Magnet therapy : Its action and use

Now a days every third person suffering from any chronic disease wear a bracelet or any thing with a magnet in that. Magnet therapy claims to effective in treating many chronic diseases if placed near the bones. Magnet therapy also called magnotherapy is recommended by practitioners mainly in diseases like diabetes, hypertension and as a cure for chronic joint disorders of joints and chronic backache.

How magnet therapy works

The believer and practitioner of this magnet therapy claims that magnetic fields produced from permanent magnets if placed close to the body leads to faster healing of bone, relieve pain thus very much helpful after fracture, the magnetic field also leads to other healing of the body.

Practitioners use negative magnetic fields and it having a beneficial effect on health. After placing the magnet to close proximity of injury it creates a force field which helps in relaxing muscle thus increased blood flow, it also reduces inflammation.

The practitioner of this magnet therapy claims that magnet increases circulation of blood, some claims to be effective due to shiatsu massage and some says that it produces an alkaline reaction in the body. Some even claims that it affect iron contents of red blood cells in the blood.

Thus there are several theories of action of magnet in our body, but none of them is scientifically proved and the non believers claims to be a placebo effect on patients. However in my general practice I have seen the effect of magnets in certain chronic diseases and feel normalizing blood pressure, controlling sugar and reducing pain due to wearing a magnet device.

Scientific research of magnet therapy

In several scienticfic researches done by using magnet therapy in patients of injury, chronic back pain and carpal tunnel syndrome but after the research came to a conclusion that magnets have no effect on these conditions. In spite of these researches and conclusions magnet therapy is widely accepted by many patients and inspite of being a doctor cannot straightway deny its effect.

Should I go for magnet therapy

Magnet therapy is a better alternate treatment for many diseases, it is safe, drug free and easily available. Cost is also not too much thus using magnets as an alternative therapy is of no harm in some pains like back pain and minor injury. However I would recommend to use magnet therapy if a patient is willing to try but should use along with other proved conventional therapies especially in diseases like hypertension and diabetes where a bit ignorance may lead tp life threatening condition.

Places of body where magnets are generally used

Magnets in the form of bracelet, locket or in any device is generally used in head, shoulder, elbow, knees, ankles etc. The detail body organ where magnet can be used are shown in the image/picture below.

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Botox to treat wrinkles

Botox is actually the botulinum toxin and is used in treatment of hyperhydrosis, migraine and its use in cosmetic surgery has been widely accepted as it has shown a great result in preventing formation of wrinkles of skin which occur mainly due to ageing. Before knowing about botox, first we should know about wrinkles.

Types of wrinkles of skin

Wrinkles are generally dynamic that is wrinkles appearing on any expression like frowning, smiling or animating any other expression. Other type of wrinkle is static that is the wrinkles which is present all the time and is generally a fat fillers and may be due to ageing.

Botox

Botox has been used as a drug since 1980 and its widespread use in the cosmetic surgery started from 1989 and has been approved by FDA on 15th April 2002. At present there are 8 subtypes of botox namely 8 subtypes (A, B, C1, C2, D, E, F, and G) out of which A and B are most commonly used. These subtypes is based on subtypes of botulinum toxin. Botox cosmetic is widely available in India, and is the most commonly used worldwide.

Mode of action of Botox

Botox injection when administrered blocks the release of acetylcholine a neurotransmitter at the nerve ends and thus prevents stimulation of muscles, so the muscles are usually relaxed and becomes wrinkle free. Botox is not absorbed in system thus being highly poisonous it does not show its poisonous effect in our system.

The question most commonly arises that how frequently one has to take botox injection?

The answer is as the effect of botox injection is short lived that is upto 5 to 6 months, so usually it is advised to repeat botox injection every 6 months.

How botox injection is given

Administering botox injection is not time taking and is an out door process. It hardly takes about 5 to 6 minutes and one can go back for his/her normal routine after maXximum of 10 minutes.

Uses of botox injection

In treatment of wrinkles botox is usually taken for forehead wrinkles, crows feet means wrinkles around eyes and for gummy smile and boxy faces which can be due to hypertrophy of masseteric muscles and the lower part of the face is square shaped, giving a look of a box.

See below the image/picture showing the effect of botox injection on forehead wrinkles.

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Complications of hair transplant and how to avoid complications

Cosmetic surgery is gaining popularity and hair transplant is one of the most common procedure performed by a plastic surgeon and not only males but now a days even females undergo plastic surgery.

Not any surgery is free from complications, hair transplant surgery too have several complications, some immediate and some occurring remote, but these complications can be avoided by taking some simple care.

Pain and headache after hair transplant surgery

Pain and prolonged headache is one of the major complication in hair transplant surgery, the reason is that some untrained plastic surgeon in order to perform bloodless surgery raise the hair bearing strip in the sub galeal plane and this lead to permanent damage to vessels and nerves and the avulsed nerves swells and form neuroma which is responsible for this pain and headache.

It can be prevented by raising the hair bearing strip to merely 1 mm above the galea. This can also prevent blood loss and this chronic pain and headache can be avoided.

Bleeding in hair transplant surgery

Bleeding is common and easily avoidable complication of hair transplant surgery. It is advisable to use tumescent anesthesia for infiltration. Adrenaline in a concentration of 1 : 1:200,000 should be infiltrated and after seven to eight minutes apply pressure on both sides of the strip and raise the strip in the proper plane.

Infection in hair transplant surgery

Like any other surgery in hair transplant surgery too, infection can be prevented by opting for sterilization procedure.

Scar mark in hair transplant surgery

A wide scar in any cosmetic surgery is always a complication, there should be just a pencil mark scar in thickness and should not be vascular or red. For the minimum scar the 2 layered closure and the 2 edges should not be in tension and to achieve this the layers should be dissected a little bit to make them closer. Other way is to replace monocryl in place of vicryl for better tension control and less reaction and minimum scarring..

No hair growth or less hair growth after hair transplant surgery

A failure of surgery in the most unacceptable complication, In hair transplant surgery there may be no hair growth or hair growth may be less dense than expected. This complication can be avoided by better surgical technique and maintaining the viability of hair follicles.

Viability of hair follicles can be maintained by using cold saine. The combs should be fine, the hair root should not be exposed to outside for long time. A proper maintainence may lead to normal growth of hairs after hair transplant.

For more detail see My health resources

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Apana mudra : Yoga mudra for piles and diabetes

Hast mudra are the mudra which purify our body. Apana hast mudra is a yoga mudra which has been beneficial for many diseases like piles, diabetes and teeth troubles. Those persons who find tough in doing yoga, should try to do mudras at least half an hour in a day.

How to perform apana mudra

Keeping index finger and ring finger straight, the tip of the thumb should be touched by ring finger and middle finger as seen in the image below.



Benefits of apana mudra

This apana yoga mudra provides internal confidence and infuse internal energy. Regular practice of this yoga mudra cures chronic diseases like diabetes, it is beneficial in piles and ant diseases related to vata. It is helpful in constipation, urinary obstruction and kidney diseases. One can get rid of teeth troubles by practicing this yoga mudra. It causes perspiration thus foreign matter of the body is thrown out and body gets purified.

Heart patients with diabetes should prefer this yoga mudra as it can be helpful in both conditions.

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How to stop bad breath

Have you felt awckward in a gathering due to bad breath

A bad breath always interferes in the personal, social as well as professional life, it feels disgusting when you talk with a person and the person avoid directly talking to you. Some might even offer you some mouth freshener like peppermints or any chewing gums.

Bad breath is really something which is unpleasant, there may be a yellow tinge on your teeth which also affect your look. All these lead to depressed life, cut off from gatherings and you end up brushing or cleaning your mouth.
Bad breath is also called halitosis, this is bad odor in the breath.

Causes of bad breath

There are different causes of bad breath but the most common cause is the dental hygiene. An unhygenic oral cavity leads to bad breath. Other causes are eating strongly flavored foods like onion, spices, garlic. Strong smelling beverages like tea, coffee, alcohol, or smoking.

There are some medical causes too causing bad breath which are curable and preventable. These causes are

Infection of the upper respiratory tract, bronchitis, sinusitis as these lead to secretion which may be infected and foul smelling.

Dry mouth also called xerostomia is mainly due to deficiency of Vitamin A is another important cause of bad breath.

Some chronic diseases related to metabolism may be a causative factor of bad breath like Diabetes, Liver or kidney problems, Atkins diet and Montignac diet.

Gastritis and food reflux mainly old food particles may lead to bad odor of mouth.

Diagnosis of bad breath

The diagnosis depends on self assessment or by one who is very close to you. If these are not possible, one can put some saliva on a peice of paper and let it to dry and smell that, a bad odor usually remains on the paper.

Treatment of bad breath

Maintenance of dental hygiene is the most appropiate measure to cure bad breath, apart from that the disease should be treated if there is any respiratory infection or sinisitis. Proper antibiotics with steam inhalation may be helpful in such situation. One cannot prevent taking strong smelling food, but then proper brushing and mouth washing by antiseptic mouth wash with proper rinsing will help to curb the odor.

Remaining empty stomach for long time may cause acidity and gastric reflux and these can be cured by drugs like antacids. Blood sugar should be in control which can also prevent from other diseases related to liver and kidney.

Preventive measures for bad breath

Reduce the intake of strongly flavored or spicy food, alcohol and reduce smoking as much as you can. Take plenty of fluids orally which will clean your mouth from food particles especially liquids like milk, meat and polutry which causes bad odor very quickly.Use a tongue cleaner and clean right to the back of the tongue.
Intake of vitamin A rich food like carrots, guava and tomatoes prevents from dry mouth. Avoid snacks between meals and if you take clean your mouth properly as these are the cause of growth of bacteria causing bad odor.

If all these fails,visit your dentist for a proper check up.

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