Sweating

You might think that you are only supposed to sweat when you are hot, but once you hit puberty, you also will sweat when you are nervous. Your sweat glands (which make sweat) become more active during the teen years, causing both more sweat and also some smell. You actually have 2 million to 4 million sweat glands all over the body. Most are on the soles of the feet, the palms, forehead, cheeks, and in the armpits. Don’t panic, though. Sweat and smell are normal parts of becoming an adult. Sweating also does an important job – it helps to cool your body down when you are hot.

How to help keep sweat from smelling badly:

• Shower or take a bath every day.

• Use a deodorant (covers smell) or an antiperspirant (decreases sweating), or a product that has both.

• Talk to your doctor if these things do not work or you are worried.

Worried About Bad Breath?

Bad breath, also called halitosis, is caused by bacteria that grow in your mouth. The bacteria gather on the small food pieces left in your mouth, especially between your teeth. The bacteria release sulfur compounds, which is what makes your breath smell. Strong-smelling foods such as garlic and onions can cause bad breath, and so can smoking.

Tips for preventing bad breath:

• Don’t smoke! It is good for your health in many ways to avoid smoking.

• Brush your teeth (and tongue!) for at least two minutes twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, especially after meals.

• Floss every day.

• Replace your toothbrush every three to four months.

• Visit your dentist twice a year for cleanings and an exam to check for cavities.

• Eat right. Avoid foods and drinks that can cause bad breath such as cabbage, garlic, raw onions and coffee. Don’t diet. Not eating enough or cutting out certain foods (such as carbohydrates) can cause bad breath.

Bad breath that won’t go away also can be a sign of a medical problem, such as a sinus infection or gum disease (gingivitis).

Be sure to talk to your dentist if your bad breath does not go away. It’s normal to be embarrassed, but it’s a very common problem and a dentist can help you try to fix it.

Your Skin

Your skin is just one more thing that changes when you go through puberty. Acne often starts in your early teen years because your body is making more oil glands, which is normal. A few different skin problems are a part of acne: whiteheads, blackheads and cystic acne.

• Whiteheads are made when a hair follicle (root) is plugged with oil and skin cells.

• If this plugged up stuff comes up to the surface of the skin and the air touches it, it turns black and becomes a blackhead. So, blackheads are not caused by dirt.

• If a plugged follicle breaks, the area swells and becomes a red bump. If this happens close to the surface of the skin, the bump most often becomes a pimple. If it breaks deep inside in the skin, nodules or cysts can form, which can look like larger pimples. This is cystic acne.

Acne is common among teens, but not everyone will have the same troubles. It may be worse in boys because they have more oils in their skin. Also, it can run in the family. If your mother or father had bad acne, the same may happen for you. Some people also just have more sensitive skin.

How Is Acne Treated?

First, wash your face regularly. If the acne does not go away, there are over-the-counter products (you can buy these without a doctor’s order) available in different forms, such as gels, lotions, creams and soaps. Common ingredients used in these products to fight acne are benzoyl peroxide, resorcinol, salicylic acid and sulfur. If you have a bad skin reaction to any products you buy on your own, tell your doctor. Also, it can take time for these products to work. If they do not make your acne better after two months, ask your doctor for help. The doctor can give you stronger medicines, including antibiotics or other pills and creams that have either retinoids or adapalene in them. Retinoids can make you very sensitive to the sun, so avoid those rays or use a strong sunscreen to protect yourself. Another word of caution: the medicine isotretinoin (the product is called Accutane) can cause birth defects and miscarriages (losing a baby while pregnant) if taken when a woman is pregnant.

What Can Make Acne Worse?

• Oil-based make-up, suntan oil, hair gels and sprays
• Stress
• Your period
• Picking at your pimples
• Scrubbing your skin too hard
• Getting too much sun

What Doesn’t Cause Acne?

Dirt, fried foods or chocolate, and sexual activity do not cause acne. These are myths!

Hair Care

The same kind of oil that causes breakouts on your face also comes out of the pores on your scalp. In the right amount, this oil keeps your hair shiny and healthy looking. When there is too much oil, your hair can look greasy. If your hair is oily, wash it every day. You also may want to try shampoos that are made for oily hair. It also can help to stop using hair products that have oil in them.

On the other hand, if your hair is dry, you may want to shampoo less often and use a moisturizing shampoo. If you see white flakes in your hair or on your shoulders, you most likely have dandruff. There are special shampoos to treat dandruff that are sold near other hair products.

Do You Need to Douche?

No. The vagina actually cleans itself on the inside with natural fluids. The best way to clean the outside of your vagina is to wash with warm water and gentle, scent-free soap during a bath or shower. Products you might see on T.V. or at the drug store, such as feminine hygiene soaps, powders and sprays, are not needed. And they may even be harmful to you.

Douching is rinsing or cleaning out the vagina by squirting water or other fluids (solutions made with vinegar or baking soda that you can buy at the drug store) into the vagina. Women douche to rinse away blood after their periods and to generally feel cleaner. Many women douche, but doctors do not recommend it. Douching changes the balance of natural chemicals in your vagina and can make it easier for you to get dangerous infections.

If you have any of the following problems, tell your doctor right away:

• Itching in and near your vagina
• Burning or pain in your vagina
• Pain when you go to the bathroom
• Discharge, or fluid, from your vagina that is not normal, such as thick and white (like cottage cheese) or yellowish-green discharge that is foul smelling. Normal discharge changes throughout your menstrual cycle, but may normally look clear, cloudy white and/or yellowish.

If you are not sure if the discharge or fluid is normal, have your doctor check you out.

Tanning

You might think you look better with a tan, but the truth is, there is no such thing as a safe tan. When your skin becomes tan, it is really a sign that your skin cells have been hurt. The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays are what damage your skin and these rays play a big role in the growth of skin cancer, the most common kind of cancer in the United States. Today, more young people than ever are getting skin cancer.

To protect yourself:

• When possible, avoid outdoor activities during midday, when the sun’s rays are strongest. This usually means the hours between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

• Wear protective clothing, such as a wide-brimmed hat, long-sleeved shirt and long pants.

• Wear wraparound sunglasses that provide 100 percent UV ray protection to protect your eyes.

• Always wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen and lip screen with at least SPF 15. Follow the directions on the bottle to reapply and check the expiration date. Sunscreen without an expiration date will last no more than three years. Sunscreen will not last as long if it is stored in very hot or very cold temperatures.

Tanning Indoors

Trying to get that tan is dangerous both outside and inside. Indoor tanning salons use light bulbs in the “beds” that give off dangerous UV rays, the same rays found outside.

There are other indoor methods that do not use UV rays, including “spray tans” you can get at a salon and tanning lotions or gels that you can buy at a drugstore or department store. While there is no known risk for skin cancer with these products, you do have to be careful. Spray tans, lotions or gels use a color additive (what makes your skin look tan) called DHA that is approved – considered safe – for use on the outside of your body by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. If you use a sun-less tanning product on your own or go to a salon for a spray tan, make sure that your eyes and mouth are covered.

Related posts:

1. What is acne?
2. Whiteheads – A Change in Diet is Required
3. Is Proactive the Solution For You?

With the increasing downward spiral of food quality, vitamins and minerals that should be in your food are absent. Add to that processing and poor eating habits and this lack of sufficient nutrients show up in abnormalities of the body. The skin, our biggest organ, is the first line of defense against the microbes that lurk in the air and when changes for the worst occur in the skin it is time to re-assess our diet and to start thinking about supplementing with vitamins and minerals.

The body carries out it’s daily routines of which we are oblivious. However we become aware that all is not well when we start to see disease or deterioration. The body, to keep vital functions going – lungs repaired, heart beating rhythmically, correct pH levels of the blood – will strip less important parts of their nutrients in order to keep you alive. If a nutrient is required to keep your lungs in good repair and the nutrient is not being supplied through your diet then your body will start breaking down healthy cells just to retrieve the correct vitamin or mineral. This puts an added burden on your body. Cells once constructed usually have a certain length of life before they are broken down and new cells made. By depriving your body of its required vitamins you force it to work harder recycling itself. The more deficient your food, the harder the body works which has a knock-on effect as extra nutrients are used up in the break down, re-construct cycle.

Although skin is a protection organ, if the body had to decide which is more important (based on the nutrients available) between the repair and maintenance of heart tissue versus that of skin cells, you can instantly see that any organ or part that is not immediately vital to life would have its nutrients removed. Therefore the outward condition of the skin is a good indicator of the inward deficiencies of the body. Whiteheads are the result of a mild deficiency in vitamin B2 (riboflavin). Whiteheads usually occur with oily hair and skin. Oiliness is prevalent especially in the “T” panel of the face. A whitehead is a small fatty deposit that forms under the skin. It is not similar to a blackhead which is made in an entirely different way.

The solution may seem simple – rush out and buy a bottle of riboflavin. However riboflavin, like the body, is part of an intertwined structure that needs all the components handy to produce a satisfactory result. Vitamin B2 is a member of the Vitamin B group and as such riboflavin cannot be taken on its own. Vitamins work synergistically and the B group especially must be balanced out. If a single B vitamin is taken on its own that vitamin starts to create deficiencies in the B group. It is important to take a good quality B complex and then add a few more milligram’s of riboflavin to your complex.

The B group of vitamins is water soluble so need to be replaced on a daily basis. Choosing the best brand of B complex need not be a difficult task. Beware of buying very cheap brands that have minute quantities of B complex. It is preferable if you go into a health shop, whose personnel are trained in their specific products, and seek advice on a suitable brand.

Also take into account that consuming vitamins from a bottle are part of a supplementation programme. Improving the quality of the food you eat is also of paramount importance. Today, with pesticides, insecticides, chemical fertilizers and long, long storage times in ripening warehouses even fresh fruit and vegetables have deteriorated in health building properties. To counter act that you have to become aware of alternative ways to get the nutrients your body requires.

Buy organic whenever you can afford it. Organic food is grown on whole soils that have been built up with decaying matter and earthworm activity. The castings of the earthworms make nutrients and trace elements available to the plants which are not possible when chemical fertilizers are used. The same applies to meat and dairy. Buy antibiotic and hormone free meat and milk. Beware of meat from animals that are fed chicken litter or other animals. There is a growing sector in the food industry that sees herbivores being fed animal by-products. If you are not sure contact the Public Relations department of the supermarket chain that you buy from and check with them.

Start sprouting in your kitchen. Sprouts are completely poison free and have appreciable quantities of nutrients in them. Your kitchen garden can produce fresh food even if it’s snowing outside. Ensure you buy human grade legumes and seeds from a health shop and not from a seed wholesaler. Many seed companies impregnate their products with poison.

Food is medicine. If you supply your body with fruit, vegetables and meat that has been raised under severely deficient conditions then logically that food will not bring bouncing health to your body. The reverse is true and your quest must be to improve your diet at every turn. With planning you can triple your vitamin B intake. Finding natural sources of B2 is easy if the quality of food is good.

Vitamin B2 can be found in the following foods:

Cheese, egg yolks, fish, legumes, meat, milk, poultry, whole grains, spinach and yoghurt.

The other members of the B group also occur in most of the above foods – as nature intended – so eat widely from the list above.

The body is an extraordinary machine. It repairs and maintains itself and only goes wrong when the ingredients it needs are under or not supplied. To keep your skin glowing and healthy means eating the correct food and supplementing your diet with the vitamins that skin needs. The body requires a myriad of nutrients to keep functioning and producing healthy tissue. The more you understand about them the better your food choices of tomorrow will be.

Don’t be discouraged if your whiteheads don’t disappear quickly. It took you a few years to deplete your nutrient reserves and these need to be re-stocked. Once your body starts to receive the correct nutrients it will begin to repair all the tissues that are vital to life. It may be two or three months before that is done and then the repair will begin in the skin.

Related posts:

1. Change your Diet, Change your Skin
2. A Healthy Diet Leads To Healthy Skin
3. How to Prevent Osteoporosis Through Diet