It is summer, and we are showing our feet. You rather want to hide yours? Here are two, no three beauty tips:
1. Walk on your feet. Feet are beautiful when they are functional. Feet that are not used become ugly.
As a child, I had the ugliest feet you can imagine. I only learned walking when I was three. Then I had to wear orthopedic boots until I was eight. Needless to say, I never enjoyed walking. – Fast forward: I found out my problem were not my feet but gluten intolerance. I started walking – really enjoying it – and my feet have become beautiful over time.
2. Don’t wear high heels – or wear them as little as possible. High heels twist your whole body out of shape, not only your feet.
Many years ago, in Germany, I consulted a physician for headaches. He looked at me, looked slowly down at my body, fixed his stare on my feet and said: “No wonder, with those flat feet!” – If you wear high heels, it affects your hips, your knees, and your entire spine (low back pain, slumping, neck pain!).
3. Against toe nail fungus, cracked heels, calluses (except for corns, they need special treatment - perhaps by a podiatrist): Apply tea tree oil to your feet; put extra attention on your toe nails. Then rub your feet with olive oil – same stuff you cook with. It is nice to add a drop of essential oil like rosemary, thyme, myrrh to a small bottle – gives an extra nice scent. In the beginning, treat your feet twice a day; later, when they look beautiful, do it once a day.
You’ll never want to hide your feet again! Read More
Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.
Tea Tree Oil
July 15, 2010
Wouldn’t it be great if we had a drug that would work against bacteria, viruses, and fungi?
We have that drug – brought to us by Mother Nature: Tea tree oil.
The oil from the leaves of the small Australian tree Melaleuca alternifolia of the myrtle family provides us with an essential oil that works against all kinds of germs. Don’t confuse it with “tea oil” which comes in big bottles and is used for cooking purposes. Unfortunately, only on the outside. Taken internally, it is rather toxic and can be fatal.
But for all kinds of skin conditions, it is perfect. Nearly perfect – because, rarely, some people develop allergies and then should not use tea tree oil any longer. Usually tea tree oil does not irritate the skin. But if you experience increased redness after application, the possibility of an allergy needs to be considered; another possibility would be a worsening infection.
The offending ingredient that leads to allergies is cineol(e). A good (and rather expensive) tea tree oil contains five or less percent of cineol; cheaper varieties can have up to sixty percent. If a brand does not list the cineol content, it should not be trusted.
Tea tree oil belongs in every First Aid kit as an all-round antiseptic. Use it mostly as iodine was used in the past. It acts anti-inflammatory and healing on the skin. In minute doses, it is said to stimulate the immune system – but this is definitely not a substance I would ingest. Keep it away from children and pets!
Don’t use on the mucosa of your private parts or in your eyes! Tea tree oil has some estrogenic effects, so don’t use it on your breasts. In males, especially boys: Don’t overuse it – because of its estrogen effect! – In rare cases, it can aggravate eczema. There is one report of hearing loss after application of tea tree oil in the ear; don’t try this!
• Bacteria: Infected hang nails, pimples, abrasions, staphylococcus aureus (even against resistant staph). If the area is not too large. In large wounds there is the danger of absorption and internal toxicity. In most skin conditions, it is applied several times per day with a Q-tip.
• In acne it helps to add five drops onto a moist face cloth. Rub the skin gently. Don’t get it into your eyes (and eliminating all dairy products might even do more against acne than tea tree oil).
• Viruses: Cold sores, external herpes blisters, chickenpox, shingles.
• Fungi: Athlete’s foot (applied twice a day, it even kills toe nail fungus!), jock itch, ringworm.
• Lice: Rub scalp with tea tree oil.
• Mites (scabies): Apply to affected areas.
• Comedones (blackheads): Dab on black dot several times until it disappears. Works also on whiteheads.
• Dandruff (Pityrosporum ovale, Malassezia furfur): Add a few drops to your shampoo.
• Mild burns and sunburns: It relieves the pain.
• Sore throat: One drop tea tree oil to one glass of water. Gargle – but don’t swallow.
• Insect bites: a drop takes a way the itch and starts the healing process.
• Tea tree oil also repels insects. Unfortunately, it is rather expensive for that purpose.
• Itches: Try tea tree oil on minor itches. For severe and prolonged itches, you better see your physician.
• Sweaty, smelly feet: Apply a few drops of tea tree oil after washing with soap and rinsing. Again: A change in diet (no dairy, sugar, bad fats, less meats; more vegetables) might get to the root of the problem.
• Mouthwash: One drop per glass of water helps gingivitis and peridontitis.
• Toothpaste may contain tea tree oil because of its anti-bacterial effects. You can also put one drop of tea tree oil on your regular toothpaste and brush with this.
• Tea tree oil is also used in natural deodorants.
• Hemorrhoids (external only).
• Vaginal candidiasis: Because you don’t want it too strong at that area, only use commercially available vaginal suppositories.
• Warts: Since warts are caused by virus, one can try tea tree oil – but I have never used it for that purpose and have no experience with it.
• Aromatherapy: a tiny drop goes a very long way. Tea tree oil is thought to be “soul balm,” healing psychological traumas, and helps against anxieties, increases confidence and helps when one is exhausted and discouraged. Some migraine sufferers are helped by tea tree oil in the air.
Tea tree oil was “discovered” in Australia in the nineteen twenties – probably when aborigines used it and a white man saw it. With the arrival of antibiotics especially after World War II, it was somewhat forgotten. The new interest in natural agents since the seventies has revived the tea tree oil business – which is quite extensive nowadays. Read More
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Poison Ivy Story
July 1, 2010
When we first moved to Boston, we went on a walk into the woods. I found a little vine with reddish stems and three leaves. I never had seen anything so beautiful and modest. Therefore I unearthed it, roots and all, and planted it in a pot on our roof.
A few days later, my husband developed a palm-sized inflamed red patch on his right buttock. Then I got some bizarre formations with blisters on my arms – and from there, the rash went everywhere.
First we thought we had bedbugs. We pulled the bed apart and sprayed everything. We cleaned and vacuumed our place (was about time!). But the lesions became more.
At work, I showed my arms to colleagues, and drew a blank (!). Finally, an ER doc took one look and said (you guessed it): “Poison ivy.” Of course, I had never encountered poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) - there is none in all of Europe.
But despite all out efforts, our rashes and itches did not go away. Weeks later, I consulted the ER doc again. He quizzed me – but we seemed to have done all the right moves. Only, the lesions were still there. He looked at me hard and asked: “You are not eating cashews every day, are you?”
That was exactly what we were doing – every morning in our muesli. Cashews and poison ivy (and mangoes) are in the same botanical family, Anacardiaceae (I talked about that devious family already in connection with back pain), and eating cashews daily kept the poison ivy rash blooming. The rash-producing ingredient is urushiol. Most people are sensitive to urushiol.
Here is what one can do against poison ivy (and poison oak, poison sumac):
• Don’t touch your face and eyes!
• Stop eating cashews and mangoes until all lesions are well healed.
• Wash with soap or a commercial anti-poison-ivy product (they are petroleum-based) all exposed and affected areas twice daily initially, later once a day until no new lesions crop up anymore.
• One prescription suggested using only cold water because warm water might disperse the poisonous oil even more. As much as I am a fan of cold water, there are no studies about this, and I would think that the bodily warmth will spread the oil anyway. But cold water won’t hurt, and it will relieve the itch.
• For more itch relief try the inside jelly of an aloe plant (any aloe will do), or Calamine lotion. I use tea tree oil for about everything (ask my husband!), and I would probably dab it on the rash for itch relief – but I have no scientific proof that it works. Another unproven remedy is jewelweed – but if I were out in the woods and it grew nearby, I would break a stem and apply its juice. Can’t hurt.
• Wash all your clothing and, if you already slept in your bed, your sheets.
• If the rash spreads into your face or, worse, near your eyes, see a physician. You need cortisone immediately because poison ivy in the eyes can lead to blindness.
• Don’t ever burn poison ivy – it can lead to fatal lung reactions. Pull poison ivy with gloved hands and dispose of it in plastic bags. Wash gloves and tools. Often shoes and pets carry the sticky resin.
Poison ivy plants look very variable - it took me years to comfortably identify them. Better stay away from anything reddish and three-leaved! Read More