How to Prevent and Treat Acne

Acne can strike at any age. It is more known to be a problem amongst teenagers. Acne can damage self-image to a degree that a persons never recovers. According to research , genetics play a big part in the development and persistence of acne. Here are some of preventive measures on how to prevent and treat acne. However, it is also important that you have knowledge about the causes of acne. This way it’s easier to formulate a good plan of attack to solve the problem.

1. Learn how to pop a pimple safely and properly. If you do pop a spot then clean immediately with soap and water or rubbing alcohol in order to prevent infection.

2. Remove any make-up you have on. Wearing make-up can clog pores, making them dirty and causing pimples.

3. Get some sleep preferably 8 hours a day. Stress increases your skin’s oiliness, which, combined with sweat and dirt, can clog pores and cause pimples.

4. Drink plenty of water. Staying well hydrated can help your condition improve because the waste management, control your system in your body requires a lot of water to do its job. Without enough water, the body has difficulty removing waste products efficiently.

5. Use toners that contain antibacterial agents like alcohol, peroxide and benzalkonium chloride, and creams that contain benzoyl peroxide, which kill bacteria as well as cause the skin to regenerate faster. One cause of spots is bacteria in pores.

6. Consult a dermatologist. Your doctor knows which pill they are prescribing. There are some over-the-counter remedies do not work. They specialize in skin care and can prescribe you medicines that help you improve it.

How to Make Your Skin Glow

Good skin gives good impression. Our skin is like a mirror to our health and not everyone is blessed with open pores. Your skin is pretty nice, but you wish to have a shimmery glow. Gorgeous, pretty, healthy , and beautiful skin takes special love and care. Here are some tips on how to make your skin glow as well as keeps tabs on your weight.

1. Diet and fitness. Drink at least eight to ten glasses a day. Include milk and curd is a must daily. Also, you must eat everyday fresh fruits like orange, apple and other fruits . Make sure to exercise everyday for 30 minutes especially you spend time 8-10 hours more setting in front of the computer, walking helps you keep the tab an overall fitness.

2. Have a good skin care regimen that works for your skin type. Cleanse skin with gentle clean liquid cleanser. In the morning and evening, gently cleanse the skin with this specially formulated cleanser for sensitive skin. If you are acne prone visit a dermatologist to get on the right regimen.

3. Exfoliate to remove dead skin cells as needed. Use very gentle scrubbing beads, a baby brush or a clarisonic skin brush.

4.Disinfect your cell phone with hand sanitizer once a day. The bacteria from the phone can create acne.

5. Keep your hands clean and keep them off your face. Oils from your hands can create skin problems.

Symptoms of Stress

The symptoms of stress are the early warning signs to watch out for to determine Stress Overload.

People who are experiencing overload may notice some of the following signs:

• panic attacks
• being constantly under pressure
• irritable and moody
• stomach problems
• headaches
• chest pain
• allergic reactions, such as eczema or asthma
• insomnia
• excessive drinking, smoking, eating, or taking illegal drugs
• in the state of sadness or depression

Reaction to strain varies. Some get angry. Others vent it out to someone else. Still others resort to overeating or substance abuse. Detecting the early indications or signs of stress enables one to determine the red flags that signals it is time to take matters in hand and handle stress before it turns into an illness.

Warning Signs and Symptoms

Cognitive Emotional Memory loss Moodiness Indecision Prone to anxiety or panic attacks Lack of focus Impatience Confusion Irritability Imprudence Unable to relax Pessimism Nervousness Anxiety or pain Weighed down by circumstances Worries excessively Loneliness Biased judgment Sadness or depression Bleak expectations Feeling tensed for no reason

Emotional Symptoms of Stress. Emotions pertain to feelings. What we feel in certain situations enable us to determine our stress levels.

Handling emotional stress is important. Knowing what to do when you are emotionally affected by the pressures could help you sustain good health in the midst of a crisis.

Cognitive Stress Symptoms.
Cognitive pertains to what we are thinking. Stress affects not just our emotional but our mental faculties as well. It is important to note that there is a close correlation between mind and emotions. What affects one normally affects the other too.

Physical Stress Symptoms.
These are symptoms which manifest in the body physically. Stress affects our physical being too.

Physical
Headaches
Backaches
Muscle tension and stiffness
Dizziness
Lack of sleep or unable to sleep
Palpitations
Weight gain or loss
Skin problems such as hives, eczema
No sex drive
Frequent colds
Shortness of breathe
Allergies
Asthma attacks
Chest pains

Behavioral
- Overeating
- Loss of appetite
- Lack of sleep
- Putting off things
- Substance abuse
- Nail biting
- Teeth grinding
- Overdoing things such as too much shopping
- Overreacting to situations
- Fighting with others
- Anti-social behaviors
- Jaw clenching
- Withdrawing from friends
- Prone to crying

These signs could also indicate another medical condition other than stress. If you notice any of the signs above then it is best to approach a doctor in order to properly diagnose your case.

Stress Causes – Major Life Changes

Major life changes are also the major sources of stressors. Divorce, separation, child custody cases, empty nest syndrome, pregnancy, relocation, shifting to a new job, graduating from college, death in the family, or illness such as cancer, all causes undue strain on the person especially if the event occurs quickly leaving him or her no time to prepare.

The greater or the more dramatic the change, the bigger the strain will be. This determines the gravity and length of the problem. Also, if you happened to have a number of major life changes at the same time, the more strain you undergo. For instance, if you are in the process of divorce, relocating to another place and starting a new job at the same time, the strain on your part would be enormous. All of the events require huge adjustments.

Long-term stress is dangerous because they are ongoing and could cause strain to the coping resources of the body. Both negative and positive events are potentially straining because both require the person to cope with certain changes. For instance, a happy wonderful event such as a wedding could put undue pressure to the groom and bride-to-be. Preparing for the success of the event is particularly taxing with so many details that need to be taken cared of.

A job promotion is another positive major event that could cause strain. This is because along with job promotion and higher salary comes higher expectations on the worker’s performance. It could also cause some adjustment problems with peers or friends who are now his/her subordinates.

Major life events do not only leave a major impact in our lives but even more on our ability to handle such circumstances. Being prepared of any eventualities and our attitude towards the whole thing are important factors in such situations.

Stress Causes: Daily Hassles

Major life changes are stressful occurrences but they do not occur on a regular basis. Divorce does not happen every day. Just as giving birth is not a daily thing. Daily hassles, on the other hand, confront us often. Traffic jams, money problems especially if you live on paycheck to paycheck basis, relationship problems like quarrels with boyfriend-girlfriend and other concerns. Since these daily, small events happen on a daily basis they could affect us more than the major life changes.

The sources of daily stress include the following:

• Environmental stressors – the environment is a source of daily stress, such as mentioned traffic jams. Other environment factors could be pollution, safety, and discrimination. Living conditions such as staying in squatter’s area or crime-ridden places could also affect the person. Those in war-torn places, displaced individuals, refugees are constantly beset with strain. Environment problems could also be experienced in school. Bullying at school, examination hassles or study loads could cause problems. Harmony with environment has biblical and spiritual basis. A safe and clean environment is always conducive to a person’s health and peace of mind.

• Family and relationship stressors – relationships with friends, family, romantic partners are another source of strain. Problems with marriage, quarrels with family members, coping with teenage angst or looking after a family member who is quite taxing especially on a daily, regular basis. This could upset a person’s performance at school or work if unresolved.

• Work stressors – work is another strain-inducing factor. Oftentimes, careers come first in our lives. Demands from our careers could cause continuous strain. Problems at work could come from burn-out, conflicts with co-workers or managers, lack of fulfillment from the job, excessive workload, unsatisfactory pay and office politics.

• Social stressors – social situation can cause problems. Discrimination, no work, feeling unaccepted, harassment, isolation, being unpopular at school, lack of friends and no family support, all of these cause strains in a person’s life.

Cognitive Stress Symptoms

Humans are the only animals blessed with the capacity to think and to reason. We can process complex thoughts. Thought or cognition is made up of several processes: sensation, perception, apperception (perception+awareness), association and memory. The human brain is very capable of conducting these complex processes. Each function has a different section or part of the brain assigned to it. Stress gets in the way of the smooth functioning of the cognitive part of the brain and the part which is involved with emotion. Cognitive processes are disrupted as a result. This is one of the cognitive stress symptoms. If you are affected emotionally then you are experiencing emotional symptoms of stress.

Human beings are thinking animals. Your capacity for complex thought makes you what you are. In classical psychology, thought, or cognition, is seen as a process consisting of several steps: sensation, perception, apperception (conscious perception with full awareness), association, and memory. Your brain conducts these complex processes, with different sections more or less responsible for particular elements. Stress disrupts the functioning of those parts of your brain necessary for cognitive activity, just as it alters the functioning of the sections involved in emotion. When it does, it interferes with your cognitive processes on a number of levels.

Stress affects the brain. It stimulates adrenaline from adrenal gland which further stimulates the ascending reticular activation system (ARAS). ARAS activates the brains causing faster twice or three times faster release of neurons. Consequently, you can think faster. The brain is in a state of hyperactivity. Brain hyperactivity makes one impulsive, hasty in deciding, have poor memory and unable to process complete information. It is not advisable to make decisions in the midst of strain as this could cause more problems later. Emotional disturbance is also an additional complication. Sometimes, in order to slow down the brain activity, some resort to over-the-counter drugs or medications such as sleeping pills to attain stability or normal functioning.

Physical Symptoms of Stress

Physical symptoms of stress are particularly more pronounced in the muscular aspect. Everybody feels some muscular aches and pains at some point when undergoing strain. We all feel muscular pain when we overexert our muscles such as too much exercise. Using our muscles to do a thing repeatedly could cause aches.

The same way with stress. When we are under strain, our muscles get tensed which is a natural reflex during the ‘fight or flight’ response to stress. Noradrenaline which comes from the sympathetic nervous system tells the muscles to get ready, hence its tense state. The tenseness will enable the muscles to act quickly when in danger. There is a boost of energy during this state.

However, if no action happens, muscle tension may continue which could keep you alert and ‘on guard’ far longer than intended. The human body’s skeletal muscular system is made up of four hundred (400) different muscles. It makes up 40 per cent of the total body weight. These muscles could undergo muscle fatigue, injury or spasms. Muscle fibers are capable of tensing and relaxing continuously. They are designed that way. For instance, while you walk, one set of muscles tense, another set relaxes. Every movement you make has a corresponding and alternative tense/relax effect on the muscles.

If, for some reason, muscle tension does not lead to relaxation such as experienced during continuous and prolonged stress this could result to tension headaches, back pain and temporaro-mandibular joint (jaw pain). Chronic muscle tension can lead to illnesses and decline in muscle health.

This is the reason why daily physical exercises are highly recommended to relieve stress. Daily exercise can release pent-up muscular tensions and enable the muscles to attain relaxation. Proper conditioning of the muscles through exercise alternating with relaxation can help lessen muscular symptoms of stress. Muscles need proper nutrition, exercise and rest too to be able to function fully.

Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation and other stress-relievers greatly help release muscle tension. Aspirin could also relieve occasional muscle tensions. Chronic muscle tension can also be brought about by other factors other than pressures such as wrong posture and non-stop routine motions.

How to Treat an Itchy Eye

A sore and itchy eye could signal infection, allergy or injury. It can be so irritating to the extent thatour works, social life and sleeping condition are disturbed. Some may experience pain in eyelid.

This could form a boil or an eye swelling which is caused by frequent huge spent of hours working until late night making the eyes exhausted and tired. Some may be allergic reactions due to an exposure to dust, sun and many others. There are some tips and tricks to know to keep your eyes remain healthy. It is also important to know some preventive measures. Eye problems should be treated immediately in order not to get infected or before the condition becomes worst.

How to Treat an Itchy Eye

1. Don’t rub your eyes if you feel itchy. It will be irritated and will worsen if you keep rubbing your eyes.

2. Rinse out your eyes with cool water. This would give some relief of itchiness by washing out foreign bodies that caused the itch. Putting cold compress over both eyes by using wet washcloths is another option.

3. Over-the-counter eye drops such as artificial tears may help reduce itching and soreness. Put adrop or two in each eye. Follow the directions regarding the frequency listed on the bottle.

4. Take a break from works, TV or computer. Looking at computer screen all day can cause a sore eye. Taking periodic breaks may help.

5.Regular breath of your eyes could avoid dryness and itchiness. Avoid wearing contact lenses throughout the day in order not to get your eyes dry.

6. If there is no improvement of the condition and it becomes chronic or symptoms still persist, see an allergist, it is important to know if you have allergies. Determine the cause of what makes your eyes sore and itchy. The doctor is the best person to diagnose so that medication and prescription will be properly given. You could have a serious eye problem, so always get a persistent problem checked by a doctor.

How to Handle Emotional Stress

Emotional stress could sometimes lead to various ailments. Griefs, extreme joy, disappointments, frustrations and so many other emotions could be causes for emotional stress.

There are three main steps on how to handle emotional stress:

1. Sorting Out Emotions.

To handle emotional symptoms of stress, it is important that one identifies the emotions first and the reasons behind them. Label each emotion you are experiencing. Could it be fear? Pain? Sadness? Or a combination of the three.

Write down as many words to describe what you are feeling is best way. Writing down ideas would give concreteness to your intangible emotions. It would help clear your mind if you know or see exactly what you are dealing with.

Then try to understand why you are feeling pain? Why the fear? Or, the sadness? Knowing the root cause would make it easier to process the feelings and solve whatever is bothering you. Know more facts about emotional stress symptoms here.

2. Determining Intensity of Emotions

Try to think of a situation that would increase your emotional intensity. Then think of thoughts that will decrease it. Then rate the intensity of your emotions on a scale of one to ten with ten being the highest. Try to experiment increasing or decreasing your intensity levels using thoughts. This will train you to shift emotions when you need to. When you feel down, you can think lighter thoughts to pick up your mood. Remember always, our thoughts affect our emotions and vice versa. So take care of your thoughts and your emotions will follow. For a detailed discussion on the effects of stress on our thoughts, check out Cognitive Stress Symptoms is found here.

3. Releasing emotions

Releasing

How to Prevent Gastritis

Gastritis may lead to sores (peptic ulcers) in the stomach or in the small intestine if not treated. This happens when the stomach linen is eaten away. Its common symptoms are stomach upset or pain. The other signs are indigestion (also called dyspepsia ), abdominal pain, loss appetite, vomiting and others. The treatment of gastritis may depend on the cause of the problem. To avoid complication, it is important to know how to prevent gastritis and treat it:

1. Stop long term use of alcohol, tobacco, acidic beverages such as coffee ( both caffeinated and decaffeinated), carbonated beverages, and fruit juices with citric acid. Avoiding these substances completely may prevent and cure gastritis.

2. Fiber-rich foods may not only cut the risk of developing ulcers in half, but it may also help speed the healing of ulcers. Fruits and Vegetables are protective sources of fiber and reduce the amount of inflammation in the lining of the stomach.

3. Your doctor may prescribe medications including antacids , acid blockers and other drugs that may relieve the symptoms and reduce stomach acid secretion that helps protect against or treat ulcers.

4. Do not take over-the-counter medications without asking doctor. There are medicines that can cause side effects and induce more stomach pain.

5. The doctor may ask you to undergo several tests to diagnose the problem such as gastroscopy, blood test, stool test and endoscopy of the stomach. This allows the doctor to see into your stomach and, if necessary, take samples (called a biopsy) from the lining.

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