Archive for June, 2009

What Causes Cold Sores?

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

What causes cold sores for you? What is the one big trigger that causes these painful and embarrassing sores in your life? Everyone is different and each cold sore event unique. But for the vast majority of cold sore victims, what causes their cold sore is quite similar.

You do not realize it now, but in the next few moments you will learn exactly what causes your cold sores and what you can do right now to eliminate them.

First, let us not forget that the root cause of all cold sores is the herpes simplex virus. There are eight known types of herpes, two of which have been identified as causes of cold sores. These are herpes simplex type 1 or type 2. Nearly everyone in the world carries these highly contagious viruses. Normally, this virus is dormant. Should it become active, it will begin the replication process on your lip or nose. This is basically what causes cold sores.

The key, then, to learning what causes cold sores is actually to determine what the triggers are that causes the your cold sore virus to wake up.

Stress is claimed to be the main trigger for causing cold sores. Most common stress triggers that create these sores are illnesses or injuries. Cold sores often occur during a bout with the cold or flu virus. The cold and flu season is also the cold sore season, summer or winter.

Injury to the target area is a common trigger that causes cold sores. Sunlight is excellent for your skin, but sunburn is not. Sunburn commonly triggers outbreaks. Burning your lip with hot pizza, or biting it, or kissing someone with an active cold sore can cause cold sores too.

Any mental stress manifests itself physically, and is quite often responsible for causing a cold sore. Some common “mental stress” triggers are upcoming events such as weddings, class reunions or presentations in front of people.

Eliminating stress is the most often suggested solution for reducing, or preventing outbreaks. Good luck on that, my friend. It is a cop-out statement by folks who really do not understand what it is like to suffer like us.

Face it – no one can totally avoid stress in life. Each person may deal with it differently, both physically and mentally, but the fact remains that stress is part of being alive and active – quite often beyond our control.But we can control what stress actually does to our bodies.

Truth is – stress, through various ways, causes the body to become acid. When this happens, the many viruses living in us see an opportunity to become active. Herpes virus loves an acid situation and will become active if and when that happens.

Our acid and alkaline balance, called pH balance, is very fragile. A pH of seven is neutral. Anything below seven is acid, and above is alkaline. The ideal pH for optimal health is an alkaline 7.4 pH. Your body will do whatever it can to keep your pH near that goal. All minerals help, but calcium is the primary mineral for this purpose.

The ultimate trigger that causes cold sores is an acid body pH below 7.

The ultimate solution, then, is keeping our pH above 7. We can do this with the foods we eat and the nutrients we absorb. The base recommendation for anyone is taking a good multi-vitamin and mineral supplement. This alone helps greatly to keep your pH in the normal range.

Acid forming foods include chocolate (ouch!), table salt, sugar, soybean, soft drinks, most meat and coffee. Alkaline forming foods include sea salt, stevia, asparagus, garlic, mineral water, wild rice, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, olive oil, flax, and, believe it or not, most citrus fruit.

Now do not panic. You do not have to eat like a rabbit. Your diet should simply provide variety and balance. And, be sure to take a very good vitamin and mineral supplement. This alone can prevent a lot of problems.

There you have it. You now know more than 75% of those cold sore victims. Keeping your body pH above neutral will help prevent the ultimate trigger that causes cold sores.

Denny Bodoh is a dedicated natural health research writer. Get the latest facts on what causes cold sores and amazing cold sore treatments at Denny’s popular site:
www.be-cold-sore-free.com

Pain Killer Addiction – Stop Worrying – Act Now

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Some simple facts: Chronic pain affects one out of four adults; millions of people suffer from severe disabling pain. Once a patient addicted to pain killing drugs has completed detoxification, the treatment provider must then work with the patient to determine which course of treatment would be best for each patient. More than ten percent of high school seniors have started taking Vicodin for reasons other than reducing pain.

Opioids should never be taken when one is drinking alcohol (also a drug) or when alcohol may still be in the system. Patients can innocently start taking pain killers after a moderate injury or because of a severe injury in an automobile accident, fall or for post-operative pain. More than 2.2 million people aged 12 and up first abused painkillers within the past year; this is more than the number of people who had started using marijuana and has overtaken the use of cocaine.

An addicted person exhibits compulsive behavior to satisfy their craving for a pain killer or pain medication even when there are negative consequences associated with taking the pain killer or drug. Addiction is a biological and psychological condition. Physical dependence on a drug suggests that sudden stopping the drug may result in negative consequences.

Opioids used as the doctor has prescribed are supposedly not dangerous according to some medical groups; but if so why are so many people addicted to them? When you’re addicted physically to a drug, like pain killers, or alcohol, etc., it is because you’ve suppressed or shut down your body’s production of endorphins, which are natural opiate pain killers; when this happens you start craving the drug you replaced the endorphins with whether it’s alcohol or any of a number of drugs or pain killers. Common side effects and adverse reactions of pain killers include: nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, dry mouth, miosis (contraction of the pupil), orthostatic hypotension (blood pressure drops upon sudden standing (which often happens when arising too fast when getting out of bed in the morning,) urinary retention, constipation and fecal impaction.

Less common side effects and adverse reactions of pain killers include: confusion, hallucinations, delirium, hives, itching, hypothermia, bradycardia (slow heart rate), tachycardia (rapid heart rate), raised intracranial pressure, ureteric or biliary spasm, muscle rigidity and sometimes flushing. Many chronic pain patients may be under-treated as a result of doctors trying to gain control over pain killer addiction, they report. There are a number of effective treatment options to treat pain killer addiction to prescription opioids and to help manage the sometimes severe withdrawal symptoms that can accompany sudden stopping of the pain killers or drugs.

The longer you wait to get treatment the worse it will get; take action now. You must leave the routine responsibilities of your life for a week or more or suffer the inevitable outcome and health effects of prolonged drug addiction. Many insurance plans do cover inpatient detox; check your plan if you have insurance.

If you don’t have insurance, check with your local mental health agencies to see what is available that may be free. All other demands of children, job, school, or any other responsibilities may make inpatient treatment seem like an intrusion or impossibility but it is not. If you cannot do in-patient rehab, find out how you can do outpatient rehab and pay for it under your insurance plan; again check your insurance policy to see if it’s covered.

Today’s pain killer treatment options are drawn from long-time experience and clinical research from studying and treating many types of drugs and even heroin addiction. A patient being treated with a pain killer can become dependent, but with controlled and appropriate use of the medication, the patient can return to a good level of normal living and activities following discontinuance of the drug. Do things that make you feel good as long as you keep it natural.

For more information on pain killer addiction symptoms and pain killer treatments go to http://www.Pain-Killer-Addiction.info specializing in pain killer addiction with nurse’s tips, help, quiz, blog and resources including information on pain killer treatment centers and natural addiction treatment

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Teeth Whitening

Friday, June 5th, 2009

People generally have their teeth brightened to improve their smile and appearance. Whiter teeth reflect beauty and a good lifestyle. A brighter smile makes you less self-conscious and more confident.
A brighter smile draws in more attention and company. Your smile is elemental in shaping your personality and affirming your presence in a social gathering. A brighter smile minimizes the appearance of wrinkles on face, reflecting your energetic and youthful appearance.

A teeth whitening process is a key to a charming smile. People often adopt this process to enhance their smile and redefine their persona. The common techniques of teeth whitening are widely used and do not have major side effects if used under proper dental guidance and supervision.

However there are some disadvantages of teeth whitening. Though bleaching is very effective, a few short term problems, like sore teeth or gums may arise from application of excessive bleach. These also disappear when bleach is discontinued. If you are chemically sensitive then inform your dentist so that you can be weathered for sensitivity before applying a specific product.

Study shows that bleaching is completely effective and safe in more than 70% of individuals. While bleaching is generally the first choice because it is cheaper, crowns or veneers are better choices than bleaching in certain specific cases of teeth discoloration.
You might feel uncomfortable to wear the mouth tray. If you notice any such problem with the fit of your bleaching tray, call your dentist. They can make some adjustments that will minimize your problem.
Whitening does not work in the same way in all situations. The smokers might experience similar situations unless they abstain from continued smoking, specifically during the bleaching process.

Yellowish teeth respond comparatively better than brownish, grayish or purple stained teeth to the whitening procedure. Bluish-gray staining caused by medication (tetracycline) is more difficult to brighten and might require up to six months of home whitening or several in-office appointments to achieve satisfactorily whitening results. Teeth that have dark stains respond better to crowns, veneers, or bonding.

Only a rational guide towards different teeth whitening procedure would give you the proper confidence to make an informed and educated choice for the technique that is best suited fore your dental health. Your dentist plays an essential role in empowering you to find out the right technique through thorough dental examination and counseling.

If you are co-operative to your dentist and the technique on teeth whitening is determined by a participatory effort from you and your cosmetic dentist then the probability of successful completion of the process is obviously more. If post treatment instructions are followed properly then your efforts will be supported by long-lasting results and you will have a smile that will never fade away.

Find more teeth whitening and oral hygiene info online.
For acne related articles: http://www.acne-fyi.info

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