Did you know that it’s possible to be allergic to the white stuff (and I’m not talking milk here, people). Yep, that very tangible sign of a guy’s pleasure can leave his partner red, itchy, blotchy and more.
What causes this is a sensitivity to the proteins in a guy’s semen, a condition which actually has a name: human seminal plasma protein hypersensitivity (SPH). A person can be sensitive to the proteins in the semen of most men, or to a specific guy’s proteins in particular.
Symptoms of an allergy may include localized pain, itching, redness, swelling, hives or even trouble …read more

Bored with the traditional pedicure? Then hop on over to a Washington DC-area salon where teeny carp are used eat away the dead skin on your feet, leaving them smooth as a baby’s bum.
Sound creepy?
It may be a little, but it’s becoming all the rage. So far, over 5,000 customers have indulged in this treatment that feels like your foot fell asleep – just a tickling and tingling.
The fish at-the-ready, known as doctor fish, thrive in hot water where plants and other food sources are not readily available. Consequently, the fish have learned to feed on whatever they can find, …read more

It’s just like the old paper cut saying: The smaller the cut, the worse it hurts. With shaving, the smaller the nick, the worse it bleeds. Unless you gash yourself wide open with a brand new razor,then…
Anyway, it happens to all of us. We shave, we nick. But here’s a quick tip on how to stop the bleeding in a hurry:
Step 1: Use a cotton ball or swab to dab a little witch hazel onto the cut. Witch hazel is a natural astringent which tightens surrounding tissues and slows bleeding.
Step 2: Hold an ice cube or ice pack to the …read more

Did you know May is Skin Cancer Awareness month? It surely is. And to draw even more awareness to what has become an increasingly pertinent issue, the Beauty & Style channel here at b5media (where I also write) will be hosting a Theme Day centered around this very issue.
Tuesday, May 20, will see links from many of the wonderful blogs over at Beauty and Style, each offering up creative ways on how to protect your skin and raise awareness. Once the collaborative list is posted on the main b5 blog, I will come back here and add the link. Until …read more

Image details: Pouring a Cup of Tea served by picapp.com
Need yet another reason to enjoy tea time? How about this…
Researchers at Dartmouth University have found that drinking two or more cups of black or green tea every day can cut your risk of acquiring two of the most common types of skin cancer.
Your risk for squamous cell is reduced by 65% and basal cell carcinoma by 80%! Not bad for a beverage, hey?
So why the super powers? Tea is loaded with protective polyphenols which are said to contain a plethora of antioxidant properties. Bonus: polyphenols may also reduce the …read more

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So you’re cooking, right? You grab the lid off the pot so fast that it flings itself mercilessly against the inside of your wrist, sending you careening over to the kitchen sink as your dinner burns on the stove. What do you do next?
A) Run the wound under cool water.
B) Call the pizza joint and say to hell with home-cooking forever.
C) Curse so loudly your children gaze at you in horror, then scrunch up their little faces and run out of the room.
D) Schlack the burn with a bit of honey.
While your natural instincts might steer you toward B …read more

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Picture this: You’re in the mall. You’ve just splurged on a fabulous handbag. You’re eyeing a pair of Gucci sunnies in that cool starlet style. You’re sucking down an Orange Julius. And in fifteen minutes, you’ll be getting a Botox injection.
No, this isn’t the dream you had last night, this is the life of many American women who pony up for a little more than a sweater or pair of shoes at the mall…they’re also buying non-invasive cosmetic procedures.
Yeah, at the mall.
The newest and fastest growing trend in cosmetic procedures is the Med Spa revolution, an in-and-out spa situation …read more

A 35-year-old Indonesian man named Dede suffered a simple cut as a teenager and thereafter began growing tree-like warts all over his body. The warts soon worsened into mossy, branching growths, virtually incapacitating him. His wife left him, he was out of a job, and he was made the village freak. Doctors could never figure out what Dede’s condition was, and the growths worsened with each passing year. It wasn’t until an American dermatologist traveled to see Dede’s odd growths and cutaneous horns that the proper diagnosis was made: Dede was simply suffering from HPV, or human papilloma virus. HPV …read more

And just like your real roommate, they don’t pay rent (but they do at least clean up the place). Your body is a veritable planet, housing some 90 trillion roommates, mostly microbes. These spiderlike mooches hang out in places like your eyelashes, buried headfirst in your follicles, just munching away at your skin. (Hey, we all have to eat.)

Of course, you don’t notice these microscopic crawlers, nor do you notice the other miniature members of your personal planet. Our gastrointestinal tract is full of about three pounds of mostly useful bacteria responsible for digesting carbohydrates and manufacturing vitamins K and …read more

Here are some bizarre things I got a kick out of this week. Um, what does this have to do with health? Baby, I can justify anything, but I think oddities, humor and sheer stupidity do a lot for our health. Nobody ever races home from work thinking “Wow, I can’t wait to read Sara’s post dissecting that study on the effect of quercetin on precancerous murine skin!” (Sadly, I know that study.) Not that you race home to read my posts anyway, since you don’t even know me yet, but still, what’s better for health?
So, ladies and gents, …read more