Posts Tagged ‘Injury’

What are different home remedies for blisters – a summer problem?

About the Blister
- Blisters are a very common thing.
- We come across them very often in our daily lives.
- The common forms of blisters are the ones where the blister is raised and filled with a liquid.
- These can also be found in your mouth.
- They are smaller than canker sores.

Friction blisters are caused by friction by doing things
- With your bare hands,
- Wearing a new shoe,
- Due to heat, frostbite,
- Chemical injury or friction

Blood blisters
- Blood blisters are mainly developed due to a smash or punching injury.
- This kind of injury ticker the blood between the skin layers causing it to be a blood blister.

Self-Care Measures
- If the blister is due to burns, it is best to put pour or soak the injured part in ice-water.
- To avoid blisters on your feet, one must apply Vaseline or petroleum jelly all over your feet before wearing shoes to avoid any friction.
- You can wear silk under socks to prevent blisters.
- Rub baby powder on your feet.
- This prevents blisters appearing on your feet.

Home Remedies for Blisters
- Provide a cool compress to the blister by soaking a towel in a mixture of salt and ice-cold water.
- Apply 10 percent tannic acid to the required areas of the skin, twice daily.
- Continue this application for two to three weeks to make your skin stronger and healthier.
- Sweating causes further inflammation of the blisters.
- To get your feet dry, soak them in a mixture of epsom salt and warm water.
- Do this by the end of the day for five minutes and later soak it dry for best results.
- You can treat broken blisters by applying few drops of Listerine to disinfect the wound as this works like a wonderful antiseptic.
- You can apply aloe vera gel or juice, vitamin E oil or zinc ointment on the blisters to alleviate pain.
- Garlic oil also helps in disinfecting the infected blisters.
- Dab blisters with witch hazel at least four times a day.
- This would relieve pain and also help in drying process of the blister.
- Garlic oil is known to heal due to the presence of astringent tannin.
- Aloe vera, vitamin E oil, or zinc ointment will help heal a blister.
- Puncture gently with clean & sterilized needle and place a tiny bit of Neosporin.
- Place a corn pad (inner portion of circular removed) and place over the blister until it heals.
- Do not drain the blister.
- Do not remove the overlying skin.
- Place an adhesive donut bandage, over the blister for protection and comfort.
- Do not use one of those liquid bandages over a pierced blister.
- “Tent” the bandage by bringing in its sides so the padding in the middle of the bandage rises up a bit.
- A tented bandage will help protect the blister while exposing it to air.
- This will make the blister heal with speed.
- Another type of bandage, available in pharmacies, contains a gel and antiseptic to cushion and “clean” the blister which is known as the double padded bandage.
- Give your blister a chance to “breathe” by going without a bandage occasionally.
- Apply an antibacterial/antibiotic ointment to it.
- Doctors generally recommend Bacitracin or Polysporin.
- Try using the circular pads made of foam adhesive found in the foot-care aisle of drug.
- Elevating the blistered area can help relieve the pressure.
- To drain a blister on a tough-skinned area, such as the sole of the foot, soak the blister for fifteen minutes in Burow’s solution.
- Soak the blister three to four times a day.
- A day or two of this will soften the blister and make draining easier.
- Redness, red streaks, or pus in an intact or “popped” blister should be treated by a doctor.

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What are different nail problems and home remedies for treating them? – Part 2

Nails are made of keratin, the same type of protein in your hair.
Each nail actually consists of several parts, all of which play an important role in its health and growth:

- Nail plate
This is what you see as the fingernail.
- Nail bed
This lies below the nail plate; the two are attached. The capillaries in the nail bed nourish the nail and give it its pinkish color.
- Nail matrix
It’s below the cuticle at the base of the nail. Cells in the matrix produce the fingernail. If the matrix gets damaged, your nail will be not in shape or may even stop growing completely.
- Lunula
This is the part of the matrix that you can see. It’s the half-moon-shaped portion at the bottom of your nail.
- Cuticle
This fold of skin, made of dead cells, keeps foreign substances, such as infection-causing bacteria, out.
- Nail fold
This is the ridge of skin around the nail.

Facts about Nails:
- Nails can become brittle during the summer months in the sun and swimming.
- Sun and chlorine can make your nails brittle.
- To protect your fingernails while washing dishes, gardening, or cleaning with any type of harsh chemicals, wear gloves.
- If your nails are brittle, do not use perfumed lotions that have alcohol.
- This will cause the nails to become brittle.
- Do not bite your nails.
- Quit using your nails to scrape stuff off the counter top, or off of the dishes.
- Do not use them to open letters.
- Soaps and cleaners will dry out your hands and nails.
- Always use a hand lotion or cream after washing your hands.

Some of the causes of nail problem are:
- Iron deficiency will cause your nails to become spoon shaped.
- Your nails may become clubbed.
- Swelling around the ends of your fingers.
- Sometimes your toes are swollen.
- It might be if you have a respiratory or heart problem.
- If you have psoriasis your nails may become pitted.
- The biggest nail problem seen in toe nails is ingrown.
- Another nail problem is discoloration.
- As you get older your nails develop vertical ridges.

Main Home Remedies
- Avoid the culprits like the detergents and cleansers.
- Keep your nails short.
- Be careful of nail bangers in place of a screwdriver, a scraper, or other tool.
- Moisturize your nails. Your nails contain no fat, so they can’t naturally hold in moisture.
- Complex 15, Aquaderm, and Moisturel are some of the phosphates which can be tried.
- Avoid moisture when your nail becomes infected, particularly with a yeast organism.
- Care for your cuticles and don’t cut them with a mechanical instrument, which breaks down the cuticle’s natural protection from bacteria and moisture.
- Don’t pick or tear at hangnails by making a break in the skin where bacteria can enter and can cause infection.
- Realize the risk with nail cosmetics.
- Forget formaldehyde.
- Cut down on polish remover. Nail polish remover contains acetone, which dries nails.
- Don’t eat gelatin in a hope to build strong nails.
- Use of calcium. It helps build bones but has little or nothing to do with the hardness of your nails.

Home Remedies from the Cupboard
- Baking soda. Clean your nails and soften cuticles by scrubbing them with a nailbrush dipped in baking soda.
- Use Vinyl gloves, Cotton gloves
- Use Biotin
- Soaking painful ingrown nails in a warm saltwater solution will help ease the pain and relieve swelling.
- Add 1 tablespoon salt per quart of water and soak for 30 minutes.
- A saltwater soak can also make tough nails easier to trim.
- Try soaking nails in the same solution for five to ten minutes before trimming.

What are different nail problems and home remedies for treating them? – Part 1

There are very few nail problems or disorders. Most are associated from the results of injury, from a nutritional, respiratory, or heart disorder. The nail problem can be seen as discoloration or deformity.

What are nails made of?
- They are made of a hard protein called keratin.
- Our nails protect our fingers from injury
- It takes around 90 days for our fingernail and toenails to grow from the base to the tip.

Some of the causes are:
- Iron deficiency will cause your nails to become spoon shaped.
- Your nails may become clubbed.
- Swelling around the ends of your fingers.
- Sometimes your toes are swollen.
- It might be if you have a respiratory or heart problem.
- If you have psoriasis your nails may become pitted.
- The biggest nail problem seen in toe nails is ingrown.
- Another nail problem is discoloration.
- As you get older your nails develop vertical ridges.

The cause is the mal absorption of:
- Vitamins A
- B complex
- Vitamin C
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Zinc
- Other essential fatty acids

Reasons for discolored nails can include:
- Anemia -very pale nails.
- Liver Problems-nails turn kind of whitish.
- Bacterial- your nails will have dark spots in them that resemble splinters.
- Fungi infections- your nails can turn whitish and soft or even crumble.
- White spots can be caused from a deficiency of zinc or Vitamin A.

There are preventive measures like:
- Keep your finger nails short.
- Wear gloves when working outdoors in your garden.
- Wear rubber gloves if you are always immersing your hands in water.
- Remember to wash your hands and nails when they come in contact with any type of chemicals like cleaning products.
- The best prevention for ingrown nails is to trim your toe nails straight across.
- Wear shoes that do press on your toenails.

What do you do to keep your nails healthy?
- Nail care is as important as keeping your body and hair clean.
- Eat foods that have calcium, iron, vitamin B and potassium.
- Foods like seafood, dairy products, celery, soy should be included.
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day to keep your body from dehydrating.
- Your nails need water just like your hair and body.
- If your nails are splitting or are weak it could be from not drinking enough water.

There are some natural home treatments which should be taken 4 times a day for up to 3 weeks for the following nail problems:

- In the case of brittle nails, try Antimonium 6c.
- If your nails become deformed with white spots, try Silicea 6c.
- If your nails start to get thick, deformed, start to crumble and are swollen and painful, try Graphites 6c.
- If your nails are brittle with red and swollen skin at the base you should, try Thuja 6c.
- For any finger nail problem you can always soak your nails two times a day in Calendula solution, or apply Calendula ointment.

Treatment for Ingrown Nails
- Put a very small piece of cloth between the side of the nail and the skin.
- Completely bathe your toe with Hypericum and Calendula solution – 5 drops of each to ½ pint of boiled water that has cooled.

Other home remedies for nail problems that involve your toe nails are:

- Magnetic austr. 30c.
- Brittle toe nail problems us Thuja 30c.