A blackhead (aka open comedo) forms in your pores at the opening of a skin follicle.

They occur when dead skin cells and sebum (which is secreted by the sebaceous glands) block a pore. When this material is exposed to the air, it undergoes oxidation which causes the residue with in the follicle to turn black.

So, the blackheads that you see aren’t a sign of dirt and you can’t simply wash them away.

Blackhead Symptoms

• Black spots on the T-zone (forehead, nose and chin), the back and the chest
• Enlarged pores
• Flaky skin
• Coarse skin
• Acne scars
• Makeup doesn’t stay

Causes of Blackheads

Blackheads are usually caused by excessive oil and makeup which can increase the production of bacteria.

• Blockage of pores—this could be due to oil-based makeup
• Oily and combination skins
• Poor skin care routine
• Hardened sebaceous secretion

Precautions

1. Don’t try to squeeze or pop the blackheads because this can lead to scars and infection.
2. Eat a well-balanced diet.
3. Maintain proper skin care. Wash your skin twice daily and avoid products with harsh irritants.
4. Stay away from oil-based makeup because it can lead to more bacteria and more skin problems. Try a water-based line of cosmetics and be sure to wash your face thoroughly every night.

Home remedies

I’m blessed with small pores, but those little black spots on my nose and chin drive me crazy. One remedy that I like is the egg white and lemon juice method for blackhead treatment. Crack two eggs into a small bowl and take out the yolks. Beat the egg whites and add a few drops of fresh lemon juice. After cleansing your face, apply this mixture to your face for 20 minutes and then rinse. The egg whites are rich in protein and help to heal and rebuild your skin. They also work to minimize large pores. The citric acid in lemon juice exfoliates the skin.

Another remedy you can use is honey. Warm a small amount of honey and apply to your trouble areas. Rinse off after 15 minutes.

Mix ¼ cup of hot water with 1 tsp. of Epsom salts and 4 drops of iodine. Wait until it’s lukewarm. Dip a cotton ball in the mixture and dab on the affected area. When the mixture dries, remove it with a cloth.

Make a paste of ground radish seeds with water and apply to your face to remove blackheads.

—Nolan

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A lot of people believe that laryngitis is the complete and total loss of your voice, like you see on TV or in film. However, Laryngitis is just the inflammation of the larynx and causes a weak, hoarse, scratchy or squeaky voice, not the total loss of one.If you experience laryngitis for less than a week, it is considered acute. If you suffer from it longer than that, then it is considered chronic.

What causes laryngitis?

Many cases of laryngitis are due to viral infections, mainly the flu or a severe cold and usually appear after the initial symptoms of an illness have run its course.

Other causes of laryngitis include bacterial infection, fungal infection, dryness in the air or the over use of vocal cords either via shouting or coughing.

How to treat laryngitis

The most important things you can do to treat laryngitis is to rest your vocal cords. Talk only when you have to, and do so in a soft voice. Don’t whisper! Whispering may sound like the right thing to do, but whispering actually puts more of a strain on your vocal cords than straight out talking.

Do not clear your throat. You may feel like you have to, but clearing your throat only serves to strain your vocal cords even more and aggravate your laryngitis.

Make a gargle of honey and lemon. Mix a tablespoon of honey and a teaspoon of lemon juice to a cup of water and gargle a couple times a day. You can even put this honey and lemon mixture in a tea and drink it.

Salt water gargles also help with alleviating the hoarseness and pain associated with laryngitis. Mix a teaspoon of salt to one cup of water.

Eat soup. It’s warm and tastes good while soothing and reducing the inflammation of your vocal cords. Homemade wild rice soup is one of my favorites.

If you can handle the heat, mix a ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper with splash of lemon into a cup of hot water and drink it down.

Drink some slippery elm bark tea. It helps to clear your throat while moistening your vocal cords. It’s very soothing and works quite quickly.

Sleep with a humidifier in your room. This will help to keep your voice box moist and lubricated, helping you to recover faster. You can buy mini, one-room humidifiers for under $30 at any store that sells housewares.

–Magdalena

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When I was younger, I used to get tonsillitis quite often. So often in fact, that I remember my doctor telling my parents if I got tonsillitis one more time, he would need to perform a tonsillectomy (removal of the tonsils). Fortunately, I never had it again, but I do recall the pain and discomfort I felt. My lymph glands were extremely large and I had difficulty breathing, so when I coughed I sounded like a pig. That didn’t go over too well in middle school.

Tonsillitis is an inflammation of the tonsils (lymph tissue at the back of the throat). Tonsils are small when we are born, grow larger during childhood and become smaller at puberty. When not infected, tonsils help act as part of the immune system and prevent infection in the sinuses, mouth and throat from spreading to other parts of the body.

Types:

Acute tonsillitis may be either bacterial or viral. In addition to the symptoms listed below, you may also experience lethargy and problems breathing (airway obstruction due to the enlarged glands-snoring, sleep apnea and etc.). The symptoms may last from 3 days to up to two weeks.
Subacute tonsillitis is caused by the bacterium Actinomyces and can last between 3 weeks and 3 months.
Chronic tonsillitis involves recurrent sore throat and greatly enlarged tonsils caused by repeated attacks. This type of tonsillitis is usually bacterial.

Causes of tonsillitis:

Tonsillitis is caused by many different viruses and bacteria including:
• Streptococcus or “strep” bacteria that also causes strep throat
• Adenovirus
• Cytomegalovirus
• Influenza virus
• Measles virus
• Herpes simplex virus
• Epstein-Barr virus (the virus that causes mononucleosis)

Symptoms of tonsillitis:

• Red, swollen tonsils with white patches
• Mild or severe throat pain
• Difficulty swallowing
• Chills and fever as high as 104F or more
• Headache
• Ear pain
• Enlarged, tender lymph glands on either side of the jaw
• Loss of voice
• Cough
• Vomiting
• Bad breath
• Abdominal pain

Precautions

Tonsillitis is contagious, so it’s best to keep away from others until fever, pain and other symptoms disappear. Bed rest is needed until the fever subsides. Wash your hands frequently and do not share utensils, drinking glasses or toothbrushes with anyone else. Cover your mouth and cough away from others. Resume regular activity when temperature has been normal for 3 days.

Home remedies

Surgical removal is rarely need for adults and there are many ways you can soothe the pain of tonsillitis at home:

Increase fluid intake. When the throat is sore, drink milk shakes, soups, and other fluids to rehydrate the body.

Prepare a soothing hot tea with honey and double your normal tea strength.

Use a cool-mist humidifier to relieve throat irritation and cough.

Gargle with warm salt water to soothe the throat. Combine ¼ teaspoon of salt in ½ cups warm water, gargle and then spit out the water. Use this method several times a day.

Eat lots of garlic. It acts as a antiseptic and helps to cure tonsillitis fast.

Turmeric is an antibiotic which plays an important part in treating tonsillitis. Combine one teaspoon of turmeric powder with one cup of lukewarm milk to help relieve your pain. Take this concoction every night for great results.

-Nolan

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As a child my parents told me that blood was blue until it hit the air. It was oxygen that made it red. It made sense to me because when I looked at the line of veins in my wrist, they appeared to be blue. And veins are filled with blood. So in turn, blood must be blue inside the body. Right?

Wrong. And I felt like such a dork when I found that out later in life. Blood is never blue, even oxygen deprived blood, though there is a difference in color between arterial (oxygenated blood) and venous (oxygen-stripped blood). The former is bright red and the latter is dark red. At least I got the change in color aspect right.

So why blue veins? The veins in your wrist only appear to be blue because of the way light is diffused by the skin. It’s sort of like an optical illusion. It is not due to the fact that blue blood is flowing through your body. Still don’t make much sense? Still convinced deoxygenated blood is blue in the body? Well, I saw a unique way why it’s not on a Wiki Answers site:

When a person donates blood, it comes from a vein, not an artery. It is also not exposed to air, or it would be contaminated and need to be disposed of. It also happens to be dark red, NOT blue.

Consider me sold… again! It’s a good way to think about it.

So why do people still believe that blood is blue? This misconception can also be attributed to medical textbook illustrations, where veins and the general flow of deoxygenated blood is colored as blue. It makes it easier to see, but still disillusions people.

—Magdalena

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Are your gums swollen and tender? Do they bleed even with gentle brushing? If so, you may suffer from some type of gum disease. Gingivitis is one of the most common forms of gum disease and if it goes untreated, it can lead to other gum diseases and even tooth loss.

Gingivitis is an inflammation of the gingiva (or gum tissue) surrounding the teeth. Usually gingivitis is caused by bacterial plaque that builds up in gaps between the teeth and gums. It’s important to brush your teeth and clean between teeth promptly so that plaque and tartar don’t remain on your teeth for extended periods of time.

Causes of gingivitis:

Sometimes medications can alter the gum tissue and leave the gingiva more vulnerable to bacterial infection.

An underlying illness may also hinder the immune system in fighting off bacteria along the gumline.

Hormonal changes during puberty and pregnancy can also cause the gums to be more prone to infection.

Smoking increases the growth of bacteria and weakens your immune system, which makes you more susceptible to a bacterial invasion.

Symptoms of gingivitis:

• Swollen, shiny and/or itchy gums
• Mouth sores
• Receding gumline
• Halitosis (bad breath)
• Gum color changes from a healthy pink to bright red
• Pain occurs when pressure is applied
• Gums bleed easily, especially when flossing

Home remedies

Gingivitis is treatable and can improve greatly after a professional cleaning. However, you still need to maintain good oral hygiene after you’ve visited the dentist. Below are some ways you can treat gingivitis at home.

Brush properly
Brush your teeth for three to five minutes two to three times a day. Choose a soft brush (medium to hard brushes may cause damage to the gum tissue, especially if you’re brushing too hard). Only apply enough pressure so that the tips of the brush are working against the surface of your teeth (your toothbrush shouldn’t look like the bristles are all over the place-you may be brushing too hard). Replace your toothbrush every three months.

1. Position your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle along the gumline.
2. Brush the outer tooth surfaces using a back and forth motion.
3. Maintaining a 45-degree angle (make sure the bristles are in contact with both the tooth surface and the gum tissue) brush the inner surfaces using a back, forth, and rolling motion.
4. Get behind the front teeth by moving the brush up and down in a vertical motion.
5. Scrub the biting surface of your teeth by using a back and forth motion.
6. Brush the tongue from back to front (or use a tongue scraper) to get rid of bacteria.

Floss the right way

1. Use around 18-inches of floss and wrap around both middle fingers, leaving an inch of floss in between.
2. Hold the floss taut and curve around each tooth in a “C” shape. Scrape up and down the sides of each tooth. Make sure that the floss moves under the gumline until you feel resistance.
3. Continue this process with the rest of your teeth to remove plaque and massage your gums.

Anise is a herb that you can use as a tea flavoring and it works as an antiseptic to fight the spread of microorganisms.Cranberry juice. Not only does it help for urinary tract infections, but cranberry juice also works to prevent the adhesion of bacteria to the teeth. If you decide to try the juice, be sure to buy it without sugar. You can also try whole cranberries or cranberry tablets.

Peppermint works as an antiseptic and helps to fight bacteria, tighten tissues and relax muscles.

Pomegranate helps protect against free radicals. It also has antiviral and antibacterial effects that fight against dental plaque.

Vitamin C helps treat and prevent periodontal disease. You should try to get at least 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C a day.

-Nolan

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