SHINGLES (HERPES ZOSTER)

SHINGLES (HERPES ZOSTER) TREATMENT & CARE

There is sharp burning pain around your body followed by a rash of painful red blisters which later crust over. You are surprised and dismayed, you know you had chickenpox when you were little and you thought that protected you from shingles.

Like chickenpox, shingles will usually run its course within a week or two. But unlike chickenpox, shingles may leave painful reminders. As many as half of those over age 60 develop post- herpetic neuralgia. This pain may persist for months or years.

Individuals with shingles are far less contagious than people with chickenpox. This virus is only spread by direct contact with the vesicles. If the vesicles are kept covered they should not be infectious at all. However, for those few individuals who have not had chickenpox, they can catch it from someone with shingles.

• Pain relief comes first. An aspirin substitute may be better for some, aspirin for others.
• Step up your immune system and repair your nerves. Take 200 mg of vitamin C five or six time daily and one vitamin B – complex for nerve repair.
• Leave the blisters alone. Too much rubbing in this area can irritate the skin, making and the pain worse.
• Apply a wet dressing made from a damp cloth dipped in ice – water to the affected area.
• Wear loose, cotton clothing. Anything else will make the blistered area feel hotter.
• Apply calamine lotion or baking soda to the blisters.
• Take a corn flour bath just bedtime.
• Continue to use ice after the blisters are gone: now put it directly on the area and stroke the skin quickly. This will confuse the nerve signals that send pain.
• Avoid drafts, as they send signals to the nerve ending that will active pain.
• Allow sunlight on the affected areas for the short intervals to speed healing.
• L- Lysine, an amino acid available in tablet form, has been shown to aid healing.
• For those in whom the nerve pain lasts long after the illness, therapeutic psychological counseling may help. 

DRY SKIN Solution

Your face feels tight and tiny flakes of skin are visible at the corners of your nose. Your cheek feels like sandpaper and the rest of your body feels itchy.

• Dry skin is the result of lack of moisture.
• Avoid bathing more than once a day, alternate with a sponge bath.
• Use a very mild soap, avoid deodorant soap.
• Add bath oil to your bath water and remove make-up with a creamy emollient rather than with soap.
• Pat dry instead of rubbing.
• Apply moisturizer while your skin is still damp, as this will lock in the surface moisture.
• Keep your hands out of hot water. Use gloves when doing any kind of work in water.
• Use a humidifier and keep the heat down low in the winter time, just enough to keep the chill out of the room. Wear warmer clothing rather than turning up the heat, which takes the moisture out of the air.

ACNE

ACNE TREATMENT HOME REMEDIES

It is the evening you have been waiting for but what is that in the middle of your forehead- and on your chin – AND your right cheek? Oh , NO! Huge, ugly pimples!

Skin is the largest of the body and just when teenagers become aware of the opposite sex, increased hormonal activity causes the glands which lubricate the skin to increase in activity. The result: whiteheads, blackheads and reddened pimples begin to sprout on the shoulders, back, neck, and face.

Acne is a complex process created by interaction between hormones, the oil and wax of the glands of the skin, and bacteria.

Blackheads form when the sebum combines with the skin pigments and plugs the openings the pores. If scales below the surface of the skin become filled with sebum, whiteheads are the result. When the whiteheads build up, spread under the skin and rupture, large pimples can be results.

Heredity plays a role in the activity of these glands.

Fortunately, often by the mid-twenties, acne will no longer be a problem.

Stress, sun exposure and the seasonal change can often bring on an outbreak.

• Keep your face clean, but not scrubbed. Wash your face thoroughly every night before going to bed (oil-based make-up should be avoided) so that make-up and the debris of the day on the skin is removed.
• Wash your face again in the morning because metabolic activity during the night has brought impurities to the surface which should be removed before anything is done to the skin (applying make-up, or for men, shaving)
• Keep your hair clean and off your face.
• Clean hands are a must. Touching the face is one of the biggest contributors of bacteria which then interacts the facial oils.
• Do not pick or remove blackheads as this can cause enlarged pores.
• Pay attention to what you eat. Despite the claims of dermatologists that acne has nothing to do with diet, lots of people have observed that their acne is aggravated by certain foods. Chocolate, nuts, coffee, fried foods and cola drinks are some things that are commonly implicated.
• Avoid animals fats. A few naturopathic physicians believe that a diet low in the animals fats is the keys to curing acne. Others researchers have concluded that high-fat diets have an adverse effect on the utilization of the zinc in the diet.
• Increase your intake of raw vegetables.
• Use an over-the-counter preparation with benzoyl peroxide.
• You might want to try the juice of 2 garlic cloves mixed with an equal amount of vinegar on the blemish at bedtime.
• Or, apply the juice of one cucumber to the entire face and leave on for the 15 minutes, rinse off
• Treat blackheads with lemon juice at bedtime, rinse off in the morning. You need to continue these regimes foe several weeks to see any results, so be patient.

Skin Test for Allergy

Skin Test for Allergy causes, diagnosis, medication, definition & tests methods

What is a skin test for allergy?

This is a test done on the skin to identify the allergy substance (the allergen) that is the trigger for an allergic reaction.

How is an allergy skin test done?

A small amount of the suspected allergy-provoking substance (the allergen) is placed on the skin. The skin is then gently scratched through the small drop with a special sterile needle. An allergy skin test is also called a scratch test.

What is a positive skin test?

If the skin reddens and, more importantly, if it swells, then the test is read as positive and allergy to that substance is considered probable.

Can you give an example of a skin test?

If a specific food allergy is suspected, a skin test uses a dilute extract of the suspect food. A small drop of this particular liquid extract is placed on the skin of the forearm or back. This underlying skin is gently scratched through the small drop with a special sterile needle. If the skin reddens and, more importantly, if it swells, then the test is read as positive. If there is no reaction, it is read as negative.
If the skin test is positive, it implies that the patient has a type of antibody (IgE antibody) on specialized cells in the skin that release histamine to cause redness and itching. (These cells are called mast cells and the IgE antibody bound to them is specific to the food being tested.)

What are the advantages of skin tests?

Skin tests are rapid, simple, and relatively safe. They can be very helpful in specifically identifying causes of allergies.

How long will it take?

Allergy skin testing in Indiana can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the type and extent of the testing.

Is there danger to a skin test?

In some extremely allergic patients who have severe reactions called anaphylactic reactions, skin testing cannot be used because it could evoke a dangerous reaction. Skin testing also cannot be done on patients with extensive eczema.

What is done if a skin test can't be done?

For these patients a doctor may use special blood tests, such as the RAST and the ELISA. These tests measure the presence of specific types of IgE in the blood.
These tests may cost more than skin tests, and results are not available immediately. As with skin testing, positive RAST and ELISA tests do not by themselves necessarily make the final diagnosis.

What else do I need to know?

Allergy testing may cause minor itching during the procedure, but this resolves quickly after the allergens are washed off the skin. The allergy nurse may also apply hydrocortisone cream to soothe the skin.