December 1st, 2009 -- Posted in Natural Skin Care |
The hardest part of having red, itchy skin, hives, or swollen spots on your skin is trying to concentrate on making your day as normal as possible while avoiding scratching the itchy parts. Sometimes you have to concentrate so much on that that you sort of forget what’s the reason behind the itching, which would really be the thing you should focus your attention on, so that it won’t happen again.
Allergies are most often the cause of skin rashes and such, and some of them are quite common. Know how to find out what they are and what you can do to avoid them.
Diagnosing Skin Allergies
An allergist can test if you’re allergic to substances or if your skin reacts to different possible allergens by conducting a skin test. Allergist will prick your skin to introduce various media in microscopic amounts, to see which pricks elicit a reaction from your skin in a test method.
The material type that your skin reacts on can be retested using different methods to confirm if the material in question is indeed your allergen. The allergist can also check to see how severe the reaction to your allergen is, and can range from mild to life threatening, using increasing concentrations of the allergen to measure reaction times.
Types Of Manifestation
Different forms of skin allergy reactions can be found in people. Occurring most often in small children, eczema, specifically known as Atopic Dermatitis, appears in the form of a red rash, and blistering of the skin is quite common. The skin can break from being scratched aggressively, and will usually cause scarring. Treatment usually consists of applying a topical solution on the site of the rashes to ease the itching, and your doctor will be able to prescribe treatment that is calibrated in strength to match your rashes.
Another common manifestation of skin allergies is the raised, red-colored bumps on the skin known as hives. While it is quite aesthetically disturbing to some, hives are not so itchy that you’ll break the skin by scratching really hard. Hives are common enough that people of all ages are affected by it at one point or another.
A third form of allergic reaction is called contact dermatitis, and this is a common reaction to a substance which will cause a similar reaction to a rash when you come into contact with it. The symptoms have more in common with Atopic Dermatitis, but the usual areas that the rash manifests itself are only where you’ve touched or come into contact with the substance. Here is good example of this is when you’ve touched poison ivy, and there are even common cases of people getting rashes because of their jewelry.
What To Do
Once a rash breaks out on your skin, as much as possible, try not to scratch it, since scratching could break the skin and introduce dirt and bacteria to below the skin level and you’ll have more trouble if it gets infected. A common solution to allergic rashes would be to apply an allergy cream to soothe the inflammation and to remove the itchiness. But the most important thing is that in the first occurrence, you’d be better off consulting your doctor on what to do just to make sure.
December 1st, 2009 -- Posted in Natural health care |
Most of us brush our teeth in the morning, or at night, or both, and those that are really keen and conscientious brush after every meal – all in an attempt to keep those pearly whites, white healthy and cavity free. But have you ever thought about what’s actually in that toothpaste that you’re using in your mouth every day and sometimes several times a day?
Most of us have probably never thought about it. We just assume that if it’s for sale in the supermarket, it’s got to be good, safe and effective – right?
Well get ready for it – NO – Your toothpaste is probably not full of good stuff. It’s probably not safe for your body and it’s probably not even very effective!
If you get your tube of toothpaste out and take a look at the ingredients (they might be on the box and not the tube), chances are you’ll find all or some of the following ingredients:
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS), Fluoride, Sodium Saccharin, Artificial flavours and colours
There are probably other potentially harmful ingredients used in various brands also, but these are the most common ones. If we take a look at each ingredient we begin to realise the potential implications that using these unsafe chemicals in our mouths every day might be having on our health and our children’s health, as being smaller, they are very much more susceptible to the damaging effects daily exposure to toxic chemicals.
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate or SLS (You may find Ammonium Lauryl Sulphate instead – same deal) – SLS is a foaming agent. It’s used in almost everything that foams from your toothpaste to shampoos, floor cleaners, degreasers and dishwashing liquid. SLS readily penetrates the skin and in fact makes skin more permeable. So anything used with SLS or after will be absorbed much more readily into the body via the skin. SLS accumulates in tissues and organs. SLS can damage the immune system. It can cause permanent damage to eyes in children, preventing their eyes from developing properly.
SLS damages the skin and mucous membranes, causing seperation of skin layers and severe irritation. It’s use in toothpaste causes microscopic damage to the mouth tissues and is the number one cause of recurring mouth ulcers and it can also be the cause of gum disease.
SLS is associated with the development of cataracts. Carinogenic (cancer causing) nitrates can be formed when SLS interacts with nitrogen bearing agents, common in personal care products. sodium lauryl sulphate is used in clinical studies to cause irritation to skin tissue!
From the Safe Shoppers Bible, written by leading toxicologist and expert on cancer prevention Dr Samuel Epstein:
“The amount of irritation caused by toothpaste is minimal but can include sore mouth and gums, wearing away of tooth enamel, sore tongue, and sloughing of mucous membrane.”
Some toothpastes that contain both sodium lauryl sulphate and Triclosan continue working for 12 hours. The American College of Toxicology reports:
“Both sodium and ammonium lauryl sulphate appear to be safe in formulations designed to be discontinuous, brief use followed by thorough rinsing from the surface of the skin. In products with prolonged contact with the skin, concentrations should not exceed 1%”
Twelve hours is not exactly brief discontinued use! Triclosan is one of a class of chemicals suspected of causing cancer in humans. Externally it can cause skin irritation, internally it can cause cold sweats, circulatory collapse, coma or even death! Do you want this working in your body for 12 hours?
Fluoride – There is huge worldwide debate over fluoride! It was very well marketed as being good for teeth many years ago (without evidence) and since then the debate has raged. It is banned in some countries in Europe. Others such as ours, in their wisdom and with total disregard for the wishes of it’s citizens, are just now adding it to the water supply, whether we want it or not. Fluoride has been shown to damage health, so the question really is that even if it does reduce dental caries (which is doubtful and has never been proven), is it worth the risks such as bone cancers, dental and skeletal fluorosis (weakening and discolouration of bones and teeth), hip fractures, thyroid problems and more? I don’t think so.
There is enough fluoride in a standard tube of toothpaste to kill approx 3 young children – that in itself should set off alarm bells. Children have and do die from poisoning from the fluoride in toothpaste – young kiddies eat the stuff! Any Mum or Dad knows that.
Is the (very questionable) benefits of fluoride in your toothpaste worth all the risks?
Sodium Saccharin – It’s the artificial sweetener that’s been around forever. It causes cancer – that’s a proven fact! End of story. I’ll say no more.
Artificial Colours and Flavours – These are actually chemicals that are reasonably well known to the public. They cause hyperactivity in kiddies and a lot more. Many are carcinogenic and really have no place in anything that goes into our bodies. The most common colours in toothpastes and red and blue. Two of the absolute worst ones that are banned in some countries with governments that actually show some common sense!
My question is this – now that you know, what are you going to do? Keep using the cocktail of chemicals that are damaging your mouth, your teeth and your body? or find a safe alternative?
There are safe alternative products out there – some are better than others of course. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking because you see it in a health food store, it must be ok – that would be very unwise from my research that I’ve done into the toothpastes sold in health food stores!
Don’t fall for the marketing. Do your research. Learn about the toxins you’re being exposed to, and then you can make wise informed choices about what you put on and in your body, and more importantly the bodies of your children!
The other consideration of course is that whatever chemicals are in your toothpaste, are going down the drain each time you and your family brush your teeth and into our environment contributing to the chemical soup that we and our wildlife now live in.
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