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Relaxing bath and Shiny Hair with Mint leaves

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So, yesterday, I very unwisely bought a lot of mint. And, today, I find lot of it had dried up. Obviously, I did not use the refrigerator for the purpose. So, as it is not usable for culinary purposes and discarding it just like that seemed too much of a waste, I decided to have a mint bath. I cleaned all the mint and dropped it in a pot of water and brought water to a boil. Then, simmered it for around an hour. The water had become all green and smelled like mint. Oh, so heavenly!! I filtered the water and poured it in my bath. Now, here is a twist. I had to wash my hair too and forgot that before pouring the mint water in my bath. But, anyways, I was not going to throw the water and I guessed mint would not really turn out to be so bad for hair. So, I had a most comfortable and relaxing bath with mint water.

And, the results? My skin is not at all dry. Even I tried the scratch method – scratched a line on my hands with my nails, it left no white line which is usually left if I take too hot a bath which I did today also despite all my advices to you to avoid it. And, my hair is so soft and shiny, I can’t get my hands off my hair. I can also claim that my hair has not looked so good in a very long time.  It has become more manageable and there are no frizzes. So, go on and give it a try. You can use mint water as a hair rinse and see the results for yourself. And, of course, do not be surprised if you smell minty all day long. I am smelling minty all over, even my hair!! It feels fabulous. One more plus point is that the bath leaves you unexpectedly cool so it can be a great option on a hot summer day.

Safe way of detecting Breast Cancer

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As you all must be already aware that October is recognized as the Breast Cancer Awareness Month. There has been a recent increase in the number of people suffering from this cancer. 

Worldwide, breast cancer comprises 10.4% of all cancer incidence among women, making it the most common type of non-skin cancer in women and the fifth most common cause of cancer death. In 2004, breast cancer caused 519,000 deaths worldwide (7% of cancer deaths; almost 1% of all deaths). – Wikipedia

Thus, it is very important for every woman and even males to be aware of their susceptibility to breast cancer. An earlier diagnosis is always helpful for timely treatment. Thus, comes the need for screening. Screening is the term used for testing healthy women and men for achieving earlier diagnosis. There are many screening tests – self examination, mammography, genetic screening, ultrasound and magnetic resonance.
A self-examination is most critical of all and should be done regularly to make sure there are no lumps in the breasts. You can do this in the privacy of your home. Start with one breast. Lift the corresponding hand up and feel your breast with the other hand. This method is called palpitation meaning feeling the firmness of the object. While examining this way feel for the presence of any lumps or soreness. Cover your complete breast while standing and while lying down and other positions as shown in the picture including the nipple region and the skin around and under your breasts. This can be done in various ways like vertically drawing straight lines on your breasts with your fingers, moving outward starting from the nipples or moving in concentric circles starting form the nipples. Repeat the procedure with the other breast. In case of any confusion, immediately seek doctor’s advice. (Note: The picture is not to offend anyone’s senses but to impart awareness.)
Mammography is another screening test. Unfortunately, in this technique, your body is exposed to low dose X-rays for proper diagnosis of the disease. And, a repeated exposure to radiations, however, low is a potential risk associated with this diagnosis technique. And, then, there are added risks of false positives and false negatives where you might be detected for breast cancer when you are not suffering from the disease and you might not be detected for breast cancer when you are suffering. This is, often, due to the density of tissues present in the breasts. Thus, many people would like to avoid this technique of detection. Here is an account of Mammogram experience of Sesame from Vivawoman.
Thus, there are recent advances and a new diagnosis technique for any disease has come into picture –
Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI). In this technique, images of the body are taken (called thermograms) and sent to medical practitioners for interpretation of the images and diagnosis results. Thus, you are not subjected to any radiation, however, small. It is being used for small clinical uses and among them the foremost usage is for early breast cancer detection. And, in this, the physical images of your body are not taken. To explain what kind of images are taken, I would need to delve deeper into the technique. Our body emits infrared radiation which is highly symmetric to the parts of our body as shown in the picture. So, a special camera is used to capture this radiation being emitted from the body and corresponding skin surface temperature and displayed on a screen where the amount of radiation being emitted is shown in various colors. Any change in the radiation or temperature is, thus, detected by the change in color. This is just a gist of how this technique works. The benefit of this technique is that it can detect early lesions but the drawback is that it is not widely available. I would encourage you to read this article which shares the experience of lady who went for DITI.

A note to my readers: If anyone has gone through any such tests and experiences, I would kindly request you to share your experiences. If you would like to publish an account (even anonymously), please feel free to mail at perfectskincareforyou@gmail.com. Awareness can prevent breast cancers. And, do not forget to force your women above 40 for a breast cancer screening. It can be a life saver.

Get rid of Stretch Marks

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What are Stretch Marks?

Stretch Marks not only appear due to pregnancy but are very common among teenagers too. They can be red, purple or white in color, distorted in shape, long or short, wide lines and instantly recognizable. And, they can be present anywhere on the body but specially concentrated where you might accumulate a lot of fat like shoulders or upper arms, breasts, belly area, fat on the back just above and including the buttock region and thighs front or back. They can occur on anyone at any time.
Why do Stretch Marks appear?
During teenage, there are a lot of physical changes in the human body. One of the changes is sudden growth hence consequent stretching of the skin. Thus, these sudden stretches can tear the collagen and make the skin thinner in certain areas. The places where the collagen has torn and has become thinner are prone to appearance of stretch marks.
Stretch Marks can appear due to sudden height increase, sudden weight gain and weight loss, muscle growths, excessive exercising using improper equipments and also due to hormonal changes in the body.
How to prevent Stretch Marks?
A proper balanced diet is always best. A balanced diet ensures proper collagen production and maintainence, hence reducing the chances of collagen tear. Crash Diets and weight loss programs should be avoided. I have already discussed the ways to increase skin elasticity which is one of the ways to prevent stretch marks.
How to treat Stretch Marks?
  • Coconut oil repairs the inner lying tissue structure of the skin
  • Almond oil is rich in vitamin E oil so helps with regeneration of collagen
  • Lavender oil (if you can get hold of original and pure lavender oil) is good for healing stretch marks or lavender flower masks are also good for the purpose though you can not find lavender in India
  • Cocoa Butter and Shea Butter (if you get hold of unrefined cocoa or shea, mostly found in African stores) have lot of important nutrients for the skin
  • Aloevera gel is again great for stretch marks, mix the aloevera gel with almond or coconut oil and it is great as a moisturizer for dry skin too