Dr. Eknath

Skin is the body's most expansive organ, but a few people know how to take care of their skin properly. Between media hype and amateur beauty tips, it is hard to differentiate between myths and reality. For example, should you splurge on an expensive moisturizer or not? Here's the truth behind three common beauty myths. 

1. You need sunscreen only when you're outdoors on a sunny day: Sunscreen should be applied everyday whether you're indoors or outdoors. It is a misconception that we are safe from the sun's UV rays when we're indoors. However, UV rays are of two types. While the UVB rays that causes sunburn are blocked by walls, we are still vulnerable to the UVA rays indoors. UVA rays are responsible for skin ageing and skin cancer. Similarly, on cloudy days, we are safe from UVB rays but still need protection from UVA rays. Ideally, your sunscreen should have a minimum SPF of 20-30. If you don't like applying makeup over sunscreen, pick makeup products that are enriched with SPF. You need to moisturize and tone your skin everyday. 
2. No two people have the same skin requirements: While it may work for a person with dry skin to moisturize their skin every day, this may be detrimental for someone with oily skin. If you have oily skin, look for a lotion instead of creams, but if your skin is dry, you definitely need a cream based moisturizer. Similarly, a toner is great for oily skin but can disturb the PH balance of dry skin. Also take a look at the climate before you moisturize your skin. Moisturizing your face regularly in a humid area can lead to breakouts, while using a toner in dry weather can make the skin rough. 
3. Makeup causes acne: Makeup aficionados can breathe a sigh of relief; wearing makeup for extended durations does not lead to acne. The way you use your makeup and the type of product you use are the villains here. Contrary to popular belief, foundation is designed not to be absorbed into skin pores but to form a layer over the skin. Using expired products is also one of the main causes of acne. The other reason makeup is thought to trigger acne is because, if you go to sleep with makeup on, you may wake up with a breakout. This is because not washing your face, clogs your skin pores with the day's grime and dirt.

Getting hallucinations is a mental condition where a person sees, feels, hears, and tastes things that actually don't exist beyond one's heightened imagination or delusion. It involves the experience of perceiving something not present.  Hallucinations can be pleasing or frightening. However, there is almost always an identifiable cause behind it. 

They can be triggered by:

1. Taking hallucinogenic or psychotropic substances
2. Mental conditions like dementia and schizophrenia
3. Neurological conditions like Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease
4. Macular degeneration, leading to loss of vision
5. Migraines and brain tumor can also lead to such delusions

Some of the signs of hallucinations:

1. Hearing voices: The medical term for hearing voices is called an 'auditory hallucination'. A person may sense sounds or noises coming from inside or outside of their mind. The noise might be random or disrupting. One might also feel the voices talking to each other or trying to tell them something. Most of the times, these voices come from inside the person's mind; or in some cases, one's heightened perception may make a normal noise delusional.
2. Seeing things: This is also called visual hallucinations. For instance, one may see unnatural things like a floating chair in thin air. It all depends on a person's perception. Sometimes these hallucinations appear as bright flashy spots or rays of light.
3. False sense of taste and smell: Technically, these are known as gustatory and olfactory hallucinations respectively. One may feel a kind of odor coming from one's body or surrounding; or a person might feel that something he/she is drinking or eating has an odd taste. This is again too much thinking, causing delusional sensory activities. 
4. Tactile hallucinations: This is when a person feels things that don't exist. One may feel that he/she is being touched or tickled even when no one else is around or that insects are crawling beneath the skin. One may experience strange sensations, which are not a part of a reality.