A little bit of sun is always good for you and you do need sunlight for your body to process vitamin D, which is necessary for bone health. At the same time, the ultraviolet rays from the sun can be detrimental for your health. While being in the sun is not a bad thing, how long you stay in the sun and how well you are protecting yourself count. Prolonged and unprotected sun exposure harms your skin and can decrease the immunity function of the skin.

Some effects of sun exposure include:

Development of cancerous and non-cancerous skin lesions
Benign tumours
Coarse and fine wrinkles
Freckles
Mottled pigmentation (Skin discoloration in certain areas)
Sallowness (The colour of the skin turns yellow)
Telangiectasia (Expansion of blood vessels under your skin)
Elastosis (Destruction of the collagen and elastic tissue)

The most harmful effect of sun exposure is definitely skin cancer. It is the uncontrolled development of anomalous skin cells is skin cancer. This accelerated development leads to formation of tumours, which are either malignant (cancerous) or benign (noncancerous). Skin cancer is mainly of 3 types: basal cell carcinoma, melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Among these, squamous cell and basal cell carcinoma are less critical; while melanoma is very serious. When melanoma is left untreated, it can affect the other organs and get difficult to treat. UV rays are the major causes of skin cancer. Sun exposure over the years leads to squamous cell and basal cell carcinoma, while severe sun damage episodes before the age of 18 cause melanoma.

Here are some tips to prevent sun damage:

Always apply sunscreen 20 minutes before you go out, even if it is cloudy. A sunscreen with SPF of 30 or more, and zinc oxide is advisable if you want optimum sun protection. Also, you should reapply sunscreen every 2 hours, especially if you are swimming or sweating.
Select cosmetic products, contact lenses and clothing that offer protection from UV rays.
Choose sunglasses that offer total protection from UV rays. Also, wear a hat with a wide brim to shade your neck and face.
Avoid direct exposure during harsh hours like between 10.00 and 3.00PM.

Prolonged Sun Exposure - How It Can Damage Your Skin?

When tissues that usually grow inside the uterus, start growing outside the organ, it is called endometriosis. Painful periods, pain during sex, pain while urinating or bowel movements, extreme bleeding, fatigue, infertility, diarrhea, bloating and nausea are some of the symptoms of endometriosis.

Treating endometriosis usually depends on the following factors

Age
Severity of symptoms
Severity of the disease
Future plans for children
Depending on these the doctor might opt for any of the following treatments

Medication for Pain: If the symptoms are mild, then the doctor will prescribe some pain killers like Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. 
Hormone Therapy: Hormone therapy is effective, but once you stop them, your symptoms may come back. Some of the hormone therapies include: 
Hormonal Contraceptives: Birth control pills, vaginal rings and patches are useful in controlling the hormones that are responsible for tissue build-up outside the uterine cavity. 
Medroxyprogesterone: This drug stops menstruation, which in turn stops the tissue build-up and put an end to all the symptoms. But on the other hand, gaining weight, low bone production and depression are some of the common effects of this drug. 
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) antagonists and agonists: Hormones that stimulate ovaries are blocked by these. They bring down oestrogen levels and hence prevent menstruation. 
Danazol: This drug prevents menstruation and symptoms of endometriosis by blocking the hormones that stimulate the ovaries. However, Danazol may not be a favourable option because of its side effects. The drug should be avoided during pregnancy.
Conservative Surgery: If you are trying to get pregnant, but you already suffer from endometriosis, then removing endometriosis surgically is a viable solution. Your uterus and ovaries will be preserved, which might increase your chances of becoming pregnant. Even suffering from severe pain might find relief from conservative surgery. 
Hysterectomy: In extreme cases, the only way to deal with the symptoms is to completely remove the uterus, ovaries and cervix. Since a hysterectomy means you cannot have children, it is kept as the last option for women in their reproductive age.

Management of Endometriosis

When the natural moisture content of your skin begins to dry up, you experience dry skin. Although it is a temporary skin condition which occurs mainly during the winter or in a generally dry climate, for some people, it could be a problem for a lifetime.

Naturally dry skin tendencies v/s drying of other skin types
Naturally, the water content of a healthy skin is around 10 to 20 percent. This natural moisture level can dwindle due to many factors and the skin may show signs of drying. Thus you may end up getting dry, flaky, itchy and lifeless skin. People with naturally dry skin experience 75 percent more water loss than normal skin. Since the skin loses water and sebum (the oil secretion from the sebaceous glands within the skin), the topmost layer of the skin begins to dry. As a result, the top layer starts peeling away. These skin peels are called flakes.

Causes

You can experience dry skin due to excessively cold weather, which in most cases is accompanied by a lack of humidity.
Again, if your skin is exposed to too much heat or skin drying conditions like sauna baths or prolonged hot showers, you experience dry skin.
Applying skin cleansing materials or chemicals can also make the skin dry.
Some internal disorders like illness or infection can make your skin dry.
Treatment
When you have a perennially dry skin, you should moisturize it daily to keep it hydrated. You should consult a dermatologist for picking out the right skin cream for your skin. The appropriate moisturizer, if you have very dry skin should be oil or petroleum based. When you purchase the prescribed moisturizer or lotion, make sure you buy something which contains vitamin E, Shea Butter and Avocado Oil. Since these moisturizing agents aren t water based , they can lock in the skin moisturizer effectively.

Advantages of moisturising regularly

Dry skin is prone to wrinkle formation   When you moisturize daily, the collagen levels of your skin are restored, which can then effectively fight wrinkling and aging of your skin.
Prevents flakiness   Since the upper layer of your skin starts peeling off, your skin may appear dull, lifeless and flaky. The condition worsens when there is a cold weather outside. Moisturizing your skin daily will make your skin get a natural glow and stop flaking form occurring in the first place.
Reduces itchiness: Moreover, daily moisturizing will make your skin less itchy.
Moisturising reduces the negative effects of makeup: Not moisturizing dry skin will make it look less hydrated. Applying makeup on your dry skin directly is the worst thing you can do. This may spoil your makeup and make it look creasy and broken. Thus, you should keep your skin hydrated by applying moisturiser regularly.

Flaky Skin - Why You Should Moisturize it Daily?

Wounds and bruises are both injuries. However, they differ widely in terms of the causing factors, the nature of the injury, the pain they cause and the kind of treatment they require. The following are a few of the myriad ways in which the two injuries differ from each other:

1. A wound causes quick damage - the skin tissue is cut or punctured while a bruise (also called a closed wound) is where the skin is not torn. 

2. A wound is usually caused by a sharp object but bruises are the results of blunt force or trauma.

3. A wound almost certainly bleeds due to ruptured tissue and blood vessels. Blunt injury also damages the blood capillaries of the skin and causes blood to accumulate under the skin tissue, creating a dark patch of skin. Blood vessels can also break due to lifting of heavy objects or overexertion of muscles.

4. A wound carries the risk of infection because the skin is open but a bruise does not get infected.

5. A wound has a burning or stinging sensation but a bruise is characterized by swelling and a blunt throbbing pain.

6. A wound can be healed by antiseptic and antibiotic medication. Large wounds need to be closed by stitching them up to avoid severe infection. On the other hand, a bruise usually heals by itself. A cold compress and pain killers may be used to ease discomfort. Heat can be applied to the injured spot to normalize the blood flow and dissolve the blood clot.

7. A wound can lead to complications like bacterial infections or the healing might be delayed by chronic diseases like diabetes. In case of a bruise, it usually does not cause complications but if there's a blunt injury to sensitive areas like the head, the tailbone or the eyes, medical attention is advised.

8. Wounds and bruises can also be differentiated on the basis of their subtypes. The different types of wounds are:

a. Incision (sharp objects cutting the dermis layer of skin)
b. Abrasion (the epithelial tissue is scraped off)
c. Avulsion (a body structure is torn off)
d. Penetration (a sharp object causes an entry and an exit wound)
e. Puncture (only an entry wound caused by a sharp object)

The different types of bruises are:
a. Hematoma (blood pools under the skin)
b. Purpura (tiny spots of blood on the inside of the mouth)
c. Contusion (similar to hematoma and caused by external trauma)
d. Crush injury (caused due to a large amount of force on the body part for a long time)

Wounds VS Bruises

We all think of sunscreen as something that goes into our vacation kit when heading out on a hike in the hills or to the beach. What we fear is being out in the sun can reduce fairness, can cause a tan, and a sunscreen will help maintain complexion.

Well, these are completely wrong notions. What we need to be aware of is that even the regular, daily sun exposure during driving or going to the office can do as much damage, if not more. The sunscreen, therefore, assumes a very important role in your daily personal care. Read on and find out more.

Relationship with skin cancer: Studies in the US have shown that skin cancer is the most common type of cancer and sun exposure is the leading cause of this. It is the regular exposure on a daily basis that cumulatively leads to this, rather than a one day exposure minus the sunscreen. Using sunscreen on a daily basis provides a good shield against skin cancer.

Slows down aging: Dry skin, wrinkles, sun spots, and dark circles on the skin are more related to unprotected exposure to the sun rather than just aging. The sun is the most powerful agent that can lead to these effects and it is very essential to guard yourself against it.

While a general belief is that the sun is less harmful during cloudy days, it is not so the case. The ultraviolet rays of the sun filter through clouds and can cause equal damage as they would during sunny summer days. Studies have shown that the rays, which filter through the clouds are capable of accelerated aging effects and continue to do so, even after you have reached home.

It is not just the amount of time, you are actually out in the sun that counts. The collagen in the skin that gives it the firmness, if is damaged, leads to sagging and bagging of skin. Using a sunscreen provides a shield against these harmful ultraviolet rays.

Research has shown a 73% reduction in the invasive forms of skin cancer by using sunscreen on a regular basis. It is a popular belief that fair complexion is more affected by exposure to the sun. It is true that darker complexion has more melanocytes that increase the natural protection, but this does not ensure complete protection against the harmful ultraviolet rays.

After reading this, a sunscreen lotion with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or more should surely find its way into your grooming kit.

Why Do You Need To Use Sunscreen Daily?

Seborrhea or dandruff can be a very distressing as well as an embarrassing problem. Dandruff, primarily caused due to dryness, refers to the white flakes that fall off your scalp. The problem of dandruff is common for both men and women, irrespective of age. Dandruff is such a problem that cannot be cured easily but can only be controlled. There are many remedies for controlling dandruff.

Eight such remedies are mentioned below:

1. Use anti- dandruff hair care products: using anti-dandruff shampoos and conditioners can help you to control your problem of dandruff.
2. Avoid oiling your hair on a regular basis: dandruff, at times, tends to increase if your scalp is excessively oily. So, to avoid it, try not to oil your hair regularly. Also, if you have an oily scalp, make sure to use the correct hair care products to control the problem.
3. Apply lemon juice: lemon juice is known to be a very effective remedy for treating dandruff naturally. Apply lemon juice all over your scalp to combat the problem of dandruff.
4. Baking soda: baking soda is an effective remedy. Baking soda helps to reduce the excess oil on your scalp
5. Use virgin olive oil: massage warm virgin olive oil on your scalp, this can help you to reduce your problem of dandruff to some extent.
6. Include more vitamins in your diet: a healthy diet can help you to deal with your problem of dandruff more efficiently.
7. Mental stress: reducing your mental stress can help you to control dandruff, since most hair problems occur due to stress or stress related problems.
8. Use the right comb: try using an appropriate comb for your hair. If the comb hurts your scalp, then the skin of your scalp may turn flakier resulting in more dandruff.
Following the above mentioned tips can help you to deal with your problem of dandruff efficiently. If you are unable to control dandruff, you should not ignore it and consider visiting a dermatologist for further advice.

8 Remedies to Treat Dandruff

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