Nail Fungus FAQsWritten by Joe Leoni
What is nail fungus? Nail fungus, also known as Onychomycosis, is an organism which digests keratin found in your fingernails and toenails. The fingernail and toenail are naturally built to be strong barriers, and resistant to fungi and other infections. However, because of how strong this barrier is, once infection is present, it is sometimes very difficult to eliminate. How can I prevent nail fungus? One of most important steps in preventing nail infections is to keep nails well trimmed, but not over trimming them. Cutting nail too short can cause small cuts and tears, which could allow fungal organisms to penetrate your nail bed. To prevent toenail fungal infections, keep your feet as dry and clean as possible at all times. Change socks and shoes frequently. If you have athlete's foot, treat it regularly. Athlete's foot is a fungus which can spread to your toenails. Do not share nail clippers with anyone else, as it is possible to transmit fungus. How common is nail fungus? No one knows for sure, but experts estimate that 30-35 million Americans are affected by this condition. What are symptoms? Because nail fungus can affect toenails' appearance, they are rather unsightly for an untrained eye. Usually people first discover infection because of nail discoloration. Nails may turn green or yellow, but in some cases they turn into an even darken color. Other rather common nail fungus symptoms may be: nails may get flaky, and chipped, bits of "gunk" or debris may collect under your nails, your nails may smell bad, toenails may get so thick that wearing shoes causes pain, discomfort from infection may make it hard to walk, or do other activities.
| | What's In Your Lip Balm?Written by Lisa Maliga
The use of lip balm is often necessary due to fact that our lips don’t produce any oil and are likely to become dry and chapped. You’ll probably notice this during wintertime, especially if you spend time outdoors. However, many of us have chapped lips during regardless of season. You live or vacation in a hot, dry climate, or a high altitude. In severe cases lips can become cracked and bleed due to fact that they may be using commercial lip balms or relying on nothing at all. Licking one’s lips actually makes problem worse.A couple of summers ago I had unsightly chapped and dry lips for no apparent reason. My diet hadn’t changed, I wasn’t under too much stress, and I was still in same location. For years I’d been using various brands of lip balms that I’d purchased from a health food store. I dutifully read contents and noted they contained almond oil and other natural ingredients. On closer inspection I again read label. The last word gave me clue I needed: “active sunscreen - PABA”. The other brand contained all natural ingredients including lanolin, which is derived from sheep’s wool, but is a known sensitizer. One or both of these ingredients was responsible for irritating my lips. Instead of using lip balm I switched to some solid cocoa butter I happened to have. Within 24 hours my lips began to soften and turn from flaky white back to natural pink. I began exploring ways to make my own lip balm that would of course contain skin-loving cocoa butter. Cocoa butter was nice to use, but after a while I wanted to go back to using a stick or small pot of lip balm that I could carry around with me. I read several books and researched many recipes I found on internet. For several months I experimented with recipes until I was happy with results. So delighted that I even gave away a few small pots of shea butter lip balm to testers, which had been sweetened with white chocolate. Only one problem occurred – after a week lip balm turned grainy! This was disappointing to me, but I continued to try to make grain-free lip balms. Three months later I ordered some gently refined shea butter and after reformulating my recipe, and carefully adding shea butter last, problem was solved! The culprit had been timing of shea’s addition to melting process, along with shea butter that wasn’t up to my usual ultra high standards. Since early 2004 I have successfully made numerous batches of luxurious shea butter lip balms and have expanded my line to include 15 lip smacking flavors. I’m very proud of my lippy creations and wish to share my carefully selected ingredients.
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