Liquorice (Madhuyashti, or Glycyrrhiza glabra) famous as a household remedy for cough and cold and other chest complaints is a widely used medicine in ayurveda. Its tall erect shrub grows in northern parts of Kashmir. Nowadays, it is also successfully cultivated in many other parts of the Shivalik hills. Its rootstock throws numerous additional roots, or in some other forms like branched stems near the rootstock remaining underground. These roots and the underground stems constitute the drug.

The dried roots of Glycirrhiza glabra are used as mulathi. This contains many active compounds which are described below:

Therapeutic benefits

In cold : Mulathi is sweet with a little bitter after taste and has a cooling effect. Since ancient times, mulathi has been one of the most popular remedies for cough and sore throat. A small piece of it, chewed or sucked, can bring a lot of relief in dry cough and hoarseness of voice. It is most often used to control bouts of cough associated with bronchitis, asthma and other chest diseases. Only half a teaspoonful of mulathi powder taken with a little honey, removes the bronchial spasm and gently clears the respiratory tract by expectorating out the phlegm.

Tea prepared from equal amounts of mulathi, saunf, ginger and a few leaves of tulsi treats common cold, removes throat congestion, cures bodyache and generally gives a refreshing feeling. Besides, mulathi also improves voice, lessens thirst, removes billiousness and heals peptic ulcer.

In hyperacidity and peptic ulcer: Half a gram of mulathi powder taken with fresh coconut juice gives relief from pain and burning epigastrium. It also helps in healing of the peptic ulcer. Mixed specifically with amla and loh bhasma, mulathi makes the famous ayurvedic medicine Dhatri Loha, which is highly beneficial in hyper acidity, anemia, malnutrition and other allied problems.

Mild tonic: In Ayurveda, mulathi is also considered a mild tonic. Given for a fortnight with an equal amount of powder of ashwagandha, it shows very good results in chronic fatigue syndrome.

UTI: Due to its anti-bacterial properties mulathi is helpful in curing chronic urinary tract infections. Given with a little ash of alum it has very good results in the treatment of non-specific vaginal discharges.

Antihepatotoxic: As an anti-hepatotoxic licorice is effective in the treatment of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis, for which it is been widely used in Japan. Much of the liver orientated research has focused upon the triterpene glycyrrhizin. This inhibits hepatocyte injury caused by carbon tetrachloride, benzene hexachloride and PCB. Antibody production is enhanced by glycyrrhizin, possibly through the production of interleukin.

Inactivates herpes simplex virus: Glycyrrhizin inhibits the growth of several DNA and RNA viruses, inactivating Herpes simplex virus particles irreversibly.

Brain nourisher: It nourishes the brain-increasing cranial and cerebrospinal fluid.

Liquorice also improves complexion, hair, and vision

Tags: herbal, herbs, obesity, diabetes, homeopathic

Having lower back and hip pain now a days seems  very common. At least four out of five people will have it at some point in their life. Some people tend to have more symptoms than others and some factors are controllable, while others are not. Educating yourself more about lower back and hip pain is the first step towards being pain free.

The Three Categories Of Lower Back And Hip Pain

The three categories of lower back and hip pain are determined depending on how long your pain lasts and how often it occures. If the pain lasts less than three months, it is referred to as acute. Most back pain is of this type. It is easy to deal with and there is no need for a doctors care. Get yourself a few days of bed rest, then back on your feet and work through the pain. Exercise will assist with working out the pain, as will analgesics.

Some people suffer from recurring acute pain. While it is bothersome and frustrating to have the pain return, if you treat it carefully as before, it should go away again, hopefully forever this time.

If you have lower back and hip pain last longer than three months, and you are in pain most of the time,then  you have what is known as chronic back pain. It is advisable that you talk to your primary care physician, or try an alternative method, such as chiropractic care or acupuncture. Be sure to find a qualified professional, as you do not want to aggravate the problem!

 Hip and lower back pain during pregnancy changes the rules. Pregnant women can have backaches off and on throughout their pregnancy, primarily due to the growing uterus and straining ligaments. But once the baby is delivered, the back pain should ease.

 Likely Causes?

There can be many causes to lower back and hip pain. The most common cause being muscle strain, sciatica, an uneven pelvis or even one leg shorter than the other. You could have flat feet, or you even have very weak muscles that do not do an adequate job of protecting your spine. There are also other things that can cause lower back and hip pain.

Piriformis Syndrome: What Is It?

Piriformis syndrome is an inflammation in the piriformis muscle. This muscle is found very deep within the buttock, and it is the muscle that helps our hips to rotate. If there is tightness in the hamstring, the piriformis can become inflamed and sore, even to the outside back section of the buttock. It can swell and put pressure and inflammation on the sciatic nerve too, causing sciatica. Sitting can also aggravate this situation.

To relieve the lower back and hip pain and swelling, it is wise to use ice (wrapped in a towel for twenty minutes, several times a day). Taking an anti-inflammatory medicine will also help, if you don’t mind taking a drug to ease matters. If touch is tolerable, massage the muscle deep into the tissues. Also strengthen and stretch out the hip area, using exercises targeting the hip, lower back and hamstring muscles.

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Thank God I don’t wear glasses or lens.

That means I never had to refrain myself from sitting in the window seat in the bus on a windy day or go through the paraphernalia of caring for them or live in the fear of scratching them. One of my friends perhaps found it hard to remove her ‘contacts’ and soak them in the liquids especially in the train and the bus during those long study tours from college. It is fun to observe how the glasses of college girls vanish by the time they reach their marital age. Perhaps it is just vanity or the desire to get rid of those huge thickening glasses and to add a girlish charm to your face with an invisible contact?

Types of Lenses

Contact lens can be corrective, cosmetic or therapeutic depending on the individual needs. The corrective contact lens replace the conventional spectacles as they are more convenient than them. They are great during physical activities as there is no danger of your contacts falling off and breaking or your child snatching it off as you hold her up. Further, they provide a wider area of vision than glasses, a comfortable fit and are not easily affected by weather conditions like rain. Additionally, they do not give you dark circles, dark areas of abrasion in the T-zone and black heads around the nose which conventional glasses may otherwise give.

Cosmetic contact lenses add a special look to your eyes with their deliberately added color. Therapeutic ones attend to the non-refractive disorders of the eye by aiding the treatment procedure. Some conditions like dry eyes, erosion and keratitis are treated using contact lens. There are contact lenses in the market which are designed to block UV light too. They protect the cornea from the UV light. They can be worn with sunglasses (that protects the entire eyes) for added protection from the sun. Wow!

Eye make-up with lens

My friend, whom I talked about in the first paragraph, finds it hard to combine lens and eye make-up. She does not wear any complicated eye make-up like mascara or eye shadow but the basics, kajal or eye liner. She curses under her breath as the eye liner tends to stick on to the lens spoiling her vision.

It is better not to wear eye-make-up with contact lens. But if you cannot do without it on a special occasion try this:

• Wear your lens first before you even touch your make-up.
• Make sure about the brand of eye make-up you use and if need be, get professional help on that. A doctor would most probably say no to eye make-up. Use eye-make up products which claim to be safe for contact lens wearers.
• Use waterproof eyeliner/pencil and mascara. It is, however, wise to avoid mascara with lenses on.
• Do not use kajal or eyeliner in the inner eyes.
• Go for liquid eye shadow instead of loose powder ones.
• Avoid the use of loose powders on the face too.
• Do not forget to close your eyes as you dab on any powdered products.
• Your make up products should be devoid of flakes, dust and fiber. So a fiber-free pad is a better option to cotton for removing make up as well.
• Even if you use lens or not, never share eye-make up or brushes with anyone.
• It is also important to disinfect your contact lens if gets in contact with make-up products.

General Tips

It is important to take care of your contacts so that it can take care of your eyes.

1. Wash your hands with warm water before touching your lens with a moisture-free soap. Dry them with a neat towel.
2. Clean your lens in the solution well before wearing the lens.
3. Do not touch the tip of your solution bottle or any eye-drop solution.
4. Wear only at the time when prescribed and for the duration recommended.
5. Use eye-care products only after consulting your Eye specialist.
6. Do not wet your lens using saliva or plain water.
7. Eye infections should be taken care of immediately. Avoid using lens if your eyes are infected.
8. It is advisable to use hat or sun glasses to protect your eyes if using lens. Lens make your eyes more sensitive to UV rays.
9. Do not forget to remove your lens before hitting the bed unless they are recommended while sleeping.
10. Finally, do only what is prescribed and recommended!

-Aparna K V

Tags: acupuncture, weight loss, Ayurvedic, acupressure, diabetes

Perhaps the greatest punishment for man would be to make him bed ridden. Dependency more than the sickness makes the patient mentally weak. This deteriorates his condition more than the illness itself. Imagine your plight if you would have to wait for someone’s help to change your position, getup, drink water and even using the bathroom. Many diseases today cause this kind of a dependency. What worsens the condition of these patients is that they are prone to a more brutal situation…they are susceptible to form bed sores! These are ugly looking sores which are infectious holes which run deep till the bones and other visceral organs surrounded by redness and soreness.

Why are bed sores formed?

Many people shift in their chair during meetings, fiddle with the radio when driving, turn a dozen times in their sleep. Every day, without thinking, they make hundreds of subtle postural adjustments that help stave off problems arising from inactivity. But for people immobilized by paralysis, injury or illness, those problems — including bedsores — are a constant threat.

Bedsores, more accurately called pressure sores or pressure ulcers, are areas of damaged skin and tissue that develop when sustained pressure — usually from a bed or wheelchair — cuts off circulation to vulnerable parts of your body, especially the skin on your buttocks, hips and heels. Without adequate blood flow, the affected tissue dies.

Although people living with paralysis are especially at risk, anyone who is bedridden, uses a wheelchair or is unable to change positions without help can develop bedsores. They’re especially common in areas that aren’t well padded with muscle or fat and that lie just over a bone, such as your spine, tailbone (coccyx), shoulder blades, hips, heels and elbows. Because your skin and the underlying tissues are trapped between bone and a surface such as a wheelchair or bed, blood flow is restricted. This deprives tissue of oxygen and other nutrients, and irreversible damage and tissue death can occur.

Other causes of pressure sores include:

§ Friction. Frequent shifts in position are the key to preventing pressure sores. Yet the friction that occurs when you simply turn from side to side can damage your skin, making it more susceptible to pressure sores.

§ Shear. This occurs when your skin moves in one direction, and the underlying bone moves in another. Sliding down in a bed or chair or raising the head of your bed more than 30 degrees is especially likely to cause shearing, which stretches and tears cell walls and tiny blood vessels. Especially affected are areas such as your tailbone where skin is already thin and fragile.

The patient may not even realize the development

Many a times the paralyzed patient has a poor nervous system and is unable to sense of discomfort or pain which signal the development of bed sores. This may make the identification of initial stages of the bed sore difficult. However if the care taker is aware enough the initial stages may be caught. For this purpose, the following stages in the development of bed sores are discussed:

§ Stage I. Initially, a pressure sore appears as a persistent area of red skin that may itch or hurt and feel warm and spongy or firm to the touch. Stage I wounds are superficial and go away shortly after the pressure is relieved.

§ Stage II. At this point, some skin loss has already occurred — either in the epidermis, the outermost layer of skin, in the dermis, the skin’s deeper layer, or in both. The wound is now an open sore that looks like a blister or an abrasion, and the surrounding tissues may show red or purple discoloration. If treated promptly, stage II sores usually heal fairly quickly.

§ Stage III. By the time a pressure ulcer reaches this stage, the damage has extended to the tissue below the skin, creating a deep, crater-like wound.

§ Stage IV. In the most serious and advanced stage, a large-scale loss of skin occurs, along with damage to muscle, bone, and even supporting structures such as tendons and joints. Stage IV wounds are extremely difficult to heal and can lead to lethal infections.

Treatment for bed sores:

Specific treatment of a bed sore is determined by your physician and based on the severity of the condition. Treatment may be more difficult once the skin is broken, and may include the following:

• removing pressure on the affected area

• protecting the wound with medicated gauze or other special dressings

• keeping the wound clean

• transplanting healthy skin to the wound area

• medication (i.e., antibiotics to treat infections)

Tags: blood pressure, acupuncture, medicine, herbal, alternative