The term  skin disorders  is used to describe different skin problems- from widespread rashes to red small bumps on certain portions of the skin. While some conditions can be harmless but unsightly, others may be infectious and even life-threatening in rare cases.

Some skin conditions have a genetic component, while others may result from allergic reactions. Allergic skin problems occur when certain allergens stimulate an immune response such as itching or redness. Bacteria, fungi, viruses can also lead to skin problems. The most common types of skin problems are psoriasis, eczema, acne, rosacea, warts etc. Let s take a closer look at these disorders-

Psoriasis- This is an autoimmune chronic skin condition which causes a rapid increase in the number of skin cells. Due to this rapid accumulation of cells, the surface of your skin becomes dry and flaky. The white scales are usually seen in the joints of your knees and elbows. You will most likely notice redness and inflammation around the scales.
Eczema- Eczema is a medical condition that causes your skin to turn red and become inflamed and itchy. Eczema occurs in many forms, the most common among which is Atopic dermatitis. This condition begins usually in childhood, and gradually fades away or becomes milder as you age.
Acne- This is perhaps the most common skin problem particularly prevalent between the ages of 15 and 35. Almost every other person develops small raised bumps known as acne breakouts due to infected or blocked hair follicles. When the skin pores become clogged due to excess oil secretion or accumulation of dirt and dead skin cells, acne can appear anywhere in the skin. Most commonly, these are noticed on the face- cheeks, chin or the nose.
Rosacea- Rosacea is often mistaken as acne because it induces acne-like inflammatory symptoms. But this particular skin condition can occur due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Rosacea produces red, pus-filled small bumps on the skin, and usually affects fair-skinned middle-aged women. Visibly broken blood vessels, swollen skin, itchy dry eyes, rough patches on the skin- all these signs indicate you may have rosacea.
Warts- These are slightly raised bumps or patches on the upper layer of your skin caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Warts come in different shapes and sizes and can occur in any part of your body- hands, palms, feet, knees, or face.
Role of Ayurveda in curing skin disorders-
The Ayurveda school of treatment aims to restore your body s doshic balance- kapha, vata and pitta. Treatment methods include self-care practices such as a balanced lifestyle, healthy diet, exercise and meditation. There are several Ayurvedic therapies including Abhyanga and Panchakarma that are designed to promote healthy skin.

The Panchakarma vidhi uses medicated herbs, natural ingredients like rice, sand, medicated powder on your body to soothe your senses and flush out the toxins from your body. Once your body is detoxified, your skin feels rejuvenated and nourished.
Essential rosemary oil and olive oil act as excellent moisturizers, especially for dry flaky skin resulting from psoriasis.
Ashwagandha, one of the most essential, powerful herbs packed with anti-inflammatory properties, helps remove rosacea puss. To fetch best results, apply or drink extracts of this wonder herb every alternate day.
Fenugreek seeds, or what is more commonly known as  methi , are rich in essential vitamins like C and K, folic acid and iron. This medicinal plant helps remove dry red patches on the skin. It also prevents the formation of rosacea puss and helps reduce itching.
Skin problems can be mild or severe. Sometimes a conventional treatment method that may work for one condition, may not work well for the other. Ayurveda is a holistic approach to treatment and uses natural ingredients to cure the root cause behind the apparent condition.

Psoriasis And Skin Disorders - What All Should You Know

Hives, or  Urticaria  in medical parlance, is a skin condition characterized by the appearance of itchy swellings on the skin surface. Hives may break out on any part of your body and can be of different sizes. It is not a prolonged condition and generally lasts for a few hours. Urticaria or hives usually occur due to the secretion of certain chemical substances such as  histamine  from underneath the skin surface.

Some of the possible causes of hives are mentioned below:

Overexposure to sunlight
As a side effect of medicines such as aspirin, painkillers or antibiotics.
Insect bites
Any food related allergy may also trigger hives
People allergic to certain chemicals or latex can also develop hives
Sensitivity to temperature or water can cause hives
Infections such as Hepatitis or chronic diseases such as thyroid may result in the occurrence of hives.
Alcohol or caffeine intake can cause chronic urticaria
The most common symptoms of Hives include:

Skin becomes swollen
Frequent itching sensation
Skin inflammation is also common
You may feel a burning sensation
Within a short span of time, it may disappear and then again reappear on different parts of the body
Red and white patches appear all over the skin surface known as  wheals 
Hives generally go untreated as the condition subsides within a few hours. But sometimes, hives can be chronic or acute in nature. If so, it would require treatment as it can give rise to further complications. Some of the treatment methods are given below:

Corticosteroids may be prescribed by the doctor to control the formation of hives and give relief from inflammation.
Antihistamines (drugs which hinder the impacts of histamines; mainly used for curing allergies) are advised to patients with chronic urticaria. It controls the effects caused due to the discharge of histamines.
Knowing and avoiding the trigger conditions may prove to be helpful.
Applying menthol creams can give comfort due to its cooling properties.

Hives - Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

The HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a critical disease. This virus invades a person's immune system which is the body's defense against infections such as viruses and bacteria. The immune system doesn't work properly and becomes deficient once attacked by HIV. One social acknowledgement to HIV that has gained enough recognition is the HIV counselling due to the crucial need to counsel the patient about sexual behavior and the risks associated with it. 

Importance of HIV counselling 
The human immunodeficiency virus has become an epidemic in nature and has reached to a distressing proportion worldwide as it is in its third decade. Thus, counselling becomes remarkably crucial part of the treatment. 

HIV prevention counselling is a significant mode of behavioral invasion particularly in the deficiency or lack of an effective curative treatment or vaccine. HIV counselling varies from other forms of counselling sessions. Apart from being a health obstacle, the disease is equally overwhelming for the family as well as people around you. family. It is also connected with endless and intense human suffering which stimulates multiple emotional responses. Such reactions involve self-denial, grief, fear, loss, anxiety, anger, annoyance, depression self-blaming, pity, self-condemnation isolation and suicidal thoughts. 

Also, the risk of passing the virus to the partner during sexual activity is high and the patient must be aware of safe sex and the risks associated with unprotected sex. Hence, counselling becomes paramount. 

Counselling session s information Self-care counselling: 
The patient must be well informed about the disease and should be supported in embracing attitudes, actions, and beliefs which will defend and serve as a protective shield to the body s immune system. Improving, enhancing, and transforming nutrition is required. A few other things that are emphasized are, encouraging physical activity, avoiding objects, actions, and events that threaten the body, overcoming anxiety and stress that compromise the psychological, mental, physical and welfare of the body, and seeking and giving support for self-care. 

Types of counselling: 

Patient centered counselling: It changed the focus of counselling from a single informative one to one that concentrated on a patient s circumstances and needs. This involved active listening, to render better support and managing client's particular prevention needs. 
Risk reduction counselling: This includes examining client s awareness about sexual activity and their feelings.Using their current HIV knowledge as an appealing tool, the limitations they have for protected sex is discussed. A better understanding is ensured in the patients so that unsafe behaviors can be avoided. 
Grief counselling: People who are contaminated with HIV have an elevated risk of acquiring depression. Counselling helps you to deal with any emotional outburst. 
Aims of counselling in HIV infection-

Prevention is the first purpose of HIV counselling. It decides whether the lifestyle puts that individual at a higher risk. Helping to recognize and distinguish the definitions of high-risk behavior. The counselling contributes to behavioral change and also aims at working with the person and his family to obtain and sustain that change in approach and behavior.

HIV Counselling - Why It Is Important To Get It?

Arthritis is a disease that affects the joints, muscles and soft tissues, which cause stiffness, disability and pain. It is one of the complex conditions and has also been discovered in the remains of people living more than 500,000 years ago.

Although it is usually found in people above 50 years, in rare cases, it can affect younger generations as well. The three most common forms are osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. The symptoms of some arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis, include the following:

Joints turning red, warm, swollen
Painful joints
Unexplained fever
Fatigue
Weight loss
Swollen lymph glands
These symptoms typically last more than two weeks.

Few facts about arthritis
Most people, even though diagnosed with arthritis, are unaware of the following facts:

Snakes, bees, and ants: After years of treatment, some people have turned to specific natural therapies that come from snakes, bees and ants. As per a study by researchers in Brazil, bee sting venom helps reduce the symptoms of arthritis.
Gout is a form of arthritis: Repeated flare-ups, pain and swelling are the result of uric acid, built around the joints. This can be due to genetic predisposition, some diseases and consumption of excess meat, seafood, fructose-sweetened drinks or alcohol. The bunion joint that connects the big toe to the foot is often affected first in people who have gout.
Children get arthritis too: Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is the most common amongst children and affects kids between the ages of 1 - 3 or 8 - 12 years. It strikes girls about twice as often as boys. As per a recent survey, 1 in every 250 children globally suffers from arthritis.
Injuries increase the risk of arthritis: Injured joints are prone to develop osteoarthritis (OA). People with knee injuries have six times the chance, while those with hip injuries are three times more likely to develop OA.
Climate cannot cure: People have a misconception that wet, cold climates cause arthritis rather than a warmer climate. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Orthopaedics confirmed the same frequency for both warm and cold climates. However, sore joints find warm atmosphere more soothing.
Obesity increases the risk: Excess weight is one of the primary causes of osteoarthritis, especially for weight-bearing joints like knees, and to less extended hips. But there is also a higher risk to joints like ankles, back, big toes and hands.
Animals can also develop: Not only humans but animals like dogs, cats and others can also develop osteoarthritis. The symptoms are almost the same as the ones faced by a human. It can also lead to a loss of appetite, which can cause weight loss.
Race counts: Both whites and African Americans experience arthritis at similar rates. However, blacks have higher chances of severe joint pain and limitations in activity as compared to whites.
Women are prone to arthritis: Statistics show that women have a significantly higher risk for all types of arthritis except gout. As per the Arthritis Community, Research & Evaluation Unit, women are twofold more prone to arthritis than men.

9 Amazing Facts About Arthritis!

The pelvic floor is a group of muscles in your pelvic area. These muscles support the organs in your pelvis like a sling. The organs in this area include the bladder, uterus (women), prostate (men) and rectum (the area at the end of the large intestine where your body stores solid waste). By contracting and relaxing these muscles, you control your bowel and bladder movements.

What is pelvic floor dysfunction?

When you are unable to control the muscles in your pelvic floor to have a bowel movement, it is called pelvic floor dysfunction. People with pelvic floor dysfunction contract these muscles rather than relax them. Because of this, they cannot have a bowel movement or they have an incomplete one.

It is important to be aware of the symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction as there is no comprehensive list of causes. However, it can be said that traumatic injuries to the pelvic area seems to have a rather higher preponderance among the causes of pelvic floor dysfunction, which is also known as PFD. While giving birth to a child is an experience that is life changing, the potential downside is that it can be one of the causes of pelvic floor dysfunction in women!

Other symptoms include feeling the need to urinate often and then finding the process to be quite painful. Constipation which occurs in spite of a diet which contains enough roughage is a sign, as well, that it is about time that a person should schedule an appointment with the doctor.

Medication is a possible solution and is usually in the form of a muscle relaxant of a low intensity. However, it is great for a person who has the misfortune of having pelvic floor dysfunction to know that there are solutions which are completely bereft of the need of any form of medication!

Cure Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

Reducing the effects of pelvic floor dysfunction can be quite simple, really. Warm baths and some exercises suggested on a subjective basis are quite common. This is a process called biofeedback.

Biofeedback aims to retrain the pelvic floor so that there is far better functioning. The success of this method is well known to a specialist, it has vastly improved the pelvic floor dysfunction conditions of more than 75% of the patients significantly!

The method works by observing the workings of the pelvic floor and then providing feedback regarding its coordination as it expands and contracts. Some of the many things which make this method truly great are that it is non-invasive and non-medical. As a matter of fact, taking into due account its success rate, people should really give it a shot before they try medication or surgery.

Surgery

Surgery is said to be effective in the case of rectocele. Nevertheless, this is the last resort as it is always better to sort out such problems sans having to resort to surgery. Multidisciplinary approaches which involve fields such as psychology are good options. Pelvic floor dysfunction is something that is a pain to have, but it really need not be!

Pelvic Floor Dysfunction - Things You Should Know About it 

Menopause is a condition that marks the end of the menstrual cycle. It is a normal phenomenon that women experience with age. Menopause affects the bone health adversely. Bone health is directly tied to oestrogen, the hormone responsible for reproductive cycles, pain sensitivity. As a woman moves out of her fertile years there is an internal change in the reproductive system and the consequences can be seen and felt all over the body, including the bones.

The years just preceding menopause, with their hormonal fluctuations can set the stage for later health issues like bone weakening. As the oestrogen level drops, the bone density starts to decline which continues for a long period of time. The bone loss can become significant during perimenopause (the decades making up to menopause) and will speed up in the first few years of menopause.

The oestrogen level directly affects the process known as bone remodelling; the constant breakdown and the remodelling of the bone in the skeleton. With less oestrogen in the body cells called osteoclasts are able to absorb bone at a faster rate than osteoblasts (bone-building cells) are able to regenerate new bone. Thus the bone remodelling equation is no longer equal and the bone density continues to decline.

The osteoporosis risk after menopause is a serious one, yet so many women refuse to pay it much attention. Perhaps it s because the bone damage isn t visible, or that bone loss continues so gradually for so many years. While the bone loss cannot be completely halted, there is plenty that can be done to slow it down. Here are some ways to take care of your bone health before or after menopause.

Stay active: Adopting an active lifestyle after menopause helps in protecting the bones. It's recommended that adults between 19 to 64 years of age should do moderate to intense activity. This could include activities such as cycling or brisk walking. Sitting for long hours should be avoided. Weight-bearing exercises and resistance exercises are particularly important for improving bone strength and helping to prevent osteoporosis.
A balanced healthy diet: A healthy, balanced diet that includes calcium and vitamin D will help maintain healthy bones after the menopause. Good sources of calcium include green, leafy vegetables (but not spinach), nuts, seeds, dried fruit, tinned fish with the bones in, and dairy products like milk, yoghurt and cheese. Good food sources of vitamin D include oily fish, eggs, and fat spreads or breakfast cereals
Hormone replacement therapy: HRT can be an effective treatment for common menopausal symptoms like night sweats, sleep disturbance and achy joints. It works by replacing oestrogen, which naturally begins to lower post menopause. HRT can also help to maintain bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

Bone Health - Know How It Is Affected Post Menopause!

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