Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

Athlete’s foot is a common skin infection at the bottom of the feet caused by fungus. The fungus that most commonly causes athlete’s foot is called Trichophyton. When the feet or other areas of the body is kept moist and warm, and irritated, the fungus can thrive and infect the upper layers of the skin.

Fungal infections can occur anywhere in the body including the scalp, trunk, extremities (arms and legs), hands, feet, nails, vagina, mouth and groin.

Athlete’s foot is a fungal infection that develops in humid areas between the toes and sometimes in other parts of your foot. Athlete’s foot usually causes itching, stinging and burning.

Athlete’s foot, also called tinea pedis, is the most common type of fungal infection. It is closely related to other fungal infections like ringworm and scabies.

Read more on Home Remedies for Athlete Feet and Herbal Products and Herbal Supplements

Athlete’s foot spreads easily. It can touch your toes or feet of a person who has it. But more often, people walking barefoot on contaminated surfaces near swimming pools or locker rooms.

Athlete’s foot gets its name because athletes often become infected. Why? The fungi that cause can be found in athletes often. The fungus grows in warm, moist surfaces around swimming pools, public showers and changing rooms. People walk barefoot on these surfaces and ends at the foot fungus.

Athlete’s foot is a common infection caused by the ringworm fungus. It is not serious. Symptoms include itching, burning and cracking, peeling skin between the toes. Ringworm grows best in damp, dark and warm, so often develops between the toes.

Home Remedies for Athlete’s Foot
1. Fungus foot: Take – 1 cup of Epsom salts, 1 / 2 cup of Clorox
Fill foot bath with water as hot as you can stand it covers your feet and soak for 20 minutes or more. If the water is cold add more hot water to keep the hot water. Do this every night for 3 days for foot fungus is gone. Wait a week before doing it again if the fungus is bad.

Vinegar, apple cider: Try rubbing the affected area with cotton balls. Let dry for 30 minutes. Rinse.
3. Put a cup of vinegar in several gallons of hot water and soak your feet for 15-20 minutes, repeated twice daily. This remedy will also kill fungus that has been done with the nails. Works great remedy to cure the infection in the athlete’s foot. Vinegar is effective because it makes slightly more acidic pH.
4. Try soaking your feet in vinegar to change the pH of the skin so that fungus can not grow.
5. One of the most important things to do to combat athlete’s foot is to keep your feet dry at all times. The fungus needs moisture to grow. After drying your feet, scraping the loose skin to allow any drug to penetrate the infected area.
6. Garlic Remedy Athlet foot – One method is to rub a clove of raw garlic on the fungus. A second method is to put a little chopped fresh garlic in the affected area and leave for half an hour, rinse with water.
Do this once a day for a week and athlete’s foot should disappear. If the garlic burns, remove, wash with water and try again with diluted garlic juice.

Monday, September 5th, 2011

Athlete’s Foot is a skin infection on the foot caused by the ringworm fungus known as trichophyton.

The medical name for athlete’s foot is tinea pedis. Affecting up to 70% of people during their lifetime, athlete’s foot is definitely a condition that can cause incredible irritation that can lead you to believe you are going to go stark raving mad from the itching, stinging and burning of athlete’s foot attacking the soles of the feet.

Typically athlete’s foot grows along the soles of the feet, in the area between the toes, and can often be found spreading to the toenails. Unfortunately, athlete’s foot can also spread to the palms of the hands, the under the arms or even the groin area if you are crazy enough to touch your feet and then touch another area of your body. Don’t even think about it!

Unlike its name suggests athlete’s foot does not just affect athletes. No, athlete’s foot can affect any one at any time with the right conditions.

Those particularly susceptible are the people whose feet tend to be damp or sweaty. The fungus associated with athlete’s foot particularly loves the warm moist environments such as the kind found on the floor, in socks and shoes, around the swimming pool or in the shower, especially in those areas shared by a group of people.

The ringworm fungus can be spread from person to person by contact with the objects which are hosting the fungus in the first place. But unless the fungus has the appropriate environment that promotes growth, such as a warm and moist environment, the fungus will simply lie dormant and not invade the skin. If the fungus does invade the skin, then it can lead to blistering, peeling, cracking and flaking of the affected skin.

Athlete’s foot is an irritating and frustrating fungal infection of the feet. Trying to avoid the warm and moist environment that is conducive to fungal growth is a smart move.

Don’t let the itch of athlete’s foot control your life. Get and appropriate diagnosis and then take action!

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

Athlete’s foot, as expected, is more common in athletes. Contributing factors are the sweaty feet, wet shoes and socks, and locker room floors. Yet there are some athletes who never get athlete’s foot because they are not predisposed to it.

How do you know if you are predisposed to being infected and re-infected by athlete’s foot fungus? The fungal spores can survive for months, even years, on the floors of bathrooms, locker rooms and swimming pools. If you are predisposed to athlete’s foot, it doesn’t take much to infect or re-infect yourself.

Here is a list of the some of factors that could help you determine whether or not you are one of those people more disposed to getting athlete’s foot that others.

1) You’ve already had athlete’s foot at least once in your life. That alone makes one more susceptible to athlete’s foot fungus in the future.

2) You have more exposure to the fungus because of either professional or recreational activities, such as those on locker room floors and showers

3) You are a frequent traveler and you are more exposed to the spores on hotel room carpets and bathrooms, and swimming pool and hot tub areas.

4) If, either professionally or recreationally, you wear airtight and/or watertight footwear you are more susceptible.

5) If you are a person whose skin produces less fatty acid, which is a natural anti-fungal agent.

6) If you normally have sweaty feet, your predisposition to athlete’s foot increases.

7) If you have some form of immune deficiency, you are more prone to athlete’s foot.

8) If you have poor foot circulation you are also more prone to athlete’s foot.

9) Being diabetic is a serious risk factor as diabetics are significantly more likely to have a fungal infection than non-diabetics.

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

You hear about zinc all of the time. Zinc is every where form cereal boxes to common skin ointments. But do you realize how important it really is? Zinc is needed for the synthesis of proteins and the metabolism of nucleic acids. It is an important part of the human DNA for cell division and synthesis. Zinc can be found in the moisture of the eyes, lungs, nose, urine, and saliva.
Zinc is everywhere in the wet parts of the body like the nose and lungs. it is necessary for hormone production and it is essential for the prostate gland. Zinc is a Vital part of the immune system.
People have used zinc for a long time. In the 1800′s surgeons used zinc as an antiseptic/antibiotic after surgery. Before drugs, many people turned to herbs and minerals. Zinc promotes healing. Wounds would heal, at times, as quickly as 24 hours after an operation, without swelling, and scarring was barely noticeable after a short period of time.
Because zinc is found in the body fluids, proper levels of zinc tend to stop body odor, including foot odor. Athletes foot may be accompanied by foot odor. Any time you sweat you loose a lot of zinc therefore, athletes are particularly susceptible to zinc deficiency.
When ever I mention zinc, it seems that silver is always there holding hands with zinc. Both Silver and zinc play a part in stopping fungal growth, Zinc protects the throat with every swallow. When you body does not have enough zinc you are vulnerable to variety of degenerative diseases and illnesses. The Skin is like a check engine light on a car. When you are low on zinc, you may get acne.
Zinc is the skin protector. The sexual development of organs is very dependant on zinc. The Skin is the first to suffer when the organs of puberty need zinc. yes Acne, It is when you are growing and cannot get enough zinc to go around. Angstrom zinc can help avoid those embarrassing years of zinc deficiency. That is why so many acne medicines have zinc in them. The problem is, most zinc supplements are not in the right form or are too week to do the job they need done.
Zinc must be in a cell ready form, like a liquid zinc supplement in angstrom size to be absorbed and used by the body. Liquid zinc is the best form of zinc for assimulation. Choose the smallest zinc available today, choose Angstrom Zinc.

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Recently my workplace brought in a workplace gym in the new building. I love the idea of workoing out at work but there are a few things to think about when you are about to start training at work.

Gym Hours – What time are you going to workout? Before work is great but also there is lunch, after work and during odd hours. I prefer working out after lunch as I eat a smaller lunch and have the energy and the gym is really quiet. Be aware of when the gym is busy as social calls and waiting can really wreak havok on your workout.

Eating Plans – You need to make sure that you are not skimping on lunch or breakfast for the sake of working out. There is nothing worse when working out than to not have the food for energy and slowing of your metabolism form not eating. This may affect the time that you workout but make sure that you eat!

Cleanliness – If you workout in the morning or after work than you may not need to double up on your showers. working out in the morning means that you can workout and then have a morning shower or after work you can wait until you get home to have a shower. If you do workout at lunch or after than please, for the sake of your coworkers, have a shower after you workout.

Change of clothes – I go through a lot more clothes when I workout as should you. It is nice to have a change of clothes at your desk but remember not to recycle socks and underwear, bring in a new change of clothes everyday with the exception of shoes. Last year for a while I tried not bringing a change of socks and I paid the price fairly quickly with some terrible athletes foot so be aware of how important this really is.

Workout time – Try to keep your workouts to 45 minutes max. This stops the questions in the office of whether you are wroking enough and it also wforces you to workout very efficiently and with a lot of intensity. Break up your workouts so you are either doing a weights day or a cardio day and then you will not have to do doule duty out of one workout. Focus is the most important thing when you are crunched for time.

I hope that these tips are good and help you out in your fitness goals. When you can just go downstairs to workout it is very easy to avoid and very easy to overdo do make the time and coordinate your schedule so that you can make the most of this great resource.

Monday, August 29th, 2011

How did persons assist and sometimes treat themselves of aches, pains and illnesses in the past? Nearly all of the remedies worked very well, were inexpensive, they could usually be found in most homes and they work in our time as well as they did then.

Gatorade
Did you know – Drinking two glasses of Gatorade can soothe headache discomfort almost immediately, without the brutal side effects caused by conventional “pain relievers.”

Colgate Toothpaste
Did you know – Colgate toothpaste makes an fantastic liniment for burns?

Soothe Arthritis Pain
Quaker Oats for fast pain relief, It’s not just for breakfast anymore! Combine 2 cups of Quaker Oats and 1 cup of water in a bowl and warm in the microwave for 1 minute, cool slightly, and put on the mixture to your hands for soothing respite from arthritis pain. Don’t have it too hot, because you don’t want to hurt yourself, Make sure you test it for heat.

Altoids Peppermints
Before you head to the drugstore for a costly-priced inhaler filled with mysterious chemicals, try munching on a couple of curiously strong Altoids peppermints. They’ll solve your stuffed nose. Fisherman’s Friend for colds, have a similar effect.

Aching Muscles
Aching muscles from a fill of the flu? Combine 1 Tablespoon of horseradish in 1 cup of olive oil. Let the batter rest for 30 minutes, then rub it as a massage oil, for quick relief for aching muscles.

Sore Throat
Sore throat? Just combine 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey and consume 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar and the honey will kill the bacteria.

Urinary Tract Infections
Rectify urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Just dissolve two tablets in a tumbler of water and swallow it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost instantly, even though the compound was never been advertised for this use. Alternatively, its hard to top Cranberry Juice on a daily basis.

Skin Blemishes
Honey remedy for skin blemishes. Cover the blemish with a blob of honey and place a Band-Aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin disinfected, and facilitates healing. Works overnight.

Hasten Bruise Healing
Heinz vinegar to soothe bruises. Soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar reduces the blueness and speeds up the healing process.

Toe Fungas
Listerine remedy for toenail fungus. Eliminate unsightly toenail fungus by soaking your toes in Listerine mouthwash. The powerful germicide leaves your toenails looking healthy again.

Tinea. (Athletes Foot)
Pat the infected parts of the toes with Australian Tea Tree Oil. It was used in World War 1 by the soldiers for Trench Foot and it furthermore works just as well today.

Eyeglasses
Easy eyeglass protection. To prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small dab of Maybelline Crystal Clear nail polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.

Remove Rust
Coca-Cola cure for rust. Disregard those costly rust removers. Just satiate an abrasive sponge with Coca Cola and scour the rust stain. The phosphoric acid in the coke is what gets the job done.

Bug Killer
Cleaning liquid that doubles as bug killer. If menacing bees, wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets get in your residence and you can’t find the insecticide, try a spray of Formula 409. Insects drop to the ground straight away.

Astragalus
Astralagus is a herb still widely used in Chinese medicine, to this day and is accepted to be an immunostimulant, antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory agent. It has been said that no particular compound has such wide ranging practical effects on the healing process of the human system. It contains Polysaccharides, and they are very important in the enhancement of the Immune System. It is one of the components of the eight essential sugars or Glyconutrients

Remove Splinters
Sharp splinter remover, just pour a blob of Elmer’s Glue-All over the splinter, let dry, and peel the dried glue off the skin. The splinter sticks to the dried glue.

Boil Remedy
Hunt’s tomato paste boil cure, wrap the boil with Hunt’s tomato paste as a compress. The acids from the tomatoes comfort the pain and bring the boil to a head.

Soothe Broken Blisters
Balm for broken blisters. To disinfect a broken blister, swab on a few drops of Listerine a powerful antiseptic.

Flea Killer
Kills fleas instantly. Dawn dish washing liquid does the job. Add a few drops to your pooch’s bath and shampoo the animal thoroughly. Rinse well to steer clear of skin irritations. Goodbye to fleas.

Cure Wet Dog Odour
Rainy day cure for dog smell, Next time your pooch comes in from the rain, simply wipe down the animal with Bounce or any dryer sheet, instantly making your dog smell springtime fresh.

Mites in Cats Ears
Eliminate ear mites. All it takes is a few drops of Wesson corn oil in your cat’s ear. Massage it in, then clean with a cotton ball. Repeat daily for 3 days. The oil soothes the cat’s skin, smothers the mites, and hastens healing.

Most of the compounds mentioned are widely accessible in the United States and Canada, but perhaps not so well known in other countries. It is not important that you use the actual brand name, as other corresponding brands are available and would work just as well.
The brand names are very well known, but if you have any question about treatment, Please see a Physician first.

Sunday, August 28th, 2011

If you now suffer from a vaginal yeast infection or a male yeast infection, you’ve probably searched the Web for a mild, natural cure. And you’ve probably landed on web pages that suggest a variety of antifungal herbs, such as oregano oil, grapefruit seed extract, black walnut, etc.

If so, you found web pages written by people who believe in a syndrome that the medical community does not acknowledge or accept as scientifically valid – called “systemic yeast infections,” “systemic candidiasis,” or “Candida overgrowth.”

The folks who believe in this syndrome have a long list of symptoms that are supposed to be caused by having too much yeast in your gut. Genital yeast infections are included on the list, but there are over 30 other vague symptoms, too – including such things as fatigue, insomnia, digestive problems, and infertility.

In fact, if you feel less than perfect, these folks will blame it on Candida.

It seems natural, then, to assume that the remedies recommended for this general, systemic type of yeast infection will also work for your vaginal yeast infection or male yeast infections. However, there is no proof that this is true, and there are good reasons to believe that the antifungal herbs can actually make things worse for you.

You could even find yourself with chronic yeast infections, instead of the one irritating rash you’ve got now.

Why? Because the most common cause of yeast infections is the use of antibiotics. And the herbs listed above are mild antibiotics. They may kill off some of the yeast in your intestinal tract (which is not the yeast that’s actually making you itch), but at the same time your beneficial bacteria population will also be damaged.

For this reason, the systemic yeast infection crowd always suggests that you start eating yoghurt or taking probiotic supplements – exactly the same recommendation you would get from your doctor to lower your risk of getting a yeast infection when you need to take antibiotics.

In other words, if the herbs have the killing power that’s claimed for them, using the herbs will damage the bacterial population that is your body’s first line of defense against yeast infections.

It would be in your best interest to skip the herbs altogether, and eat the yogurt. Some people with genital yeast infections also put the yogurt directly on the infected area, to get the beneficial bacteria right where they’re needed. There have been no studies that prove that this works, but thousands of people swear by it, and it certainly can’t hurt.

The “systemic yeast infection” web pages also recommend fairly complicated Candida diets, and there is one aspect of these diets that you should follow – if you’re suffering from a vaginal or male yeast infection you should stop eating sugar and white flour, at least until the symptoms and rash are gone.

Sugar has mild antibiotic properties and yeast loves it. It won’t hurt you to give it up for a week or so.

If you want a natural, soothing yeast infection remedy, apply a mild vinegar solution to the affected area. One safe way to do this is to put a cup or more of apple cider vinegar in hot bath water, and then get in for a nice relaxing soak. Or you can sponge your genital area with a vinegar solution, if a relaxing bath doesn’t appeal to you for some reason.

Ladies, do not use a vinegar douche if you have the symptoms of a yeast infection – if you’ve guessed wrong and actually have a bacterial infection instead, you could cause permanent damage to your reproductive organs.

(Yeast and other fungi really don’t like vinegar, so if you ever have athletes’ foot or nail fungus, remember this remedy and give your tired feet a good soak in a tub of warm vinegar solution. It may smell funny, but the fungus will almost always disappear without resorting to more expensive and invasive medications from the drug store.)

So stay away from antifungal/antibiotic herbs if you have a vaginal or male yeast infection, stop eating sugar and white flour at least until the symptoms are gone, and try soaking your rash in a nice warm vinegar bath.

If these mild and safe home remedies don’t work in a few days, it’s time to get yourself to a doctor. No home remedy is guaranteed to cure every yeast infection.

And it’s important to remember that a self-diagnosis is not always right – your home remedy might not be working because you don’t have a yeast infection. If you itch for some other reason, you need to know what really is causing your symptoms so your doctor can help you get rid of it before it does any lasting damage.