Melasma and stress - is the link the key to the cure?

Could melasma, skin hyperpigmentation, melasma on the upper lip actually be triggered by stress? For some time now I have believed that melasma, unexplained skin discolouration and skin hyperpigmentation - including melasma on the upper lip is actually a signal from your body that something is out of balance. There is an imbalance - or lack of harmony in your hormonal (endocrine) system which is making your body create more skin pigmentation. This is why people with melasma may also suffer other unexplained illnesses or even very subtle symptoms. One of the most common symptoms that melasma sufferers report is that they also feel tired or fatigued in the afternoon. While this is very common among many - persistent unexplained tiredness alongside unexplained skin discolouration does merit some additional exploring.

Do you suffer other symptoms apart from melasma? Do you need coffee to perk you up in the afternoon? Do you eat haphazardly and sometimes fail to get adequate nutrition. Do you suffer from anxiety also? Does your melasma seem to flare up and worsen during times of stress?  When my melasma was really bad I couldn't help but make links between all these seemingly unrelated symptoms. After many years of research I finally figured out the root cause of my melasma and indeed - all my symptoms were interelated.

Different melasma treatments have some impact for a short time but unless you cure melasma at the root it will keep wanting to come back. Indeed melasma is a chronic, stubborn and recurring condition that varies in severity between people. Some suffer it all over their faces. Others in localised patches. Whatever the case it is usually traumatic and resistant to treatment. While pregnancy and genetics have been implicated in melasma onset it seems also that a genetic tendency needs to be triggered off by such things as physical and emotional stress.  Alongside this other things that aggravate melasma are alcohol consumption, stress, poor  bowel elimination, impaired liver function,  poor nutrition and excessive sun exposure. If you have melasma and you cannto get rid of this it may be time to look deeper into the factors that aggravate your condition and what life style and health choices are causing your body to stay out of  balance and maintain the melasma on your face. It could be that really looking within and learning to relax and reconnect with your body may help improve your melasma as you reduce all those stress hormones.

Stress is your enemy if you suffer melasma

A few years ago - when we were trying to identify the true root cause of melasma (melasma on the upper lip or pesky skin hyperpigmentation) one of the melasma cure team reported that they had had a very stressful holiday with family they had not seen for years and for some reason their skin had 'broken out' in even more prominent and pronounced melasma (well to be more specific their melasma had darkened - particularly on their upper lip). This is the worse thing that you can imagine for the melasma victim who basically spends alot of their spare time looking for a melasma cure, melasma treatment or melasma 'miracle' that will erase the awful skin discolouration away for GOOD. What the? this left us stunned at what could possibly be the reason for this sudden outbreak of melasma? 

Several suggestions were offered up as to the reason for this melasma onslaught. Was it because they were out of their usual routine and their diet had changed thus triggering some kind of response? perhaps they had indulged in melasma triggering foods (like too much coffee or alcohol)? perhaps they had also neglected their skin care routine (i.e. forgot to apply their nightly skin care and cleanse their skin properly?). Another possibility was that the holiday was an opportunity to spend more time in the sun and therefore the natural outcome is sun burn and of course - melasma always darkens in the sun.

We asked the poor melasma suffer if these reasons could d possibly be to blame... and what did she say? NO..... none of the explanations offered were deemed possible. She had been particularly cautious with sun block while on holiday and had also been extremely vigilant with her diet AND even ensured she tool extra skin care supplements with her to ensure that she did not jeopardise her melasma skin care regimen. So... what was the cause of the sudden darkening?

We concluded the casual factor was stress. Correct - stress had caused a sudden release of stress hormones into her system which had sparked of a chain of changes in her body which triggered melasma. Luckily we understand this process now and know exactly how to deal with it.

Take home lesson? If you suffer melasma never let yourself get stressed out. It can only make your condition worse - and is not good for your health. Stress and immunity are strongly linked - do yourself a favour. Take up meditation!

Beauty, Makeup, Skin/Hair Care, Cosmetics Blog » Improve your Beauty with Sound Sleep and Healthy Lifestyle

To maintain a mental and physical balance in the body, it is really important to get a sound sleep. There are thousands of people who suffer from insomnia, which ultimately results in various health problems. When we sleep, our immune cells get charged up and recover the disease fighting capability. So to have a healthy lifestyle, a good sleep is of utmost importance.

Reasons for not getting a Sound Sleep

· Some people are in the habit of watching TV while in the bed. Such people suffer from lack of sleep and get stuck with various health related problems.
· Too much of coffee intake in the office hours can also result in lack of sleep, as it contains caffeine.
· If you intake an unbalanced diet at irregular intervals, it might cause a problem for you at night, while taking sleep. The body starts craving at night also and results in sleeplessness.
· Even an uncomfortable mattress or pillow can bother your sleep. So be very particular while selecting mattresses for your bed to have a good sleep.

Effects of Sleeplessness

If a person is not able to sleep well at night, he may have to suffer from various diseases and awful outcomes. Some of the consequences which result from lack of sleep are given below:
· Short Memory
· Low concentration and alertness
· Diabetes
· High Blood Pressure
· Lowered speed of repairing tissue
· Stoutness
· Sleep walking

How to get a sound sleep?

· Before going to sleep, try listening to soft music or do some yoga for relaxing the body.
· Go to bed only when you feel sleepy.
· Avoid sleeping on couches or settee and choose a cozy bed while sleeping.
· Keep away from caffeine and alcohol, as they can give rise to lack of sleep as well.

Benefits of Sleep for a Healthy Lifestyle

· When we take a good sleep, we feel fresh and are able to perform our jobs with more concentration. A person who is suffering from lack of sleep might feel irritated and lethargic. This shall result in slow metabolic process and one may not be able to focus on the daily jobs.

· Some people prefer taking a sleep of almost seven to eight hours and call it as the “Beauty Sleep”. This is due to the reason that a sound sleep facilitates us to look much better and rejuvenates our skin. When we sleep, all the metabolic processes take place and toxins are thrown out the body, thereby giving a healthy skin. This is the reason we feel fresh and relieved off the dark circles.

· It is been proved scientifically that people who sleep well at night have comparatively more power to fight diseases than those people who do not take a sound sleep. When we sleep at night, the cells of our immune system get charged up and are prepared for the next 24 hours. So to fight diseases we should sleep well at night.

A good sleep costs nothing, but is priceless. So sleep well and improve your beauty and lifestyle.

via ultimate-cosmetics.com

Stress can be reduced with quality sleep. Skin hyper pigmentation is a result of several physical imbalances, stress being one of them.

Melasma and diet - is this the key to finding your melasma cure?

Hundreds of thousands of people all over the world suffer melasma. Infact a reported 6 million women in America alone have this terrible condition which continues to frustrate sufferers. Are you looking for a melasma cure, melasma treatment, or even a treatment that can cure upper lip melasma and other types of problematic skin hyperpigmentation? If this applies to you you probably realised long ago that external creams and potions often have short lived effect on melasma. Even making the condition worse in some cases.

 

Why is that you may well ask? Melasma victims traumatised by their skin disorder can sometimes get to the point that they can’t even stand to look in the mirror that the blotches that have spread over their face. So what is the solution?

 

Well there are many solutions and melasma cures. The bad news is – findings yours means a lot of trial and error because everyone is different. This is why this is one of the most frustrating conditions you can imagine.

 

One of the things melasma sufferers often forget to attend to is their diet. That’s right – they are so focussed on what they put on their skin they forget about what they eat and drink. Most people are acutely aware that their diet is an essential part of good health. Infact researchers think that when people don't eat properly – that is they don’t eat enough nutritious foods – they can end up depriving themselves of the essential nutrients their body needs to be nourished, relaxed and fully functioning.

 

In the case of really poor diet – which may happen when people are constantly trying to lose weight or are so rushed in their lives they don’t take time for proper meals – the body can release stress hormones which impair the hormonal system. This can lead to skin issues and in some cases even skin hyperpigmentation. The lesson – think about your health holistically if you want clear skin!

 

This can mean upping your intake of important antioxidants through fruits and vegetables. Not only that avoiding alcohol and poor quality food is a vital part of making sure you achieve and maintain lovely, clear and healthy skin!

Even One Cigarette Can Prove Lethal, U.S. Surgeon General Says

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Even One Cigarette Can Prove Lethal, U.S. Surgeon General Says

How Smoking Affects Your Looks & Life Slideshow Pictures 7 Tips to Quit Smoking Take the Quiz on Smoking

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

Latest Lungs News

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THURSDAY, Dec. 9 (HealthDay News) -- As little as one cigarette a day, or even just inhaling smoke from someone else's cigarette, could be enough to cause a heart attack and even death, warns a report released Thursday by U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina M. Benjamin.

"The chemicals in tobacco smoke reach your lungs quickly every time you inhale, causing damage immediately," Benjamin said in a statement. "Inhaling even the smallest amount of tobacco smoke can also damage your DNA, which can lead to cancer."

And the more you're exposed, the harder it is for your body to repair the damage.

Smoking also weakens the immune system and makes it harder for the body to respond to treatment if a smoking-linked cancer does arise.

"It's a really good thing when the Surgeon General comes out and gives a wide scope to the dangers of smoking," said Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "They're looking at very small amounts of smoke and this is dramatic. It's showing the effect is immediate and doesn't take very much concentration. In other words, there's no safe level of smoking. It's a zero-tolerance issue."

A Report of the Surgeon General: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease - The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease, is the first tobacco report from Surgeon General Benjamin and the 30th since the landmark 1964 Surgeon General's report that first linked smoking to lung cancer.

More so than previous reports, this one focused on specific pathways by which smoking does its damage.

Some 70 of the 7,000 chemicals and compounds in cigarettes can cause cancer, while hundreds of the others are toxic, inflaming the lining of the airways and potentially leading to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a major killer in the United States. The chemicals also corrode blood vessels and increase the likelihood of blood clots, upping the risk for heart conditions.

Smoking is responsible for about 85% of lung cancers in the United States. But this report puts more emphasis on the link between smoking and the nation's no. 1 killer, heart disease.

"This report went way beyond pulmonary issues, which people are all too familiar with, but got into cardiovascular risks," Horovitz said. "We've known that even a few cigarettes a day could triple your risk of heart disease. If you have a 3% risk of cardiac issues, as a light smoker you could have 9 or 10%. That's significant. It's a little Russian Roulette."

And the problems don't stop there, the reported stated. Smoking cigarettes can interfere with blood-sugar control for diabetes and can help spur a range of pregnancy and birth-related problems such as miscarriage, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Cigarettes are also getting more addictive, the report stated, with newer formulations getting the nicotine more quickly and efficiently from the lungs -- where it first enters the body -- to the heart and brain. Compounds other than nicotine that are added to cigarettes also help hook people in, the report said.

"The evidence clearly states that tobacco products are lethal weapons capable of shortening the lifespans of smokers and nonsmokers alike," American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown said in a statement. "However, tobacco companies will stop at nothing to addict a new generation of smokers."

"We strongly believe the findings will support implementation of new federal tobacco regulations, including the development of graphic warning labels for cigarette packages," she continued. "We also urge state officials to fund smoking prevention and cessation programs at CDC- recommended levels, enact strong smoke-free policies and boost tobacco excise taxes. Policymakers must not allow complacency to rule in the fight against tobacco. Bold, aggressive measures are needed to save lives, reduce the burden of disease and improve quality of life."

Copyright © 2010 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

SOURCES: Len Horovitz, M.D., pulmonary specialist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; Dec. 9, 2010, Report of the Surgeon General: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease-The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease

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via medicinenet.com

Sometimes a Melasma Treatment, can be so simple as reducing the amount of Nicotine in your system. Nicotine is an insecticide and yes it places excessive pressure on your Glands which in turn stimulates skin hyper pigmentation in predisposed individuals.

Thrush – Mouth Candida Symptoms

Check out this website I found at thecandidasymptoms.com

One part of controlling Skin Hyper Pigmentation we address food sensitivities, this is an important part of finding and developing a Melasma Treatment. A working cure or treatment is always tailored to your own personal needs.

U.S. Gets 'Unsatisfactory' Grade on Women's Health

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U.S. Gets 'Unsatisfactory' Grade on Women's Health

More Women Binge Drinking, Fewer Getting Pap Smears, Analysis Shows

By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

Dec. 9, 2010 -- More women are binge drinking and fewer women are getting Pap smears to test for cervical cancer, a new analysis reveals. On a positive note, a lower proportion of women are dying of stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and breast cancer.

The nation and most states continued to receive a grade of “unsatisfactory” on key issues affecting women’s health in an updated report released today by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC).

For the fifth time this decade and the first time since 2007, the group has issued a national and state-by-state report card on the status of important health goals for women set a decade ago by federal officials in their Healthy People 2010 initiative.

As the end of the decade approaches, the analysis revealed that very few of these goals have been met.

Slideshow: Essential Screening Tests Every Woman Needs

23 of 26 Health Goals Unmet

The number of women in the nation receiving mammograms, the number being screened for colorectal cancer, and the number that had annual dental exams met or exceeded national goals for 2010.

But 23 other health objectives graded by NWLC will not have been met by the end of this year.

And several disturbing health trends have emerged over the last three years, including:

• The percentage of women that reported one or more episodes of binge drinking within a month of being questioned increased to 10.6% from 7.3% in 2007. Binge drinking was defined as having five or more drinks on a single occasion.
• The percentage of women that reported getting annual Pap smears declined from 86% to 78% during the same period.
• The percentage of women that tested positive for the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia increased from 6.3% to 7.4%.

Compared to three years ago, a higher percentage of women in the U.S. are also obese and have high blood pressure and/or diabetes.

In 2010, 26.4% of women were obese, compared to 24% in 2007. Both figures fall far short of the goal of a 15% obesity rate by 2010 set by government health officials at the beginning of the decade.

State-by-State Findings

Colorado had the lowest obesity rate in the nation, at just below 20%; Mississippi had the highest, at 34%.

When states were ranked in terms of successful implementation of policies designed to address access to health care, California, Nevada, and Massachusetts came closest to meeting policy goals and Mississippi, Idaho, and South Dakota were at the bottom of the list.

The report noted that about 12% of Americans live in areas that are considered medically underserved. The state with the highest percentage of medically underserved residents was Louisiana, at 34%. The state with the lowest was New Jersey, at 1%.

via women.webmd.com

Skin hyper pigmentation at times can be created by excessive alcohol consumption. Melasma is a result of irritation to your body's organs (liver), or to put it a different way, Melasma is a signal your body is out of balance.