Archive for May, 2009

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Home Remedies for Itching | Itching Causes and Treatment

Friday, May 8th, 2009

Causes of Itchy Skin and Itching Symptoms

Itching is more often than not, a skin disease caused by impurities in the blood. In some cases, it can also be due to dryness of the skin. Insect bites and stings can also be a cause for itching. Some other common causes are skin inflammations or allergies, parasitic infestations and the harmful effect of strong chemicals like detergents and solvents on your skin. Whatever the cause, it is an extremely irritating sensation and is also harmful for your skin. The following herbal remedies are highly beneficial in getting rid of itching.

Natural Cures and Home Remedies for Itching Treatment

One of the best home remedies for itching is the application of a mixture of lemon juice and coconut oil. These ingredients reduce the inflammation of the skin and relieve the itching within days. Aloe Vera too is a good remedy. Apply its juice on the skin and leave it on for half an hour. The added advantage is that along with getting rid of the itching, Aloe Vera also makes your skin smooth. You could also add one cup of apple cider vinegar in lukewarm bathwater and soak your body in it for at least twenty minutes to relieve the itching. Even two cups of oatmeal in your bathwater will help.

Another great homemade remedy is a mixture of lemon juice, Aloe Vera, cod liver oil, wheat germ oil and vitamin E oil. Mix these to form a very thin paste and apply all over your skin or the affected area if the itching is localized. Leave it on for half an hour and then rinse with lukewarm water. Repeat this treatment twice a day and it starts showing results in a few days. Baking soda mixed with water is another efficient cure. This mixture too should be left on the affected area for at least half an hour for the itching to reduce considerably. Margosa or Indian lilac is another excellent remedy. Margosa oil when applied to the affected parts provides instant relief and its continued use prevents any further problems as far as itching is concerned. Alternatively, boil a few handfuls of Margosa leaves in a saucepan. Allow this to simmer for a few minutes and then take it off the heat and add the water to half a bucket of water. Use this water as your last rinse after your shower to avoid skin infections. Tea tree oil too works in curing itching. It should be applied directly on to the affected part and spread gently for maximum results.

Needless to say, healthy habits like taking frequent showers and keeping your skin clean will go a long way in curbing this irritating infection. Add peppermint oil to your bathwater as it is highly beneficial as an anti-inflammatory.

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How to Make Homemade Face Masks for Dry Skin

Friday, May 8th, 2009

Dry chaffed skin is both unappealing and unhealthy. Usually it is a caused by diet deficiencies or neglect in skin care. However, that does not mean you have to opt for expensive salon-administered beauty solutions all the time. There are many homemade natural facemasks that you can use for your dry skin that will save you a fortune.

Homemade Face Masks Recipes for Dry Skin

Avocado and honey deservedly take the top spot here. Both of them are natural moisturizers and do wonders for dry skin. Use a fresh, ripe avocado and mash it into a creamy pulp. Now add ¼ cup of honey to it and apply the paste onto your face like a facemask. Gram flour powder too makes an excellent facemask for dry skin. Mix it with a little turmeric powder and make it into a paste using milk. Apply the paste all over your face and let it dry over the next half an hour. Now wash off with lukewarm water to find your skin completely nourished and moisturized. Alternately you could also mix milk powder in honey to form a paste and apply it on your face in a similar manner. Another great facemask is wheat flour mixed with milk cream. Repeat this application at least once everyday and in a week your skin will be visibly supple and soft.

Soak almonds in water overnight. Grind it into a paste in the morning and add a few drops of honey. Apply liberally all over your face and let it dry over the next half an hour. Wash off with lukewarm water. The best part of this facemask is that it not only moisturizes dry skin, but also gives it a glow and enhances the complexion. Gram flour mixed with rose water makes another great facemask for dry skin. Here too, the mask should be left on for at least half an hour. Milk cream by itself also serves as an excellent face pack. Cucumber makes another effective facemask for dry skin. Grate 1 cucumber and make a paste of it with one cup of oatmeal. To this paste now add one teaspoon of milk cream. Leave the facemask on for at least thirty minutes and then rinse with lukewarm water.

Alternately, you could also mix an egg yolk with one teaspoon each of olive oil and warm honey. This too makes a nourishing facemask for dry skin. Another option is to mix butter and water in equal proportions to form a paste and apply it over the face.

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Home Remedies to Cure Peeling Skin | Peeling Skin Treatment

Friday, May 8th, 2009

Peeling Skin Causes

Peeling of the skin, usually the feet, is a natural process in all human beings. However, in some cases, the peeling can be rampant and may be all over the body. In such circumstances, serious infections should be ruled out with the help of medical supervision, since peeling skin can be a symptom of various serious skin infections like erythroderma and eczema. Once these are ruled out, you can treat the peeling skin using a variety of herbal remedies.

Peeling Skin Cure and Remedies for Peeling Skin

Most usually, rampant peeling is due to the dryness of the skin. This can be cured using cucumber. Grate cucumber and apply it all over the affected parts and leave it on for at least twenty minutes. Cucumber moisturizes the skin and thus prevents any further peeling. Fresh mint is another remedy. Extract juice from fresh mint and apply all over the affected area overnight. A few days of this treatment will get rid of the dryness and resultant peeling. Olive oil, honey, turmeric and sandalwood are excellent remedies too. Make a paste using these ingredients in combination and apply all over the skin that is peeling. Leave the paste on for an hour. Repeat this everyday for best results.

Be careful in your choice of moisturizers. Most of the products sold over the counter have a strong chemical base which can wreak havoc on your skin. Go for herbal moisturizers instead. Coconut oil too is a natural moisturizer for the skin. Application of coconut oil is known to nourish the skin and arrest peeling. Another great cure is lemon juice. Take half a lemon and rub all over the affected area gently. Let the juice stay on the skin for at least twenty minutes and then wash off with cold water. This treatment should be repeated at least thrice a day to show results. Alternately, you can mince some yeast, add freshly extracted lemon juice to it and gently rub the affected skin with this mixture. Leave it on for twenty minutes and wash off with cold water. This treatment will yield results within a week.

Diet plays a huge role too. Peeling of the skin is sometimes caused due to a deficiency in vitamin A, iron, iodine or vitamin B. Supplement your diet with these vitamins and minerals to stem the peeling. Cream, butter, fish liver oils, unpolished cereal grains, eggs and meat would be ideal. Drink plenty of water and always keep your skin moisturized.

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Home Remedies for Fair Skin and Useful Tips to Get Fair Skin

Friday, May 8th, 2009

Tips for Fair Skin Care

To a large extent, skin color is genetically determined, with the climate of the area you originate from playing a major role. Thus people originally from sunny areas near the equator have a dark complexion while those from other climes have a fair skin. Though it is not a true beauty standard, a fair complexion is always on the most-wanted list for most people, especially women.

First of all it needs to be understood that there is a limit to how fair you can become. There are herbal bleaches that nullify the effect of the sun and eliminate other grime on your skin, thus lending your face a fair glow. Lemon juice, turmeric and honey are all equally efficient natural bleaches. Apply directly on to the skin and leave it on for an hour. Repeat this twice everyday for a week to see a visibly fairer skin. For best results, use a combination of these ingredients. Lemon juice and honey makes the best combination. Cucumber juice too is extremely helpful in lightening your complexion. Apply cucumber juice liberally all over your face and hands before bedtime and leave it on for the night. Scrubbing your face with cucumber slices before the application of juice expedites the results.

Fair Skin Remedies and Treatment

Gram flour too is a potent remedy. Mix gram flour with two teaspoons of milk and a few drops of lime juice. Make a paste and apply all over your face and neck. Leave it on for half an hour and wash off with lukewarm water. This treatment is known to lighten the skin in a span of two weeks. Honey mixed with almond oil and applied on the face too is an excellent remedy. You could also use sandalwood. Take sandalwood powder, mix it with equal proportions of cucumber juice and tomato juice and make it into a paste. Apply it on your face at least once a day, leaving it on for thirty minutes. This remedy is quick and extremely effective. Aloe Vera too is great when it comes to improving your complexion. Take a leaf of the plant, break it and mix the juice oozing out with rose water. Apply this on your face once daily to prevent tanning of the skin.

Other than these, small precautions like covering yourself completely when stepping out into the sun will go a long way in keeping your skin fair. Always wear a hat on hot days and use a sunscreen with a high SPF protection. In addition, drink a lot of water to keep your body hydrated.

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Athletes Foot Symptoms,Causes and Remedies

Monday, May 4th, 2009

What Athletes Foot - What Causes Athletes Foot

Athlete’s foot, which is also known in medical terms as tinea pedis, is a fungal infection that affects your feet, especially the area between the toes where moisture is easily trapped. Once the infection happens you will experience an itching and burning sensation on the skin. You will also find that the infected area is covered with dry and flaky skin, which is rough to touch. As the infection advances you may also experience pain, swelling, and inflammation. Sometimes, if the skin is raw and exposed, you may also get a secondary infection in the same area.

Athlete’s foot is a disease commonly experienced by people who have wear shoes for long periods in a day. The chances of infection further increase if a person does a lot of physical exercise resulting in a lot of sweating. The warm and moist environment of the shoes gives the fungus an ideal breeding ground. So, it is understandable that athletes (and other sportspersons), obviously, have a significant chance of contracting this type of infection; therefore, the name. However, athlete’s foot can also happen to people from different walks of life – basically, anyone who has to wear shoes for long hours, has a problem of unusually sweaty feet, or is not very careful about the hygiene of their feet.

Athletes Foot Remedies

Athlete’s foot can be remedied with proper medication and foot care. In severe cases, you may also have to get treatment from a doctor. However, there are several home remedies for athlete’s feet that you can try out.
•    The first remedy is to apply solutions like tea tree oil, vinegar, diluted hydrogen peroxide, or alcohol on the affected area. Take a cotton ball, soak it in the solution, and gently swab over the infected skin.

•    Apply crushed onion and/or garlic paste on the infected skin. You can apply them separately or together, as is suitable to you. One of the problems with this method, however, is that it can cause your feet to be very smelly. It is, therefore, important to wash off your feet properly after you apply onion or garlic on your feet.

•    Use boric powder or baking soda on the infected skin. They will help keep the feet dry by soaking up the extra moisture.

•    Mix Epsom salt in lukewarm water and soak your feet in it at the end of the day.

Besides these, you should also maintain proper hygiene of your feet. Do not wear the same pair of shoes or socks every day; use alternate pairs of shoes and socks. Preferably, use cotton socks and shoes that have ventilation. Be careful and make sure to dry your feet after a bath or wash so that moisture is not trapped in the folds of your skin.

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How to Remove Pimple Marks from the Face in Natural Way

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Pimple Marks

Pimple marks can be quite stubborn and very often are not easy to get rid of. The scars and marks are a result of damaged tissues, which are sometimes permanent. Although pimple marks are not a serious condition, it may cause the affected person some anxiety. It can also affect the self esteem of a person and his/her social interactions adversely. Deep and permanent pimple marks may need removal with surgical methods, and you will need to get in touch with a dermatologist for this. However, surgical methods may be painful, require long-time treatment, have some side effects, and also prove to be very costly. You should discuss things thoroughly with the dermatologist before deciding on surgical treatments.

Natural Cures and Home Remedies for Pimple Marks

Meanwhile, if the pimple marks are minor, you can try out some of the home remedies to remove them or help them fade away.
•    Make a paste by mixing sandalwood powder and gram powder with water. Apply this paste on your face and leave for about an hour before washing it off with cold water.

•    Mix sandalwood powder with rose water and milk cream to make a thick paste. Apply this paste on your face and let it dry up naturally. Once the paste has dried up, wash your face with cold water.

•    Massage your face gently with olive oil or almond oil every day. These oils provide essential nutrients to the skin and help repair damaged skin.

•    Rub your pimple marks with lemon juice regularly. This may help fade the pimple marks.

•    Rub your face with freshly cut slices of vegetables like potato, cucumber, or tomato. This will help cleanse your skin and also help the pimple marks to fade away.

•    Use a mud pack prepared with Fuller’s earth to help exfoliate the dead skin cells. Use of mud face packs will help scrape off dead cells and also help in the regeneration of new skin.

•    Apply aloe vera gel to wash off your face regularly. Aloe vera gel is beneficial for the skin and can help fade the pimple marks with prolonged use.

However, it is important to understand that you should be realistic while using these home remedies. If your pimple marks are due to permanent damage of skin tissues, no amount of home remedies can help you get rid of them. Also, most of these home remedies may take a long time bring in any noticeable effect, so you will need to be patient.

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Dark Skin Care - Causes,Symptoms and Home Remedies

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Causes of Dark Skin

Skin color is determined by a pigment called melanin; the more melanin present in the skin, the darker is the skin color. Melanin production in the skin is affected by several factors – heredity, exposure to the sun’s rays, skin disorders, and hyperpigmentation. Sometimes, dark skin color can also be a result of prolonged use of certain medications and some underlying disease in the body. Skin color is something we are born with and there isn’t much we can do to change the skin color drastically. We can lighten the skin color a bit with the help of certain home remedies, but usually the skin color is more or less permanent. It should be kept in mind that a healthy skin is far more important than the color of the skin.

Tips and Home Remedies for Dark Skin

Anyway, here are a few skin care tips that can lighten up your skin color to some extent besides proving nourishment to the skin.
•    Make a paste by grinding almond and mixing it with rose water. Apply this paste regularly on your skin to lighten the skin tone.

•    Another simple remedy is to use a paste made with a mixture of turmeric powder and sandalwood powder. Take equal amounts of sandalwood powder and turmeric powder and mix with water to make a thick paste. Apply this paste on your skin, let it dry, and then wash off with clean water.

•    Prepare a paste by mixing honey, lemon juice, milk cream, and almond oil. Apply this paste on your skin and leave it for about 10-15 minutes before washing off. Regular use of this paste will help you reduce skin tan.

•    Soak grams and almonds overnight in water and make a paste by grinding them. Apply this paste on your skin and leave until it dries up. Once the paste has dried up on your skin, wash off with cold water. This high-protein paste will provide nourishment to your skin as well as act as a natural bleach.

•    Use a paste by grinding dried orange peel and mixing it with curd. Regular use of this paste will also help lighten the skin tone.

•    Rub your skin with freshly cut slices of vegetables to remove skin blemishes and lighten up the skin. You can use slices of tomato, cucumber, and tomato to rub on your skin.

•    Take adequate measures to protect your skin from the harmful rays of the sun. Use a sunscreen lotion with appropriate sun protection factor (SPF) whenever you have to go out in direct sunlight.

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How to Remove Warts-Suggest Home Remedies for Removing Warts

Monday, May 4th, 2009

What are Warts - What Causes Warts - Symptoms of Warts

Warts are skin infections caused by a virus named human papillomavirus (HPV). As a result of this viral infection, small rough bumps appear on the skin; these are commonly called warts. Usually, the warts that appear on your skin heal naturally, without the need for any medical intervention. However, if not treated, the warts may keep reappearing on your skin and can be a persistent problem. Since warts are contagious the infection may spread to other parts of your body and also to other people through skin contact. Warts are not a serious problem, but they can prove to be quite bothersome and a cause for embarrassment.

Common symptoms of warts are small bumpy protrusions on the skin that are rough to touch. Usually, you will see common warts appearing on the skin of your hands, fingers, and near the fingernails. However, there are some other varieties of warts that appear on the soles of your feet (these are known as plantar warts) and on your genitals (these are known as genital warts). Warts are mostly painless, but you should not try pull out or cut them as it can lead to profuse bleeding.

Home Remedies to Get Rid of Warts

Here are some of the common home remedies that you can try out to get rid of warts.
•    Rub apple cider vinegar or grapefruit seed extract on the warts regularly several times a day.

•    You can also use castor oil on the affected area each night before going to sleep.

•    Use the juices of papaya and pineapple to rub on the warts.

•    Use freshly cut raw slices of potato to rub on the warts.

•    Another effective wart removal technique is to use duct tape. Paste duct tape on the warts and leave it for about a week. At the end of the week, remove the duct tape, soak the wart in warm water and, and rub the wart with a pumice stone. Repeat this procedure for a few weeks to get the warts removed.

When you have warts, you should also pay attention to your diet. You can try out all-fruit diet for about 5 days, and thereafter, you can follow a healthy diet of green vegetables, fresh fruits, cereals, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Plus, you should also drink adequate amount of water to flush out toxins from your body. As far as possible, you should avoid processed foods, caffeinated drinks, meat, confectioneries, and other fatty or spicy foods.

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What is Ringworm and How to Treat Ringworm the Natural Way

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Ringworm  Causes and Symptoms

Ringworm, medically known as tinea corpis, is a common skin disease caused by fungus infection. Though the name is ‘ringworm’ there is no worm involved here; it takes the name because of the characteristic circular ring that forms in this type of infection. Ringworm is not a serious disease, but it is a source of great annoyance and gives a rather unhygienic appearance.

The common symptoms of ringworm are: a round or oval rash on the skin with a healthy looking area at the center, slightly raised surface with pink scaly skin, itchiness and inflammation. Ringworm can attack any part of the body; a particular variety of ringworm affects the scalp as well.

The fungal infection happens when the parasitic fungus starts to live on the outer layer of the skin. The infection can be acquired through different mediums – human to human, animal to human, object to human, and soil to human. Ringworm is contagious in nature and care should be taken to avoid direct contact with an infected person or animal.

Ringworm needs to be treated appropriately with proper medication. There are several anti-fungal medications available in the form of topical or oral medicine. Consult a dermatologist and get a suitable dose of medication for a speedy recovery. It is important to treat ringworm in time because untreated ringworm can spread over a large skin area and can become chronic. Chronic ringworm is increasingly difficult to get rid of.

Ringworm Remedies and Home treatment

There are also some common home remedies that you can try out to treat ringworm.
•    Apply raw turmeric juice on the infected area to get rid of ringworm. Additionally, you should also consume raw turmeric juice mixed with honey. If raw turmeric is not available, you can also use a paste of turmeric powder to apply on the skin. Wait till the paste dries up and then wash off the area with cold water.

•    Rub raw papaya slices on the ringworm patch and also apply a paste of dried papaya seeds on the infected skin. You may experience mild irritation while rubbing papaya on the skin, but it will cease after some time.

•    Soak mustard seeds overnight in water and then take out the soaked seeds in the morning to grind and make a paste. Apply this paste on the infected skin and leave till it dries up. Once the paste has dried, wash off the skin with cold water. Use this method regularly each day to get rid of ringworms.

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