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Skin
Dermatitis & Eczema
Your skin is constantly exposed to the elements, making it susceptible to a variety of problems, including the common condition dermatitis.
Dermatitis, also called eczema, is an inflammation of the skin. There are different types of dermatitis, and the disorder can have many causes and occur in many forms. Generally, dermatitis describes swollen, reddened and itchy skin.
Dermatitis is a common condition that isn't life-threatening or contagious. But, it can make you feel very uncomfortable and self-conscious. It can also cause considerable pain and discomfort if not managed correctly.
Skin Cancer Prevention
Skin cancer — the abnormal growth of skin cells — most often develops on skin exposed to the sun. But this common form of cancer also can occur on areas of the skin not ordinarily exposed to sunlight.
What is it?
There are three major types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. Basal and squamous cell carcinomas are slow growing and highly treatable, especially if found early. Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer. It affects deeper layers of the skin and has the greatest potential to spread to other tissues in the body.
Acne
Although most people associate acne with the teenage years, it canerupt at any age. Indeed, up to 8% of people who had clear skin intheir youth develop acne as adults. Fortunately, there is a variety ofways to control outbreaks – no matter how old you are when they occur.
Athlete's Foot
The most common fungal infection of the skin, athlete's foot typically begins between the toes, causing itching, scaling and sometimes painful breaks in the skin. This generally harmless but extremely uncomfortable condition can be relieved by using various natural remedies.
What is it?
'Athlete's foot' is the common term for a fungal infection called tinea pedis. The fungi that cause it are tiny, plant-like cells found on the skin of all humans. They can multiply out of control under certain conditions. They thrive in cramped, dark places, such as inside shoes and socks. In some people, athlete's foot occurs entirely between the toes, where the skin cracks, peels and breaks down. In others, the infection appears on the soles and sides of the feet or affects the toenails.
Bed Sores
In 1995, a horse riding accident transformed Christopher Reeve from an actor indelibly identified with Superman into a quadriplegic and an outspoken advocate for the disabled. Ten years later, Reeve's death from complications of a pressure sore called attention to one of the most serious problems facing people with disabilities.
What is it?
Bedsores, more accurately called pressure sores or pressure ulcers, are areas of damaged skin and tissue that develop when sustained pressure — usually from a bed or wheelchair — cuts off circulation to vulnerable parts of your body, especially the skin on your buttocks, hips and heels. Without adequate blood flow, the affected tissue dies.
Bruising
You fall off your bike, bang your shin on the coffee table (that you swore you would move months ago) or run into a wall and wake up with a wallop of a bruise. What is a bruise and what can you do about it?
What is it?
Bruising is the body's normal response to local trauma or damage. A bruise forms when a blow breaks small blood vessels near your skin's surface, allowing a small amount of blood to leak out into the tissues under your skin. A bruise appears as a black-and-blue mark. Sometimes, there also are tiny red dots or red splotches.
Burns
Most burns are not serious and can be managed with simple care at home. Herbal ointments such as aloe vera or calendula can be applied to mild burns, and a number of vitamins, minerals and other supplements can be taken orally to help promote healing and prevent infection.
What is it?
A burn is a damage to the skin caused by heat, chemicals or electricity. Most burns occur at home, and occasionally they require hospitalisation. Varying in depth and size, burns are classified as first, second or third degree. Most sunburns, for example, are considered first-degree burns because they involve only the outer layer of skin, whereas second-degree burns injure part of the underlying skin ayer. Affecting all the skin layers, third-degree burns damage the muscles, bones, nerves and blood vessels below. Third-degree burns are always a medical emergency and require timely treatment, such as skin grafting, to aid recoveryy and minimise scarring.
Chilblains
Chilblains, also called Perniosis or blain, is a medical condition similar to frostbite or trench foot. Chilblains are caused by exposure of skin to damp cold. Small blood vessels below the skin are damaged, but there is no freezing of tissue, thus distinguishing it from frostbite.
What is it?
Chilblains are one of the mildest but most common forms of cold injury and can occur when there is exposure to cold and dampness. There is no tissue freezing with chilblains and they most frequently occur on the fingers, toes, ears and face but may also affect other areas of the body.
Cold Sores
Many people eventually become infected with the virus that causes the unsightly and painful lip blisters called cold sores.
Using antioxidants, immune boosters, and especially the amino acid lysine, you'll have the tools to inhibit the virus and help heal the inflamed skin.
Cold Sores
Many people eventually become infected with the virus that causes the unsightly and painful lip blisters called cold sores. Using antioxidants, immune boosters, and especially the amino acid lysine, you'll have the tools to inhibit the virus and help heal the inflamed skin.
What is it?
Cold sores are fluid-filled blisters that usually appear on the lips, although they can also develop on the gums, the inner cheeks, the roof of the mouth or the area around the nostrils. The cold sore virus can also spread by touch to the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and genitals, or to abrasions. Typically, cold sores (also called fever blisters) break and then form a scab, disappearing in a week to ten days.
Dandruff
If dandruff is the only thing standing between you and a closet full of basic black, you're not alone.
What is it?
At any one time, millions of Australians have this chronic scalp disorder, which is marked by itching and excessive flaking of the scalp. Although dandruff isn't contagious and is rarely serious, it can be embarrassing and surprisingly persistent.
Eczema
Applied to the skin, soothing creams can help relieve the red and often intensely itchy rash of eczema. Various nutrients, taken internally, may also hasten healing. They may even be effective in preventing recurrences or this all-too-common - and troublesome - skin complaint.
What is it?
Known medically as dermatitis, eczema causes inflamed patches of red, scaly skin on the face, scalp, hands and wrists; in front of the elbows and behind the knees; and in other areas of the body. Eczema is frequently very itchy, and scratching can aggravate it.
Genital Herpes
Genital herpes is a highly contagious sexually transmitted disease. The cause is a strain of the herpes simplex virus (HSV). This virus enters your body through small breaks in your skin or mucous membranes.
What is it?
The illness is characterized by pain, itching and sores in your genital area. Sexual contact is the primary way that genital HSV spreads. It's almost impossible to get the infection through contact with toilets, towels or other objects used by an infected person, because the virus dies quickly outside the body.
Hives
Hives (urticaria) is a harmless type of rash or skin allergy that is usually caused by an allergy. The rash consists of circular, raised welts on the skin that are usually itchy and occur in batches. Hives can vary in size, from a few millimeters to several centimeters in diameter. Hives usually affects the throat, arms, legs, and trunk.
What is it?
Hives (urticaria) is a type of rash characterised by circular welts of reddened and itching skin. The welts can vary in size, from relatively small to as large as a dinner plate. The condition can afflict any part of the body, but is common to the trunk, throat, arms and legs. The welts generally rise in clusters, with one cluster waxing as another wanes. This type of skin rash is an allergy, which means the immune system reacts to a substance as if it were toxic. Hives can be triggered by a number of different factors, including medications, insect bites and certain foods.
Psoriasis
Although not life-threatening, psoriasis can be very painful and disfiguring. It's a persistent skin disease that flares up and subsides in cycles. Psoriasis can't be prevented and there's no known cure, but taking nutritional and herbal supplements may help to control it.
What is it?
Characterised by raised, inflamed, red patches that are usually covered with whitish or silvery scales, psoriasis is a noncontagious chronic skin condition. It typically emerges between the ages of 10 and 30, although it can occur at any time. In most people, the rash is confined to the scalp, elbows, knees, lower back or buttocks. Fingernails and toenails can become yellow or pitted. Though flare-ups are unsightly, most cases are not itchy or particularly painful. However, about 15% of people with psoriasis have such a severe, widespread rash that they suffer great discomfort and may be unable to perform daily activities. In about 5% of cases, joint pain and swelling rather like the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis develop.
Scabies
Scabies are tiny mites living on the skin and feeding off dead skin cells.
What is it?
Scabies is an itchy skin condition caused by a tiny, eight-legged burrowing mite called Sarcoptes scabiei. The presence of the mite leads to intense itching in the area of its burrows. The sheer discomfort of scabies can produce an almost irresistible urge to scratch, especially while you're in bed at night.
Shingles
Remember chickenpox? Its virus is still lurking in your nerve cells and can flare up at any time during your adult years, causing the intensely painful blisters known as shingles. The good news is that natural remedies can often help to ease this sometimes lingering condition.
What is it?
Shingles (herpes zoster) is a form of the herpes virus that causes chickenpox. After an attack of chickenpox, the virus lies dormant in nerve cells. Later, it can be reactivated, producing intensely painful clumps of skin blisters. Shingles is not contagious, though open sores can transmit the virus to young children or others who've never been infected.
Stretch Marks
Your skin is usually fairly elastic, but when you grow or gain weight really quickly (like during pregnancy), you may get fine lines on your body called stretch marks.
What is it?
Stretch marks are purple-red streaky scars that appear in overstretched skin. Around half of all pregnant women will develop stretch marks (striae gravidarum), usually in the third trimester, as the abdominal skin is forced to accommodate the growing uterus. Some pregnant women also develop stretch marks on the breasts, hips, buttocks and thighs. Another common cause of stretch marks is rapid weight gain. Depending on the skin type, fresh stretch marks can be pink, purple, brown or red. Over time, the stretch marks lose their bright colouring and become silvery, shimmering lines.
Sunburn
The best advice is undoubtedly to avoid sunburn by covering up and using sunscreen. But sometimes, despite such precautions, your skin may burn. A number of healing supplements that can relieve the pain and help to prevent long-term skin damage are readily available.
What is it?
Sunburn is the reddening and inflammation of the skin's outer layers that occurs in response to overexposure to the sun. It may be mild, with some redness; moderate, with small blister; or severe, with purple skin, chills and fever. Symptoms appear gradually and may not peak until 24 hours after exposure. Sunburn is best avoided, and not just because it may hurt: it speeds up the ageing of your skin and increases your risk of skin cancer later in life.
Vitiligo
Vitiligo usually starts as small areas of pigment loss that spread and become larger with time. These changes in your skin can result in stress and worries about your appearance.
What is it?
Vitiligo is a condition in which your skin loses melanin, the pigment that determines the color of your skin, hair and eyes. If the cells that produce melanin die or no longer form melanin, slowly growing white patches of irregular shapes appear on your skin.
Warts
They are the single most common skin complaint - and sooner or later, one in every ten people develops at least one. Many warts disappear on their own, but a variety of natural treatments can hasten healing for the millions of people who suffer from these unsightly blemishes.
What is it?
Although warts may sometimes look serious, in most cases these small skin growths are harmless. There are many different kinds, including common warts, usually found on the fingers or hands, and plantar warts, which appear on the feet. Genital warts are considered the most serious because, unlike other types of warts, they are highly contagious, and some types may increase the risk of skin, cervial or penile cancers.
Mosquito Bites
The warmer weather is upon us, and with it comes quite possibly one of its drawbacks: mozzies.
Although small in size, mosquitoes have been around for over 30 million years.
Besides delivering annoying bites, mosquitoes can carry many types of diseases.
As many as 500 million cases of malaria are contracted globally each year, and more than one million people die from it.
