Natural care for a bright eyes

The first important factor in restoring normal health and sparkle to the eyes is to loosen the strain and contracted muscles surrounding the eyes. The eye muscle and neck exercises mentioned below will help achieve this purpose. All these exercises should be performed while sitting in a comfortable position.

Eye Exercises

• Keep the head still and relaxed; gently move the eyes up and down six times. Repeat the same movement two or three times after a rest of two or three seconds in between. The eyes should move slowly and regularly as far down as possible and then as far up as possible.
  
• Move the eyes six times from side to side, as far as possible, without any force or effort. Repeat tow or three times.
  
• Hold up the index of the right hand about eight in front of the eyes, then look from the finger to any other large object ten or more feet away the door or window will do. Look from one to the other ten times. Do this exercise fairly rapidly.
  
• 
  Move the eyes gently and slowly round in a circle, then move them low in the reverse direction. Do this four times in all. Rest for two or three seconds and then repeat the movements two or three times, using minimum effort.
  

Neck Exercises

Rotate the neck (a) in circles and semi-circles, (b) move the shoulders anti-clockwise briskly, drawing them up as far as possible several times, (c) allow the head to drop forward and backward as far as possible, (d) turn the head to the right and left as far as possible several times. These exercises help to loosen contracted neck muscles which may restrict blood supply to the head.

Splashing

Splash pain, cold water several times on the closed eyes. Rub the closed lids briskly for a minute with a clean towel. This cools the eyes and increase blood supply.

Palming

Sit in a comfortable position in an armchair or on a settee and relax with your eyes closed. Cover the eyes with palms, right palm over the right eye and the left palm over the left eye. Do not press on the eyes. Then with your eyes completely covered in this manner, allow your elbows to drop on to your knees, keeping the knees fairly closed together. While eyes are closed thus, try to imagine blackness, which glows darker and darker. Palming lessens strain and relax the eyes and its surrounding tissues.

Massage

Massage the eyes with warm vegetable oil (olive or sunflower) helps in getting a smoother look. As the skin around the eyes is very delicate, use gentle movements, without tugging. Start by running the third fingertip from your nose, under the eye brows and in a circle around and under the eye and back to the nose. Repeat the movement using circular rotating actions, keeping them light and gentle.

The natural way to lovely bright eyes

The eyes are a mirror of general health and the most expressive features of the face. Beautiful, bright eyes are a part of radiant health and the best asset one can have. They give a wonderful effect to one’s personality. On the other hand, eyes are an indication of ill-health and a depressed state of mind. During illness, the eyes are the first to tell their story of pain.

Causes of dull eyes
The main causes of dull eyes are mental strain, faulty diet, and improper blood supply. Mental strain, resulting from overwork, worry, fear and anxiety puts a corresponding physical strain on the eyes and their muscles and nerves. Physical strain on the eyes and may also be caused by reading in dim light or in glaring light, or reading in moving trains, buses or cars, watching too much television and films, and excessive reading. Dust, smoke and prolonged exposure to darkness are all harmful to the eyes and should be avoided.

Dull eyes are symptoms of a general toxaemic condition of the body mainly due to excessive intake of starch, sugar and protein. The muscles and blood vessels surrounding the eyes share in the clogging process taking place due to improper metabolism caused by an imbalanced and too concentrated diet.

For healthy and lively eyes, it is necessary that they are properly supplied with blood and nerve force. Any interference with the blood vessels or with the nerves of the eye could result in lack luster eyes. The muscles covering the upper portion of the spine at the back of the neck are the main seat of mechanical intereference with the blood and nerve supply to the eyes.

Natural Treatments for Eczema

The best way to deal with eczema is to cleanse the bloodstream and the body. The treatment should start with a fast on orange juice and water from five to ten days, depending on the severity and duration of the trouble. This fasting will help to eliminate toxic waste from the body and lead to substantial improvement. In some cases, the condition may worse in the beginning of the fast due to the increased elimination of waste matter through the skin. But as fasting continues, improvement will manifest itself.

After the juice fast, you may adopt an exclusive milk diet with beneficial results. In this regimen, you should take a quarter liter of milk every hour on the first day, every three quarters of an hour on the second day and every half and hour on the third day and onwards. The total quantity of milk consumed each day may be six liters. This exclusive milk diet may be continued for four to six weeks or longer, if necessary. Many cases of eczema have been cured or greatly improved by the milk diet, following the juice fast.

Fruits, salt-free raw or steamed vegetables with whole meal bread or chappatis may be taken after the exclusive milk diet. Carrot and musk are particularly beneficial. Coconut oil may be used instead of ghee.

After a few days, curd and milk amy be added to the diet. You may thereafter gradually embark upon a well-balanced diet consisting of three basic food groups namely seeds, nuts and grains, vegetables and fruits. The large proportion of the diet should consist of raw foods. Seeds and beans such as alfalfa, mung and soybeans can be sprouted. This diet may be supplemented with cold-pressed vegetable oils, honey and yeast. Juice fasting may be repeated at intervals of two months or so, depending on the progress being made. In chronic and more difficult cases of eczema, you should fast at least once a week till its cured.

You should avoid tea, coffee, alcoholic beverages and all condiments and highly flavored dishes, as well as sugar, white flour products, denatured cereals like polished rice and pearled barley and tinned or bottled foods. You should eat only pure and wholesome foods.
Raw vegetable juices, especially carrot juice in combination with spinach juice, have proved highly beneficial in the treatment of eczema. The formula proportions considered helpful in this combination are carrot 300ml and spinach 200ml to make 500ml or half a liter of juice.

You should get as much as fresh air as possible. Restrictive clothing should be avoided. Two or three liters of water should be taken daily and you must bathe twice or thrice a day. The skin, with the exception of the parts be affected with eczema, should be vigorously rubbed with the palms of the hand before taking a bath.

Coconut oil may be applied tot eh portions with eczema. It will help the skin to stay soft. Walking or jogging should be resorted to in order to activate the bowels. Sunbathing is also beneficial as it kills the harmful bacteria, and should be resorted to early in the morning, in the first light of dawn. A light mudpack applied over the sites of the eczema is also helpful. The pack should be applied for an hour at a time and should be repeated twice or thrice a day.

In cases of acute eczema, cold compress or cold, wet formation are beneficial. The affected part should be wrapped with a thick soft cloth. The cloth should be moistened with cold water every 15 to 30 minutes for two hours at a time. The bandage should be left intact, keeping the cloth cold. There may be intensification of itching or pain initially but this will soon subside. A cold compress may be applied twice daily for a week or so.

Steam bath may be taken tow or three times a week with great advantages. There are especially valuable while on the exclusive milk diet. Neutral immersion bath lasting for 45 minutes to an hour will also be helpful.

Certain home remedies have been found beneficial in the treatment of eczema. Of these, the use of musk melon is regarded as the most effective. In this mode of treatment, only musk melons are taken three times during the day for forty days or more.

Mangoes are considered another effective remedy for eczema. The pulp and skin of the fruit should be simmered in a cup of water for an hour. This should be then be strained and applied as a lotion literally to all effected areas, several times a day.

The green leaves of finger miller (ragi) are valuable in chronic eczema. The fresh juice of the leaves should be applied over the affected area. Certain liquids have also been found useful as washing lotions for cleansing the affected parts. These include water in which margosa obtained by decanting cooked rice and turmeric (haldi) water prepared by boiling water to which turmeric powder has been added.

Natural Treatments for Dermatitis

As dermatitis may appear due to varied causes, treatment also varies accordingly. If, however, the trouble is constitutional arising from internal causes, the patient should commence the treatment by adopting an all-fruit diet for a least a week, as in the case of acne. After an exclusive fruit diet the, you may adopt a restricted diet for 10 days. In this regiment, breakfast may consist of orange or orange juice or grapefruit. Raw salad, consisting of vegetables in season, with raisins, figs, or dates may be taken for lunch. Dinner may consist of steamed vegetables such as spinach, cabbage, carrots, turnips, cauliflower along with a few nuts or fresh fruit. Milk puddings and desserts such as jellies, jam and pastries, all condiments, spices, white sugar and white flour and products made from them, tea, coffee, and other stimulating drinks should be avoided.

After the restricted diet, you should gradually embark upon a well-balanced diet, consisting of seeds, nuts and grains, vegetables and fruits. The emphasis should be on fresh fruits and raw vegetables. In case of a severe condition, you should undertake a fast having only fruit or vegetable juice for three to five days. This may be followed by a restricted diet for 10 to 15 days. Further fasts and a period of restricted diet at intervals may be adopted after the resumption of a normal diet.

The warm water enema should be used to cleanse the bowels during the first week of the treatment and thereafter as necessary. Epsom salt bath may be taken two or three times a week. The affected areas may also be bathed twice daily in hot water with Epsom salts. About 100g of Epsom salts should be added to a bowel of hot water for this purpose. A little olive oil should be applied after the Epsom salt bath.

You should avoid white sugar, refined carbohydrates, tea, coffee and other denatured foods, and should make liberal use of fruit and vegetable juices. The combined juice of the apple, carrot and celery is especially beneficial in the treatment of dermatitis. About 175ml each of these juices should be mixed to prepare 525ml of combined juice.

In case of trouble due to external causes, the most effective treatment consists of applying a mixture of baking soda (bicarbonate of sode0 and olive oil. The alkaline sodium neutralizes the poisonous acids formed in the sores and the oil keeps the skin in a softened condition.

You should undertake moderate physical exercise, preferably simple yoga asana after the fast is completed and the restricted diet started. Exercise is one of the most valuable means for purifying the blood and for preventing toxemia. You should also have adequate physical and mental rest and fresh air. You should avoid exposure to cold and adopt regular hours of eating and sleeping.

Natural treatments for acne

To begin with, the patient should resort to an all-fruit diet for about a week. In this regimen, there should be three meals a day, consisting of fresh juicy fruits such as apples, pears, grapes, pineapple, and peaches. During this period, a warm water enema should take daily to cleanse the bowels and all other measures adopted to eradicate constipation.

After a week on the all-fruit diet, the patient can gradually adopt a well-balanced diet, with emphasis on raw foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, sprouted seeds, raw nuts and whole grain cereals. Further short periods on the all fruit diet for three days or so may be necessary at a monthly interval ti the condition of the skin improves.

The patient with acne should avoid meats, sugar, strong tea or coffee, condiments, pickles, fried foods, refined and processed foods as well as soft drinks, candies, ice cream and products made with sugar and white flour. Starchy, protein and fatty foods should restrict.

As regards local treatment, hot fomentation should be applied to open up the pores and squeeze out the waste matter. Then rinse with cold water. Sun and air baths by exposing the whole body to the sun and air are highly beneficial. The healing packs of grated cucumber, oatmeal cooked in milk, and cooked, creamed carrots, used externally, have been found to be effective.

The orange peel is valuable in the treatment of acne; the peel pounded well with water on a piece of stone should be applied to the affected areas. The lemon peel has also provided beneficial in removing pimples and acne. It should be applied regularly.

A teaspoon of coriander juice mixed with a pinch of turmeric powder is another effective home remedy for pimples and blackheads. The mixture should be applied to the face after thoroughly washing it every night before retiring.

Garlic has been used successfully in the treatment of acne. Pimples disappear without scars when rubbed with raw garlic several times a day. This even heals very persistent forms of acne suffered by some adults. The process is further helped by also taking the herb orally, to purify the bloodstream so as to secure a long term clearance of the skin eruptions.

The juice of raw potatoes has also proved very valuable in clearing skin blemishes. This cleansing results from the high content of potassium, sulphur, phosphorus, and chlorine in the potato. These elements are, however, of value only when potato is raw as in this state they are composed of live organic atoms.

A hot Epsom salt bath twice a week will be highly beneficial in all cases of acne. This bath is prepared by dissolving one and a half kilo of Epsom salt to 60 liters of water having a temperature of about 100F. the patient should remain in the bath from 25 to 35 minutes till he perspires freely. After the bath, he should cool off gradually.

Skin Disorders and Natural Treatments - Acne

There are certain skin disorders which cause a great deal of embarrassment at an age when people tend to be sensitive about their personal appearance. The more common of these are acne, dermatitis and eczema. We are going to talk about these disorders and natural treatments.

Acne - Acne is perhaps the most common chronic skin disorder. It is an inflammatory condition of the sebaceous glands and hair follicles usually found on the face, the neck, chest and shoulders. It is closely related to the disturbance in the hormones experienced at puberty. Nearly eight out of then young people between the ages of 12 and 24 suffer from some degree of acne.

Acne is characterized by the presence of comedowns or blackheads, pimple4s, small superficial sebaceous cysts and scars. There are over half a dozen forms of acne. All of them are concerned with sebaceous glands or the glands connected with hair follicles. The most common from the acne is blackheads. The areas chiefly affected are the foreheads, temples, cheeks and chin, the chest and back. In rare cases, almost the entire body may be covered with blackheads with extensive scarring.

All forms of acne have their origin in wrong feeding habits, such as irregular hours of eating, improper foods, excess of starches, sugar and fatty foods. Chronic constipation is another cause of acne. If the bowels do not move properly, the waste matter is not eliminated as quickly as it should be and the blood stream becomes surcharged with toxic matter. The extra efforts of the skin to eliminate excess waste result in acne and other forms of skin disorders. Yet another important cause of acne is a devitalized condition of the skin resulting from unhygienic living habits. Other causes of the disorder are excessive use of tea, coffee, animal fats, chocolate, alcohol or tobacco, strenuous studies, masturbation and sedentary habits which lead to indigestion and general debility.