Rosacea and Insomnia Information
Comparing Laser Technology
Laser skin resurfacing has long had the promise of providing people with younger, fresher-complected skin, but, like deep chemical peels, it had a major disadvantage: the treatment worked by ablating (vaporizing) the skin so it could be painful, even temporarily disabling, and required many weeks to fully heal. Recently, the old CO2 lasers have been replaced with more skin-friendly lasers, such as the Erbium-YAG laser, which has reduced the healing time, although it remains considerable.
To avoid the long recovery time, many cosmetic surgeons are moving to systems such as the Intense Pulsed-Light (IPL) system or the BroadBand Light (BBL) system that are non-ablative. They work by a process known as selective photothermolysis, in which darker components of the skin surface–such as age spots, rosacea and hair–suffer damage preferentially, leaving lighter components more intact. Unfortunately, these systems are so non-invasive that they require many treatments to give even the moderate results they achieve, although they are more effective on some problems (such as rosacea) than lasers.
A more recent technology has been developed that promises many of the results of ablative laser treatments, without the necessary healing time, and also in fewer treatments than IPL, BBL, or other non-ablative treatments. Fraxel Laser Treatment promises great results with little pain or down-time, but does it work?
What is Fraxel?
Fraxel is the trade name for a version of laser treatment that compromises between ablative and non-ablative techniques. The name stands for “fractional laser” treatment, and in the technique, a laser is used to ablate micro-columns of skin as deep or deeper than traditional laser resurfacing. These micro-columns are distributed evenly across the surface of your skin by the computer-controlled laser so there is not significant damage to any one part of the skin. However, on a microscopic scale, each column of ablation stimulates the skin to heal itself, leading to a rejuvenation in the skin.
What does Fraxel Treat?
Fraxel has been approved by the FDA to treat:
• Periorbital wrinkles (wrinkles around the eyes)
• Pigmented lesions (age spots, sun spots, freckles, etc.)
• Melasma
• Acne and surgical scars
In addition, the company’s manufacturer claims that it can treat:
• Poor skin tone
• Large skin pores
• Rejuvenate skin in the neck, chest, and hands
Although clinical studies on Fraxel seem to be limited to doctors with a stake in proving the effectiveness of the procedure, so far the data suggests that Fraxel can successfully address many of the claimed issues.
Relative Effectiveness of Fraxel vs. Other Treatments
Fraxel seems to be a much more effective treatment than other options for acne scars and periorbital wrinkles. It can also be effective in treating some cases of pigmented lesions, depending on the color of the lesion.
However, for the improvement of skin tone, it is probably not as effective as full skin resurfacing.
And BBL and IPL are more effective at treated red skin conditions, as well as for hair removal.
Patricia Woloch
http://www.articlesbase.com/plastic-surgeries-articles/comparing-laser-technology-415565.html
Natural Acne Tips And Treatments – Save Your Skin And Money
Keeping your skin clear doesn’t have to be a trying experience with so many cheaper natural treatments available today. Below are some helpful, cheap tips on what to do to keep your acne under control and keep your skin clear. The problem with most acne treatments and acne products is that not everyone reacts the same way to the same treatment; what worked for one may not work for another.
The most common types of pimples are whiteheads, blackheads, papules, pustules, nodules and cysts. Acne rosacea is a red rash predominantly on the face. Numerous studies have revealed that acne is not simply a problem of the young; it also afflicts people of many ages, and can severely affect their daily lives. In a survey conducted in Great Britain, 95% of 16-year-old males and 83% of 16 year-old females had acne.
Acne, zits, pimples, blackheads, whiteheads and many other skin disorders are usually, but not always, the result of a bad diet. The liver gets rid of toxins from bad food, drugs and chemicals and sends them through the skin resulting in eruptions, acne, pimples and other skin disorders. Scientists are trying to find the cause of acne and working on ways to prevent plugs.
Since the latest research indicates a connection between stress and acne, make an effort to cut down on stress any way you can. Try applying a thin layer of coconut oil and massaging it deep into the skin to heal and soothe the affected area. There are many natural acne home remedies; you may have to try several to find one that works best for your skin type.
Treatment with raw apple cider vinegar will work better on your skin if it isn’t already noticeably irritated from acne medicines, acne products or other failed treatment. Remember, that even the most gentle and natural products you might use to clean your face can leave your skin a bit dry; use coconut oil as an excellent way to re-hydrate the skin after using any acne commercial or natural cleanser. Never underestimate the healing, restorative power of a good night’s sleep.
Use baking soda on a test area carefully for exfoliation, if you feel you need it. The treatment plan for acne includes trying to heal the pimples, stopping new pimples from forming, preventing scarring and helping reduce embarrassment. Shave carefully and try both electric and safety razors to see which works best for you.
Any makeup you use should list on the label non-acnegenic or non-comedogenic. Besides acne, if you also have eczema or dry skin, coconut oil will treat those skin conditions too. It bears repeating, you want to be good to your skin and never pop or squeeze a pimple no matter how tempting.
A new, non-invasive treatment using red light and blue light in combination has been extremely successful on severe acne. No over-the-counter creams can help your acne from the inside out; they can only kill some of the bacteria on your face and help reduce the redness.
To cure yourself of acne, you need to correct the problems going on inside of your body that are causing the acne. Drink lots and lots of pure, filtered water every day. Besides external acne treatment it’s even more important to work from the inside out too.
When you change your diet, your lesions should start getting better within a week or two, with significant improvement the first month. People with skin disorders such as acne, rosacea, and psoriasis often suffer from constipation; if you are, make sure you’re drinking lots of water every day and add more natural fiber from raw fruits to your diet.
Drink plenty of pure, filtered water, a minimum of a quart a day. Good nutrition will help your skin from the inside out. Eat at least two organic apples a day while working to clear up your skin; apples are good for skin health – organic so you can eat pesticide-free skin (most of the apple pectin is in the skin), which helps with constipation.
Consider taking cod liver oil or fish oil supplements every day. Eating fruits that are red or orange in color will help improve you skin health and help to prevent acne.
One should always think about cheaper, alternative, natural, effective treatment methods to get the best cure or solution to their acne, zits, pimples and blackhead problems. Analyze all the acne treatments available and make the best decision for you, based on your circumstances. With cheap, safe, simple, natural, effective, alternative home treatments for acne and pimples, your skin should be well on its way to recovery.
Helen Hecker
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/natural-acne-tips-and-treatments-save-your-skin-and-money-134728.html
Chamomile – a Natural Anti-inflammatory
Chamomile a plant which belongs to the family of sunflowers has natural anti-inflammatory properties. It contains antioxidants from flavonoids, such as quercetin and luteolin, and chamazulene(an essential oil).
A background on inflammation:
The onset of inflammations like arthritis, acne and rosacea constricts the blood vessels as the tissues become inflamed. This results to a less blood supply going to the cells in the area of inflammation.
Less Blood Supply Lesser Cell Functioning
Cells need ample amounts of blood for it to function properly. Lesser blood supply deteriorates the cell’s performance until it becomes almost useless. Since it does not function normally anymore, our body treats it as a threat and attacks them.
Our Antibodies
Our antibodies attacks threats by encapsulating them and produces free radicals to kill the invaders. Free radicals can cause a chain reaction and eventually kill the cells inside the encapsulation. The term for this is respiratory or oxidative burst.
This process can cause some free radicals escaping the encapsulation and could trigger free radical chain reactions to healthy cells.
Therefore the cell’s functions in inflamed tissues deteriorates which then triggers our own antibodies to attack them leading to exposure of free radicals to nearby healthy cells. The more the tissues are inflamed the more our cells are exposed to free radicals which could result to cell damage caused by oxidative stress.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants can neutralize or quench these free radicals escaping the encapsulation. Our bodies are equipped with its own antioxidants to neutralize free radicals but may become depleted as the demand rises.
The need for extra antioxidants become apparent. Chamomile is a source for antioxidants to protect the cells from oxidative damage and subdue the inflammation with its anti-inflammatory properties.
Chamomile can be taken internally or externally.
Dried leaves of chamomile can be used as an herbal tea. Drinking this tea can introduce the antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties of chamomile inside your body. It is commercially available in tea bags.
Other Health Benefits of Chamomile – to name just a few.
-As an herbal home remedy for rosacea and acne.
-treatment for diarrhea, indigestion, irritable bowel movement, ulcers
-treatment for anxiety, insomnia
-treatment for eye irritations and conjunctivitis
-helps in healing wounds
As you can see, chamomile has many other medicinal uses. It maybe good to consider chamomile as a part of an anti-inflammatory diet but it is not advised for pregnant or breast feeding women. People allergic to ragweed are also not advised to use chamomile. If you are taking other medication, please consult a health professional before embarking on a chamomile diet.
Jess Ba-ad
http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/chamomile-a-natural-antiinflammatory-398731.html
Acne Types And Treatments
Acne occurs when the normal process of skin’s cell renewal is interrupted. Inside the sebaceous hair follicles (pores), oil keeping the skin naturally pliable and moist combines with the dead, old skin cells and are sloughed off in a normal skin renewal process. If dead skin cell turnover rate is uneven, they become gummy producing a blockage inside the follicle. Bacteria called propionobacterium acnes that normally live on the skin can thrive within these blocked pores. The bacteria, along with the trapped oil, swell the follicle as the skin’s natural oil production process persists inside the clogged pore. With large amounts of white blood cells, your body attacks this infection ultimately forming a pimple. The full pimple-causing process takes between 14-21 days. Occasionally in acute acne, the pocket of inflammation within a pore can rupture, forming irreversible scarring damage the skin enough to form irreversible scarring.
Typically, individuals with acne have acne vulgaris. This type of acne affects people of all ages and genders. There are various types of pimples you can develop. When pores become only partially plugged and a portion of the oil slowly drains to the surface, blackheads are bred. Whiteheads develop when the pore is totally clogged, trapping oil, dead skin cells, and bacteria, giving the whitehead its whitish appearance on the skin’s surface. Swollen, red, tender bumps that do not develop a head are known as papules. Do not set about to pop papules, as popping papules can increase the risk of scarring and infection. A swollen, red bump with a white or yellow head is a pustule. The pustule is very similar in appearance to the whitehead, but the redness and swelling is the difference. In more severe acne cases, nodules or cysts grow beneath the skin’s outer layer. Nodules are painful, much larger, hard bumps below the skin that can take months to rid of.Much larger, hard, painful bumps that can take months to eliminate are known as nodules. Cysts look like nodules, but are very painful and pus-filled. They have a diameter larger than 5mm. Nodules and cysts have the highest risk of scarring. Unfortunately quite often with cysts and nodules, scarring does happen. These types of pimples require a dermatologist’s assistance. Infection and scarring risks are much too great with nodules and cysts.
Acne rosacea is the other kind of acne. Acne rosacea appears similar to acne vulagaris, but strikes mostly those over 30 years of age and more women than men. It surfaces as a red rash containing pimples, bumps, and skin blemishes with blood vessels becoming more prominent. While acne vulgaris can affect any area of the human body, acne rosacea is , most of the time, confined to the cheeks, chin, forehead, or nose.
It is very important to keep acne prone areas clean. It is necessary to wash the acne affected area twice daily, each daywith an unscented cleanser. Look for cleansers that contain salicylic acid or creams containing benzoyl peroxide. Salicylic acid will dry the acne-affected areas, while benzoyl peroxide is made to increase skin’s turnover rate, helping to clean the pores. Antibacterial face cleansers and body soaps designed specifically for oily skin are also available for the treatment of acne. Remember that the skin needs a certain amount of oil to maintain its natural condition, so make sure to avoid aggravating acne by overwashing with strong, drying cleansers.
No cure for acne is known at this time. The real secret for controlling acne is prevention, which involves arresting the formation of acne before it grows into a pimple. Many prescription and over-the-counter treatments are available. In addition, consuming a whole foods diet plentiful in essential vitamins and minerals and drinking plenty of water can strengthen your immune system and flush toxins to keep your body’s natural defense system in peak form to defeat acne infections more easily. Treat acne as soon as it shows its first signs to eliminate the possibility of permanent scarring. Even after blemishes go away, you often have to maintain using an active acne treatment to prevent other blemishes from forming.
Dan Rodney
http://www.articlesbase.com/acne-articles/acne-types-and-treatments-734016.html
What Food Makes Rosacea Worse?
Rosacea is a chronic, lifelong skin condition that affects (most often) the face. The disease is common: approximately 1 in every 20 Americans has rosacea. Women are affected more often in the early stages (flushing and erythrosis), but more men progress to the advanced stages and rhinophyma is seen almost exclusively in men over 40 years of age.
Rosacea is characterized by various skin disorders and sufferers must contend with skin flushing, erythrosis (reddish or purplish discoloration of the skin), teleangiectasia (permanent enlargement of small blood vessels), papulopustular rosacea (papules are small, red, raised bumps; pustules are similar but they contain pus) or rhinophyma (enlarged, red, swollen nose) and for many people, some of these signs and symptoms are very common; approximately 94% of people with rosacea have flushing. These attacks last from a few minutes to several hours, and the flushing seen in rosacea is intermittent in nature. The disease, to a greater or lesser degree, is progressive, and the more pronounced skin lesions will usually follow sporadic episodes of flushing.
The exact cause of rosacea has not been determined, but here are many theories. Exposure to the sun may be one factor, and exposure to the sun can precipitate acute episodes of flushing. Another possible cause are skin mites, Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis. These tiny insects usually live at the base of hair follicles. They are often found on the faces of people with rosacea, and it has been suggested that they may initiate an inflammatory reaction (Inflammation dilates blood vessels and this contributes to the flush, and it may also damage the blood vessels, causing them to be permanently dilated). Infection with the common bacteria, Helicobacter pylori, has also been suggested as a cause. There may also be genetic defects in the vasculature of the skin that causes hem to become easily – and permanently – dilated.
The signs and symptoms of rosacea are not dangerous, but they can be uncomfortable, unsightly, and disfiguring. (However, rosacea can affect the eyes. Approximately 3% to 58% of patients with skin changes will have eye problems and rosacea keratitis can lead to blindness). Yet although there is no cure for rosacea, the disease can be managed. Topical medication, oral medications and laser therapy can all be used to control flushing and to remove some of the skin blemishes, swollen blood vessels and discoloration. However, it would be far more preferable to prevent outbreaks of flushing and the development of erythrosis and papulopustular lesions. It is well known that there are certain factors – sunlight, stress, heat – that can trigger rosacea signs and symptoms, and food has been identified as a trigger.
What foods have been implicated as causes of rosacea signs and symptoms? The list is long, and there is obviously individual variations in susceptibility: high doses of B6 and B12, chocolate, tomatoes, hot beverages, hot sausage, red pepper, black pepper, vinegar, paprika, white pepper, garlic, wine, hard liquor, beer, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, milk, citrus fruits, eggplants, avocadoes, spinach, raisins, figs, bananas, and marinated meat.
Why do these foods exacerbate rosacea? No one knows for sure, and given the fact that the exact cause of rosacea hasn’t been clearly determined, that’s not surprising. However a look at the pathophysiology of rosacea may provide some clues.
The flush that is so common in people with roseacea is caused by dilation of the small blood vessels of the face. Why this occurs is not certain. The blood vessels may be genetically weak, or they may be damaged by years of exposure to the sun. There may also be an increase in the number of blood vessels, or there may be damage to the walls of the blood vessels. Whatever the cause, the blood vessels (which in the face are very close to the surface) dilate. Many of the foods that trigger flushing attacks most likely do so by increasing body temperature, and in order to lose body heat, blood vessels dilate. Others may cause flushing by stimulating the release of histamine. This is a naturally occurring substance that dilates blood vessels and some foods, e.g. beer and citrus fruits may stimulate the release of histamine.
Rebecca Prescott
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/what-food-makes-rosacea-worse-58676.html