Saturday, November 21, 2009

Eye infections

Have you ever woken up and found out that your eyelids have a gritty feeling accompanied by a sticky discharge? If the answer is yes, then you are likely to have been suffering from a bacterial eye infection. This is a health condition that causes the inflammation of the conjunctive (the mucous membranes that cover the white part of the eyes not forgetting the inside part of the eyelids.). Both your eyes or just one eye may appear to be red in color and the eyelids tending to stick together especially during the mornings while your eyelashes may contain some eye discharge. This infection is believed not to be very serious but due to its irritating nature, it may make you feel uncomfortable most of the time.

The bacterial eye infection is mainly caused by bacteria such as streptococci, hemophilias or the staphylococci bacteria. These bacteria are usually transmitted from one person who has the infection to another or sometimes the bacteria may come from the patient's own upper respiratory tract or skin where they are mostly situated.

Newborn babies often get this infection from the vaginal fluids of their mothers during birth. Due to their underdeveloped immune system, the babies usually get a severe form of this infection. Babies can also develop this eye infection from other forms of infection but doctors are known to use swabs to administer appropriate treatment to the baby. However, babies are commonly known to have poorly established tear passage systems. This usually makes them have watery sticky eyes. Therefore, you should be careful not to mistake this condition with the bacterial eye infection.

Genital herpes symptoms in men

Male genital herpes is one of the most common forms of std. sexually active men are more prone to contracting genital herpes as infected fluids are easily transmitted from one individual to another.

Symptoms :
Once the male genital herpes has reached a serious level, you would begin to see sores around your penis on either the tip or the shaft. At other times, you would notice sores or blisters located on other areas of the body such as buttocks, thighs, anus, urethra, scrotum etc. The sores start out as reddened blisters, which soon begin to swell with fluid, burst and give rise to sores. These cold sores and genital herpes itches are very painful and are the biggest contributor to genital herpes pain in men.

Contact spreading virus
Almost any kind of contact, where fluids can be exchanged can cause genital herpes infection to spread. Genital herpes men can easily spread when there are instances of kissing, oral sex such as fellatio, analingus, cunnilingus etc. or when there is anal sex or vaginal sex between partners.
In case of vaginal sex, if it is a case of male genital herpes, the woman can easily be contracting genital herpes because she is more prone to getting the genital herpes infection. Even a simple act of kissing can involve spread of saliva, which could contain the virus, especially if there are open sores inside the mouth.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Ear infection cure

Ear infection is a common occurrence during winters and also is the most common reason for a visit to an ENT (ear, nose throat) specialist. The infection is of three types, otitis media, and otitis interna and otitis externa. The first infection is a middle ear infection and is the most common ear infection in infants and children.

Use a sock full of heated salt and place over the infected ear. This will draw out the fluids that may have accumulated inside the ear. Make sure that the sock isn't too hot to cause any burn to the skin of the ear. In case of a swimmer's ear, you can make a mixture of water and vinegar (50/50) and apply it as an ear drop into the infected ear. The vinegar creates an unfriendly pH environment for the fungus causing the ear infection.

Before going to bed, put 2-3 drops of warm garlic oil into the ear after using a blow dryer to remove any water present in the Eustachian tube. Alternatively, drops of warm olive oil, juice of mango leaf, juice of grated onion or lobelia extract can also be used to provide relief from the ear infection. Colloidal silver is a natural antibiotic and is beneficial when used for washing the ears. Putting sweet oil and sticking a cotton ball inside the infected ear also works for most ear infections.

Alcohol is one product which has shown effective results in curing and treating ear infections. Its use treats pathogenic infections, reduces pain by its anesthetic action and dissolves ear wax. Daily administration of surgical alcohol (2-3 drops) in the affected ear has shown significant improvements in curing ear infections. Usually the result is expected within a week of its use and there are no precautions to be taken, nor are there any side effects.

Ear infection is mainly caused by bacteria and these micro organisms are 'base' by nature. So, if they are treated with something acidic, then this will neutralize the pH levels in the ear and cure the bacterial infection. So, squeezing 1-2 drops of lemon juice in the infected ear is just the thing that you need to do. However, make sure that you let the drops stay for about a few seconds and drain it out.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Urinary tract infection symptoms

A urinary tract infection (UTI) is a painful infection that a lot of women get. Although it is possible for men to get them, it is more common for women. This is because a woman's urethra is a lot shorter than a man's, which allows for the greater chance of an infection to develop. A lot of women get them by not wiping in the correct direction, which allows for bacteria to get inside of the body. Also, women might get them from going into pools or hot tubs, which are bacteria infested places. Those are just a couple reasons why women get UTI's. Now that you know the causes, how can you tell if you have an infection?

A urinary tract infection is easy to diagnose because of the symptoms. The most distinct symptom of this particular type of infection is the constant feeling that you have to urinate. Even if you just relieved yourself, you feel as though you have to go again. This feeling follows you around throughout the day and you can't escape it. The next symptom is a burning sensation when you come to the end of urination. With a urinary tract infection, you usually don't feel the burn when you start to urinate; it is always near the end. This pain isn't light either. It radiates itself all the way into your stomach because that's how powerful it is. The final symptom is cloudy and foul smelling urine. If your urine is cloudy then you know you have an infection because that is pus coming out of your body. These are all symptoms of a urinary tract infection.

Urinary tract infections can impact your life in many ways. If you are suffering with one, you already are well aware of how painful and uncomfortable it is.