Dealing With Shingles

Shingles can be quite common in the winter and your kids can get them easily. You are also at risk. Shingles (otherwise known as Herpes Zoster) is a painful, blistering rash caused by the chickenpox (varicella) virus and it is common during the colder seasons.
It usually only affects a very limited area of skin but as most sufferers know the pain of the blisters can feell as painful as a cut or burn. Sufferers may also suffer from a low fever. The shingles virus can also make you feel fatigued, burned out and a bit depressed.
Here are twenty tips to make yourself or a loved one feel more comfortable should you contract shinglesl
First of all avoid stress! – The Herpes Zoster Virus infects a nerve, causing a blister to break out, so the best thing you can do for yourself is unplug the phone, avoid irritating people or situations until you feel beteer.
Don't scratch! Scratching rashes or blisters is a big mistake. Not only can this cause a secondary bacterial infection in the area, but also the virus can live under the nails and be transmitted to another part of the body
If the virus enters the eye it can cause blindness. Avoid touching your ears. If the shingles virus, which can be carried by your fingers, gets into the ear it can cause dizziness, vertigo and possibly even hearing loss.
One of the most common misconceptions is that commercially prepared liquid hand purifiers and sterilizers help remove the virus from your hands after you touch a blister. This is not true as these products only kill bacteria – not viruses.
Take baths in Epsom salts or unscented sea salts to deal with itching. Epsom salts draw toxins out of the body and can help to speed the recovery. Taking a bath in Epsom or Dead Sea salts is also very relaxing and can minimize the severity of stinging skin pain. .
Baking soda can help. Mixing half of a cup of baking soda into a bath filled with lukewarm water is an old home remedy that can help ease the pain of open blisters. You can also try making a poultice out of baking soda to relieve discomfort.
Apply cold compresses not warm ones! Warm compresses can cause the blisters to break, which can result in a bacterial infection. Cold compresses help reduce the pain of swelling and itching.
Stay away from caffeine! The shingles virus usually irritates a nerve and causes a blister. The last thing you want to do is irritate any nerves even more by stimulating them with caffeine. Stay away from coffee, tea, chocolate and caffeinated soft drinks, especially while the skin is inflamed.\
Hopefully following these tips can make getting through a bad outbreak of blisters a little better for everyone in your family.

Parenting Tips
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Is Your Teen Shaving?

Is your teen starting to shave? Whether it is a he is trying to attack the first bits of an appearing mustache or whether it is she is making an attempt to hack away at the hair on her legs you might want to consider what it is that they are putting on their skin. Is it a green product?
You can never be old to start thinking green when it comes to personal grooming products. This is because green shaving products are not only good for your health – they are also good for the environment. They also tend to be less abrasive on the skin and they do not caused raised red razor bumps (razor burn) or rashes like some products.
I think it is important to teach my kids to be ecologically correct about the kinds of shaving products they use This is s because most of the leading brands of shaving creams contain triethanolamine (TEA) or diethanolamine (DEA). Both of these chemicals act as an emulsifier, preservative and foaming agent.
Although these chemicals give you a good lathering up when you shave they also can give a human being a liver or kidney tumor. These chemicals can also irritate the skin of some human beings. This is why so many people are choosing shaving creams and soaps with natural ingredients over the evil TEA or DEA additives. It also stands to reason that when you shave that you are allowing more toxins to seep into your skin than usual.
When you first use these natural shaving creams you might find yourself missing some of the lather. When you first put them on your face it is more like shaving with a gel or a lotion. You will get used to that. Also what these products lack in foam they make up for with a gorgeous aroma therapeutic scent.
A good company making natural shaving creams is Kiss My Face. These are creams in a tube and they smell nice and come in very hip scents like patchouli. My kids certainly like that. Kiss My Face also makes really attractive sandalwood and lime scented shaving creams as well.
An example of a natural shaving cream is wild soap bars. These are old fashioned soap bars made from olive oil and herbs like sassafras. They guarantee an old fashioned organic shave. However they are meant more for the man in your house.
Another old and reputable company that makes shaving soap bars is the D.R. Harris and Company out of London. It has manufactured organic lavender scented products for the royal family for centuries. If your kid is not accident prone you can even teach him how to shave the old fashioned way with a brush, a dish of soap and a straight razor. It seems that everything that is old fashioned is usually quite chemical free and 'green' in nature in the first place.

Parenting Tips
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