Body Piercing Health Tips
First, if you’re under the age of 18, you may be required to have a parent with you before they will perform the piercing. Do you know of a place that will do it without a parent? Fine, but discuss it with your parents first so you can explain why it’s important to you and so they can tell you how they feel about any risks.
Secondly, and most importantly, don’t take it upon yourself to pierce your body or let one of your friends do it. This should only be left up to professionals. This will drastically reduce any health risks or permanent damage.
Plan Ahead
- Preexisting health conditions: If you have any allergies, skin disorders, diabetes, immune system deficiencies or disorders, or are pregnant, consult your doctor on if a body piercing would be okay or what other measures, if any, you should take.
- Immunizations: Make sure that you’re up to date on your immunizations, especially hepatitis and tetanus immunizations.
- Plan where you will go for medical care in case you experience any difficulties later on pertaining to the piercing.
- Check out the piercing shop ahead of time.
- Know the health risks before getting a piercing.
- Jewelry: Check out their jewelry and make sure that they use non-toxic materials such as surgical steel, 14-karat or 18-karat gold, titanium, platinum, or niobium. Other materials can cause skin irritation or even several rashes or outbreaks of the skin.
- Cleanliness: The shop should be clean and all needles and waste products such as gauze and other items that may contain blood are properly disposed of.
- Person Performing the Piercing: Make sure the person washes their hands and uses a fresh pair of disposable gloves.
- Sterilization: Make sure that the instruments used are sterilized and make sure that a new needle is being used.
- No Piercing Guns: These aren’t’ sterile, so make sure these aren’t being used.
- Infection and Chronic Infections: This is a risk especially with any piercings in or on the mouth and/or nose.
- Damage to Teeth: This is a risk for tongue piercings and is not a short term risk, but can happen over the course of several years.Gum Issues: This is a risk for any piercing that is on or in the mouth. Again, it’s not an immediate risk, but can happen over a prolonged period of time.
- Prolonged or Excessive Bleeding
- Scarring
- Disease: Mainly, you can contract Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, or tetanus.
- Skin Allergies
- Abscesses or Boils
- Nerve Damage
Cold Weather Skin Care Protection Tips
Avoiding dry skin in the colder months can help you save face year-round. Still, the National Health Interview Survey found that at least 81 million Americans experience dry, itchy or scaly skin when temperatures drop.
Try these tips for protecting skin:
- Total Care--Used daily, a noncomedogenic, hypoallergenic, fragrance-free product such as Theraplex HydroLotion can help keep skin hydrated. The product line is even formulated to address the drying, damaging effects of winter.
- Total Protection--Theraplex Emollient can help heal and protect skin from intense dryness resulting in dry, cracked hands, feet, lips, elbows and knees. The company's ClearLotion helps to replace essential oils when applied to wet skin.
- Total Healing--Look for products such as Theraplex FT Exfoliating Emollient, which contains a beta hydroxy acid. It can improve problem areas such as feet and elbows by sloughing off dead skin cells and deeply moisturizing.
Top 4 Expert Tips for Fresh-Faced Beauty
1. Anastasia says "Cleaning your skin daily is the absolute basic rule of great skin." Make sure to remove your makeup no matter how tired you are before going to sleep.
2. Do home treatments to keep your complexion looking at it's best. Anastasia recommends filling a sink with warm water and adding a few drops of lavender oil. Soak a face cloth in the water and then squeeze it out before laying it over your entire face. Take deep breaths and place the cloth onto your skin. This will initiate the flow of blood to the surface of the face.
3. Laurey suggests using a light tinted moisturiser as oppose to a heavy base if you want to look young and fresh. Try Olay Complete Touch of Foundation (£9.99) dotted onto the nose, cheeks and forehead. These are the areas that usually need more coverage so Laurey recommends blending lightly outwards for a natural effect. The fine pigments in the foundation help to even out the skin tone.
4. Try a cream blush for an effortlessly beautiful look. "Smile in the mirror" says Laurey "and apply a dab of blusher to the apples of the cheeks. Blend outwards towards the corners of your eyes using your fingertips." For a co-ordinated look Laurey suggests applying just a touch of cream blush to the lips for a bee-stung style.
Easy Hair Care Tips
1. Avoid shampoos which contain sodium laurel sulfate, or sodium laureth sulfate as they are harmful chemicals used in dishwashing detergents. They are generally used as they lather easily but eventually dries out your hair. Use a shampoo with gentle agents like ecyl glucose, or decyl glucoside.
3. Never tie your hair strongly as it might weaken hair roots.
4. Excessive tension and dieting undernourishes your hair, making them weaker and dull-looking. Eat the right food with lots of vitamins and minerals for healthy hair.
5. Use wide-tooth combs for curly hair. Brushes can destroy curly hair by tearing them off the scalp.
6. Avoid sleeping in hair accessories like head bands, scrunchies, barrettes.
7. Trim your hair frequently if it is prone to split ends.
8. Wet your hair prior to swimming as the hair will soak up fresh water instead of the chlorinated water. Wear a shower cap when you swim. In case you don't, make sure to shampoo and condition your hair post swimming.
9. Use hair dryers cautiously. Use the cooler option to blow dry. Do not concentrate the dryer on a single spot for more than a few seconds.
10. The best way to dry your hair is to pat it with a towel and allow it to dry naturally.
11. In case of wet hair tangling, use your fingers to detangle the knots.
Waxing Tips
1. Do a patch test prior to waxing the entire area to avoid any kind of allergic reactions.
2. Whether you do a hot wax or cold wax, make sure that the length of the hair is 1/8 of an inch to ensure complete removal of hair from the shaft.
3. Make sure the skin is squeaky clean and patted dry to get the best results. Remove all cream, oil, or grime.
4. Do not overheat the wax as it might cause skin burn.
5. While removing the wax strip, pull it against the direction of the hair growth parallely and not straight up to the body.
6. Hand massage with lotion or oil on the waxed area soothes the skin.
7. Applying ice pack post waxing is also helpful.
8. Try to prevent exposing the waxed area to sunlight for a minimum of 24 hours or use a good sunscreen with high SPF.
9. Avoid waxing before and during menstrual cycle as the skin is supersensitive during this period.
10. Do not wax on sunburned areas as this might cause the skin to peel off easily.
11. Diabetics and teenagers prone to acne are advised not to undergo waxing.
12. Follow all these tips religiously and you will notice your hair growing softer with lesser density over a period of time.