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 Practical Health Advice
Question 1: I still have acne. What's best? You can do lots of things, including one that is almost miraculously helpful and not well known. But first, try to realize that nobody else sees you like you see yourself. When you look in a mirror, you tend to look critically at everything that's wrong with you. Other people don't do that. They look into your eyes, and they don't stare. They see mostly what's good and attractive about you. Even bad cases of acne just don't mean a whole lot to other people. I know that's hard to believe. Everything else about you that is attractive--maybe a great smile, maybe high intelligence-- all mean more. Acne is not a "make or break" part of being attractive. Be sure your hair and grooming look good. Wear nice clothes. Smile. Genuinely like other people. Go to parties. Flirt. Have a good time. That being said, you and I both know you'll be a lot happier if you can clear up your problem skin. So first some general rules, then the great cure. 1. Diet matters. Just trust us on this. Keep to a very low fat diet, no chocolate or nuts or fried food of any kind. Trim every bit of fat off meats. Stay away from fast food like the plague. Besides lean meat, eat plenty of whole grain fiber foods, fresh vegetables and fruits. Drink non-fat milk. No caffeine at all, and that means not only no regular cola, coffee or tea, but also the medications and foods that hide caffeine in them in an effort to addict you. So read labels. Even though it’s a bear to follow, this diet has the added advantage of enormous life-long health benefits other than acne control. After your skin clears up (see below), if you wish, add each kind of food back into your diet for a week to see if you can tolerate it. 2. Use clean towels and pillowcases, and thoroughly shower every day (very preferably in the morning) with a medicated zinc shampoo like Head and Shoulders. Wash both your hair and face with the shampoo. Daily use is essential. Massage well with fingertips and your hair will also benefit greatly. This has nothing to do with dandruff; the medication in Head and Shoulders works well to keep skin healthy. 3. Do not use make-up. To cover the zits, use one of the over-the-counter acne medications that are skin colored. Pick a maximum strength brand that matches your skin tones. Don’t use it heavily, though. Develop a light touch, just enough to sort of blend in. You can go heavier at night, but before applying, wash up. You can use Head and Shoulders just to wash your face at night, too. 4. Get lots of sleep, nine hours if you can. Getting less can make your skin break out. Sleep is a great beauty aid. 5. Don't worry! Stress will destroy your body, starting with your complexion. If you are unhappy, please read our articles on happiness and the meaning of life, on this website. And speaking of zinc, that is our miracle medicine. It works for a lot of people; it is certainly worth a try. Buy the 50-mg. tablets at the drugstore. For two weeks, take four tablets with each meal, three times a day. Then for another two weeks, take only three tablets. After another two weeks, reduce to two tablets with each meal. After another two weeks, go to one. Finally, take just two tablets per day, one with each of two meals. You should see a remarkable improvement. But be warned! This is a lot of one mineral, and the risks are essentially unknown. You have to be the judge of how badly you want to clear up your skin. But we are guided here by practical experience: many people have followed this successfully. One side effect can be a feeling of nausea. The more food you eat with the tablets, the less you will feel nauseous. You may also ask your druggist for a good anti-nausea medicine, and take this along with the zinc. (Note: any zinc that you take, perhaps not this much if you can't tolerate it, will be very helpful!) Also, this much zinc has a tendency to use up certain vitamins and minerals in your body quickly. Take a lot of vitamin supplements, especially Vitamin A and iron. By the third week, you should know if it is going to clear up your skin. Good luck. To send email, Click here. Continue scrolling down, or go to our Home Page  Question 2: Why does my back hurt after lying in bed (or sitting in a chair)? Backaches and Beds, Part 1: Your Muscles Tight, weak back muscles cause backaches. There is no "magic pill" to cure you, and ignoring the cause and covering up the pain with drugs is a recipe for disaster. A lot of things in life just aren't easy. Even if a medical doctor (not a chiropractor) has diagnosed you with a spinal problem, strong muscles surrounding the area will alleviate pain and work wonders. The right bed can help considerably, but it’s wise to strengthen and stretch your muscles regardless. We’ll tell you about several exercises, but whole books have been written about all the good ones, and a physical therapist should explain them to you if you have pain. (Note: insist on a licensed physical therapist, not a G.P. or a Chiropractor.) Streching is of paramount importance. Simple touch-your-toes is good, done to several sides and held. You should be able to place your palms flat on the floor with straight legs. What? You can't? No wonder your back hurts! Other back stretches can be found on-line or in many books. And you have to strengthen your back muscles with exercises. The simplest is the leg lift. Lie flat on your back. Slowly lift both legs together six inches off the ground. Hold. Let down slowly. Variation: lift your legs all the way back over your head as far as they can go, then slowly lower them. Do as many sets as you can. Do 3 to 6 times a week, and try to increase the repetitions a little each week. Remember, it takes about 6 weeks to really strengthen muscles. Another good exercise is that old favorite, sit-ups. Do them with bent knees and toes hooked under a piece of furniture (with shoes on.)  Backaches and Beds, Part 2: Your Bed Old, worn-out mattresses can cause a lot of grief. Any new, quality mattress is OK. But don’t think that the harder it is, the better it will be for your back. Any good mattress you can buy is firm enough for your back; be sure it feels soft enough to make you comfortable. Solid latex (not foam) lasts much longer than innersprings, but is more expensive. But if you have a new, comfortable mattress and your back still hurts, and if you are doing your streches and exercises, there are two alternative kinds of beds you should consider: the adjustable bed and the waterbed. Both have adherents that swear by them. Adjustable beds are not hospital beds; they have a motor drive that shapes them like a chaise lounge chair. They are very comfortable, and you can eat or watch TV in them nicely. Sleep at night in the flat position, or with the head and foot parts both elevated a bit. Experiment to see what works best for you. Some people put an adjustable bed in their bedroom in addition to their regular bed, and switch to it when their back starts hurting. Then they raise up both the top and bottom parts (raising just the top makes you slide toward the bottom of the bed), until it is just like a laid back lounge chair. This always stops the back ache and allows them to sleep the rest of the night. But we know people who would rather endure pain all night than have a crowded bedroom. The second alternative is a waterbed. Many people believe that this is the ultimate answer to good sleep. Get a full flotation bed, fill it very full and firm but still flat, and cover it (this is a must) with a fluffed-up feather bed, a huge bag of down and feathers. Be sure you have a proper heater, and set it to between 85 and 90 degrees. Sleeping on one of these is the closest you’ll get to heaven on earth. It takes a day or two to get used to, and don’t let the salesman talk you into the reduced motion kind. Continue scrolling down, or go to our Home Page .  Question 3: What is best for arthritis? If you suffer from arthritis or bursitis, or similar problems in your legs or hips, try taking bicycle rides. Even if your legs hurt too much to walk, most folks can easily bicycle. It works wonders. It takes away the pain and allows free movement again. It’s practically a cure. Cycling on real roads is best, because it is so pleasant. But if you can’t, resign yourself to riding indoors on a stationary bike. Not as much fun, but still good for arthritis. Either way, take good long rides, forty-five minutes minimum, about three times a week or more. And get a real workout: work up a good sweat. It may take twenty minutes or more of easy pedalling to work out most of the soreness each time, so in the beginning you may have to do most of the hard pedal pushing with your good leg. Without a good leg, choose a flat route without big hills. If there are two of you, consider buying a tandem bike. Only one of you needs to be able to ride a bike, and you both stay together. My wife and I have been riding our tandem happily for 40 years. Of course, bike riding will also improve your overall health. And any kind of injury or chronic condition responds best to exercise, the more the better. This is the central idea of physical therapy. Doctors also recommend two food supplements, glucosamine HCl-chondroitin, and oil of primrose. These seem to really work. Take as directed. Continue scrolling down, or go to our Home Page.  . Question 4: My hair is getting gray, and worse than that, it's thinning. What should I know? Guys, if you look like the fellows on the right, just take consolation in the fact that most women don't care even a little bit about how much hair a man has. But there are effective ways to slow down the graying and thinning of hair. You can’t stop it, any more than you can stop time, and much of the difference you see from person to person is simply genetic (blame your ancestors.) But you can do things to make your hair look much better. The secrets of good-looking hair are nutrition, cleanliness and massage. The most important thing for thinning hair (attention guys!) is massage. The idea is to stimulate blood flow to the scalp, because decreased blood flow means loss of hair. Massage with your fingertips, quite vigorously. There is really no schedule of how often or how long, but it would certainly be impossible to massage too much. Scalp cleanliness is also very important. An ideal time to massage is during your morning shower. Shampoo every morning with a zinc-medicated shampoo (Head and Shoulders is perfect, and no, this has nothing to do with dandruff: zinc is good for all kinds of things). This should not only make your hair and facial skin healthier, but should make your hair look good too. And finally, for that dreaded gray that makes us look older than we would wish: take a chromium supplement (Chromium Picolinate), one or two 200mg. tablets, every day. Take good multiple vitamin and mineral supplements too, they are great for healthy hair, and toss these in on top of them. For many people, this will not only retard graying but will restore some of the old color. Note: this is a long term project, just as any good diet or exercise program should be. Don't expect quick results. But do expect great results down the road. Continue scrolling down, or go to our Home Page. Question 5: My neck hurts at night. Is it my pillow's fault? Many people just can’t sleep without two or three pillows. If your neck is ever uncomfortable from sleeping, purchase or make a small round “neck” pillow. The best and most common is a cylinder about 6 inches round and 18 inches long. Used on top of your regular pillow, they fit under and support your neck, while the back of your head just lightly touches the pillow underneath. It must be feather filled (easy to make from old pillows). A springy foam pillow is murder, and will cause a neck ache if you don't already have one. Buy a cheap neck pillow, open part of a seam and take the foam out, and put in feathers from an old worn out pillow (the best kind). Even feather pillows have to be "broken in" before they are most comfortable. The third pillow on your bed is called a body pillow, and is for hugging. It keeps you toasty warm, gives your arms a place to be comfy, and gives you a feeling of security. What more could you want? Any old pillow is good for this, but special long ones are sold too. 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