Sunday, September 6, 2009

OTC Acne Treatment Ingredients

By Larry Furgeson

It's difficult not to gaze at the thousands of acne products available while navigating through the skin care aisle at your local pharmacy. It seems that a new, allegedly more effective product is introduced to the market on a daily basis. The disturbing part to this phenomenon is that consumers readily buy the newest acne products, hoping to get some relief from their breakouts. A simple examination of the product labels plastered on your favorite acne products should reveal that most of them contain the same ingredients. Does it really make sense to chase after the latest and greatest treatment when it is nothing more than a rework of your last product? We think not.

Benzoyl peroxide is the most prevalent and ingredient in most acne products. It can treat several contributing factors to acne. It kills acne bacteria and improves skin cell turnover, which is the primary cause of acne. Dead skin which fails to slough off instead penetrates and obstructs pores, trapping sebum and bacteria. No OTC medications aside from benzoyl peroxide attacks both the bacteria and normalizes the shedding cycle.

Most acne treatments consist of at least a few steps. You have to wash and cleanse the skin, apply an toning solution and thereafter some topical products. Cleansers and topicals are often plentiful in benzoyl peroxide. Some may contain other ingredients, like sulfur or witch hazel.

If a regular tube of benzoyl peroxide in addition to a gentle cleanser does not work for you, you can essentially guarantee that no other OTC product will. If you buy into the clever marketing tactics of the skin care companies, which like to fool consumers with elaborate graphs and convincing testimonials on the backs of their products, you will lose. A cheap tube of benzoyl peroxide is all you may ever need.

Be sure to purchase only the low concentration form of the topical, which should be 2.5%. You can find it in 5% and 10% variations, however, these only produce more irritation without any further improvement. Use a moisturizer if the low concentration proves to irritating as well.

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Types Of Acne And What Is Used To Treat It

By Carol Bell

Acne can be seen as lesions on your face, and any other bits of your body it selects to appear on. Lots of people prefer to think it is limited to your face, but it does go well beyond all that, acne may appear on your back, chest, and nearly anywhere you might have grown hair. Definitely you've come across it from time to time folks call it common names like spots, and spots, and acne.

With increased androgen production underneath your skin, it becomes virtually impossible for you not to have acne. On a pro level, it is known as DHEA-S, and it happens at your adrenarche. Don't get confused by the giant language. Acne are just an infirmity that relies on your hormones to take place.

How much you have it's a query of how well you realize your system, and how fast and completely you reply to the prevalence of the complaint decides how long it lasts. Acne regularly results from increased sebum production under the top layer of your skin. This phenomenon provides an environment for the overgrowth of the complaint, known as Propionibacterium acnes. This isn't basically the condition itself ; it becomes total acne when you permit that to become infected.

If you need to heal the complaint, you shouldn't attempt to do it by yourself ; or you could finish up doing further damage to your skin. In your own best interest, bring a doctor into the picture, and do it quickly too. Propionibacterium acne that form below your skin due to accumulation of muck and secretions from within you can become overgrown with bacteria. There's a point this reaches that finally causes soreness, and that's what you see and call pimples or acne. Folks like to hate this skin condition, but kind of everybody suffers it at 1 time in their lives. So, cheer up.

You aren't alone when it comes to acne. The comforting reports is that as much as are the sufferers of acne, so are solutions that really work. The general public suffer with acne beginning from when they enter into their teen years. From this point it bit by bit increases in occurrence all over their body till they get into their twenties. After this, it lessens over time and when you turn 30, you'll have absolutely forgotten about it. When this doesn't occur, you have got special issues, and you do need special attention to address it.

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Diabetic Retinopathy-What Is It?

By Ned Dagostino

There are of course numerous complications resulting from diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy is one that directly effects your vision. It happens because the eye's retina is damaged because of the diabetes. So let's take a closer look, starting with an explanation of what the retina is.

We don't need a detailed explanation here. You just need to understand that the retina is simply a group of nerves that sits in the back of your eyeball. Think of them like a digital camera. They give your brain a picture of what you see. It's a simple process that people without vision problems can take for granted. But retinopathy interferes with this process.

Blood vessels in the retina are sensitive, and can split. If this happens, fluid from those vessels drip into the eye's compound. And that's when the problems begin.

The first thing you'll notice is what seems like an obstruction in your vision. Over time, scar tissue develops both in and around your eyeball. And finally, the retina will actually detach from where it normally sits.

So how does this relate to diabetes? Well high levels of sugar in the blood can cause the damage we just talked about to occur. But the bigger problem is that all too often the noticeable symptoms happen only after the problem damage has become extremely severe. The result is that frequently you may not even realize the problem exists until it is too late to correct. This means that regular eye checkups from a doctor are essential. In the case of diabetics, you'll need to visit your eye doctor a minimum of every year. Discovering a problem in the early stages makes it much easier to correct.

And between visits, always be on the lookout for symptoms or any changes in your vision. Things like black or white spots, called floaters, that appear without reason. Weak and blurry vision can also be a sign of diabetic retinopathy. Double vision too can be a sign. Even if these problems seem mild, they need to be taken seriously. And that means getting in touch with your eye doctor immediately.

The good news is that often treatment is not necessary. But if treatment is needed, there are several options designed to reduce lost vision. You and your doctor will decide between prescription medication, laser treatments or more invasive surgery.

Remember the key to a successful treatment is to catch any problems early. Schedule yearly (or more frequent) visits to your eye doctor. This will help you discover if you have a problem soon enough to keep your diabetic retinopathy from becoming too severe.

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How To Implement A Good Detox Menu

By Ferdinand Emy

If you dwell in a city, have a desk job (and a stressful one at that), drive an hour at least each day, and do not do exercise, then you probably are forcing your liver to do extra work trying to eliminate all that excess of toxins.

Why is my body full of toxins?

Toxins are generated from several sources. The most obvious one is the pollution in the air that we breathe in big cities. We likewise get toxins from all the chemicals that are in our food, peculiarly junk food or food that has been processed to the point that it loses its nutritional value. Some of these chemicals are preservatives and colorants in canned food. In addition, when we stress, we add our own toxins to the combine.

So as to cleanse our body from these toxins, a detox menu is proposed.

Why should I consider a detox menu?

A detox menu will get rid of those toxins in your body. You will feel healthier and more energetic when you follow one. In addition, you'll make your liver's work much simpler, since the liver is the organ that takes care of the natural detoxification of your body. This will greatly reducing|shortening the risk of a staid liver failure or liver disease in the future.

What does a detox menu comprise of?

While a detox menu varies from one health specialist to another, there are many common items to most.

Foremost of all, a common request is the prohibition of alcohol. Alcohol is very hard for our liver to get rid of. If taken in large quantities for a long period of time, it may start accumulating scar tissue on the liver, which will result in cirrhosis, a failure of the liver.

Another thing that's taken out of the picture by a good detox menu is meat, and peculiarly read meat. Red meat is also a hard thing to handle for our liver, Although not as hard as alcohol.

Consuming raw foods is also common in some diets. The reason that this is requested by a detox menu is that processed foods contain a lot of chemicals that are not natural and may rest in our bodies.

Finally, the most common denominator of any detox menu is drinking water; lots of it. Water is not only the most natural of substances, but its the medium via which our natural detoxification system operates. It permits us to eliminate toxins naturally, and it is the most fundamental component of our bodies.

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Getting Rid Of Fat - Myths Exposed

By Nikki Davila

Many of us would like to get rid a few extra pounds, but there are quite a few misconceptions about this topic which actually hinder your efforts to stay fit.

One of the myths is that you have to do cardiology training first thing in the morning when your stomach is empty. The truth is, it really does not matter what time of the day you exercise. We all burn fat when your calorie consumption exceeds your level of intake.

Another myth is that you have to do cardiology and target a fat-burning zone. In fact, training this way does not work much on your muscles, and therefore you do not get to burn fat effectively. The best method to be applied is interval training, as doing so allows you to continue to burn calories even hours after your workout.

Next, don't believe that you have to exercise really intensely to achieve results. Everyone has a different body type and physical limitation. Research has shown that exercising at medium intensity for over 30 minutes at a time will produce the best fat losing result. You need to try a few different workouts to find out the optimal one for yourself.

In terms of dieting, the good news is that you do not have to give up your eating fun to stay in perfect shape. The common belief that the less you eat the more weight you get lose is not totally true. In fact, the most effective way of dieting is to eat more frequently but in small portions each time. This way, you not only feel fuller throughout the day, but also will keep up your metabolism. After some while, you will be able to form a body that is not so prone to put on fat.

Fewer calorie intake is not always good, and there are two major reasons for that. First, you body will slow down its metabolism to adjust to the lower calorie intake, which will slow down your speed to lose further fat in future. Second, you can only effectively lose your fat by combining dieting and exercise, and getting enough nutrients will allow you to carry out the exercise required. As a general rule, you should aim to get over 50 percent of your calorie from fresh fruit and veggies, and always go for food that are in their most natural states. Stay away from junk food, canned food and other processed food wherever possible.

If you want to achieve a long-term fitness goal, you need to progress gradually. Remember, different people have different physiques, and methods working on one person do not necessarily work on you. However, as long as you understand the basics and avoid the misconception, you will be on the right track.

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