Acne

Proactiv Acne Treatment – Should I try it?

Proactiv is one of the most recognized treatments for acne. Developed by two dermatologists, Dr. Kathy Fields and Dr. Katie Rodan, Proactiv works on more than just the “spot treatment” of blemishes and acne. Proactiv acne treatment cleanses, tones and provides a repairing lotion.

Celebrities endorsement

Many celebrities and high profile individuals endorse proactiv acne treatment. Jessica Simpson, Vanessa Williams, and Elle Macpherson are just some of the celebrities that use and promote Proativ. Proactiv has used celebrity true-life experiences to market their products to a target audience. They are live proof that Proactiv does work. Proactiv is marketed to both a teenage target group as well as to a more adult audience. It is important to note that acne is a problem for people of all ages, and many acne suffers are in their thirties and forties.

Treatment Packs

Proactiv works in three ways:

- Renewing cleanser – gently exfoliates skin and provides anti-bacterial benzoyl peroxide
- Revitalizing toner – removes dead skin cells, unclogs pores and removes excess oil
- Repairing lotion – uses benzoyl peroxide to heal existing blemishes and prevent further breakouts.

In addition to these basic products some treatment packs also include oil free moisture to hydrate skin and provide SPF 15 protection. Daily oil control is also available as an additional treatment to prevent oil build up and keep your face shine free during the day.

What do users say about Proactiv acne treatment?

Proactiv has developed a gallery on their website that allows individuals to send in before and after pictures. The change is amazing. Millions of people have used Proactiv and have reported success for the first time in treating and controlling acne and breakouts. People have sent in comments about how easy using the Proactiv acne treatment system is, and how they wish they had tried it sooner.

Not only is a person’s complexion changed using Proactiv, so is their outlook on life and on themselves. They no longer cover their skin with make-up or wear hats pulled low over their faces. People report feeling good about going out, proud of themselves, and happy to be free from acne.

Our recommendation for those considering acne treatments to do some more research and consult a dermatologist before considering proactiv or some other treatment.

Five Things To Know About Laser Acne Treatment For Beautiful Skin

Acne is a problem that is more difficult to live with these days. More adults have to deal with this than before. Treatment options are available that were not so prevalent years ago. Many of the treatments are showing success but others are not working so well. The secret to finding the right treatment is looking at the severity of the acne you have and your skin type. One such treatment option is the laser acne treatment.

Difficult Acne

A few lucky acne sufferers can treat their acne successfully with drugs or over-the-counter applications. Many are not so lucky and need to move past the simple medications and products to other options. While they are wasting time using products that are not working, they could be working on a more positive way to remove the acne and scars left behind with laser acne treatment.

Doctors Recommendation

A physician or dermatologist will know what treatment is best for your particular acne problems. A few doctors will recommend the laser acne treatment at the beginning. This laser treatment is a quick way to get rid of the acne before it becomes a permanent fixture in your life. Once the acne gets rooted into the skin, treatment will be harder to accomplish.

Laser Acne Treatment For Scars

The laser acne treatment for scaring is more popular today because of its success in giving a beautiful face to those who have suffered from acne for years. This laser treatment technique is being recommended by doctors for acne treatment as well as preventatives and removal of scars. Erbium laser treatment is effective in healing scars that acne leaves behind.

The Cost To You For Treatment

Laser treatments are best for acne but can be a little expensive. Scientific alternatives for acne need to be completed during the active period of the acne. The use of this treatment option involves the use of crystals made from aluminum hydroxide. They are utilized as an abrasive that removes the damaged layers of skin. The dead skin cells are removed. These skin cells are the same ones that cause acne to spread and can be a hindrance to laser treatment. Even though this treatment is effective, it is only used on acne that is severe and not on acne that has the possibility to spread over a large area. The Aluminum hydroxide crystals work best in areas like the neck and back. Those areas are the ones that are harder to reach and need a faster treatment.

Time And Patience

Treatment for acne requires a large amount of patience and time before visible signs of results are present. Laser acne treatment is the quickest way and most effective way to get rid of acne scars and the acne itself. The Aluminum hydroxide crystals are good for use on scars that are shallow and should not be used on deep acne scars. Laser treatment for more severe acne and scars is the best solution for permanent clearing. You’ll have skin looking beautiful again.

Popular Scar Removal Methods

When a person suffers from Acne it is not uncommon to see them also suffering from a lack of self esteem. Acne can occur on the face and body as large, inflammed red pimples and markings which not only look painful but also feel painful. When a person discovers their acne starting to reside they are often overjoyed, only to have the feeling quickly diminish when they realise that the acne has left scarring. What do you do when you are left with scars all over your face? You can’t just hope that they will fade away on their own, you need to treat them in order for them to get better.

There are many treatments available today, they can be painful and also costly which makes these treatments simply out of reach for many people. All is not lost though, there are treatments that you can make yourself at home, from cheap and easy to find ingredients. These home remedies can work wonders on acne scarring and may even prove to be more beneficial than most other methods you have already tried. Home remedies often consist of natural ingredients also, which makes them less aggressive than the chemical based treatments. A chemical peel does not sound good for your skin, nor does it sound painless.

Sandlewood and Rose water.

Not only is this treament helpful but it also smells divine. Combine the sandlewood and the rose water together until you have created a smooth paste. Apply the paste to the scarred areas and wait for the paste to dry on your skin. Once the paste has dried rinse it off with warm water and softly pat dry with a soft towel.

Papaya Skin.

Using the inside of the papaya skin, place it on your face or the affected area and allow it to sit for at least one hour. After this time has passed remove the skins and rinse your face. Due to the time it takes for this treament it is better for use at night when preparing for bed.

Aloe Vera Gel.

Not only does aloe vera gel aid in the healing of scars but it also assits in fading them. There are many different types available on the market and each one will have a different level of effect but the best thing to do in my opinion is to cut some fresh aloe vera leaves and squeeze it out yourself.

Treating acne scarring does not have to be painful or expensive. As these home remedies have shown it can be quite simple and affordable and you could soon be on your way to scar free skin.

For more information on Scar Removal visit How to Remove Scars

Wonderful Acne Skin Care Tips That Work

When looking for acne skin care tips, you’ll find that most skin care professionals will advise you to begin in improving certain conditions in your life.

Acne, as you no undoubtedly know, can be a severe skin disorder that has affected hundreds of thousands of people all over the world physically and mentally. most people think that since they can only see acne on their back, chest, back, and face that it is only a skin problem. But the truth is it’s much more complicated than just that.

a large number of skin care professionals and acne experts over the last couple years have been working hard to research the many ways that we can prevent acne. Fortunately though, these specialists have come out with a ton of different skin care tips that can be a big help in dealing with acne problems. I have chosen three of the simpler but more powerful acne skin care tips, that you can use starting today to clear your skin up.

Acne Skin Care Tip 1: Wash Your Face Twice Each Day and Very Gently.

Skin care experts recommend that you gently wash your face twice a day will with a very mild cleanser, I use Cetaphil as my skin is very sensitive and seems to handle this product well. I know it seems real simple but this tip alone can be very beneficial when it comes to fighting acne, since you will be washing away excess oil and bacteria off of your face, back, or neck. Also, you may have been told that you should scrub your face, this is false as it will only worsen the condition by irritating your skin and allowing the affected area to potentially get infected.

Acne Skin Care Tip 2: Stay Away From Frequently Touching The Affected Area.

Another helpful tip is to avoid touching your skin too often. Try not to take squeeze or pinch of pimples since it can only make things worse. A lot of people feel that this step alone is the most important advice given due to the fact that they understand that doing the above may cause infection and scars. Also, with this tip you should avoid rubbing and touching your skin lesions as well.

Acne Skin Care Tip 3: Pick Out Your Cosmetics Carefully.

Choosing the wrong types of cosmetics can be a reason why you are continually breaking out. While searching through your make-up bag make sure that all of your foundation, eye shadow, blushes, and moisturizers are oil free. The last thing we need is to have our make-up clogging our pores and causing more build up of acne. With this you should also make sure that you avoid oily hair products as they may cause your comedones to close. The best bet is to make sure that you are using products with the “noncomedogenic” so that you don’t run into this problem.

I know that it can be hard to come up with the right way to handle acne problems. Sometimes the best thing we can do is get back to the basics, as not taking care of these will only hold us back. Try these tips and have great looking acne free skin.

4 Sure-fire Acne Skin Care Tips

Let’s face it. There are many beneficial acne skin care tips, but some are not so good. Here is a look at the things that you can do to reduce blemishes and heal existing ones, naturally. If it makes you feel any better, most people have blemishes at some point in their lives, probably due to hormonal changes, but there are things that you can do to take control of the situation.

Watch Your Diet

For years, it seems, people have been debating about whether or not what you eat affects your skin’s appearance and health. Some dermatologists are now recommending that you keep a food diary, recording everything that you eat and if the foods seem to promote blemishes. There are some people that might be able to do this on a regular basis, but most of us don’t have the time or the motivation.

Scientific research has shown that there are some foods that should be avoided. You’ll even find diet books that include acne skin care tips. The most common causes of breakouts include simple carbohydrates (sugar, sodas, candy, and white bread), high glycemic foods (white potatoes for example) and dairy products. If you avoid dairy products, you need to get your calcium from other sources, such as spinach, kelp or other green leafy vegetables. You also need to find a source of vitamin D, because fortified dairy products are the most common source of that important vitamin.

Take a Good Daily Multi-nutritional Formula

By changing your diet, you may inadvertently reduce your nutritional intake. To prevent deficiencies, which are accompanied by fatigue and other problems, take a good multi-nutritional formula.

Suggestions about vitamin intake are often included in acne skin care tips, because new patients usually have low levels of vitamin A and E circulating in their bloodstreams. But, be sure that the supplement you take contains only the natural vegetable sources of those vitamins. The animal source of vitamin A is toxic and the synthetic version of vitamin E is not beneficial.

Exercise to the Point of Sweating

This may be something new if you’ve read a lot of acne skin care tips. Perspiration cleans the pores. One of the causes of acne is clogged pores and a build up of bacteria within them. The salt in perspiration has slight antibacterial activity and the water simply flushes out the pores. After you exercise, was your face with a mild cleanser that contains manuka honey, a natural antibacterial agent.

Remember to take your time and massage all areas of your face and body, but don’t scrub. Your goal is to wash away the germs, sweat, dirt, oils and old skin cells. But, scrubbing causes damage and scarring.

Use a Deep Cleansing Mask

A good deep cleaning cleansing mask can unclog your pores. If it contains the right ingredients, it will absorb excessive oils and prevent further breakouts. The ingredients to look for include clay extracts, manuka honey and allantoin. But, don’t worry. The new masks are not green or ugly. You leave them on for 20 minutes and then rinse them off. It’s easy.

Now that you know this, hopefully the acne skin care tips in this article will help you, but there’s always more to learn. Knowledge is the key to effective skincare.

If you’d like to learn more about little known but clinically tested natural ingredients that are used for treating acne-prone skin, visit my website today.

Proactive Acne Treatment Procedures

If your skin is prone to acne, proactive acne treatment procedures are a very good idea. There are many myths about acne including that it is caused by eating chocolate or that it only occurs in people with poor standards of hygiene. These are simply not true. Neither is it true that stress causes acne. Some people, quite a lot in fact, just have acne-prone skin. If you are one of them, there are a number of ways you can be proactive in your fight against acne or even against outbreaks of spots.

Diet is thought to be important to how your skin, hair and nails look so a healthy, balanced diet will probably result in better results than if you eat a lot of junk food. Vitamin and mineral supplements might be worthwhile because many people do not get sufficient nutrients from their diet. Drinking plenty of water, 8 glasses a day if you can, cleans your system and flushes out toxins. If you do not like the taste of water, you can add fruit juice or cordial to it.

Sometimes acne can be caused by touching your skin too much. If you have oily hair which hangs over your face or you rest your chin in your palm all day, you are introducing oil and dirt to those areas and it is the dirt that can cause acne. If your hair is oily, you should use a shampoo for oily hair and try to tie it back.

There are some herbal remedies which can cure or improve acne. One is aloe vera because it contains 20 amino acids and alkaloids which moisturize and sooth the skin. Herba lamnae helps to eliminate waste from the skin and inhibits the growth of unwanted bio-cultures caused by toxins. Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae encourages the body to produce immune defenses and helps to improve circulation. Dong Quai stimulates the circulation and helps to bring blood to the dermis. That cleanses the skin naturally of impurities.

There are certain medications you might want to stay away from if you are worried about acne. Anticonvulsants, corticosteroids, sobriety medications, immunosuppressants, thyroid preparations, systemic steroids, anabolic steroids, some birth control pills and some cosmetics can cause acne or aggravate existing acne.

If you need to shave your face and you have acne, you need to use plenty of shaving cream and be careful around the acne itself. If possible, try an electric razor because these cut the hairs and are less irritating to your acne. To cleanse your skin, you should use a specialized acne cleanser or something very gentle. Avoid harsh soaps because these are irritants. Oil-free products are kinder to acne-prone skin and products containing alcohol should be avoided because they dry out the skin and promote oiliness.

Proactive acne treatment procedures are important in preventing acne and can make the difference between clear skin and an acne breakout.

Click here to Discover the Secrets of the former acne sufferer cured himself from severe acne and taught thousands of people worldwide to get the clearest skin they ever had faster than they ever thought possible!. Or visit http://www.instant-success.biz/AcneNoMore for more tips

Cancer

Cancer for Men
There are so many kinds of cancer and almost all are on the increase although many are now curable. I find it unbelievable that there are still people in denial about cancer, people who say that the connection between smoking and cancer is still unproven, for example.

The connection between smoking and cancer was first noticed by a man called Samuel Tas Sommering who noticed that cancer of the lips was more predominant in smokers than none smokers. There has been plenty of time to investigate his observations as he made the statement in 1795.

Many cancers affect men and women but a few are specifically associated with one or the other. As you would expect these gender related cancers are probably the least talked about because they affect those parts of the body which make us male or female, the reproductive and sex related organs. Cancer is one of the most feared diseases known to modern man (although it is far from being the most common). Still the biggest cancer killer of all is lung cancer, which makes no distinction between the sexes in its effect, but women seem to have slightly reduced chances of getting it, even with a similar lifestyle. Try one of the links to the right to find out more about this sometimes tragic disease.

The three which affect only men are;-

Testicular cancer – which is unusual because it is mainly a young (20-35) man’s illness

Prostate cancer which mainly affects older men, (but note, neither of these are exclusive to one age group) and

Penile cancer, which is rare at any age, only 1 in 1,000,000 in America, so still a much higher chance than winning the national lottery, but it does exist.

Anything unusual in or around the genitals should be reported without delay, most things men notice are not serious but some can be! There have been advances in cancer care and treatments over recent years which have improved cure rates significantly. Cancer is not the death sentence it was once thought to be. The key to our much improved cure rates seems to be to do with early detection. For men (and women) this means spotting changes to your body as quickly as possible.

There is also much good news on the treatments available and many cancers which were incurable a few years ago are now regularly cured. Here are some facts about cancer without any frills. If you are concerned in any way it is imperative that you see your doctor without delay.

NO FRILLS FACTS
Cancer affects more men than women.

Cancer is not catching.

There is a proven link between certain substances and certain cancers, such as sunlight and skin cancer, and cigarette smoke and lung cancer.

There is a known reduction in cancer incidence amongst people who eat certain foods such as many vegetables.

The main cancers in men are (in order of numbers affected) lung cancer, bowel cancer, prostate cancer and stomach cancer. Of these only prostate cancer is exclusive to men.

Cancer of the testicles is also obviously exclusive to men, and is unusual in that it attacks mostly younger men.

by Chris Bradley.

Blood Pressure

I heard two old ladies talking in the supermarket queue the other day. “Our Fred’s got blood pressure” said First Old Lady (as they used to be cast on TV.) “It’ll be all that weight he carries around” said Second Old Lady, “he wants to be careful he doesn’t get sugar, like Bob.” “And salt” I added mentally, admiring these ladies’ grasp of some very important health facts. Here are some more.

Blood Pressure

Your blood pressure is the amount of force your blood exerts against the walls of your blood vessels as it circulates to all parts of your body carrying a supply of oxygen along with the useable bits of what we eat. Doctor’s write down 2 figures when measuring blood pressure (written like a fraction), in that the pressure constantly rises and falls as your heart beats then rests. Technically I suppose we should say, “blood pressures”. It is worth remembering that even during the short gaps between heartbeats the lower of these 2 pressures is at work in your hard working arteries, in other words there is constant pressure.

The ideal pressures needed to keep us functioning, fall within quite a narrow range. They are fairly high, mostly because we learned the convenient trick of walking upright a while ago and extra pressure is needed in this position to keep our brains going. Normal blood pressure is enough to lift a column of mercury about 6 inches up a glass tube and sometimes it becomes dangerously more. (The traditional way to measure blood pressure is with glass tubes of mercury, that’s why many doctors use a strange tall thermometer like device to measure it).

Too little blood pressure makes us fall over and can be dangerous in other ways, but it is quite an unusual feature of not being well. Some substances and medical conditions can make us dizzy, as can standing up suddenly if the circulation is not in tip top condition. This can be dangerous enough, falls are a very common cause of injury but imagine what can happen if you constantly put more pressure through the system than it was designed to cope with. There are plenty of men who risk their lives in this way. Eventually there is a good chance that something will break. Sometimes one of the blood vessels around the heart, or up near the brain will leak, or a bulge will form which can break without warning. The results are sometimes very dramatic and can be life threatening.

What makes the blood pressure rise?

Can it be avoided without loads of pills?… The commonest cause of high blood pressure is a build up of fatty residue inside the arteries, forcing blood through the narrow gap. This fat, sometimes called cholesterol, can also break free and travel in the blood stream until it comes to a place where it will wedge itself and block the circulation. This is often what has happened when we talk about someone having a stroke or heart attack. These two very different conditions, leaking blood vessels and blocked blood vessels, cause very similar effects, that’s why it is never a good idea to assume that someone else’s stroke or illness is the same as yours, the treatments are so different that you could say they’re opposites. In one case doctors need to stop the blood flowing and in the other they need to get it flowing again. The arteries also become less elastic, often because of smoking, making them prone to tearing instead of stretching as the blood passes through.

There are things that you can do to improve your chances. See the page links to the right for more details. If you want your blood pressure checked go and ask at your doctors surgery, they will either do it for you or tell you where to go. (I mean to a clinic!)

Sex

Freud is famously quoted to have once said that all men think about sex every few seconds, or was it minutes. Whatever it was and if he did say that then he was quite a foolish bloke. I can only suppose that he noticed a phenomena that is well known to anyone who studies people’s habits and wonders about what drives them.

Sexual considerations and instincts seem to be an integral part of so much that we do that we end up not even realising that it is happening.

Take cars, for example. We all know the words used to describe a new sleek car have more than a passing similarity to the way we would describe a sexually attractive woman. Yet logically how can a car, a tin box on wheels driven by a set of cleverly connected guns, ever be “sexy”. Why should black underwear be any sexier than white. Or red cars than gray ones. I’ve even heard computer hardware described in loving terms! It is so important to us, that the ad men recognise it as a major selling point for almost anything from beer to bog roll. It is easy to see why we sometimes have clouded judgment, or are reluctant to admit that we need information or have a problem. What should be a simple intuitive act with a few social rules thrown in has become surrounded by myth, secrecy and misinformation.

Sex for men takes many forms. Sex can be enjoyable with a woman, with more than one woman, on your own, or with another man (or men etc. etc). This of course is a matter of personal preference and generally what happens in private between two or more consenting adults (if you don’t fully understand what consent is see “a man’s view” on the women page ) is their affair. Unfortunately for us in this pleasure seeking world, anything that’s this much fun can bring it’s own problems.

“IF YOU PUT YOUR ROD IN ENOUGH PONDS YOU WILL EVENTUALLY CATCH SOMETHING.” This old fisherman’s saying (told to me by an old fisherman) may be true…but it is also true that you catch one fish from one cast. “Doing it” unprotected one time is probably the commonest way to catch something you didn’t want.

Most sexually transmitted diseases are spread in this way because people are unprepared or off their guard, such as after drink. There has been so much publicity lately about HIV and AIDS that we are in danger of forgetting that there are loads of much more common things out there waiting to be caught. Here is a list of a few that are available to anyone regardless of gender, colour, orientation or age; chlamidia, syphilis, herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea, and trichomonas vaginalis. (cool names, eh?) You may or may not know if you catch one of these, although there are some symptoms worth looking out for, they should send you off to your G.P. or special clinic like a bat out of hell.

Rather than giving you a list of symptoms to remember, you need to report any change in appearance in your pants area like spots, rashes or blisters, any change in sensation like pain, itchiness or burning, or any change in output, like blood in urine or semen, discharges of any sort or having to go to pee more or less than usual. Remember these; sensation, output, appearance. Soap is quite a good mnemonic, as it’s when you’re washing and bathing that the opportunity arises to examine yourself – I hope it will remind you.

You can reduce your chances of catching most things to almost zero by using a condom. Used for this purpose, they are contrafection rather than contraception, although they do of course prevent pregnancy as well. They are not 100% safe – notably many people catch genital warts from others despite taking precautions. Warts need treating at a special clinic, to stop them spreading to others; they are caused by a virus which is difficult to kill. It is important to nbote you can have a sexually transmitted illness with no symptoms or signs at all, or they can come and go, even though the infection doesn’t come and go too.

Details of local clinics are in the directory under “sexual health” You can go without an appointment to any clinic, even outside the area where you live. What happens there is strictly confidential, no one will be told about your visit, even your doctor or your family unless you specifically give your permission. Of course you may be asked for details of contacts so that others can be traced and treated, but you are not compelled to give them. Any contacts you do name will not be told the source of the information, nor will anyone else. As if these diseases aren’t enough there are other things which can affect our sex lives alarmingly, both physical and psychological. Try the links to other sites for more details.

Treating Vaginal Dryness Without A Prescription

Vaginal dryness is a symptom that women find most annoying. It is most associated with menopause, but it also occurs due to childbirth, stress, or birth control pills. It may be a problem during sex only, or it may cause an itching or burning sensation all the time. There are many ways to deal with the problem. Which one an each woman chooses depends on: how quickly she needs lubrication, what her sexual desires are, whether or not she wants to make a trip to the drugstore, convenience, and what other menopausal or gynecological problems she has.

Do It Yourself (or Have Him Do It)

More Water, More Sex
A woman can’t make her own secretions without adequate fluid intake. Frequent sexual stimulation alone or with a partner keeps the flow going.

Clitoral Stimulation
A midlife or older woman’s times ability to lubricate is not gone, it simply takes longer and requires more stimulation. Manual works fine. The woman or her partner can do it. Oral works better and faster. It can take 45 minutes to an hour. It is not a quick solution, but if a woman needs longer to become lubricated, she needs about the same amount of time to become aroused and her clitoris erect for orgasm. To shorten the time needed by using one of the replacements might be synonymous with having sex for a partner’s pleasure primarily.

Saliva
Yours or his is fine. Apply it by licking a finger and then rubbing the finger on the vulva and then inserting it inside the vagina. CAUTION: Many mid-life and mature women also have problems with repeated Urinary Tract Infection due to changes in the entire urinary and genital areas with menopause. Some Reproductive age women are prone to urinary tract infections also. Saliva can introduce bacteria into the urinary tract and increase this problem.

Cunnilingus
Cunnilingus is oral sex on a female. It’s essentially clitoral stimulation and saliva together. The best “bang for the buck” as far as speediness and effectiveness. The pros and cons are the same as above. A woman is likely to have one orgasm during cunnilingus, and another during genital intercourse.

Re-define Sex
The Baby Boom generation and older tends to think of sex and penile-vaginal intercourse. But, sex can be anything designed to bring a woman to orgasm. Oral or manual stimulation need not be thought of as the means to lubricate for genital intercourse. They can be a means to orgasm by themselves. A woman’s same age partner may be having trouble with his erection and also appreciated broadening the definition of sex.

The Lubricants and Moisturizers
Unlike skin moisturizers and lubricants, they contain no oils. This is important as vaseline and other oil-based lubricates can disrupt the normal vaginal enviroment. Oil-based will degrade condoms. All will kill sperm and decrease chances for conception. The choice will be based on price, convenience and packaging, and composition of the product.

Here’s a website lamenting the fact that K-Y doesn’t come with instructions and giving suggestions. http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/u/wwiewior/ky.html

Here’s some serious instructions for those who choose whichever in a big tube. Put a big glob, about the size of a nickel on the tip of the index finger. Reapply whenever needed. Start by spreading both the inner and outer lips of the vulva with the finger, lubricating as you go. If there is any tissue sticking together, gently rub the finger with the lube in the center of the two lips while pulling back on the outermost lip at the same time. Make certain sure the area between inner and outer lips and between the inner lips is lubed. Then, starting at the vaginal opening make a circular upward spiraling inside the vagina. Also, instead of or addition to the vaginal application, grease the penis up.

KY Jelly
The old stand-by, K-Y. It is water-based. It is the cheapest and most easily found. It typically comes in large tubes and must be applied manually. There are single use tubes and foil packets, but these are difficult for the public to buy and are mostly used in clinics. Asking the doctor for a few is about the only way to get the “travel size”. It is not the same pH as the vagina. If a woman is prone to trouble with yeast or bacterial vaginosis, she may want to stick to the lubricante made specifically for vaginal use.

Astroglide
It was invented by NASA or something like that hence the name. But it is water-based. It comes in tubes or pre-packaged single use amounts in an applicator. The woman inserts the applicator like a tampon and pushes the plunger. This makes it much easier to get the distant part of the vagina. However, the woman will need to save some of the applicator’s contents or get a tube to lubricate the vulva. The package is called Silken Secrete. It is about the same pH as the vagina.

Replens
This product causes the vagina to absorb water. It is called a polycarbophil. It is meant to be used on a daily basis, not just at intercourse. Studies have shown it to be as effective as vaginal estrogen creams.

Herbs, Vitamins, and Other

Herbs
The homeopathic agents with claims of relieving vaginal dryness are: belladonna, bryonia, and lycopodium. Herbs are dong quai or motherwort for about a week. There is no scientific research supporting or refute these claims. Ginseng has some limited scientific support for effectiveness in vaginal dryness.

Vitamin E
Some women open a capsule and squirt the oil in the vagina. The regimen is daily for the first week or so, then once or twice a week. As it is an oil, break-down of condoms, overgrowth of bacteria, or other disruption of the normal flora are issues. While adequate oral vitamin E intake has long been associated with healthy skin, there is nothing to suggest that using E vaginally is any more effective than any plain oil.

Soy
Soy flour (6 tablespoons) and flaxseed (2 tablespoons) have been shown to improve vagina moisture. This is thought to be from the natural estrogen-like actions of soy and flaxseed. If a woman needs or wants to avoid estrogens, then this is not a good option. It takes about six weeks to kick in.