An Option for Varicose Veins
The appearance and health of your legs greatly impact your confidence and ability to carry out your daily routine. When your legs are plagued with spider and varicose veins, you may not be eager to wear clothing like shorts or skirts. You also may experience symptoms that make regular activities like walking and climbing stairs uncomfortable.
What is Sclerotherapy?
Sclerotherapy is a procedure that is designed to treat varicose and spider veins. It is performed as an outpatient procedure. It is minimally invasive and relatively painless.
Sclerotherapy is primarily performed for cosmetic reasons, that is to ease the appearance of spider and varicose veins. However, it can also be performed for therapeutic or medicinal reasons to relieve varicose and spider vein symptoms like:
- Aching
- Burning
- Swelling
- Leg cramps
Most sclerotherapy procedures take less than an hour to complete. The number of veins treated, however, will depend on their location as well as the patient’s overall health.
How it’s Done
Sclerotherapy performed on varicose or spider veins in the legs requires you to stand up during the entire procedure. You will be given a local or topical anesthetic to eliminate any sensation you may feel during the treatment. Your blood pressure, breathing, and other health statistics will also be monitored during sclerotherapy.
Your doctor will inject a solution directly into the blood vessels in your legs. The solution causes irritation in the vessels, which in turn causes them to collapse and eventually disappear.
After the procedure is finished, you will remain under observation for 30 to 45 minutes before being allowed to go home to recuperate. It can take up to a week for the appearance of the varicose or spider veins to be eliminated permanently.
Recovery from Sclerotherapy
When you go home to recuperate from sclerotherapy, you may be advised to wear surgical or compression stockings to prevent the formation of blood clots in your legs. Your doctor may also advise you to get up and walk several times a day to prevent blood clots from forming.
You also will be told to avoid activities like heavy lifting and straining. They can cause complications like bleeding and pain in your legs.
Your doctor will likewise tell you to avoid smoking and drinking alcohol during the first two to three weeks after sclerotherapy. Both of these habits can cause complications like clots and thinning of your blood.
Have You Considered Breast Reduction Surgery?
Some women with naturally large breasts may find that it keeps them from being able to do some of the things they love such as sports and dancing. Others might find the weight of their breasts to be painful. No matter what the reasons may be, below are some of the top reasons to consider asking your doctor about a breast reduction.
Less Back Pain
Many women who are looking to get a breast reduction do so because of the back pain the heaviness causes. Larger breasts can sometimes weigh up to seven pounds each. For women who are active and love to exercise, the weight of the breasts can be a significant cause of pain in the back and chest.
Improvement In Posture
Large, heavy breasts can also lead to bad posture. The weight in the front can pull an individual forward and create a hunch in the shoulders when walking and moving around. After a successful breast reduction, many women notice an improvement in posture and less tension in their upper backs right away.
Easier To Exercise
Certain exercises can cause breasts to jump and bounce around. For women with heavy breasts, the movement can become painful, even with a supportive bra. Any exercise that causes the breasts to hang will also put stress and strain on a woman with a large bust.
No Shoulder Grooves From Bra Straps
Women with larger breasts often have to wear bras with thicker shoulder straps to support the weight. Thin straps are often not strong or supportive enough to get the job done and can cut into the shoulders. Many women seek a breast reduction in order to have more options in bras and not have to be stuck purchasing bras with thick straps only.
More Clothing Options
For women who have large, natural breasts and a small body frame, it can be really difficult to find clothing options that fit properly. If the clothing fits in the breast area, it may be too baggy in the stomach area. If you want a form-fitting shirt, it may not fit the large breasts. Many women want to get a breast reduction so they are able to have more clothing options to purchase that fit correctly.
Eliminate Sagging
One reason a lot of women choose to undergo breast reduction surgery is to eliminate saggy breasts. Over time, the heavy weight from large breasts will pull the skin until it gets stretched. While it can happen to breasts of all sizes as you age, it is more common for large breasts to sag the most. A cosmetic surgeon may be able to reduce large breasts and discuss the option of a breast lift surgery. A breast reduction with a breast lift can give women smaller, fuller and perkier breasts.
Is the Fountain of Youth Simpler Than We Thought?
What if, instead of relying on anti-wrinkle creams, you could achieve a more youthful appearance with some makeup application? Could enhancing your lips and eyes really take any years off of your appearance? It’s possible, according to a study published in the Frontiers of Psychology.
The study was performed by a team of French and American researchers, the perception of a woman appearing younger depending on how much her features stand out—also known as “facial contrast”—holds true across all cultures. In particular, the study shows that women appear more youthful when their lips, eyebrows, and eyes stand out.
Facial contrast is something that decreases with age in women all around the world. Because of this, it’s not just wrinkles appearing that is the main sign of aging. Our facial features can actually fade as we get older—with lips, eyebrows, and eyes becoming duller and less prominent.
In previous studies, facial contrast has shown to be related to how individuals perceive femininity and health. However, those studies looked at Caucasian faces viewed by other Caucasians. In this latest study, researchers wanted to see how we view faces across ethnic and cultural lines.
After gathering images of digitally measuring the degree of facial contrast of four groups of women (Latin American, Chinese Asian, French Caucasian, and South African), the researchers evaluated responses from within the same ethnic groups and among those from other cultures. By showing the participants two photos: one with low contrast and one with high contrast, the high contrast face was chosen as the younger ones nearly 80 percent of the time. Neither the culture of the woman in the picture nor the participant altered results.
With this study, individuals may be able to have more control over how old they look by highlighting, darkening, or coloring different features.
Managing Hair Loss
Hair loss is also known as alopecia, and can affect anyone of any age. It can be the result of poor nutrition, injuries, sicknesses, genetics, and hormonal shifts.
Understanding Hair Growth
Hair grows at a rate of one centimeter a month. Ninety percent of hair on your head is growing, while the other 10 percent is in a resting phase. At the end of the resting phase, that hair is shed and new hair grows in its place. When you begin noticing that you are shedding more hair than usual, you may want to explore options that help you to grow more hair on your scalp.
Underlying Cause
Start by talking to your doctor about treating the cause of hair loss, if possible. Hair loss can be caused by hormonal imbalance, illness, stress, or certain medications. If this is the case, your hair growth should return to normal if you take hormone supplements, treat your illness, reduce your stress, or switch to medications that do not cause hair loss.
Medications
• Minoxidil is medication that is available without a prescription and is a liquid or foam that you rub onto balding areas twice a day. It may take up to six months to see results and you will need to continue using the medication if you want your hair to keep growing.
• If hair loss is genetic or the result of aging, finasteride may work best. This medication is a pill prescribed for men only that works by stopping the hormone that shrinks hair follicles.
• Cortisone injections can help to regrow hair, and hair transplants and scalp reductions can minimize baldness or thinning areas.
Home Remedies
You can give your hair the illusion of thickness by cleansing with a protein shampoo. These cleansers add volume. You can also consider dying your hair a light color to mask thinning areas, or wear a hairpiece to hide your hair loss. Avoid putting unnecessary stress on your hair, especially if you are trying to encourage growth. Some hairstyles, such as tight ponytails, can put unnecessary stress on hair and cause it to break. Excessive bleaching, coloring, and straightening of hair can also inhibit growth.
Talk to your doctor if you experience sudden and patchy hair loss, or more hair loss than usual. These symptoms may be the sign of a medical condition.
