Health Chasinglions

A facial skin peel could improve your skin’s texture and appearance. It might even out pigmentation and fade age spots. But, the treatments are not without risk. Before you try one of the products, you should know about the risks and about safer alternatives.

The risks include redness, itching, burning, pain, dryness and flaking. Some women are unable to go out in public for three or four days, because of their appearance. If the chemicals penetrate too deeply, bleeding and scarring can occur. In other words, peels can do more harm than good.

The beta hydroxy acids are the mildest of the peels. At low concentrations, the acids are found in cleansers and other daily-use products. They can still cause increased sensitivities and irritation, however. Putting any kind of acid on your skin is risky, at best.

The right alternatives depend on what you are trying to accomplish. What is it you want the facial skin peel to do?

If you have age-spots or uneven pigmentation, the safest course of action is to protect the area from the sun and use a good anti-aging cream. The pigmentation will start to even out and age spots will start to fade after a few weeks.

Today’s advanced anti-aging creams include ingredients that stimulate the production of new cells. If the cells are protected from sunlight, they will be lighter in color.

One of the ingredients proven to be effective for repairing sun damage is coenzyme Q10, an antioxidant often promoted for heart health. The particles of the antioxidant must be reduced in size in order for them to penetrate into the skin’s layers. In some studies, creams containing the tiny particles of coenzyme Q10 have caused a 30% reduction in wrinkles.

So, coenzyme Q10 creams could be the best alternative to a facial skin peel if your goal is to get rid of sun damage or wrinkles. Most age spots and heavily pigmented areas are ultimately symptoms of sun damage.

For scarring, Shea butter is a good alternative. Unless your face is heavily pitted due to acne or some other condition, the regular use of a night cream containing Shea butter should work. There are many benefits associated with the use of that ingredient due to the high concentration of nutrients.

Regardless of what you are trying to accomplish, there is always a safe alternative to a facial skin peel. Do the research and try the safer products first.

Have you ever heard a horror story about a back or neck surgery that somehow went terribly wrong, making things worse? Alternatively, do you know someone who has done extremely well after spine surgery, achieving relief of symptoms and a return to enjoyable activities? Disc surgery of the lower back or neck has long been the gold-standard for improving function and pain in those patients with disc herniations. There are, however, good and poor outcomes that may result from any surgery. With this in mind, what can be expected after disc surgery?

As background, the discs in the neck or lower back are the cartilage filled joints that allow our spines to move. As with any other mechanical part, these joints can wear out or rupture, causing pressure on the nerves that are nearby. These “pinched nerves” can generate pain in the arm or leg that can be quite severe. Generally, pinched nerves can be treated with oral or injectable anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy, traction and rest.

When the nerve pain is not mitigated using these conservative methods, surgery is considered to provide pain relief. The basic concept of the surgery is to remove the offending piece of disc from pinching the nerve. Only that portion of the disc that is pushing on the nerve is removed and not the whole of the disc. Even with large disc herniations, most surgery only removes 10-20% of the disc. This leaves enough of the disc for the vertebrae to move and prevents them from rubbing on each other.

Over the past 10 years, many improvements have been made to the technology used and the approaches for Spinal Disc Surgery. Surgical incisions are now usually about 1 inch long versus the 3 inch incision of the past. Incisions sites are now injected with a numbing agent after surgery to greatly reduce post-operative pain. The surgery itself takes about 30-45 minutes to perform (previously – 90 minutes) and most patients will wake-up after the surgery without leg or arm pain. The only restriction after surgery is a limitation on lifting for the first 6 weeks of recovery. In our more athletic patients, we allow them to get back to conditioning during the 6 week recovery period. After 6 weeks, there are no restrictions, and patients can return to their normal daily activities as well as their normal athletic activities.

Several studies have evaluated the effects of disc surgery on a patient’s ability to return to normal activities. The most recent study involved disc surgery done on NFL professional football lineman in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. As lineman are the largest football players, as well as incurring the most strain on their backs during play, these athletes can be completely incapable of a high level of performance, even with mild back pain. This recent study found, of the 52 players treated with surgery, 81 percent returned to play professional football. Of the 36 starting lineman that had surgery, 33 returned to their starting position on their professional football team. So for those of us who don’t stress our backs like professional football players, we should be back to our normal activities very quickly and with high levels of satisfaction about our recovery. There were no complications in any of these patients. The complication rate in disc surgery nationally is less than 1%. Unfortunately, when complications happen, these patients may take 3-6 months to recover.

More than 90% of patients will improve after a disc herniation with medications, injections and physical therapy. However, with progress in surgery and improved recovery, there is no need to live with the pain of a disc herniation. It is important that you consult a highly-qualified, fellowship-trained spine specialist for diagnosis and effective treatment. Leveraging today’s technology and the expertise of a skilled Orthopaedist, herniated disc patients are able to return to their life faster than ever before AND with increased function and complete pain relief.

The times are changing and people’s waistlines are growing. Obesity is on the rise and continues to be an epidemic. So what is society supposed to do? According to a recent article from ABC News by Liz Neporent, everything from buses, clothes, and portions are simultaneously getting bigger to accommodate larger people. Here are just seven things which have recently expanded in response to the more than 68% of Americans considered overweight or obese.

Buses

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Federal Transit Authority proposed raising the assumed average weight per bus passenger from 150 pounds to 175 pounds, which could mean that across the country, fewer people will be allowed on city transit buses. The transit authority also proposed adding an additional few inches of floor space per passenger.

Clothing

Clothing has made dramatic changes to accommodate people getting larger. In 2008, a woman’s size 14 at the Gap fit someone with a 37-inch bust, 29-inch waist and 39-inch hips. Today that size now fits a woman with a 37.5-inch bust, a 29.5-inch waist, and 40-inch hips. Retail clothing stores are clever because they realize the psychological boost women feel when fitting into smaller numbers, even if they’re not the same as they used to be. Today’s size 4 was a size 8 two decades ago.

Santa Claus

This may seem like an odd item to make the list, but Santa Claus costumes have also expanded to accommodate larger people. In 1996, the largest Santa outfit was a 2X (at Santasuits.com), and sales of oversized suits accounted for just 12 percent of business. Today, that same company offers a 4X, and plus-sized outfits are one-third of the business.

Scales

Large people equals larger numbers on the scales, so this item has also recently expanded to accommodate the obese. “Finding a scale that went over 300 pounds was nearly impossible a few years ago,” said Gary Shane, the sales manager for The Precision Weighing Company. “Now they routinely go up to 400 or 500 pounds.” Some scales sold by the company even go up to an astounding 1,000 pounds of body weight. These scales also have larger platforms and support bars or arm rests to accommodate the largest of people.

Meals

It shouldn’t shock too many people that portion sizes have been growing steadily over the years and are a huge contributor to the overweight and obesity crisis. Everything is “super-sized” now. In a 1960s version of “The Joy of Cooking,” a brownie recipe was considered to serve 30; that exact same recipe today tells you to cut it into 16 brownies- almost double the serving size! Today’s cookies, on average, are 700% larger than the USDA standards. Restaurant pasta servings exceed government standards by 480%, according to New York University nutrition researcher, Lisa Young.

The Bathroom

This topic may gross some people out, but the real shock is the reality that being large can complicate even the simplest things, such as going to the bathroom. Big John manufactures oversized toilet seats to accommodate obese customers. They cater to over 72 million Americans by offering generously padded seats that are 19 inches wide and 2 inches taller than the standard seat. They have a weight capacity of 1,200 pounds.

Caskets

This is a sad one, but even caskets now have to accommodate the overweight and obese. One funeral director in Texas has begun selling caskets up to 54 inches wide, more than double the size of a standard casket. When Goliath Casket began producing triple-wide caskets in the late 1980s that hold up to 700 pounds, they sold an average of one per year. Now they ship half a dozen models a month.

The seriousness of burns and scalds depends on many factors, the most important being the area and extent rather than the depth of the injury. However, in young children, especially infants, even small burns should be regarded as serious and hospital treatment sought without delay. The importance of adequate preventive measures can not be underestimated.

This type of skin injury can be either superficial or deep. In case of a superficial burn or scald, only the outer layers of the skin are damaged. Deep injury affects the whole thickness of the skin, including the nerve endings, is destroyed. As a matter of fact, an extensive superficial burn or scald is more painful than a small deep burn.

The causes of burns include: dry heat, electricity, friction, corrosive chemicals. As for scalds, they are generally caused by moist heat such as boiling water, steam, hot oil or tar.

The signs and symptoms of this type of skin injuries include pain that may be quite intense, especially with superficial burns; redness and later swelling and sometimes blistering, in severe cases charring. There is also great danger from shock which is directly related to the extent of the injury and increases rapidly with the loss of fluid (plasma) oozing from the burnt surface, and from the escape of blood or plasma into the tissues causing swelling.

First treatment of burns and scalds is aimed at reducing the local effects of heat, relieving pain, preventing infection of the affected area, replacing fluid loss, lessening shock and removing a severely burned or scalded casualty to hospital as quickly as possible.

Lessen the spread of heat in the tissues and alleviate pain by placing the part gently under slowly running water or by immersing the part in cool water, keeping it there for at least ten minutes or until the pain ceases. At this early stage reduction of heat is essential, the risk of added infection being of lesser importance.

Remove promptly anything of a constrictive nature – rings, bangles, belts and boots, before the parts start to swell.

Clothing soaked in boiling water should be carefully removed. Cooled dry burned clothing already sterilised by heat need not be removed.

Lay the casualty down.

Cover the injured part with a dressing, clean sheet, pillow case, etc. With a burn of the face it may be necessary to cut a mask with a hole for breathing.

Immobilise a badly burned limb.

Give small cold drinks at frequent intervals to a badly burned casualty, if conscious.

Arrange for the immediate removal to hospital of all badly burned or scalded casualties as soon as possible, by stretcher if available.