Hives

Hives are the way the skin sometimes reacts to allergies, physical irritation, stress or emotions. The often intensely itchy wheals that result may disappear in minutes of hours and usually within a couple of days, but while you have them, you may not want to appear all swollen and scratching in public. Here are the tips.

Antihistamines

Get antihistamines but remember most of them, make you drowsy.

Cool down

Cold compress or baths are about the best only topical treatment of hives. You can also rub an ice cube over the hives. However if you get hives from cold weather or water, you are out of luck.

Calamine lotion

It may help temporarily soothe the itch of your hives.

Alkaline

Anything alkaline usually helps to relieve the itch. Therefore try dabbing milk of magnesia on your hives. It is thinner than calamine, thus it may works better.

Hydrocortisone

If you have just a small number of small hives, a hydrocortisone cream like Cortaid applied directly on the hives may relieve the itch for a while.

Vegetation vigilantes

The leaves and bark of red alder, brewed into a strong tea, will help hives. Apply it locally to the affected area and you can also take a couple of tablespoonfuls internally. Repeat until the hives are relieved.

Avoid exposure

If you know you are going to get hives for whatever reasons, take an antihistamine beforehand to prevent it.

If you get hives in your mouth or throat, seek medical treatment immediately. People with chronic hives (longer than six weeks) or with severe acute hives should also see a doctor.

Conjunctivitis

Your mother called it pinkeye. We call it conjuctivitis. Here is how to soothe pinkeye if you have them.

Wash the red away

A warm compress applied to the eyes for 5 to 10 minutes three or four times a day will make you feel better.

Keep them clean

Conjuctivitis gets better by itself. However to help the healing process, keep your eyes and eyelids clean by using a cotton ball dipped in clean or sterile water to wipe the crusts away.

Baby yourself

A warm compress works well for children, but sometimes adults need a little something more. Adults who have a lot of discharge should make a solution of one part baby shampoo to ten parts of warm water. Dip a sterile cotton ball into the solution and use it to clean off your eyelashes. The warm water loosens the crust and the baby shampoo cleans off the junction of your eyelid and eyelash.

Throw in the towel

This infection is highly contagious. Do not share towel or washcloths with anyone.

Do not chlorinate your eyes

The chlorine in swimming pools can cause conjuctivitis but without the chlorine, bacteria would grow. That could cause conjuctivitis too. So, wear tight fitting goggles while in the water as precautions.

Use ice

If your eye itches like a mosquito bite and you have stringy pus in your eye, most of the time that is the sign of allergic conjuctivitis. Taking an over the counter antihistamine will help that and use cold, not warm, compresses. It will relieve the itch.

Get drugged at night

Germ causing conjunctivitis intensifies when your eyes are closed. That is the reason it gets worse at night when you are asleep. Therefore put any prescribed antibiotic ointment in your eyes before you go to bed.

Eye redness

If the whites of your eyes have more red lines than a road map, these are what you can do:

Water your eyes

If your red eyes are a result of not getting enough sleep, find a way to catch up on your rest. Closing your eyes for 7 to 8 hours helps to rehydrate them. Without sleep the eyes can dry out and dry eyes are red eyes.

Treat your eyelids

If your eyes are red when you wake up, the problem may not be in your eyes but on your eyelids. It is called blepharitis and it is a low grade infection of your eyelids. Just wash your eyelids with warm water at night before you go to bed.

Use drops sparingly

Drops designed to get the red out have an agent in them that works to constrict your blood vessels. They take the redness out by shrinking the blood vessels, however they wear off in a couple of hours and the redness comes back worse. Thus, use drops sparingly.

Crocodile tears

Redness that comes on during the day is caused by dryness. If that is the case, over the counter artificial tears can be used to moisten the eyes. Unlike normal eyedrops, they do not shrink blood vessels.

Cool it

Use a cool, wet washcloth and lay it over your closed eyes. The cold will constrict the blood vessels without the rebound effect while the water will add moisture to your eyes.

It is normal to see blood in the white of your eyes but it is not normal to see blood covering your pupil. See your doctor right away if you do. If your eyes hurt, your vision blurred or you have a pinkish haze, you need medical treatment urgently.

Hangnails

Where do hangnails come from? Those annoying little triangular splits of skin around the fingernails are nothing more than dead skin. The skin in that area, which does not contain a good supply of oil to begin with, simply dries out. It is particularly common among women who have their hands in water a lot or who bite their nails. People who work with paper all the time can get hangnails. The paper absorbs oil from their hands and hangnails is just the physical effect of oil being removed from their skin.

If your hangnails are giving you nightmares, try these tips.

Clip job

Clip it short and clip it early. Just clip off the little tags of skin with small, sharp, sterilized scissors. But before it, soak it in a littler water or a water and oil solution to soften it. Do not clip a hangnail when it is still hard and end up ripping the skin more.

Mom's advice

Do not bite hangnails. You will end up with fairly deep cuts around your fingers if you do that.

Go soak

Soak your hand in an oil and water solution as you would when getting a manicure.

Wrap it up

Rub an emollient cream or ointment on the affected fingers at bedtime and wrap it in a piece of plastic wrap. Secure the end with a bit of tape. The plastic will keep the moisture overnight. Remove the plastic in the morning.

Do not pick at hangnails

If you tend to do this when you are feeling nervous, wear clothes with pockets where you can put one hand in each pocket and leave them there until the urge passes.

Moisturize

Moisturize your cuticles every day. Rub hand lotion into the flesh surrounding your nails.

Cuticle cautions

Use cuticle removing product sparingly and always follow package instructions as it is the cuticle that provides the vital function of protecting your nails from harmful bacterial and fungi.

Bed-wetting

Bed-wetting can be both uncomfortable and embarrassing for a child. Thankfully, almost all kinds outgrow it in time. But should you want to do something while you wait; here are the ways.

Be realistic

Do not praise and do not punish. Just change the bed and do not say a word as it will go away by itself.

Change for the better

Set out a felt-covered rubber pad so when the child has 'an accident', he can lay it over the wet part of the bed. In additon, put out a pair of dry pajamas he can change into. You also can make the child feel better by arranging the bedroom so that the child can change the sheets himself.

Alarm

Bed-wetting alarms emit a buzzing or ringing sound when the child is wet. The theory is that the sound will condition him to awaken when he needs to urinate. Eventually, wetting will be inhibited and bladder distension will become the signal for the child to awaken. Most children respond to this type of conditioning strategy within 60 days. Bed-wetting is considered cured when the child remains dry for 21 consecutive nights.

Boost bladder muscles

Have the child drink lots of fluids during daytime then practice bladder control by holding off urination for as long as possible. This bladder stretching exercises may work.

Patience and love

All kids outgrow bed-wetting at a rate of 15 percent a year, which means by the time they go through puberty, less than 1 or 2 percent will still wet the bed. Therefore, just be patient and supportive.

Burns

10 treatments for minor accidents.

Douse the flame

Stop the burning process first. If it is a contact burn, run the injured part under cold water. If it is hot grease or splattered hot material like battery acid or soup, remove the clothing that is saturated first, wash the grease off your skin then soak the burn in cold water. If the clothing sticks to the burn, rinse over the clothing, then go to the doctor. Do not attempt to pull the clothing off yourself.

Leave the butter for your bread

Food on burns can hold the heat in your tissue and make the burn worse. It also might cause an infection. No vinegar, potato scrapings or honey too.

Check your burn

You can self treat first and second degree burns smaller than a quarter on a child or smaller than a silver dollar on an adult. See doctor for larger burns or for burns on infants under 1 year or people over 60.

Cover it

Gently wrap the burn in a clean, dry cloth such as a thick gauze pad.

Do nothing

For the first 24 hours, leave the burn alone.

Help it heal

Starting 24 hours after you burn yourself, wash your injury gently with soap and water once a day. Keep it covered, dry and clean between washings.

Soothe with aloe

Two or three days after you burn, break off a fresh piece of aloe and use the plant's natural healing moisture or squeeze on an over the counter aloe cream. Do not use aloe if you are using blood thinners or have a medical history of heart problems.

Soothing solutions

When it starts to heal, break open a capsule of vitamin E and rub the liquid onto your irritated skin. If feels good and may prevent scarring.

Dab on an antimicrobial cream

An over the counter antibiotic ointment containing the active ingredients polymyxin B sulfate of bacitracin will discourage infection and speed your healing.

Leave blisters intact

Those bubbles of skin are nature's own best bandage, so leave them alone. If it pops, clean the area with soap and water then smooth on a little antibiotic ointment and cover.

Snoring

There are different levels of snoring. Men are more likely to snore than women. Moderate snorers are those who snore every night but perhaps only when on their backs or only part of the night. In snoring, the sound is orchestrated by a wind ensemble located in the back of the throat. When you breathe in, it causes this tissue to vibrate and that effect is very similar to a wind instrument. So how do we stop the 'music'?

Diet

Most snorers tend to be middle aged, overweight men. Most women snorers are past menopause. Slimming stops snoring. The snoring becomes less loud, and disappears for some, if they loses weight.

No alcohol before bed

Alcohol before bed makes snoring worse.

No sedatives

Sleeping pills may make you snore. Anything that relaxes the tissues around the head and neck will tend to make snoring worse.

No cigarette

Just stop smoking.

Back off

Sleep on your side. Heavy snorers snore in virtually any position but moderate snorers only snore when they are on their backs.

Get rid of your pillow

A large pillow will make you snore more. Pillows only elevate your snoring level.

Raise you bed to new height

Elevating the bed can help minimize snoring. Elevate the upper torso, not just the head.

Allergies

Sneezing and snoring go together. Snoring can develop due to allergies or colds. Use a nasal decongestant, especially if your snoring is intermittent and comes during hay fever season.

Put a plug in it

If everything fails, the one on the receiving end of the nasal abuse can wear earplugs to bed.