The inflammation of the kidneys as an effect of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is known as Lupus Nephritis. Like lupus, this is an autoimmune disease. Inflammation of the kidneys hinders kidney functioning by not allowing the kidneys to regulate the optimum amount and types of fluids in the body and restricts the removal of waste through urine. It can also cause the protein to leak out of the kidneys. If not managed in time, this can eventually lead to kidney failure by scarring the kidney tissue. However, this is a rare occurrence. 

On an average, 6 out of 10 lupus patients suffer from lupus nephritis. In most cases, this disease develops within the first five years of lupus symptoms making their appearance. The symptoms of this disease are mild and can vary from person to person. Very often, the first signs of lupus nephritis become visible only in lab tests as the symptoms are similar to those exhibited by other kidney diseases. 

Some of the common symptoms of this condition are: 

Swelling of the feet, ankles and calves 
High blood pressure 
Weight gain 
Frothy, dark urine 
There are five stages types of this disease and hence, the first step to treating this disease is to identify its type. For this, your doctor will begin with a thorough physical examination and understand your medical history. He or she will also ask for a few tests including urine tests, blood tests, an ultrasound and a kidney biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. 

Lupus nephritis is usually treated with corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs. Medication may also be prescribed to lower blood pressure and prevent the clotting of blood. However, in some cases, this treatment may not be enough to stop the progression of the disease and some kidney function may be lost. If both kidneys fail, dialysis is the next medical step. This involves the use of a machine in place of the kidneys to filter and removes waste products from the body. This may be followed by the need for a kidney transplant. 

Since lupus patients are at a high risk of lupus nephritis, here are a few conscious lifestyle changes that can help prevent this condition:

Have a diet that is low in salt 
Avoid smoking and alcohol 
Exercise regularly 
Avoid non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs("pain killers") and unproven alternative medications that can affect the kidneys.

What Is Lupus Nephritis?

What are dermal fillers + how different it is from botox?

Dermal fillers are an artificial or naturally-derived material used for directly injecting into the skin. These soft tissue fillers are used with the aim to restore your facial appearance to address issues related to facial aging. Depending on the kind of filler that you opt for, the effects can vary from 6 months to 5 years. Nonetheless, they are used for a number of problems associated with facial aging such as:

  for smoothen out and add volume to creases known as laugh lines

  for enhancing thin lips

  for providing shape and fullness to cheeks so as to provide a youthful appearance

  for enhancing the under eye areas to the point that depressions or hollows are no longer visible

  for merging scars from chicken pox or acne with surrounding skin

  for adding volume to your temple or lower cheek area when shifting of fat pads (masses of tightly packed fat cells) underneath your skin surface occurs.

How are these fillers different from botox?

Even though both these procedures involve the use of injections, they are completely different from one another. Botox or botulinum (a purified, natural protein) works by numbing muscles that contract to create facial lines. It is mostly used around the eye and forehead areas for stopping the movement of muscles that cause wrinkles to form. Moreover, it treats active lines, which are visible when you smile, frown or squint.

Dermal fillers, on the other hand, treat wrinkles that are very deep and static, which you can only be seen when the face is in a restful state. Furthermore, it serves to enhance the skin while lightly swapping the collagen (a protein that helps connective tissue in the body to remain strong) that gets lost as you age. When it comes to swelling and bruising, botox reports minimal effects and dermal fillers a certain amount of swelling and bruising that disappear within 7-10 days.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'consult'.
Related Tip: 6 Face Washing Mistakes that are Damaging Your Skin, Every day!

For Your SKIN: What are Dermal Fillers + How Different it is from Botox?

When an injury happens, the normal tendency of the skin is to repair itself from inside out, until it is completely closed and healed. However, in some cases, due to various reasons, excessively large scars can form. These hypertrophic scars are known as keloids. Here is everything you would like to know about keloids:

Features of keloids:

Benign, fibrous, smooth, hard growths that form over a healed wound
Can be bigger than the original wound
Most commonly found on chest, ear lobes, cheeks, and abdomen
Pregnant women are usually at the risk of developing keloids
Though they do not develop into malignant lesions, they are a cosmetic issue, especially when the visible portions of skin are affected
They are localized, flesh-colored and red in color
They are raised from the surrounding tissue and are prone to repeat injury
It continues to grow with time
Could cause discomfort and irritation when it comes in contact with clothing
Sun exposure or tanning can worsen it and cause tenderness
Common injuries that can lead to keloid formation include burns, surgical incisions, skin piercings, chicken pox scars, tattoos, etc.
Treatment for keloids may not always be effective and need repeat treatments
Treatment options: If the keloid is not in a visible area and does not cause any problem, it is best to leave it untreated and observe for any changes. The following changes could indicate the need for treatment.

Change in color from pale pink to red (indicating inflammation)
Severe increase in pain/tenderness
Sudden increase in size, which could indicate malignancy (keloids are an area where benign growth can turn cancerous)
A biopsy can be done to identify if treatment is necessary. This involves removing a small part of the tissue by injection and sending it for laboratory examination.
Treatment options include both nonsurgical and surgical. Nonsurgical methods are tried first before resorting to surgery.

Steroid injections into the keloid to control growth and inflammation
Moisturization to keep it soft and avoid dryness and cracking and bleeding
Freezing the tissue (cryotherapy) to freeze the growth can help in further increase in the size of the tissue
Laser to remove the tissue, especially if it is small. Alternately, this could be used as a secondary measure after the keloid is excised to prevent further growth
Radiation therapy to shrink the growth
Surgical excision, where the keloid is quite visible or large. This could be followed by radiation or laser to prevent further growth.
Also, in people who are prone to develop keloids, surgical incisions can be treated for a longer time with pressure dressings and silicone pads.

Keloids - Know About Its Treatment!

Tennis toe is also known as runner s toe since athletes are mostly runners; skiers and tennis players also get this injury often. Due to its ugly appearance, tennis toe is also known as a black toenail. This injury causes bleeding under the toe along with moderate to heavy pain. Although it is not considered to be type 1 serious injury, it can still force an athlete to abstain from participating in any events. The blood from the toenail might take its own sweet time to get out of the way. As a result, the recovery time for this injury can last for weeks together. This, unfortunately, is also an ideal condition for infection to set in.

How does it happen?
This condition may arise because of the friction between the toenail and the running shoes or constant downward pressure on the toe. In case if the shoe is tighter than normal, it can damage the toenail. If on the other hand, the shoe is very loose, it can result in similar condition due to heavy pressure on the nail. Tennis toe can also arise in a situation, if the toe constantly bangs the shoe from inside. Extreme hot weather may also result in toe swelling. Finally, one may encounter tennis toe if a blow is faced on the toe. Irrespective of the cause, the blood clots inside the nail resulting in swelling and pain. Too much damage might result in falling off of the toenail altogether.

Treatment plan:
1. If the tennis toe is minor, the injury resolves all by itself
2. The toenail should be clipped together to ensure that it does not result in any friction with the shoe.
3. During the injury, it is advised that a person wears bigger size shoes with wider toe space so that it does not result in any further irritation.
4. If the toenail is torn, make sure to tap it up so that adequate protection is there from outside forces.
5. In case the injury is serious a doctor might have to intervene and drain the blood with a surgical instrument.
6. Another medical solution is to remove the toenail surgically, drain the blood and tape it up for a good one week until new nail formation takes place.

Precautionary measure:
1. Running shoes should be at least half a size bigger than the normal size.
2. Toenails should be regularly trimmed in order to avoid any injury.
3. If a person has a tendency of sweating too much, it makes sense to wear a pair of socks at all times.
4. While running, shoe laces should be tightened to avoid sudden friction between the toe and the shoe resulting into tennis toe.

Tennis Toe - How it Should be Treated?

Psoriasis, in general, is a persistent autoimmune condition that causes the speedy development of skin cell. This increase in the number of cells causes unhealthy scales on the surface of the skin.

Symptoms of nail psoriasis
Symptoms to watch out for are the nails cracking right from the nail bed. This, in medicinal term, is known as onycholysis and it creates space that can get contaminated by germs. Soreness or a sponge like feeling beneath the nails, pitting, warping and hardening of the nails, discoloration, painful chalk like build up beneath the cuticles which causes the nail to move upwards, are common symptoms as well. This is known as subungual hyperkeratosis. As a rule, almost everybody who is affected by general psoriasis, suffer from nail psoriasis.

Sometimes nail psoriasis may be accompanied by fungal infections. A parting amid the nail and nail bed is the perfect environment for the fungi to grow. If the symptoms you are experiencing are extremely moderate, treatment may not be required. If the discoloration, nail hardening or chipping of the nails is severe, it is probably a good time to make an appointment with a dermatologist.

Causes
A diet deficient in Calcium, Vitamin C or B12 can lead to this condition. Unhygienic habits can aggravate the condition. Psoriasis, in most cases, is acquired genetically. A weak immune system can also be a marker. Certain steps can be taken to keep the nails healthy. Keeping the nails clipped short and clean helps. Wearing gloves while working in the kitchen, during gardening or washing is another preventive measure you can always take.

Treatment
It may be hard to treat nail psoriasis; while topical medicines are prescribed, they usually don t work that well. Oral D3 supplements can be taken. D3 ointments, light or photo therapy and finally corticosteroid injections directly aimed to the nail bed may ease the situation. In very severe cases, nails may need to be removed with the help of surgery, so as to help new nails to grow back. Patience is the key word.

Nail Psoriasis - How To Know If You Are Suffering From It?

It is a common knowledge that beer has health benefits when used in masks, scrubs, as conditioners, etc. This reason is good enough for even non-drinkers to stock up their fridges with cans of beer. 
Here are a few ways by which we can use beer to make our skin and hair better:

Use beer as a conditioner - Beer happens to be an excellent conditioner. Mixing one cup warm beer with a teaspoon of jojoba oil makes a natural, non-greasy conditioner. Wash your hair with your regular shampoo and use this mix as a conditioner. The beer in it will give volume to your hair while jojoba oil will add shine and luster.
Use it for a face pack - Take two to three strawberries mash with a fork, add few drops of beer and make a paste. Rub this paste all over your face in a circular motion. Rinse after 15-20 minutes and apply moisturizer on your face.
Soak in beer laced water - Beer can be used in bubble bath too! Mix some soap with beer of your choice and add the mix to the running bath water. Soak in this water and feel your skin become soft and smooth.
Use beer as a hair-pack - Wash your hair with your usual shampoo. Now pour the mixture made of distilled water, beer, two teaspoon apple cider vinegar and few drops of essential oil (any scent), on your hair. Make sure it reaches the hair that is inside as well. Rinse this mixture with lukewarm water. You can do this once a month.
Get the beer glow - Take half a teaspoon of beer, one egg white and a drop of almond extract. Whisk them together and keep aside. On your washed and dried face, apply the mask and let it dry until your skin feels tight. Wash it off with lukewarm water.
From Lybrate: If you found this tip useful, please thank the doctor by clicking on the heart icon below. Also, spread good health by sharing this tip with your loved ones over Whatsapp, Facebook and other media.

Do You Know What Beer Does To Your Hair & Skin?

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