Psoriasis is a durable autoimmune disease defined by patches of irregular skin. These patches of skin are usually scaly, red and itchy. Its symptoms vary greatly in severity, the coverage might be small and focused or it could spread all over the body.

Types
There are mainly five types of psoriasis:
1. Plaque- also called psoriasis vulgaris, is the most common kind of psoriasis (90% of cases). It affects the skin behind the forearms, over the navel, shins and scalp, usually presenting itself in red patches with white- colored scales over it.
2. Guttate- has lesions that are drop-shaped.
3. Inverse- red patches show up in the folds of your skin.
4. Pustular- pus-filled blisters form. They are non-infectious.
5. Erythrodermic- the rash spreads wider. In some people, even fingernails and toenails get affected as pits may form on them or their colour may change.

Causes
Anything from emotional trauma and stress to streptococcal infection can cause psoriasis. Sometimes you might carry predisposition for psoriasis in your genes and stress may aggravate it. Environmental factors may also lead to psoriasis. And then again defects in the immune system may also be the underlying cause. Even after thirty years of research, the exact cause for psoriasis remains a mystery. There is no age limit to psoriasis. It can show up from anywhere between infancy to old age.

Symptoms
Common symptoms include
1. Pink or red scaly bumps that are smaller in size, but become plaques later, show up on the skin. Although these scales can show up anywhere, they are mostly common on sites where there is much friction, abrasion or scratching.
2. Small pinpoint depressions or pits might show up on toenails and fingernails. Distal onycholysis, which refers to large brown/yellow divisions on the nails, shows up as well.
3. Sore throat may follow if it is guttate psoriasis.

Treatment
Psoriasis is not curable. But its symptoms can be managed with steroid creams, ultraviolet creams, vitamin d3 creams and with medicines that act as immunosuppressants. Creams alone can help control symptoms in 75% of patients with psoriasis.

All About Psoriasis

Tips to overcome Alopecia

Everyone experiences hair fall and a vast majority experiences severe hair loss. But some people may experience hair loss as a result of the immune system attacking hair follicles or the place where hair growth begins. While the damage is not permanent, it can be quite frustrating and lower your self-esteem. This condition is known as alopecia. 

Try these 2 effective ways to counter Alopecia.

1. Minimize its effects: Treatments can help hair grow, but there are several ways through which you can minimize the effects of this medical condition. For instance, always use sunscreens for your scalp, face and exposed areas. This will ensure that bald patches don’t cause sunburn. Similarly, use wigs, caps and scarves to save your scalp from Sun and keep it warm in case it’s very cold. If alopecia has affected your eyes or hair inside the nostril, it is recommended that you wear eyeglasses to protect eyes from dust and debris, especially when eyelashes or eyebrows are missing or use ointments for protecting the nose.

2. Medications for hair growth: Depending on the hair loss patterns, you can opt for treatments that involve cortisone, topical minoxidil, immunotherapy and anthralin, which can help in increasing hair growth and suppress immunity reaction to prevent the effects of this medical condition.

Remember, the treatment depends on several factors, such as age, amount of hair loss and the ability to be regular with the treatments. Make sure that you consult with your doctor before beginning any treatment.

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Alopecia Care - Handle this hair loss problem with ease.

The first thing anyone notices about you is your face and often people find themselves wishing for things like a slimmer nose, fuller lips etc. This is where facial cosmetic surgery comes in. Facial cosmetic surgery can address areas like your eyebrows, nose, cheeks, chin etc to give you the facial structure you've dreamed of.

Take a look at some of the common types of facial cosmetic procedures:

Brow lift: Frown lines and creases that develop across the forehead, between the eyes and over the nose bridge can be addressed through this procedure. This surgery is performed mainly to combat signs of aging and involves raising eye brows that may be sagging over the eyelid.
Eyelid surgery: Puffiness in the upper eye lids may be caused by excessive fat deposits. When combined with sagging skin, it can disturb the contours of the eye and in some cases cause vision problems. Blepharoplasty or eye lid surgery removes this excess skin and corrects fine lines, wrinkles and bags under the eyes.
Nose: A rhinoplasty is used to reconstruct the nose. The nasal skin is separated from the tissue and cartilage structure underneath which is then reshaped as desired and then sutured together again. Rhinoplasty is of two types; open rhinoplasty and closed rhinoplasty.
Ears: An octoplasty is a facial cosmetic surgery aimed at correcting protruding ears or large outer ears and correcting ear deformities such as a lop ear, cupped ear or shell ear and torn ear lobes. This surgery is usually performed on children between the ages of 4 to 14.
Chin: Surgery on your chin can reshape it to make it look smaller or bigger as desired. This can be done by reshaping the jaw bone or inserting an implant. In some cases the procedure may be combined with liposuction.
Forehead: Signs of aging on the forehead, frown lines or heavy brows triggered by stress and hereditary furrowed lines above the nose can be addressed with a forehead lift. This procedure is often performed along with a facelift or eyelid surgery.
Facelift: As we grow older, our skin loses its elasticity. This triggers the development of wrinkles and deepens creases along the nose and cheek. Facelifts address these signs of aging by tightening skin and strengthening the muscles beneath it. Facial cosmetic surgery can also be used to correct congenital defects such as cleft lips and to treat scars.
Surgery to repair a cleft lip or cleft palate not only enhances appearances but also enhances the quality of life by improving functionality. Scar revision surgery involves the injecting or application of steroid medication to lighten the scar and make it less obvious. To treat burns that leave behind prominent scars, a procedure called Z plasty may be used.

Facial Cosmetic Surgery - Which Type is Suitable for You?

Vitiligo is a disease which results in the loss of skin colouring pigment and ultimately the person loose his or her skin colour in blotches. The rate and to what extent the colour loss will happen is always unpredictable. When the Melanocytes cells lose their ability or get destroyed completely, the human skin starts losing it's skin colour produced by these Melanocyte cells. Vitiligo can generally affect skin present of any body part. Vitiligo is a common disease and it affects almost one million people every year all over the world. The disease can affect a person of any age.

Causes of Vitiligo

There are different causes due to which Vitiligo is caused. Let us have a look :

Vitiligo can happen due to an autoimmune disorder, when the immune system becomes overactive and results in the destruction of the colour pigment-producing cells i.e. the Melanocytes.
Vitiligo is also believed to affect people because of genetic factors. The immune system can get affected by the genes and results in a loss of skin colouring melanocytes. It can be hereditary and gets passed on. However, it is not at all contagious and cannot be passed on to someone else.
Harmful exposure to UV rays can cause the body to loose melanocyte cells. Heavy sunburn is also a common cause of the disease.
A stressful life schedule or oxidative stress imbalance can easily make the melanocyte cells to go weak and eventually wither away.
A foreign virus or bacteria which may enter into the immune system and if not destroyed affects the melanocytes in different parts of the body.
Treatment for Vitiligo-

Vitiligo Treatment or White Patches Treatment is based on improving your skin s appearance by restoring its colour. Re-pigmentation treatment is most successful on face and trunk; hands, feet and areas with white hair respond poorly. Compared to long-standing patches, new ones are more likely to respond to medical therapy.

The treatment can be classified into

Medical

Medicines applied to the skin, such as:
Corticosteroid creams or ointments
Immunomodulator creams or ointments, such as Elidel & Protopic
Topical drugs such as methoxsalen (Oxsoralen)
Oral Medical treatment includes the use of immune-modulating drugs such as systemic corticosteroids, levamisole, cyclophosphamide, azathioprine, vitamin supplements (especially vitamin B12 and folic acid).
Phototherapy NBUVB full body   A medical procedure in which your skin is exposed to ultraviolet A (UVA) or ultraviolet B (UVB) light from a special lamp in full body chambers.
Excimer (Targeted Phototherapy)   Targeted phototherapy, also called concentrated phototherapy, focused phototherapy and microphototherapy, involves delivery of ultraviolet radiation directly focused on, or targeted at, the skin lesion through special delivery mechanisms.
Surgical Procedures

Surgical treatment   Normal skin is used as donor tissue and then grafts are surgically transplanted on areas of Vitiligo treatment. The new skin grafts start producing pigment. Patients who are candidates for this procedure must have stable Vitiligo, or Vitiligo that has not changed for at least one year. The criteria of stability is taken as (a) no new White patches, (b) no extension of existing White patches and (c) no loss of pigmentation of previously repigmened patches for at least 1 year. This procedure can be used for patients with limited areas of Vitiligo and also in those with more extensive disease.
Melanocyte cell transplantation   In this procedure, a skin graft is taken from the patients own thigh, this skin is then treated with an enzyme known as trypsin which separates all the layers of the skin and thus Melanocytes and Keratinocytes are concentrated. The Vitiligo (Skin White Spot) skin is then removed with the use of diamond burs or Lasers and the cells are transplanted. The advantage of this procedure is that cell culture is not needed and that skin harvesting from the donor area, preparation of cell separation and application of Melanocytes can all be undertaken in a single 3-h procedure.
Blister Grafting   In this procedure, blisters are created on your pigmented skin primarily by using suction. The tops of the blisters are then cut out and transplanted to a depigmented skin area where a blister of equal size has been created and removed.
Punch grafting  Punch grafting is the simplest and the least expensive of all the grafting procedures in Vitiligo. The procedure involves the transfer of circular pieces or punches of skin tissue from the donor area into similar shaped pits that are made on the recipient skin. The size of these punches can range from 1 mm to 2 mm and they are spaced 5-10 mm apart on the recipient skin.
De-pigmentation  Depigmentation involves fading the rest of the skin on your body to match the already-white areas. If you have vitiligo on more than 50 percent of your body, depigmentation may be the best treatment option. In this procedure, the drug monobenzone (Benoquin) is applied twice a day to the pigmented areas of your skin until they match the already-depigmented areas. Some patients who are resistant to depigmentation with drug monobenzone (Benoquin) will need Q Switch NDYAG Laser to destroy the pigment cells. Depigmentation in most patients is a permanent technique in which the whole body is gradually turned white.
Color (Camouflage)   Camouflage used to treat vitiligo can be classified into two- temporary and permanent. 
Temporary colouring is the method which intends to blend the white patches with the rest of the body s colour. The method is done using coloured creams to the affected skin. Those creams will have the same shade as that of the natural skin. Applying the creams make the patches less noticeable.
Tattooing (permanent coloring)   Tattooing is injecting artificial pigment into the depigmented area. After selecting the pigment shade which matches the surrounding skin color, the pigment granules are implanted into the depigmented patch either with a manual or electrically driven needles. Though the patch resembles the surrounding normal skin, it may permanently fade or acquire a bluish hue after 1   2 years which is distinctly noticeable and may become unacceptable. Hence, tattooing is usually not advised unless the patch is in an inoperable site.

Best Vitiligo Treatment  - Medical & Surgical Methods

Loosening of breasts is natural with age. However, small and drooping breasts at a young age can affect your overall appearance and even lower your self-esteem. Some ill habits and lack of knowledge on how to increase breast size and maintain firmness often are the primary causes of sagging breasts.

Fortunately, increasing one s breast size and getting a well-toned bust does not necessarily involve going under the knife. There are quite a few ways to reshape your breasts naturally - 

Olive Oil Massage -

Olive oil consists of antioxidants and fatty acids that can rectify the damage done by free radicals. Besides, olive oil massage improves your body and skin texture by making the breasts firm. All you need to do is take a few drops of the oil and gently rub it on and around the breasts. Make sure you are rubbing in an upward motion. Massage for 15 minutes until the area around your breasts generates heat. This increases the flow of blood and repairs the cells that are damaged. Follow the technique 4-5 times a week.

Cucumber with Egg Yolk Massage -

Cucumber has skin-toning properties, while egg yolks contain high levels of proteins and vitamins. Mixing these two ingredients, you can prepare a paste to apply on the breasts. Take an egg yolk, one cucumber and a tablespoon of cream. Make a paste using these, apply on your bust and massage gently. Leave it on for half an hour and then wash the area with cold water. Using the paste once a week will leave your breasts firmer and in an upright position.

Fenugreek Seeds -
The phytoestrogen present in fenugreek improves oestrogen levels, which further helps in cell division and promotes breast enlargement. Prepare a paste using fenugreek seed powder and massage the same on your breasts. After about 10 minutes, wash it off with cold water. You can also consume fenugreek seeds in the form of herbal supplements but only after discussing the same with your doctor. 

Shea Butter and Rhassoul Clay -

A rich source of vitamin E, Shea butter helps tighten the skin around your breasts to give them a firmer look. Similar to olive oil massage, Shea butter massage also prevents cell damage due to the free radicals. Apply Shea butter on your breasts and massage in a circular motion for about 15 minutes. Leave it on for another 10 minutes before rinsing with cold water. Rhassoul clay contains iron, silica, sodium, potassium, and calcium   all the vital minerals that help keep your skin tight. Dissolve the clay into the water and prepare a sticky paste. Cover your breasts with the paste and let dry completely. Gently wash it off with cold water later.

Why turn to expensive lotions and undergo surgery when you can get wonderful, firm breasts naturally? Follow these tips and see your body change for the better. Say goodbye to sagging breasts.

How To Increase Breast Size And Make Them Firm?

Skin inflammation caused due to overexposure to the harmful rays of the sun is known as sunburn. UVA and UVB are the ultraviolet rays that cause maximum damage to your skin. Overexposure to the sun triggers the development of melanin (color imparting pigment) on the upper layer of your skin or the epidermis, resulting in the formation of a tanned skin. Severe sunburn can damage your DNA also.

The most common symptoms of sunburn include:

Your skin may appear reddish in color
You may notice wrinkles
On touching, your skin may feel hot
Frequent itching sensation may make you feel irritated
Blisters may pop out due to sunburn
You may suffer from fever too and that may result in nausea
Your blood pressure can also reduce which can make you feel week
Your skin may be swollen
Some of the risk factors are mentioned below:

Fair skinned people are more prone to sunburns.
Working outdoors for prolonged hours can cause severe sunburn.
Sunburn can hasten your process of aging.
The blisters can result in infections.
Sunburns can also result in the formation of skin lesions.
Sunburn can sometimes lead to skin cancer.
Sunburn can be treated in the following ways:

Bathing in cold water can give you some relief.
Aloe Vera creams have cooling properties; applying aloe vera cream or gel on the affected areas can offer temporary relief.
Sometimes, sunburn can make you feel dehydrated, so it is advised to drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated.
Anti-inflammatory medicines like aspirin can help you to treat skin inflammation.
Home remedies like applying orange peel paste on the affected areas can help you to treat mild cases of sunburn.

Sunburn - 8 Signs That You are Suffering from it 

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