How to Care for Psoriasis
June 12, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Psoriasis is a chronic, autoimmune disease that appears on the skin. It occurs when the immune system sends out faulty signals that speed up the growth cycle of skin cells. Psoriasis is not contagious. Psoriasis is a chronic skin disorder that is characterized by inflamed lesions and silvery white scales. It may appear in only a few isolated spots, or can be widespread over the body, and most typcially appears in people between the ages of 15 to 35.
There are five types of psoriasis: plaque, guttate, inverse, pustular and erythrodermic. The most common form, plaque psoriasis, appears as raised, red patches or lesions covered with a silvery white buildup of dead skin cells, called scale. Psoriasis can occur on any part of the body and is associated with other serious health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and depression.
Things You’ll Need:
* Vitamin A
* Zinc
* Evening primrose oil
* Aloe vera
* Flaxseed oil
* Vitamin C
1. Get some sun. Natural sunlight has been shown to sigificantly improve, or clear, psoriasis. Get regular daily doses, but keep them short and avoid the sun from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., when the rays are strongest.
2. Add over-the-counter tar solutions, bath oil, oatmeal, Epsom salts and Dead Sea salts to your bath. All of these will help soften the skin.
3. Use moisturizers after bathing and periodically during the day. These may not clear the psoriasis, but will help reduce itching and retain moisture in the skin.
4. Try using aloe vera gel, jojoba oil, vitamin E oil or natural vegetable oils as moisturizers. They are a natural and relatively inexpensive way to moisturize the skin.
5. Take flaxseed oil or evening primrose oil according to directions on label. They supply essential fatty acids which are important for the skin and preventing dryness.
6. Take natural beta-carotene, 25,000 IU per day. It helps protect skin tissue.
7. Take zinc, preferably in the form of zinc gluconate lozenges, for maximum absorption. Do not exceed 50 mg per day.
8. Try shark cartilage. Take 1 gm per 15 lbs of body weight. Divide it into 3 doses a day. Shark cartilage has been known to stop the spread of psoriasis, but you will need to give it 2 to 3 months to see results.
9. Take vitamins A (10,000 IU daily) and E (400-1200 IU daily).
10. Take Vitamin C (2,000 to 5,000 mg a day) in divided doses. It is necessary for immune system function and for formation of collagen and skin tissue.
11. Brush scales lightly with a loofah, then apply an alcohol-free extract of the herb goldenseal. This will help reduce inflammation and swelling.
12. Keep a record of your outbreaks. Psoriasis typically flares up and then improves. Write down what you were doing, eating, or what was going on in your life at the time of a flare-up. Triggers to flare-ups include stress, tension, illness, sunburn, certain drugs and alcohol.
13. Decrease or eliminate red meat and dairy products. They contain arachidonic acid, a substance that can cause inflammation and, in turn, make your psoriasis lesions swollen and red.
Oil Production In Skin
April 30, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
The skin has many oil (sebaceous) glands, which secrete oil that contains wax esters, triglycerides, and squalene – a hydrocarbon that is an intermediate in the formation of cholesterol. These fats (or lipids) form a film that helps keep moisture in the skin. While increased sebum production results in oily skin, the opposite is not always the case, as dry skin can also arise from an impaired skin barrier. Oil production can be affected by diet, stress, and hormones-as well as genetics. In a study of twenty pairs each of identical and nonidentical same-sex twins, identical twins had virtually identical amounts of oil production, while the nonidentical twins had significantly different amounts.
No amount of blotting and scrubbing will “remove” the skin’s oil production, and many of us unknowingly destroy the natural beauty of the skin in pursuit of clarity. The skin’s own sebum mechanism is there to regulate own moisture. Drying your skin profusely with oil-stripping, foaming cleansers, detergents and de-greasers like soap and sulfates, or alcohol-based toners that leave the skin feeling tight (always a sign it’s been stripped), will only cause the skin to “rebound” with excess oiliness and destroy its protective and anti-bacterial “matrix,” leaving it sensitized. By stripping the natural acid mantle of the skin, these deep cleaning products actually make skin more vulnerable to bacteria and inflammation. Dabbing benzoyl peroxide often destroys the beauty of the skin by causing flaking, while more aggressive treatments, such as antibiotics or Accutane can cause a cascade of side-effects.
How To Know Your Skin Type
March 25, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Basically, there are four common skin types: oily, dry, combination, and normal. The way your skin reacts and behaves classifies the type of skin you have. Skin types react in different ways to creams and/or lotions
, environment, and weather. The skin on your face is the great point to categorize type of your skin.
Here are four skin types that you should know:
1. Oily Skin
Skin may look oily, sallow, and coarse; it has large pores and tends to have pimples, blackheads and whiteheads. The texture of skin is thick; the touch is often sticky. It is usually youthful-looking due to the presence of oil on the skin. Besides that, within hours of cleansing the oiliness will reappear and makeup is usually absorbed quickly. Often, individuals with this skin type have a propensity to develop acne in their teen and middle years.
2. Dry Skin
This skin type has a transparent looking and fine texture. It may lack natural oils, may look rather flaky with small pores, blackheads and blemishes. It feels particularly dry after cleansing and may have whiteheads around the eyes and dry patches. Without sufficient moisture, this skin type can simply become chapped. It’s more likely to become wrinkly than other types.
3. Combination Skin
This type can be characterized as oily on the T-zone (forehead, nose and chin) and the rest of the face, cheeks and around the eye, is dry. However, to restore both areas to balance, they need a separate cleansing routine.
4. Normal skin
If this is your skin type you are very lucky, because less than 20% of women have this skin type. It is the “healthy” type of skin. It’s smooth, soft, and supple; not too dry, not too oily, characterized by few blemishes, and has a nice glow. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that you don’t have to take care of it.
The first step just before choosing a skin care routine that will make you look beauty is knowing you skin type. Therefore, I want to give you simple tips how to know what type of skin you have exactly:
1. Cleanse your face, and wait for an hour, without applying any skin care product to it.
2. After that, take a tissue and wipe each of the following areas of your face: your forehead, nose, chin, and cheeks.
If oil appears on the tissue, then you have oily skin. But, if skin particles can be seen on your skin, or remain on the tissue, then you have dry skin. Other than that, If you see oil in some areas (T-zone: forehead, nose and chin), and none in others, then naturally you have combination skin. And, if you don’t find oily residue or flake is left on the skin, you have normal skin.
One thing that you should keep in mind, cleansing and moisturizing twice a day is an important thing of having attractive and healthy skin, regardless of what type of skin you have. For maximum results, select products that are intended for your particular skin type.
