Topical tretinoin can be effectively used for treatment of mild sun damage and fine wrinkles and lines for skin care.Tretinoin is easy to use as a non surgical method to get a youthful look. The skin care treatment has to be continued otherwise the benefits disappear. After some time of treatment, your doctor may reduce the dose of tretinoin to be used for giving you the young look. Tretinoin is generally used for face because face is the most exposed part of the body and acne, rashes sun damage etc. are more apparent on the face. Let us find out more about how tretinoin helps us non-surgically in skin care.

What is tretinoin- it is a form of retinoid that is derived from Vitamin A. It is also very popular in treatment of acne. Generally tretinoin is recommended for use by older patients who have fine wrinkles and sun damaged skin and spots. It is also used for younger people, who want to maintain a youthful look. Tretinoin may also be used as a preparation for further treatments such as chemical peeling. Use of tretinoin thins the skin and this prepares skin for better absorption of chemicals in peeling treatment.

For best skin care, your doctor may prescribe tretinoin for use every day at nighttime for about a year. After that this interval may be increased to once every two to three days. As tretinoin produces dryness, you may need to use a moisturizer twice a day. You may also need to adopt better protection from sun because tretinoin makes the skin more sensitive to UV radiation. If tretinoin is properly used, it can help reduce fine wrinkles, reduce age spots and also help you maintain a young look. It is a boon for those who are very careful about skin care.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

With ageing, skin also changes. The changes in skin are both intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic changes are those that appear with ageing of body. Extrinsic changes are those that occur because of external factors such as sun, smoking, gravity and bad skin care. We cannot stop any intrinsic change because that is programmed in our body, but we can surely change habits and reduce changes due to extrinsic factors.

Let us look at the changes in skin with ageing. As you know skin has three layers- Epidermis (Outermost layer), Dermis (Middle layer) and subcutaneous layer that is below the dermis. As we age, the epidermis or the outermost layer begins to thin. The melanocytes (Pigment containing cells) decrease. Though melanocytes decrease in number they increase in size. This gives a pale look to the skin. Ageing changes due to sun such as liver spots or lentigo appear. They are also called age spots. The blood vessels in the dermis begin to lose strength and easily lead to bruising and bleeding under the skin. The subcutaneous layer that gives fat padding to skin thins. This again increases the risk of skin injury. Both sweat glands and sebaceous glands become less active.

As we age, our skin loses its suppleness, texture and strength. With age spots and other pigmentation, the look is lost. With weakening of strength, it becomes easy for skin to suffer damage easily. Healing becomes very slow. The healing may be four times as slow in old age as compared to youth. Skin turns dry and our sense of touch heat etc. reduces considerably. Other growths such as skin tags, warts, mar the appearance further.
Wrinkles appear on skin at all the places. As the underlying fat in the subcutaneous layer is lost, hollowness appears on the cheeks and eye sockets. Jowls form because of gravity. The hair grays and turns white. Some people lose hair and some grow hair at unwanted places. The nails become thin and half moons on the nails disappear.

As with every part of our body skin ages and brings about changes that mar the look completely. Sun damage can accelerate the skin aging considerably and can also cause skin diseases such as skin cancers etc. regular care of skin is necessary along with protecting skin from the harm full rays of sun to maintain youthful look for a longer time.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

If you feel that you sweat excessively, please consult your doctor and find out. There is no measurement of normal sweating. So each of us have to find out if we are sweating excessively, normally or very less. If excess perspiration is your problem, find out more about it below. Please note that excessive sweating may be of two types. In the first instance your body naturally sweats more and in the second instance, you sweat more because of some conditions and diseases. The first condition is called primary hyperhidrosis and the second one is called secondary hyperhidrosis. In primary hyperhidrosis excess sweating occurs mostly on hands, feet and armpits.

Common reasons for excess sweating-

Some foods and drinks can make you sweat excessively. Drinks that contain alcohol or caffeine may induce excess sweating. Similarly some spicy food may make some people sweat heavily.

Excessive sweating may also be due to hereditary reasons. Please find out if your parents also had this problem.

If you are on medication, find out from your doctor if they are causing excessive sweating. Some drugs induce heavy sweating.

Women going through menopause may get hot flashes and excess sweating. Similarly males who have low levels of male hormone testosterone may experience hot flashes.

Some diseases and conditions can produce profuse sweat. Heart attack, malarial fever, other fevers, thyroid condition, tuberculosis, some fevers, low blood sugars and other diseases may make you sweat excessively. You should consult your doctor about these conditions.

Please consult your doctor if you suddenly break into cold sweat. That may be emotional in origin or physical. Similarly if you find a sudden change in body odor, you should tell your doctor about that. You may suffer some problems if you sweat excessively compared to others. Your toenails may develop fungal infections. Athletes foot may be another problem, as may be jock itch. For primary hyperhidrosis many treatments are available that can control the sweat within acceptable limits. Keeping yourself clean and dry at all times is another way of maintaining good hygiene.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

Perspiration is important for our health to keep the normal body temperature. Some of us suffer from excess perspiration, while some of us have very low perspiration or no perspiration.

Perspiration either excessive or very low both are bad. Excessive perspiration unless a disease causes it, is only a nuisance whereas decreased perspiration can be life threatening sometimes. In decreased perspiration the patient either perspires very little or does not perspire at all. Decreased perspiration may be because of-

Inherited Disease- Some children inherit a condition known as hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED), and are born without any sweat gland. This condition puts them at high risk that may be life threatening.

Some medications- some drugs interfere with the working of sweat glands. Especially some drugs used for mental disorders can cause this.

Disorder of autonomic neuropathy- when some nerves that control the autonomic functions of the body are damaged, the sweat glands stop functioning normally.

Burns and infection- with some burns, the sweat glands are damaged and some infections of sweat glands stop the normal functioning of sweat glands.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

Sweat controls our body temperature. Sweat also is responsible for body odor. When bacteria react with sweat, it produces odor. Similarly pheromones that are emitted by apocrine glands also have an odor. Let us find out how to control excess sweat and control body odor.

Skin care- how sweat produces odor?

Eccrine sweat is produced by eccrine sweat glands that are distributed all over the body. This sweat that is mainly water with very small amount of salt, sugar, urea etc. is odorless. As this sweat appears on the skin surface it softens the epidermal keratin producing smell as a result. Bacteria feed upon the keratin and sweat and produce odor. In other areas of body, such as armpit, the skin is folded and moist and warm. That is the ideal place for bacteria to feed upon sweat and produce odor. Apocrine glands are mainly located around area such as scalp, groin and armpits. They produce fatty sweat with pheromones. Bacteria again break down this sweat and result is bad odor. The excess of sweat and /or bacteria can produce more body odor. The obvious solution to body odor is therefore- reduction or drying of excess sweat as soon as possible and keeping the skin free of bacteria. Here you should note that if you have any yeast infection, that can worsen the odor.

Skin care and control of sweat and odor-

Control sweat with antiperspirants. If you are having the problem of excess sweating, please consult your doctor who will suggest other methods such as botox injections and other methods. Washing body with antibacterial soap is a good idea. Keep skin dry as much as possible and change clothes that may be been worn while you had sweat because clothes continue to carry sweat producing bacteria until they are washed.. Clothes may have dried, but they carry the stench of sweat with them. Please change clothes after any activity that produces sweat. Some foods such as caffinated drinks, garlic, onions may add to sweat smell or excess sweating. Avoid these foods. Control sweat, control bacteria and keep body dry to keep yourself smelling fresh at all the times for better skin care.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

Skin Care- Look Young Forever By Keeping Your Acid Mantle Healthy

Skin care and acid mantle-

What is acid mantle and why it is important for healthy skin? We all hear so much about pH-balanced products. How do they affect acid mantle? And how do we look young? If you know how to take care of the protective acid mantle, you have won half the battle. Let me tell you how?

Skin oils and acid mantle-

Skin secretes sebum and sweat. Both of these combine to create a protective film on the skin, which is called acid mantle. The mixture is acidic and its pH is between 4 to 5.5. Because of this acidity of this film, bacteria get killed and cannot attack the skin. Bacteria love alkalinity and the acid keeps them away. The acid mantle also protects skin from losing its moisture. If we strip the acid mantle away that can cause a lot of damage to our young looking skin.

Skin acid mantle- how do we strip it?

we strip the acid mantle by using alkaline soaps and cleansers. Sun exposure also strips the acid mantle. Those who have little oily skin are in a great rush to remove all the skin oils and manage to strip the oily acid mantle away. This exposes skin not only to bacteria but also the chances of triggering eczema etc. increases substantially.

Acne and acid mantle-

Many of those who have acne wash their face frequently. As a result they dry their skin totally. The acne may not go away, but the protective acid mantle surely goes away exposing the skin to more infections. Keep a healthy acid mantle on the skin and protect yourself. Use AHA mixed cleansers to maintain the acidity of the skin and use pH balanced products to keep skin young forever.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

Skin care and pores-

Pores play a major role as far as our looks are concerned. When we have large pores that look still larger when we reach the mirror, we feel disheartened by what we see. There is no need to feel helpless about the pores. Let me tell you how you can look young with tight looking pores.

Skin Pores- pores are for sebum, sweat and hair

Why do we have pores? We have pores so that the hair can come out of them. The pores are an outlet for the sebum. That sebum helps us in having a healthy skin. Sebum protects skin against microbial infections. Sebum also helps keep skin moisturized. Sweat also comes from the pres. sweat, as we all know is important to keep body temperature constant. A pore is important for that.

Pores- why do they enlarge?

Pores may be enlarged due to two reasons. One – genetic and oily skin, two- they look enlarged but are not so. Many of us inherit enlarged pores. We can do nothing about them, except keeping them clean and using makeup intelligently. Those with oily skin also have enlarged pores that can be controlled to a great extent by keeping the oils under control. Many times the excess sebum and dead skin cells accumulate around the pores and make them look enlarged. This problem can be rectified easily.

Pores- exfoliate and keep them open

Keep the pores open by regularly exfoliating the skin with topical retinoids. Use AHAs to remove the dead cells and use pH-balanced cleansers to keep oil under control. This will help you keep your pores clean and they will not look enlarged.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

The main treatments of excess perspiration are – Use of antiperspirants, Botulinum toxin (Botox), Surgery, Iontophoresis, and Anticholinergic drugs. Let us look at them in more detail.

Antiperspirants- this is the first treatment to be tried for anybody with excessive perspiration. Antiperspirants are metal salts, mainly aluminum salts that are used to block the sweat glands and block the sweat from coming on the skin surface.

Botulinum toxin (Botox)- Botulinum toxin paralyzes muscles. That is why it is commonly used to treat wrinkles. Its injections also block the action of the nerves that activate sweat glands to produce sweat. The treatment may be painful for injecting the toxin in the palms or soles of feet, because multiple injections are given with a very fine needle near the sweat glands. If your doctor misses some glands, you will continue to sweat from there. Depending on your response, the injections may be repeated after about six months or more.

Surgery- In common surgical procedure, the sweat glands are removed. In some cases a surgery called Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy is performed in which nerves are cut so that they cannot pass on the message to sweat glands. Surgery cannot stop sweat all over the body but only for certain parts such as armpits or hands. This kind of surgery is now done using endoscopes and is less painful compared to the surgery of earlier times. But with ETS, you may begin sweating more profusely from other parts of your body. This kind of surgery is not preferred by many surgeons and before any surgery you must talk about all possible results and side effects with your surgeon. Surgery is only resorted to if other treatments fail.

Iontophoresis- In this procedure a low current is passed on the affected area. This procedure is mainly used for palms and feet. This is a recommended procedure for hose that do not get much relief from antiperspirants. In Iontophoresis, patients sit with their palms or feet in shallow water through which a mild current is passed for between 20 to 40 minutes. This is repeated every alternate day for five to ten days till sweating is considerably reduced. After that a maintenance schedule is maintained. it is not known how Iontophoresis works, but it is thought that the water and electricity somehow thicken the skin and block the sweat pores. This procedure is not recommended for pregnant women or people with pacemakers or any metal implants in body.

Anticholinergic drugs- these drugs act by blocking the action of chemical messengers in the body that activate the sweat glands. As the action of these messengers is blocked, the sweat stops getting produced. These drugs may have other side effects such as loss of taste, constipation, blurred vision etc. You must speak to your doctor about all the side effects of these drugs.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

Winter is the time of year when our skin often gets dry. The trip down the isle for a moisturizer can prove daunting. There are skin moisturizer products ranging in price from $2 to $200. Can a $200 moisturizer really be a hundred times better then the $2 moisturizer? The key is to find a product that feels good and works on your skin.

If you have sensitive skin, you will want a fragrance-free moisturizer because perfumes can irritate the skin. The Cetaphil products are good because they are reasonably priced and fragrance free. The Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion ($9.99 for 16 ounces) is a good for all around use and most people are happy with it.

For an even less expensive product, try regular old petroleum jelly ($2.00 for 10 ounces) or mineral oil ($3.99 for 16 ounces). Both are very good for holding moisture in the skin. If you do not like the way they feel on your skin, use a small amount. For the lips, try Chap Stick ($1.29 for .15 ounces) or Carmex ($1.29 for .3 ounces). For the face, I would recommend Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer with SPF 15 ($10.99 for 4 ounces). It feels less greasy on the skin and has the added sun protection.

Dry hands are the most common problem. The best and least expensive moisturizer is still the old reliable petroleum jelly. If you dont like the feel, try Neutrogena Hand Cream ($3.49 for 2 ounces).

There are a couple of things you can do to avoid dry skin. Take shorter showers with warm, not hot, water. The hot water removes protective oils from the skin. Use a mild soap and apply moisturizer within five minute of getting out of the shower. If you have persistent dry, itchy skin that you cannot resolve with over-the-counter moisturizer creams, you may have a more pressing problem. If your skin problem is causing you lack of sleep or is troublesome for more than one week, its a good idea to see a doctor.

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The empress Cleopatra was legendary not only for her leadership over one of the ancient world’s most powerful empires which was Egypt. She was also known for her astonishing beauty. It is said that the queen had secret skin care recipes that she used to retain her youthful and glowing skin. According to historians, she regulalrly soaked herself in a bath tub filled with rose petals and milk. The specially prepared bath mixture kept her skin soft and moisturized even in the middle of the Egyptian desert.

People of the Old World actually used a number of different natural materials as organic skin care treatments. Honey is another ingredient that was used by Cleopatra and other people who lived during ancient times. As with many common pantry items, honey has made its name as a sugar replacement and natural remedy for various ailments. In the past, it was also used as a natural skin moisturizer not only by Egyptians but also by the Greeks. Like honey, olive oil was also used as part of an all-natural skin care recipe.

At present, these natural products are being packaged and marketed by lage companies who deal in skin care lines. They have created new products that serve as moisturizers, exfoliants, toners, all from nature-based substances. These companies have captured a large chunk of the skin care market due to the promise of producing hypo-allergenic, chemical-free natural products for skin care.

However, aside from choosing an effective, all-natural product, both men and women should also consider the following:

Today, almost all people know that most soaps contain harsh chemicals that dry the skin. Harsh soaps strip the natural oils from the skin and destroy the barriers that serve as protection from daily sun exposure and other harmful elements in the environment. Knowing this, it is important to be aware of products or have the ability to produce products that can be used for skin care, specifically for one’s face. A homemade facial wash would be a much gentler and more affordable option. Not only does washing one’s face remove dead skin cells, oil build up,and impurities, it also helps improve circulation, protects against break-outs, and stimulates skin cell renewal.

Natural skin care recipes do not usually include a foaming agent. But in case one wants some foaming action, simply add a small dab of a rich emollient-based face wash product. Oily skin types want to lean towards a facial cleanser that has an acid base such as a citrus ingredient while sensitive skin benefits from the healing properties provided by aloe vera and green tea. Making one’s own natural facial cleanser ensures that the daily buildup of dirt is gently washed away without stripping away the skins essential natural attributes. In order to maximize the benefits of using a natural facial cleanser, apply the homemade recipe to warm moist skin. Use a circular motion to gently massage the skin with the cleanser, then rinse well. This face wash strategy will ensure a deep cleansing of clogging dirt from the pores which will then leave the skin clean, soft and supple.

One does not need to be a queen like Cleopatra to have good skin. It only takes having a balanced and healthy diet, good hygiene, and the use of gently, natural skin care products. Human beauty can be improved or maintained with the help of Nature and all the beauty secrets it holds.