Strawberries and raspberries have a phytochemical called ellagic acid. This powerful antioxidant may actually fight cancer in several ways at once, including deactivating certain cancer causing substances and slowing the growth of cancer cells.

Blueberries for Health

The potent antioxidants in blueberries may have wide value in supporting our health, starting with cancer. Antioxidants fight cancer by ridding the body of free radicals before they can do their damage to cells. Try topping oatmeal, cold cereal, yogurt, even salad with blueberries to boost your intake of these healthful berries.

Pass on the Sugar

Sugar may not cause cancer directly. But it may displace other nutrient-rich foods that help protect against cancer. And it increases calorie counts, which contributes to overweight and obesity. Excess weight is also a cancer risk. Fruit offers a sweet alternative in a vitamin-rich package.

Don't Rely on Supplements

Vitamins may help protect against cancer. But that's when you get them naturally from food. Both the American Cancer Society and the American Institute for Cancer Research emphasize that getting cancer-fighting nutrients from foods like nuts, fruits, and green leafy vegetables is vastly superior to getting them from supplements. Eating a healthy diet is best.

CERVICAL CANCER SYMPTOMS

Abnormal cervical cell changes rarely cause symptoms. If cervical cell changes progress to cancer, symptoms may include:

• Vaginal bleeding that isn't normal, such as between menstrual periods, after sex, or after menopause.
• Pain during sex.
• Vaginal discharge that isn't normal.
• A significant unexplained change in your menstrual cycle.

THE SYMPTOMS OF ADVANCED CERVICAL CANCER MAY INCLUDE:

• Anemia because of abnormal vaginal bleeding.
• Ongoing pelvic, leg, or back pain.
• Urinary problems because of blockage of a kidney or ureter.
• Leakage of urine or stool into the vagina. This can happen when an abnormal opening (fistula) has developed between the vagina and the bladder or rectum.
• Weight loss.

UNDERSTANDING CANCER SYMPTOMS

What Are the Symptoms of Cancer?

In its early stages, cancer may have no symptoms, but eventually a malignant tumor will grow large enough to be detected. 

As it continues to grow, it may press on nerves and produce pain, penetrate blood vessels and cause bleeding, or interfere with the function of a body organ or system.

THE SEVEN WARNING SIGNS OF CANCER

The American Cancer Society uses the word C-A-U-T-I-O-N to help recognize the seven early signs of cancer:

1.    Change in bowel or bladder habits

2.    A sore that does not heal

3.    Unusual bleeding or discharge

4.    Thickening or lump in the breast, testicles, or elsewhere

5.    Indigestion or difficulty swallowing

6.    Obvious change in the size, color, shape, or thickness of a wart, mole, or mouth sore

7.    Nagging cough or hoarseness

The following symptoms may also signal the presence of some types of cancer:

     I.        Persistent headaches

   II.        Unexplained loss of weight or loss of appetite

  III.        Chronic pain in bones or any other areas of the body

 IV.        Persistent fatigue, nausea, or vomiting

   V.        Persistent low-grade fever, either constant or intermittent

 VI.        Repeated infection

Call Your Doctor About Cancer if:

You develop symptoms that may signal cancer, that are specifically not related to another cause, or that persist for more than two weeks. If this occurs, schedule a medical examination. If the cause of your symptoms is cancer, early diagnosis and treatment will offer a better chance of a positive prognosis.