What is the best Drugstore Anti-Wrinkle Cream? - Not what you expect!

If you look in the mirror you are concerned with wrinkles and premature aging lines? By improving the overall health of your skin in mind, what is the best drugstore anti-wrinkle cream?

Let's stop for a minute and take a look at that statement. Most of the products sold at your local drugstore just not effective enough to reduce your wrinkles. For a cream or lotion to be effective, contain the right amounts of certain ingredients.

Keep in mind that there is no miracle cure for wrinkles. A good natural anti wrinkle will do wonders, but it will also change in lifestyle. Protect your skin from the sun and keep it moist will go a long way in reducing the risk of premature wrinkles and fine lines.

What causes wrinkles?

As your skin ages, it stops the production of proteins that are important in the skin known as collagen and elastin. These two proteins are very important in providing your skin with the texture and elasticity of your skin needs to look and feel healthy.

If the levels of collagen and elastin diminish, your skin begin to sag and develop lines and wrinkles. But do not assume that a cream with collagen is the answer.

It seems that a lot of cosmetic companies are pushing so-called collagen creams these days. The problem with this is that collagen can not be absorbed through the skin, the molecules are just too big. Collagen must be produced by the body.

Increase the production of collagen and reduce wrinkles You Will

By using a cream rich in active natural ingredients that specifically help to restore the growth of collagen and elastin to promote you will notice a reduction in the signs of aging on your skin.

So, back to our opening statement of what is the best drugstore anti-wrinkle cream. Chances are that the best lotion you can find in a drugstore still not good enough to get the results you expect to pay for it.

The best cream to reduce wrinkles is one that is rich in natural active ingredients such as essential oils like avocado oil, grapeseed and macadamia oil. These oils penetrate deep into the skin to help heal and moisturize from the inside out.

Other highly effective natural substances are active Manuka honey and Xtend-TK. These substances help the skin re-growth of vital proteins, which is what you need to fine lines and wrinkles stimulating.

Now that the answer to the question 'what is the best drugstore anti-wrinkle cream ", you should be able to take action and reduce the signs of aging today to begin to know.

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How to Discover Your Intimacy Boundaries

I remember a couple who came to see me for marital counseling. The woman appeared to be more committed to the relationship than the man. The man was unhappy with the relationship due to physical appearance of his wife and had her pressure have cosmetic surgery including a facelift and liposuction. He felt the few cosmetic changes would improve the sex life and fill the void of what he missed.

I was quite surprised because the woman was exceptionally beautiful and pleasant, while her husband was not physically impressive and emotionally cold and distant. I saw the man controlling behavior toward his wife as a desperate attempt to try to establish relationships without regard to their struggles with intimacy. By his own admission, the man was devoid of emotional expressiveness. He was raised in an environment where his parents relationship was sterile, non-affectionate, and lack of passion. This man's wife lived with frustration at his lack of emotional availability, and she was angry and reluctant to act on by his need for her to change her image to his need for better sex needs.

I raised the red flag for the male sexual needs by-passed his intimacy issues, but unfortunately it was less painful for him to clear signs of emotional unavailability to ignore. He continued his irrational desire to restore his wife's physical appearance, using it as the litmus test for the quality of their sex life and relationship to continue. His wife was vulnerable to his demands and was afraid of losing the relationship. Unfortunately, she decided to satisfy the wishes of her husband, ignoring the various signals that I had explored with them.

I have one partner can not be seen until several months later. At that moment, the woman called me for an emergency appointment. She came to my office sobbing as she explained the resentment and humiliation that she felt for her folly to accept cosmetic surgery in her feeble attempt to take her husband's sexual needs. Her face was bruised and irritated her face lift and I remember her despondently said: "My husband is not one of your recommendations presented at our last meeting on the issue of creating intimacy considered." I was not surprised.

The impact of intimacy at the core of every significant relationship. Cultivating intimacy takes a lot of work. Intimacy is a complex set of feelings and behaviors that develops out of a relationship based on integrity, commitment, passion and respect. Many people, especially men, get sexuality confused with intimacy. Sexuality should be viewed as a manifestation of the quality of the relationship of a couple, not a goal.

Sexual expression is not maintaining a relationship devoid of intimacy. Intimacy, however, will maintain a relationship with a certain degree of sexual involvement may be missed. I've worked with many couples who have had erotic sex whose relationships dissolved. I've never worked with a couple whose relationship is built on intimate behavior that has faltered. If intimacy is the cornerstone of a healthy relationship, understanding the nature of interest:

• A partner must take the risk of revealing emotions.
• A partner must be willing to be honest and advance in the communication.
• Couples must listen, and non-judgmental and promoting understanding.
• A partner must value and cherish the person he loves.
• The issue of intimacy is the core of all important relationships.
• The impact of intimacy is much broader than sexuality.
• It's the little things that count - remembering birthdays, anniversaries, surprise a partner with gifts, and validating your partner.
• Demonstration of non-sexual affection, like holding hands, hugging, messaging, and kissing are intimate acts.
• cultivation of intimacy is important when couples who struggle with their sexual experience.
• Conflict resolution is an important aspect of intimacy.
• As a spiritually and psychologically committed to their own partner of intimacy.
• Trust and respect are the cornerstones of intimacy.
• Accepting your partner with all its faults is a quality of intimacy.
• Management of difficult life events in a relationship is a hallmark of intimacy.
• Setting up a romantic setting and creating mutually satisfying sexual encounters is intimacy.

We all know someone just by the nature of their emotional experience. Developing intimacy requires a sense of feeling, not about them. Many partners experience frustration and resentment if they are unable to accurately assess their partner's feelings and ultimately making assumptions that may or may not be accurate.

Finding meaning and purpose in life is about feeling connected to those closest to us. Those who demonstrate intimacy are not afraid to be vulnerable if it is in their best interest. I believe our legacy will be determined on the quality of our relationships. The quality of our connections will be based on the level of intimacy that we do with our most precious contacts. Waiting for the right time takes work, not a pill.

James P. Krehbiel, Ed.S., LPC, CCBT is an educator, author, licensed professional counselor and nationally certified cognitive-behavioral therapist practicing in Scottsdale, Arizona. He specializes in treating anxiety and depression for adults and children. He served as a teacher and guidance counselor for 30 years and has taught graduate-level counselor training for Chapman University. In 2005, he self-published Stepping Out of the Bubble: Reflections on the Pilgrimage of Counseling Therapy (http://www.Booklocker.com). His latest book, Troubled Childhood, triumphant Life: Healing the Battle Scars of Youth (New Horizon Press) about the impact of negative childhood experiences on adult functioning.

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Cosmetic Tattoo Removal - How to Be Able to Expose Those Obvious Areas Again

That tattoo that you got when you were younger may have been really fun and cool then. But as you get older or you develop a desire for a new look, you may be wishing that those tattoos were no longer on your body. This can be especially true if your tattoo is in an area of your body that is not covering in clothing a lot of the time.

Dermatologists have found that by using lasers, you can remove tattoos from your skin. Usually the way this works is that the laser is designed to produce a type of light energy that goes right for the pigment from the ink in the tattoo. The laser sends short bursts of high powered laser light that gets absorbed by the pigment in the tattoo. These bursts of the laser light breaks up the ink into microscopic particles under your skin. After an area is treated by laser, your body's immune cells move in to help clear the ink particles. Because of the precise way the laser works, it only targets the tattoo's pigment, and doesn't have an effect on the surrounding skin. This is why laser tattoo removal has the best healing and lowest chance of causing scarring compared to other techniques.

The procedure is an easy one though it will always take a series of treatments to remove your tattoo. The number of treatments you will need depends on the colors, size, the amount of ink and sometimes the depth of ink in your skin. It can vary greatly from person to person because different tattoo inks respond differently to the laser treatment.

When you go for treatment, the laser technician will clean the skin that has the tattoo on it, and the area directly around the tattoo. This is done to remove any oils that may be on your skin, as they can interfere with the laser and to decrease the risk of skin infection. The next step is to provide you with protective goggles so that your eyes are not affected by the laser light. At this point, the procedure will begin. You may feel a mild pain sensation, which many patients describe feeling like a rubber band snapping on your skin. Once your treatment if over, the area that was worked on may be a bit red and some people may experience slight bleeding and scabbing depending upon the type of laser used for the procedure.

The color of the ink that was used for your tattoo can greatly depend on how many treatments you'll need and how effective these laser treatments are. Black and red inks respond the best to laser treatments, and are easy to remove through this type of tattoo removal process. Blue, green, orange and purple inks respond less well, so you may need more treatments. Yellow is the hardest ink color to remove via this treatment method and many times does not respond at all.

Many dermatologists offer laser treatment methods to help you remove your tattoos. The best lasers for tattoo removal are usually Q-switched so you can ask about this when you go for consultation.

Done appropriately, cosmetic tattoo removal is how you will be able to expose those obvious areas again and feel great about your skin.

To learn more, download the free report "Consumer's Guide to Dermatological Tattoo Removal" at http://drseymourweaver.com/dermatology-blog/free-report-dermatological-tattoo-removal and find out what you need before having tattoo removal. Seymour M. Weaver, III, M.D. is devoted to helping you have the best skin possible.

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Hands Down

Some of the odd stories from the plastic surgery world.

I enjoy doing cosmetic surgery. A lot. But when I came out of my residency all fresh and eager and thinking the world would beat a path to my clinic, a little dose of reality hit me. And so, along my journey to becoming a cosmetic surgeon, I did a little hand surgery. No, I did a lot of hand surgery.

Hand surgery is an odd sort of specialty. On the one hand - it takes a lot of expertise and a lot of practice. It combines delicate microsurgery, refined orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery skills for skin and soft tissue coverage, and a team approach involving a dedicated hand therapist. On the other hand - most of the patients are dumb as bricks.

You might think that most of the major hand surgery trauma is just from simple accidents. You would think wrong. A simple accident, such as shutting a finger in the door, an accidental slip of a knife, a simple broken finger, or a sprain rarely requires a hand surgeon. An ER doctor can handily dispose of those issues. No, a real major injury requires intense effort.

Lets look at a few examples. First we have 'The Hunter'. As you might expect, 'The Hunter' likes to hunt. He especially loves to hunt 'old school' with a musket, a round ball for a bullet, and an old style powder horn filled with black powder.

Now 'The Hunter' also likes to drink. And to make this a truly southern redneck kind of story, he likes to smoke. Can you see where I'm going here? One evening, after a dinner of hops, malt, and barley washed down with a few beers, he sets his black powder horn down. In his ashtray. On top of a lighted cigarette. It dawns on him that this might not be a safe practice. He picks up the now smoking black powder horn and bang. Blew his right hand clean off at the wrist. There really wasn't much for me to do other than make it a little shorter and close everything up. He had to go home the next day and clean his right hand off the walls of the trailer with his left hand.

Sometimes, fashion can cause a major hand injury. Case in point, the 'Hip Hop Wannabee'. This guy loved the gangsta look. Lots of chains, tatted up arms, and droopey pants. He felt like he fit right in with his thug look. Until he met a couple of real thugs. After they messed with him for a while he tried to run off. Of course his pants were hanging somewhere between his hips and his knees. So he had to reach back and hold them up while he tried to run. He looked so comical one of the thugs thought it would be funny to shoot him in the ass. Which they did - right through his hand and into a butt cheek. It really was hard to keep a straight face while he explained how this happened.

I often ask how an injury occurred. I don't know why since so many people with hand injuries lie. Case in point was the police officer who came in at 2:00 AM in street clothes. He had a bullet hole clear through the middle of his hand. He also smelled a little of alcohol. When asked what happened he stated that he was reviewing gun safety with his neighbor while they were have a discussion over the fence in the back yard. He said he was explaining how important it was to keep your hand off of the slide where the spent shell ejects from since it can cause injury. He never was able to explain how this caused a bullet hole. Not only that, a very big bullet hole - bigger than a 9mm pistol would make. And with no gun powder around it, the hole was not made at close range. Go figure.

About 15 years ago I got a call to the ER for some missing fingers. Seems a former bikini model was getting up in years and felt that she was no longer getting modeling jobs. She became very depressed. Alcohol always helped her feel better so she took up alcoholism as a hobby. One night when she was driving home she had trouble holding the steering wheel of her car. She looked down and much to her surprise found that her fingers were missing on her left hand. At least that's how the 911 call came in. The police officer that was dispatched found her at the side of the road, very distraught and very drunk. He also noted that her car bad been in a bad wreck which she had not noticed. It seems she was driving drunk, rolled her car a few times, and in the process her left hand flew out the broken window and the fingers were amputated. She never noticed until her car flipped upright and she tried to grab the steering wheel.

I think that is enough stories for now. I have more, but I'll save those for a later post. As you might expect, the details have been changed a bit to protect privacy.

Al Rosenthal, MD, is a board certified plastic surgeon practicing cosmetic and reconstructive surgery in the northern Atlanta suburbs. He invites to you to view his website at http://www.plasticsurgeryofgwinnett.com and his blog at http://www.plasticsurgeryofgwinnett.com/musings.

Unlike a purely marketing blog, his blog truly is a random musing about the art and business of plastic surgery. Feel free to post any comments and he will happily respond. Also, questions can be asked on the main website. Enjoy!

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3 Steps Towards Perfect Health

Perfect health is a dream of millions but a reality of few.While perfect health seems to be an unachievable task for many of us, the health care industry has turned the idea into a billion dollar sector, targeting this very dream for people. Thus, many people turn to health experts to get their help and advice to become healthier.

But even though there has been phenomenal improvement and inventions in the health care industry, health related issues like obesity, heart related problems, and diabetes and other ailments have become quite common today. One of the main reasons for the rise in these health related issues is that we have forgotten the way we should live and have started behaving like machines. Due to these reasons, health insurance has also become one of the essentials of today's lifestyle. But stress not. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) provides some relief to people in understanding their health insurance better.

Machines get repaired and their parts replaced when they break down, but that is not the same with human bodies. Most of the time you can cure many health issues, but there comes a time when the human body will reach that point of no return if you do not take care. Below are some of the basic steps that you should take to achieve good,or to some "perfect," health.

• Control Your Diet - You should have control over what you are eating and how much you are eating. Bad eating habits remain to be one of the most common issues and basic problems leading to almost all the health related issues faced today. Junk food has seeped into today's culture but not everyone understands the damage it does to the human body. Pollution adds to this misery, as well. Thus what you put into your body is very important.

• Good Sleep - This is one of the most ignored aspects of good health. Good sleep provides the body the required rest it needs from the entire day's activities. It is the recovery period for all the organs of the body. While sleeping,your body replaces many dead cells, repairing tissues and organs that you have hurt in the day, and relaxes the muscles that you have strained the entire day. If you do not make sufficient time to sleep, the repair and relaxation activity of the body remains incomplete and thus this starts creating problems in daily activities. According to the experts, a minimum of 6-8 hours sleep is essential for adults.

• Physical Exercise - This remains to be the balancing activity for control of your diet. Plus physical exercise also strengthens the muscles and different parts of the body, and increases blood circulation in various parts.

Good health is certainly achievable, provided we pay some attention to our bodies and do not neglect the various signals that our bodies give us indicating the health status. The above three steps are some of the basics to keep an eye on so that you have the best health possible.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA website.

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Ghana Life: It's a Rich Man's World

Like most developing countries, Ghana struggles to maintain a state medical service at free or low cost, that is intended to be accessible to all its citizens. The poor must rely on this service, though many find it difficult to afford its modest fees, and few can readily find cash for the pharmacist's bill. The situation provides opportunity for a thriving private sector that provides modern medical support for the wealthy and for the staff of foreign agencies operating in the country. In his novel The Colonial Gentleman's Son, John Powell describes a visit to a private clinic in Tema near Accra in 1994.

The abdominal pains had been growing more acute and more frequent. Kwame could procrastinate no longer. So he telephoned Dr Kwapong and made an appointment for the next day. This was Kwame's first visit to the clinic but he was not surprised to find that it was newly built on a grand scale. A large car park extended in front of its dazzling white walls but the only other car was a new Mercedes Benz coupe. Was this an indication that business was bad or business was good? Kwame hurried in through the double doors into a large waiting room, devoid of waiters. His footsteps echoed as he walked across to the reception desk and gently roused the receptionist from her slumbers. "Mr Mainu?" she yawned, "Go right in; Dr Kwapong is expecting you." She indicated a door on a corridor to her right.

Kwame had met Dr Kwapong only once before. He was a short slim man with horn-rimmed glasses who hastened Kwame into a chair beside his desk to lessen his physical dominance. After the usual greetings and noting Kwame's name the doctor asked, "Now what's the problem? If it's something nasty picked up from the girls, don't worry, I have all the latest treatments from London." Kwame was somewhat taken aback by this overture and could only assume it was intended to put at ease patients with a sexually transmitted disease. He imagined that many of the big men, who were wealthy enough to afford the doctor's services, often brought this problem to him. He wondered how the doctor would deal with the problem of HIV/AIDS. The professor he met at Televideo had told him that there was no known cure - not even in London.

Kwame made an effort to reply in the same vein, "Not this time, doctor, but I'll bear it in mind. No, my problem is a little higher up."
"In your stomach?"
"Yes, just here." Kwame indicated an area just below his breastbone.
"When do you get these pains?"
"Usually an hour or two after meals and sometimes in the night."
"Please lie on the couch and I'll have a closer look."
After Kwame was settled horizontally with bared stomach the doctor continued, "Is it here?"
"No."
"Here?"
"Yes that's it, agyei!"'
"Well it's not appendicitis. I think you know what it is."
"I suspect it may be a stomach ulcer."
"You're not being treated for arthritis or rheumatism, are you?"
"No."
"Then I would like to do a test for H. pylori. Have you been taking any antibiotics recently; say in the last four weeks?"
"No, doctor."
"Any other medications?"
"None at all."
"Then I can do the test today if you have the time."
"Yes, I want to sort it out as soon as possible."
"Of course! Please wait outside while I get set up."

Kwame went back to the waiting room where the receptionist had resumed her slumbers. At least here the reading material is a little more to my liking, he thought, recalling his wait at St Louis school in Kumasi. He reached for a copy of the Economist and settled back for a long read, but a nurse came to call him much sooner than he expected. The more interesting the reading material, the shorter the wait, he said to himself; I think I'll call it Mainu's Law. Kwame looked at the nurse and then glanced back at the dormant receptionist. Dr Kwapong certainly has an eye for the girls, he thought, I wonder if he sometimes has to self-medicate. Then recalling his mind to his own problem he followed the swaying hips back into the consulting room.

Dr Kwapong took two samples of Kwame's breath. He was reminded of the test for drink drivers in England. Then he was asked by the nurse to drink a foul tasting concoction that he was told was C-urea. After a short interval, two more breath samples were taken. "We'll have to send these off to Accra for analysis," said Dr Kwapong. "We'll have the results within a few days. I'll give you a ring. If the result confirms my diagnosis, we can start the treatment right away."
"How long will it take?"
"I employ a one-week triple-therapy regimen."
"Will that cure the problem?"
"The treatment is said to be effective in about 90 percent of cases. I expect it will clear up the present problem, if, as I think, we've caught it in time, but it's once bitten twice shy with gastric ulcers, I'm afraid. You must eliminate the irritants that brought about the first one."
"Does that mean no more pepper?"
"I'm afraid so, and it's best to cut out alcohol as well. It's good you're not a smoker or you'd need to stop that as well."
"Are there any pleasures I don't have to forgo?"
"Only one!"

On the way out the receptionist was wide awake. The nurse slipped her a note. "We will require a deposit, Mr Mainu," said the receptionist with well rehearsed authority, "There's the consultation, the fee for the test, including the analytical services at the laboratory in Accra, the nurse's fee, plus overheads and tax." She mentioned a substantial sum. "You don't charge for the car park then," said Kwame with a grin. "No, that's provided free for the convenience of patients," she replied, trying to suppress an answering smile. "By the way, Dr Kwapong has asked me to inform you that this will be the cost of your treatment if the test results are positive." She scribbled on an invoice pad, tore off the top leaf and passed it to Kwame. He decided to look at it later. It was bad enough having a stomach ulcer; he didn't want to add a heart problem.

Akwesi Berko
To learn more about the intriguing story of the grassroots industrial revolution in the turbulent Ghana of the second half of the twentieth century, read John Powell's novel The Colonial Gentleman's Son or his non-fictional account The Survival of the Fitter. More details of these books and photographs of the informal sector artisans of Suame Magazine in Kumasi will be found on the following websites.

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Avoid Free Radicals And More With Vanillin

Vanillin is a phenolic acid that is found in vanilla beans. It is a powerful antioxidant (a substance that can protect your body's cells from damaging free radicals) which may also have the potential to prevent various health disorders. In this article I will be taking a detailed look at vanillin and its various health benefits.

1) DISCOVERY:

Awareness of vanilla and vanillin dates back to Aztec times where it was used as a flavouring for chocolate. Vanilla arrived in Europe around 1520 but it was not extracted until over 300 years later. In1858 the French chemist Nicholas-Theodore Gobley became the first person to isolate pure vanillin by evaporating and recrystallizing a vanilla extract. In 1874 the German scientists Ferdinand Tiemann and Wilhelm Haarmann followed up on Gobley's work and managed to determine the chemical structure for vanillin and also synthesise it.

2) HEALTH BENEFITS:

Vanillin's main health benefits is as a potent antioxidant which can keep your body's cells safe from free radicals. These harmful compounds have been linked with an increased risk of cancer (a disease where the deoxyribonucleic acid in your body's cells become disrupted and causes them to grow in a rapid, out of control way), an increased risk of diabetes (a disease that causes your blood glucose levels to become extremely high), increased visible signs of ageing and a weak immune system. Antioxidants can help you avoid all these nasty effects.

In addition to this, provisional evidence suggests that vanillin may have a role to play in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease (a mental disorder which leads to loss of memory, loss of thought and loss of speech), Parkinson's disease (a degenerative brain disorder that leads to a loss of mobility and a loss of speech), cancer and sickle cell disease (a disease that leads to your body producing sickle shaped blood cells that prevent proper blood flow). However, further evidence is needed before these health benefits can be validated.

3) FOOD SOURCES:

Vanilla beans are the only natural food source of vanillin and contain around 2 grams (g) of vanilla per 100g. This phenolic acid can also be found in vanilla extract and vanillin supplements but the exact amount found in these products varies by product type.

4) SUMMARY:

The research on vanillin and its health benefits is still in the early stages. However, using vanilla as a spice or flavouring agent is safe, offers you antioxidant protection and may potentially keep you safe from a wide range of other health disorders. It is definitely worth adding to your spice rack and could give you a serious health kick.

Tom Parker owns Free Fitness Tips - an excellent source of dietary and nutritional information. You can find out more about vanillin and the other phenolic acids by visiting Free Fitness Tips.


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