Dr. A.K.Chatterjee

Skin problems may be caused due to various reasons - one of them being hygiene issues. Its important to maintain a hygienic environment around and follow some simple basic rules to avoid any such common skin problems easily.

Melasma, commonly known as skin pigmentation, is a skin disorder, which causes brown and blotchy spots on your face. Everybody craves to have spotless and flawless skin. But usually no one does anything about it. Contrary to popular belief, having perfect skin is not really difficult. You need to religiously follow your skincare regime to keep it healthy and flawless. In case you are suffering from melasma or have skin pigmentation,

Here are a few tips which you can follow:

1. Apply raw potato on your face: Take a clean and fresh potato. Cut it into two halves and wet the exposed surface with a little water. Rub this on all the affected regions on the face and wash your face after 10 to 15 minutes with lukewarm water. Potatoes are extremely effective in removing pigmentation as they have an enzyme called catecholase, which can help to lighten darkened areas on the skin.

2. Use apple cider vinegar on your skin: Apple cider vinegar helps to restore the natural color of the skin. It also contains beta-carotene, which helps to treat the damage done to the skin by the atmosphere's free radicals. In fact, one of the famous qualities of apple cider vinegar is to make the skin supple and bright.

3. Apply aloe vera on your skin: Regular usage of aloe vera on the skin is one of the best and most effective remedies for skin pigmentation. Aloe vera can help clean the skin without harming the natural balance of the skin, as it has marvelous cleansing properties. It helps to reduce spots on your face, and also provides protection against the harmful UV rays of the sun.

4. A sandalwood pack can also work wonders: Sandalwood acts, both as a stimulant as well as a blood purifier. These two properties of sandalwood help it to treat skin pigmentation. Make a pack using sandalwood and rosewater and apply it to your face at least twice a day to get rid of the pigmentation. Sandalwood is also one of the major ingredients for a sunscreen as it can protect the skin from the harmful UV rays.

5. Keep an eye on what you eat: Your diet plays a very crucial part when it comes to the wellbeing of your skin. Make sure that you add a lot of green leafy vegetables and foods rich in Vitamin A and C to maintain your healthy skin. Drink lots of water and eat a lot of fruits in order to keep your skin hydrated. This will also detoxify your body.

6. Reapply sunscreen every two hours to maintain UV protection: This is a must-have for anyone suffering from skin pigmentation. It works to improve the appearance of your pigmentation while providing you the protection of SPF.

Follow the above tips and ensure yourself a spotlessly beautiful skin.

Dull skin may occur due to multiple reasons such as lifestyle factors and other environmental factors. It makes you look tired and older; this is due to the presence of dead cells on the skin which does not allow the light to reflect properly off your skin. Facials are very helpful in getting rid of dull skin by improving your complexion and circulation. It cleans the pores, removes dead cells, making you look your age, or even younger. Here are some facial treatments for various skin types:

1. If oily skin is your woe: If you have oily skin, you can exfoliate your skin using an exfoliating jelly that contains vanilla and alginate (also known as alginic acid) that removes impurities, blackheads and whiteheads from your skin. You can also use a face mask that consists of clay and align (chemical extracted from brown seaweed) that helps in preserving the skin moisture and tightening the pores on your skin. The procedures help in getting rid of impurities and have a soothing effect on the skin as well.
2. Fight dry skin: Dry skin problems such as wrinkles necessitate a hydrate and restore facial. This begins with an exfoliation to remove the dead cells from the topmost layer (epidermis) of the skin. Once the facial is complete, a massage cream is applied that helps in regenerating new skin cells. A vitamin C serum is then applied to make your skin supple and moisturized.
3. For combination skin: If you are a person who has the worst of both worlds; dry and oily, then you should opt for a procedure that treats both at one go. A balancing facial that exfoliates the skin using ‘micro-dermabrasion’ (a procedure that involves spraying crystals with exfoliative properties on the face in order to eliminate dead cells of the epidermis) and using a serum to add nourishment to your skin can prove to be very effective. This procedure results in a healthy and radiant complexion.
4. Skin that has been affected by the sun: For skin that has been affected by the sun, you can opt for a de-tan facial that will remove the dullness of your skin. Micro dermabrasion is used to exfoliate the skin and then a de-tan process is done. Aloe Vera is used to soothe and moisturize the skin followed by application of a vitamin C serum. A face mask with applied to lighten the complexion of the skin. This is also applicable for skin that has been affected by pollution.

Ingrown toenails have become a common trouble these days and there are many causes that are responsible for the same. Nail edges or corners mostly get affected by this trouble. It often appears to be a toenail infection while it is not so. Bigger toes are highly prone to this toenail issue; therefore you need to be very careful.

Before the issue can become serious, you should take careful steps to prevent the same. Medical advice is required so that the right treatment can be chosen, which gives you an instant relief from the symptoms. The skin around the nail becomes tender and might get swollen or hard coupled with a lot of pain in the toe.

Leading causes for ingrown toenails:

1. Incorrect nail-cutting: If you make a mistake in cutting your toenail correctly, then you might face the situation of an ingrown toenail. Therefore, you should always finely concentrate while cutting your toenails with the help of any nail cutter. In most of the cases, curved or irregular nails are to be cut with great care.
2. Wrong footwear: If you have chosen the wrong footwear, which create tremendous amount of pressure on your feet, it may develop this kind of nail condition. Only repeated or consistent usage of these kinds of footwear can develop this horrible situation. Sometimes, extremely tight stockings or socks can also be responsible for ingrown toenails.
3. Improper hygiene: Acute foot hygiene needs to be maintained without any fail otherwise you will not be able to prevent ingrown nails. You should always keep your feet clean and dry. If your feet remain in contact with moisture for a long time, then this condition might arise. You can now use specialized solutions available in the market for washing the nails on your feet.
4. Toenail injury: If you have any injury on your toenail, then it needs to be corrected as soon as possible otherwise the injury will get converted into ingrown nails. Which further results in acute painful sensations and these kinds of experiences are simply unbearable. Poor posture can bring injuries to your toenails. If you have any existing toe injuries, then you should try your level best for the speedy recovery of the same.
5. Poor health-conditions: There are many health conditions, which result in ingrown toenails out of which diabetes is the most prominent one. Due to poor blood circulation, the nails on your feet get damaged internally resulting in ingrown nails.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Stretch marks cannot be treated easily. Though there are many treatments that can help in the removal of stretch marks, but you got to choose the right one that suits your preference and is affordable as well. These marks need to be thoroughly diagnosed in order to detect the mark type and then only the correct treatment procedure can be chosen without any confusion. Choose the safest treatment option that can help you to get success in a natural manner.

Treatments available for removing stretch marks:

1. Topical options: These options are the most favourable ones as they gives you guaranteed results. It is advised to only choose verified topical solutions, which are also some of the most prominent ones which include moisturizers, Retin-A, glycolic acid, vitamin-E oil, egg oil and several others. These solutions are to be applied directly over the targeted areas in order to get desirable results. This should be followed for at least 6 months in order to get expected results.
2. Supplemental options: You can also start taking organic supplements that are highly enriched with vitamin E. These supplements are now available in form of pills that have to be taken at least twice every day. If you use oral supplements together with topical applications, the stretch marks will slowly fade in a short span of time.
3. Natural options: There are many home remedies that can offer you outstanding results in treating stretch marks. Essential oils are the most highlighting examples that can cater you greater benefits in this regard. Other probable remedies are sugar, potato juice, water, aloe vera, olive oil, lemon juice, castor oil, cocoa butter, alfalfa leaves, egg whites, apricots, lemon and glycerine.
4. Laser options: These options are now treated as one of the most powerful solutions that can offer speedy results. In fact, the researchers have said that these options are the most reliable and convenient of all, and they can provide immediate effects. Old stretch-marks can be well treated by laser resurfacing while the new ones can be treated by vascular laser.
5. Surgical options: These options can be chosen for extreme cases. If you fail to implement post-surgical caring tips, these options may have certain side-effects. But you will get highly customized effects as a result of the same. These options are chosen only by few people as they are comparatively expensive.

Who wouldn't want a seamless, spot-free skin without having to undergo the trouble of enduring the endless assails by ointments, creams, oils and what not. Rashes, burns, abscesses, injuries, wounds, keloids and other skin traumas make the skin unsightly and rather troublesome. While skin eruptions like acnes and pimples are related to the hormonal balances in the body and the blood circulation, there are other skin blotches which are caused due to external factors. For the formers, blood purifying medicines or palliative creams often abate the same significantly. However, for the latter group of scars, specific treatments need to be meted out.

A large variety of treatments are available for this purpose, however it is wise to first infer the nature and the source of the scar before adopting a given curative method. One practice that one needs to be mindful of is that the scars must be allowed to heal before being treated with any remedial procedures. While a large number of products and medical procedures are available for minimizing the scars, one needs to be discrete while choosing a particular product. Some of the common tactics of reducing or removing scars have been enlisted below.

1. Silicone based ointments: Silicone is laden with skin healing properties and is extremely effective as an antioxidant. Thus, silicone based ointments, gels or serums can prove advantageous for mitigating scars. One must use it for a prolonged period of time while at the same time taking adequate care to protect the scar from sunrays using SPF based sunscreen. 

2. Laser treatments: On certain occasions, one may need more than gels or creams to cure the scars. In that regard, there are a large array of surgical procedures available for grappling with specific types of skin ailments. These are most effective on indented scars. Dermal fillers, fraxels and fat grafting are skin treatment methodologies which can effectively remove scars and rejuvenate the skin. 

3. Letting the wounds breathe: Since a lot of wounds have an occlusive texture, piling them up with creams, oils and capsules often block the wounds and deter their healing process. Therefore, it helps to use a gentle cleanser to clean the affected area and letting air to circulate freely.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!