Eczema And Logic

Eczema on arms (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dear Dr. Mom, The following story illustrates active reasoning from cause to effect.This is a talent that we can exercise and improve upon every day especially while we fill up our knowledge of natural remedies in our “first aid kit”. After all moms are the first go-to professionals when hurt happens.

“The purpose of this article is to tell the world what I have learned from my own personal experience about an inexpensive and effective treatment for eczema. Because psoriasis is a very similar affliction, there’s a good chance that this treatment would be effective for psoriasis too. Eczema is a skin irritation characterized by red, flaky skin that sometimes has cracks or tiny blisters. It’s believed to be hereditary and if both parents have it, there is an 80% chance that their children will have it too.

Once upon a time, I had medical insurance coverage and I was able to afford any medication my doctor prescribed. I used to have a slew of little bottles and creams that were somewhat effective in relieving the itching, but nothing I ever tried had any effect whatsoever in terms of reducing the severity or frequency of eczema attacks. Topical applications of cortisone cream have a limited effect in terms of relieving the itching, but cortisone just suppresses eczema and can actually cause it to spread. There’s a theory that eczema can be brought on by stress, and I believe that may be true. After experiencing a year long constant virulent attack during 2004 through 2005 when I was under severe stress, I decided to seek medical help in order to find out whether anything new had been discovered regarding eczema treatment. The only treatment I didn’t already know about involves exposure to ultraviolet light radiation which is very expensive. For many years there have been medications that are taken internally, but all of them require regular blood testing for possible liver damage. For me, this is out of the question because any medication that is capable of causing liver damage comes under the category of unacceptable.

One day I was returning from a doctor visit when I passed a health food store, and I had some time to spend so I went in. The woman behind the counter turned out to be a certified nutritionist so I asked her whether she knew anything about eczema treatment that the doctors don’t know about. She said “Yes, I do.” I said “Really. Tell me.” She brought out a small bottle of liquid zinc and told me that some of her customers had reported success with topical applications on their eczema sores. So I bought a bottle. I figured “What have I got to lose? Nothing. Twenty bucks, maybe.” To my surprise, it relieved the itching and seemed to have some limited effect in reducing the inflammations. The health food store lady had told me that zinc is a healer so I started thinking about it. I remembered that Desitin is a very effective and well known treatment for baby rash and that the active ingredient is zinc oxide. I thought “If liquid zinc is effective topically, how much more effective could it be if I take it internally?” Being inherently cheap, I was a bit bothered by the idea of buying another small bottle of liquid zinc and I knew that zinc tablets are inexpensive. And that certainly appealed to my wallet. I discussed my idea with the nutritionist who agreed that it could work. So I began with the 75 mg. daily dose that the woman recommended and gradually worked my way upwards until I reached 200 mg. a day.

Eczema makes me so angry that I often curse “the eczema Nazis” each time the first blister occurs with the unmistakable itch that feels like it originates in my bones. I say to myself, “Damnation, I’m under attack again!” Now I say “Come on zinc, be John Wayne and kill every last one of those eczema Nazis!” Eight months after I began my inexpensive experiment with zinc taken internally, I can report real progress. Where previously one tiny eczema blister always signaled a serious outbreak, now it stops without spreading any further and heals very quickly. The indicative first blister is not necessarily accompanied by itching either. To me, this is very significant because it constitutes a completely new pattern that has never before manifested in my entire life.

If you want to try taking zinc internally, I’d recommend “chelated” zinc because zinc is a mineral and minerals are not easily absorbed into the bloodstream. Back in the early 1980’s, the health food industry discovered that if minerals are chemically linked to something the body can easily absorb, they are far more effective. The chemists who invent these things decided to use amino acids which are natural proteins, and proteins are more easy to absorb. The process of chemically linking a mineral to an amino acid is called chelation.  I’ve written all this with a sincere desire to help others benefit from my experience and I really hope that somebody out there has found my article to be valuable.”

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Soap – The Big Lye

Dear Dr. Mom, When you step into the market to pick up a bar of soap, what is it you’re really buying?  Phrases like “beauty bar, deodorant bar, moisturizing bar,” and the list goes on and on, is only telling you one thing, you are not buying soap.  What you are purchasing is a petroleum based detergent product.

Soap, by definition, is a cleansing agent made from the mixture of the sodium salts of various fatty acids or natural oils and fat.  Because of FDA regulations, a cleaning product cannot be listed as soap unless it actually contains the fatty acids and natural oils combined with lye to produce soap.

So, what’s the difference?  Let me tell you a story.  For two years a boy suffered with severe allergies, chronic sinus infections, and was all around miserable.  The first step in dealing with his problems was to remove his adenoids that had become infected.  After the surgery, his sinuses cleared up for all of two weeks.  Then once again he succumbed to yet another sinus infection.

Unable to determine the reason for the sinus infections, he was put through allergy testing.  After two sessions and more than 80 injections covering irritants from pet dander, mold, trees, dust (and the list goes on), they determined that he reacted to absolutely nothing.  And so we were sent home with instructions to monitor his diet for the next month in the hopes of determining weather or not he suffered from a food allergy.

While allergy testing covers most airborne irritants, it does not cover the common chemicals we subject ourselves to everyday.  Since the boy’s family members suffered from severe allergic reactions to formaldehyde, a common preservative used in most hand creams, lotions, lip balms, and cosmetics, it occurred to his mother that he might suffer from a similar allergy.  So, she stripped his bedding, pillows, clothing, curtains, and washed everything in a batch of homemade olive oil laundry soap.

The result: After two weeks his sinuses began to clear.  Within a month all of the symptoms he routinely suffered, from migraine headaches to breathing difficulties, gradually faded away as though they had never existed.  Many people today realize that our homes are over-saturated with a host of chemicals. Many of these chemicals carry moderate to severe side effects with prolonged exposure.  What we fail to realize is how many of them are completely unnecessary.

Making your own soap with natural ingredients is both a rewarding and simple process and one that can truly benefit your entire family. Or you can buy a natural based soap that is filled with natural and healthy ingredients – read labels and trace cause to effect.

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Remedies for Insect Bites and Stings

this is what happens when your bee sting gets infected (Photo credit: arlen)

Almost anywhere you live on this planet there are small creatures, tiny insects that attack to sting or bite you, either because they see you as a threat to their very existence or as food for their survival. Insect bite appearance is noticeable as one or more red bumps which are all extremely itchy. Yes, you want to scratch it – but don’t!

Easier said than done I know; problem is, scratching will exacerbate the itchiness and make it bleed. If you have a tick, flee or a mosquito bite, they have been feeding off you; and most irksome, is the thought of that nasty itchy bump left behind from a mosquito is actually full of its saliva. Insect stings are commonly from ants, bees and wasps; their sting penetrates your skin, injecting poison into you. Whilst ants and wasps will sting you several times, a bee stings once, leaving its stinger under your skin with a sac full of venom on the surface. The tendency is to panic and try to brush it off with your hand; but don’t, this only serves to pump in more of the venom and so will trying to remove it with your fingertips or tweezers. Yes, it’s a bit of a shock and it hurts! Keep a cool head, – slide your fingernail under the sac and scrape away the sting. You could use the edge of a blunt knife, or the edge of your bank or credit card.

A bee sting or a wasp sting can cause an allergic reaction which could be fatal if not treated urgently – medical attention is required immediately! The symptoms of allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis, are: hives, swelling in the mouth and/or throat, laboured breathing and rapid heart rate. If you have many bites and stings, and you don’t have an allergic reaction you are not in danger – but you should seek medical attention immediately!

Assume you have been stung only once – the bee sting is out – with no reaction. Here are some natural health solutions to treat insect stings:

• For a bee sting, stir a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in a glass of water until dissolved; then use a cotton wool bud to dip into the solution wetting the area, and then place it directly on the sting securing it with sticky tape.
• For a wasp sting, dip the cotton wool bud into vinegar; as with a bee sting, wet the area first, and then place it directly on the sting securing it with sticky tape.
• If you have Papaya handy, place a slice on the sting area. Papaya has enzymes that bring down inflammation and swelling.
• Garlic or onion rubbed on the sting site will do the job as well.
• Crush an aspirin, adding to water making a paste, apply to the sting to reduce the swelling. (WARNING: if you have an aspirin allergy DO NOT apply aspirin ever! And DO NOT use aspirin to treat children).
• Applying sugar works just as well to bring down the swelling .

Try rubbing on Calendula cream to reduce itching or a few drops of Lavender oil or Tea tree oil. If you take walks through forests, woodlands, meadows or moors, be aware that ticks attach to your skin; and as the little vampire tick bites and feeds off your blood they may infect you with Lyme disease, a bacteria called ‘Borrelia burgdorferi‘ which must be treated by a doctor. If you find a tick on your body, use tweezers as close to the skin as you can, gently pull until it free; try not to break the head or it will stay latched to your skin and cause infection. Once the tick is free, apply an antiseptic.

What to do about those mosquito bites, flee bites and other biting insects:

• Don’t scratch
• Applying an ice cube to the bite will reduce itching
• Bites can be treated with essential oils. Apply a few drops of eucalyptus oil, clove oil or peppermint oil on a cotton wool bud
• Roll-on or spray deodorants are known to work – give it a try
• Check your toothpaste label; if it has peppermint smear it on the bite

How do you prevent these pesky parasite’s bites and stings? Eat a couple of cloves of garlic daily before and when you go outside. Your sweat glands release the garlic smell which repels most insects. Don’t like garlic? You can use a repellent called Permethrin, a natural insecticidal property originally found in chrysanthemums. Permethrin is now sold in a spray can as a synthesized man-made insecticide. Spray it on the clothes you plan to go out in and hang them to dry. Make sure they are not light, bright coloured clothes as they will only attract the little varmints!

Related articles

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Allergies – Can We Beat Them?

Quoting: “With this handy skin test, I was able to discover that I’m allergic to most trees, grasses, a variety of nuts, wheat and canteloupe (both only slightly) and cats.” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Allergies” – a massive subject and one which affects more than 55 million Americans.

Apart from the North Americans, allergies also affect a large number of the rest of the world’s population – close to 40 per cent in fact, will, at one time or another, suffer the annoying and sometimes debilitating results of this ailment. Allergic symptoms range from the mild to life-threatening. Sneezing, coughing, eyes itching and stuffed up nose. May even be one of the the causes of asthma and right through to the sometimes deadly, anaphylactic reactions.

Allergy causes, are many and varied. Among the more common are mold, detergents, air quality, dust mites and in the springtime, pollen.

Genetics may also play a part and nothing can be done about that. Both good and bad is passed down to you, through your parents.

A low immune system is another major cause of allergies. Boosting the immune system, with such as drinking Green Tree, might help, but balancing the immune system is far more preferable, as boosting the immune system can cause complications in other areas.

What causes allergies? Basically, the body is merely reacting to a perceived threat and fights the allegens in the same way as a bacteriological invasion.

Allergies, concerning food, are not as common as most people think, but can be severe causing several hundreds of deaths annually.

Whilst millions of people are allergic to to animals, especially cats, we should seek relief, rather than do without the company of our precious and loyal, four-footed friends.

Cures may be many and varied. Asthma attacks, for instance, may be alleviated by taking a Chinese herbal formula named, Minor Blue Dragon, or XQLT, or xiao – qing – long tang. It has successfully been used for centuries, in China. It is a most effective bronchodilator and often more efficacious than prescribed drugs.

Acupuncture has also been found to be an effective treatment for allergies in general.

Supplements and vitamins may also help to greatly improve the immune system together with a healthy lifestyle. Vitamins, A, C, E, selenium and carotenoids. Antioxidants, MSM, bee pollen, magnesium and zinc may also help. Americans in particular, have become obsessed about cleanliness and buy any product which promises to be “99 per cent effective against all bad germs”, or some such nonsense. Children, particularly the very young, might benefit from a “little dirt” in their surroundings, to strengthen their immune systems, from an earlier age.

Eating foods “in season” can help. People used to eat seasonal fruit and vegetables, but with refrigeration and shipping, from around the world, our bodies receiving no respite from this problem.

This has necessarily been a very short article on allergies.

Seek further information from people practising alternative health and medicine, such as herbalists, holistic practitioners and aromatherapists. You’ll find that there is much free and interesting information in your local library, or on the internet.

This truly is a journey of discovery for each individual. You will find it to be most enlightening and satisfying.

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Candida Natural Cure

Nutrition (Photo credit: Susan von Struensee)

Candida is a fungus which habitant the digestion system. It appears almost from birth, and its existence is harmless as long as is it maintained in normal levels.  This is achieved by the liver, kidneys, and the urine system functioning normally. But, when the delicate balance is violated unpleasant phenomenon might appear. The good news is that it is curable and the excellent news is that you can stay healthy and balanced for life.

Candida overgrow take place when it has the following conditions: white sugar, yeast, and moister moldy surroundings.  For this reason balanced nutrition should exclude white breads, baked food with yeast, and processed food.  Additional factors: pregnancy prevention pills, antibiotics, consumptions of steroids for 6 months or more and environmental conditions such as smoke and toxic materials.

In average Candida is responsible for about 100 different toxins. This leads to a large number of symptoms in case it is overgrown. The systems are:

•    Digestion – swollen stomach, diarrhea, and feeling very tired post meals.
•    Skin – Appearance of fungus and itchy red skin.
•    Nerves – Sensitiveness to certain smells, no ability to concentrate or remember, and depression.
•    Immunity – Allergies, swollen lymph glands and catching a cold.
•    Hormones – decrease in fertility.
•    Skeleton – Difficulties in basic exercises, joint pains, and muscle pain.

The basic treatment for Candida is changing your diet.  Stages of treatment:

1.    Change your nutrition – A suitable nutrition will change the body’s ecology, the digestion system and lead to starvation of the Candida.
2.    Balance the good germs –   Balance the good germs in your digestion system.
3.    Strengthening the immunity system – To increase the vital force, enabling the body to better balance the Candida.
4.    Avoid Candida strengthening – Avoid using antibiotic, pregnancy prevention pills, sugar and white breads.
5.    Clean toxins from the liver – The liver is the most important organ in the body which eliminate toxins, strict eating, avoiding toxic foods could help it in removing toxins.
6.    Reduce tensions – Adding vitamins C and B and nutritious plants.  Combining it with reflexologies, shiatsu, and massage should lead to tension reduction.

Candida is very common these days due to wrong nutrition, the healing process requires to balance your systems as a whole and maintain it this way.

Clean Home, Healthy Family?

Cleanliness (Photo credit: Felizberto – Emmanuel Avetta)

How To Make Sure One Leads To The Other, by Vincent Platania

It is estimated that the U.S. Poison Control Center sees nearly 1.5 million cases of accidental ingestion of poisons every year. It is sad but true that most of these accidental poisonings happen to children under 12 years of age.

Most of us are concerned about keeping our homes clean and our families healthy. We all want our living space to be clean and germ free, because we believe this will help keep our family safe from disease.

It is true that cutting down on germs will help any family stay healthier, but we also need to be concerned about how we are getting rid of those germs, and if the cleaning products we are using are even more dangerous to our health.

The above number represents a sad statistic, but it gives any parent reason to be concerned. We can lock up cupboards, put dangers out of reach, and do a lot of other things to make our homes “kid-safe,” but no matter what we do, accidents are bound to happen.

If your home is pretty typical of the modern household, you already have dozens of cleaning solutions and personal care products that contain harmful, even fatal chemicals. Recent studies have shown that most households contain more than 63 hazardous cleaning products. All told, that amounts to hundreds of dangerous chemicals.

The truth is that most household cleaners contain very dangerous chemicals that can irritate the skin, cause problems in breathing, do harm to fabrics and other surfaces, catch fire easily, and even poison us, our pets, or our kids. In fact, the chemicals most cleaning products contain have the potential to severely harm or even kill your kids, your family pets, and you. In using these products, we need to exercise the utmost in caution to ensure proper use and safe storage.

For certain safety and their own peace of mind, many consumers choose to simply avoid these potentially hazardous formulas in favor of non-toxic, environmentally-friendly cleaning solutions. This not only ensures that no accidental poisonings or other hazards occur, but is just a wise thing to do for our families’ health.

What surprises many people is that these cleaning products work just as well–and often better–than their commercially-made counterparts. Users find that their homes are just as clean and smell just as fresh. Furthermore, they have the peace of mind that the products they have used to achieve these results are 100% safe for them, their families, and even their pets.

Thanks to scientific research and testing, these safe cleaners are more readily available and more affordable than they have ever been. Most health food stores will carry a line of bio- safe, non-toxic cleaning products, and they’re widely available for ordering on the Internet.

As more and more people discover the potential hazards and dangers of traditional, commercially-produced cleaning products, the popularity of safe cleansers continues to rise. The more people you talk to, the more people you’ll find–including many physicians–who advocate the use of these safer products.

So, if they don’t use harmful chemicals, how do these natural products get your home clean? Many of them use citrus-based oils, as well as ingredients from corn and other replenishable, organic materials. These bio-safe, non-poisonous cleaners contain no dyes, artificial fragrances, or pesticide residues. Many even use recycled materials for packaging and labeling.

Even if we aren’t concerned about the environmental factors, all of us are concerned about the health and well-being of our families and ourselves. Especially for people with young children, getting rid of dangerous chemicals in the home is an important step in ensuring the safety of those we care about.

About the Author

Author Vincent Platania represents the Fuller Brush Company.
Fuller Brush has been in business since 1906, and offers safe, environmentally friendly products for keeping your home and your body clean.

Air Purifiers Are They Worth It?

Definitely yes would be the answer. There are a lot of reasons and they all have to do with the fact that the problem of people who suffer from asthma, allergies and other respiratory conditions. These people may be discomforted by the particles of dust or pollen. For them air purifiers are necessary, as a main form of protection of indoor air pollution. Air purifiers are great useful tools in your fight with direct irritant sources or materials in your own home environment.

One should not ignore the air purifiers when one designs modern indoor ventilation or filtration systems. They offer a very good environmental control and reduce exposure dust, dander, smoke, pollen particles and many others particles that may be found indoors or outside your home. Air purifiers have different shapes and various designs. They can be: air cleaners, air filters and hepa filters, and they play an important part in the reduction and elimination of the danger of exposure to indoor and outdoor allergens. Usually, the air purifiers are chosen in accordance with the pollution sources and the quality filtration you want to get. Before going and buying such a device, you should think about what exactly you want for your home. You should not forget that choosing the wrong type of filtration system can lead to an exacerbation of the problem by agitating and circulating the particulate matter in your house throughout the place.

You should not consider the air purifiers systems a complete solution for any respiratory condition you may have. Using an air purifier should not make you ignore medical advice and guidance that can lead to the removal of the irritant sources and allergen habitats in your house. At the same time, they are not a substitute for thorough and regular cleaning of the air. However, they can help you to diminish the number of air particles and to maintain a healthier environment inside your house.