Herbal Remedies for Relieving Painful, Dry Skin

As I do every month I anticipated the arrival of my monthly senior magazine only to find in big headlines something about natural being dangerous. So I immediately turned to page 11 to find out what all this was about.
But first I should point out that after three pages of bashing herbal remedies, natural supplements, and naturally occurring substances this one-sided article ended with the quote "Most dietary supplements are generally safe for most people at recommended levels," says Paul Coates, director of NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements.".
So which is it?
This same article found it disturbing that 60 percent of those 50 and older regularly use supplements. One expert quoted thought it was a major problem that cancer patients were using supplements to ease pain or simply out of desperation.
Has he seen what cancer does to people and how difficult the treatment process can be emotionally, physically, and financially? Furthermore, if you are terminal and there is nothing more medical science can do for you what is there to lose?
Another part of the article went on to bash garlic because it acts as a blood thinner and in high doses can cause problems.
Do you know anybody that sits down with a plate of garlic as a delicious appetizer to wake up their taste buds before their main course? I didn't think so!
Being 55 myself what I can tell you from personal experience is that most of us over 50 take supplements to try to improve our quality of life both now and later in life. Many of those over 50 have seen firsthand their parents or grandparents deal with serious quality of life issues despite following the advice of their doctors.
The reality is medical science has yet to come up with a formula for immortality and are doing a poor job when it comes to developing drugs that don't cause more problems than they solve.
For example most seniors I know struggle with arthritis or other bone and joint concerns. Most drugs used to treat these types of conditions have long list of serious side effects.
Most of us simply want to slow the aging process a bit so we can enjoy our remaining years without pain and astronomic medical expenses which can wipe out what we have worked a lifetime to accumulate in a matter of weeks, months, or years.
Supplements and natural occurring substances such as fish oil, glucosamine (arthritis), chondroitin (arthritis), Vitamin B12, bilberry (eye site), black elderberry (touted by Hippocrates as his personal medicine chest), ginkgo biloba, ginseng, psyllium (for regularity) and aspirin (heart health) are simply tools to help us do this.
The truth is if medical science had all the answers we wouldn't need to take supplements and natural occurring substances. But with full-time care costing about $10,000 dollars a month and a week or two in intensive care running ten times that much we as seniors must do whatever we can to prevent illness and maintain, or improve, our quality of life with herbal remedies and natural occurring substances being only two of a number of wellness alternatives at our disposal.

Robert D. Hawkins is an enthusiastic consumer advocate for natural health and natural living with over 10 years experience in the field. To discover more about natural health and wellness along with information about safe and effective herbal and homeopathic remedies and supplements.

Herbal Remedies for Relieving Painful, Dry Skin

When you have an extreme case of painful, dry skin, you may wish that you could take off your skin like a coat and trade it in for another, fresher, less itchy version. As a rash or dryness develops, your skin itches and you scratch it. It becomes inflamed and red and sore, and continues to itch, and the more you scratch it, the worse it gets. Even if you don't scratch it, the skin itself seems to be crying out for attention. It becomes dry and can feel hot and uncomfortable even if it isn't itching at the moment. Finding a steroid free itch relief ointment may be the most viable and safest choice.
When your excessively skin isn't acting up, you might find yourself tiptoeing and treading as if on glass, hoping to avoid any kind of stimulation that may trigger it. The wrong kind of clothing, poor air quality, stress or embarrassment, dust motes or dust mites and soaps with allergens and caustic or possibly toxic chemicals in them can cause a rash or a flare up. Your skin becomes inflamed, dry, itchy and painful.
In extreme cases, some doctors will prescribe a cortisone or steroid solution for painful, dry skin. This may be effective, but the FDA has warned that there may be a link to the use of steroids in skin care products and the onset of cancer. So in the long run, the relief you get may not be worth the risk, and pursuing another route to alleviate symptoms through a steroid free itch relief lotion, cream or cleanser may be the better way to go. This is all the more true -- especially if it works!
Persistent skin problems, which is the most common source of painful, dry skin, is not always curable, but certain Chinese herbal remedies are available to use in order to alleviate symptoms. In China, people have used these herbal therapies for hundreds of years in order to cleanse and hydrate their skin, without the use of cortisone. Non-toxic steroid free itch relief products that are formulated with herbal extracts such as Huang Bai (Phellodendron amurense) have proven to be helpful to millions of people over the course of history.
Huang Bai contains the active ingredient berberine and can be used to alleviate the symptoms of dry skin that are caused by long term dry skin. She Chuang Zi (Cnidium monnieri) and Huang Qin (Scutellaria baiclensis) are also commonly used in steroid free itch relief products to help relieve inflammatory skin conditions. Both extracts are natural ingredients that can help itching to subside, swelling and inflammation to cease, and heat to be soothed while putting outbreaks and other symptoms at bay.

Kamedis products are scientifically formulated to provide steroid free itch relief. Each Kamedis product is based on a combination of medicinal herbs from which healing resins have been extracted to purify and enrich the herb's active ingredients. Long a best-selling product in Europe and Asia, Kamedis products are now available in the USA.