Anal Fissure and it’s Treatment

Fissure is a condition characterized by a longitudinal crack or slit (ulcer) in the skin of anus. If the skin lining of the lower end of the anus gets scratched, it may break up into a fissure.

The posterior midline of the anus is the most common location for fissure due to low supply of blood in this area. Rarely, it can be present on the other areas, such as sides of the anus rather than posterior midline position. Such fissure may be the manifestation of underlying disease e.g. Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis etc.

CAUSES OF FISSURE

Natural Remedies of Fissure

• Diet - As constipation is the main cause of fissure. Take high-fiber diet and extra fluids to prevent constipation. This means diet should include more fruits, vegetables, cereals, etc. and drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Reducing intake of coffee and alcohol will also improve condition.
  
• To relieve pain Apply a warm towel to the area. Warm baths or Sitz baths also relieve pain. Use 8 inches of warm water in the bathtub, 2 or 3 times a day for 5-10 minutes. Use only luke-warm water on this area.
  
• Physical activity - No restrictions are necessary. In fact, physical activity reduces the likelihood of constipation.
  
• To prevent infection, gently clean the anal area with soap and water after each bowel movement. Do not put any creams or ointments, cornstarch, talcum or other powder, which hazel, or anything else on or into the anus.
  
• Develop regular bowel habit.
  
• Do not suppress desire of passing stools as this result in hard and large stools, which usually produces injury to the anus.
  
• Avoid straining at stools.
  
• Avoid anal intercourse.
  
• Use stool softeners or laxatives to have pain-free bowel movements. 
  

Nonsurgical treatments of Fissure

• Medicated creams or suppositories. Your doctor may prescribe a rectal corticosteroid (Anusol, others) or recommend an over-the-counter cream or ointment containing hydrocortisone (Cortaid, Preparation H) to help reduce inflammation and ease discomfort.
  
• Other nonsurgical therapies. Some doctors recommend applying nitroglycerine ointment to the anus, which widens blood vessels and increases blood flow to the tear, promoting healing. This therapy also helps reduce pressure in the anal sphincter, which eases the spasm and decreases pain, both of which promote healing. The dose of nitroglycerine is small to avoid dangerous side effects. Wash your hands thoroughly after applying the ointment to reduce the amount on your skin even further.
  
• Side effects such as headaches, low blood pressure and dizziness may occur. Your doctor may advise you to remain seated or lying down and to avoid exercise immediately after applying nitroglycerin to minimize these side effects. Men shouldn't use nitroglycerine within 24 hours of taking erectile dysfunction medications such as sildenafil (Viagra), tadalafil (Cialis) and vardenafil (Levitra) because of the possibility of significantly lowered blood pressure.
  
• Another fairly new treatment involves injecting a small dose of botulinum toxin type A (Botox) into the internal anal sphincter. Botox paralyzes the muscle for up to three months, causing the spasm to relax. A possible side effect is temporary, mild leakage of gas or stool (anal incontinence).
  
• Blood pressure medications nifedipine (Adalat) and diltiazem (Cardizem), taken orally or ground into a gel and applied to the tear, also have shown some promise.
  
• Vitamin B complex of about 100 mg. each, except for Biotin which can be about 5-10 mg. and B12 which can be about 100 mcg. It can be taken only once or twice a day. The urine will yellow, coming mostly from the vitamin B2 the riboflavin, so therefore you need not worry about that. Possibly a vitamin B5 deficiency is one of the cause, so taking or buying a separate panthotenic acid, of 500-1000 mg per day should also help, it helps the skin to heal.
  
• Often comfrey pastse applied to external to fissue should help the healing. But on the other hand, taking plenty of aloe vera, gel, oil and leaves internally is quite helpful, especially the oil. Both comfrey and the aloe vera have allantoin which should speed up healing.
  
• Take plenty of vitamin C, in the form of sodium ascorbate if possible, plus some zinc acetate and magnesium citrate also.
  
• To help with circulation helpful to healing, take 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda plus 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid to also alkalize the blood and help with the healing. This is to be taken on empty stomach, once in morning and once before sleeping.  
  
• Vitamin B complex should solve most of your chronic fissure problems, but taking evening primrose oil, flaxseed oil, fish oil should help with the tiny fissure cracks also, by balancing your omega 3 and omega 6.
  

Complicated Fissure

The fissure can be considered as complicated in the following situations:

• Not responding to conservative treatment.
  
• Association with anal polyp.
  
• Presence of an external skin tag (sentinel pile).
  
• Presence of hemorrhoids or a fistula underneath.
  
• Thick edges of fissure.
  
• Exposure of the muscle fibers at the floor of the fissure.
  
• Infection at the base of fissure.
  

It has been shown that fissure complicated by any of these facts will not heal spontaneously and will not respond to conservative therapy.

Horses do not get chronic fissures because they eat hay, which are rich in silicon. This helps build skin and therefore taking oatmeal daily should also help.

Different Type of Fissures in wikipedia

More on Anal Fissure in Wikipedia

Balloon Sinuplasty: Non Surgical Cure for Sinusitis

Suffering from sinusitis then here is Good news. Doctors at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) in Delhi, India reveal the introduction of a novel non-surgical procedure to sure acute to chronic sinusitis called as Balloon sinuplasty.
According to Dr Shalabh Sharma, senior consultant, ENT, SGRH. “The usual treatment procedure of treating acute or chronic sinusitis is to open the nasal tract in order to reach the blockage and then remove the mucus. It is a painful procedure, and in the course of reaching the spot, some bones may break, leading to a longer recovery time,”
With balloon sinuplasty, these blockages can be cleared without surgery and the patient can go home the same day.

Understanding Balloon Sinuplasty:

In balloon sinuplasty, a wire catheter is introduced through the nostril and guided to the blockage. The catheter has a balloon in the front. “Once we reach the blockage site, we inflate the balloon for a short duration. And once the blockage is cleared, we deflate it and pull out the catheter. One five balloon to six blockage sites,” said Dr Howard Levine, director, Nasal and Sinus Centre, Cleveland, US and president of American Society of Rhinology.

More on technology at wikipedia

Migraine and Natural Cure for Migraine

Migraine is a neurological disorder, which is mostly confused with headache by people who don’t have correct knowledge about it. Headache can be cured very easily by some mild dose of drug but migraine patients need special care and treatment.

When a person is suffering from migraine, he is in such a condition where he can not perform regular activities for a certain period.

They become very much sensitive to light, sound and smell stimuli. Other common symptoms seen are nausea, vomiting and blurred vision. 

Migraine can last from a few hours to a week time.

Symptoms

• Intense throbbing headache, often on one side of the head only.
  
• Nausea and/or vomiting and/or diarrhoea.
  
• Increased sensitivity to light (photophobia)
  
• Increased sensitivity to sounds (phonophobia)
  
• Increased sensitivity to smells (osmophobia)                                                   
  

Causes

• Stress (or sometimes the relief of stress)
  
• Lack of food or infrequent meals.
  
• Certain foods including products containing monosodium glutamate, caffeine, tyramine or alcohol.
  
• Overtiredness (physical or mental).
  
• Changing sleep patterns (e.g. weekend lie ins, sleeplessness or shift work).
  
• Hormonal factors (e.g. monthly periods, the contraceptive pill, HRT or the menopause).
  
• Extreme emotions (e.g. anger, grief etc.).
  
• Physical activity.
  
• Environmental factors (e.g. loud noise, bright or flickering lights, strong perfumes, hot stuffy atmosphere, VDUs etc.).
  
• Climatic conditions (e.g. strong winds, extreme heat or cold).
  

Natural Cure for Migraine:

  -- Have a bath or shower.

 -- Lie down to rest in a dark room.

 -- Avoid bright or flashing light.

 -- Put something cold on the back of your neck, such as a cold, wet cloth; or alternate hot and cold cloths where the pain is.

 -- Put a cold compress on your forehead and your feet in a container of warm water.

 -- Have a drink of water or natural juice, especially tomato juice.

 -- Have some food, or a nutritious drink, if you haven't eaten for a while.

 -- Massage your own face, head, neck and shoulders, or get someone else to do those and your back.  Relax your muscles. 

 -- Press on two pressure points at the back of the neck.  These points are about two inches apart, just below the base of the skull.  Press for a minute or two. This releases endorphins that help against pain.

 -- Massage or press on the fleshy area between thumb and forefinger.

 -- Gently lean the head to left or right to stretch the neck muscles. Massage and relax any tense muscles.

 -- Avoid sources of stress.  Cancel activities so there's less to worry about.

 -- Avoid exercise during a headache if it makes throbbing pain in the head and neck worse.  On the other hand, generally exercise improves health, and it may help you relax during a headache.

 -- Take some niacin (a form of vitamin B3).  Taking enough niacin to cause a flush (blood rushing to the skin) can provide relief from headache pain, but this much niacin can also have side effects (flush, nausea, heartburn,liver damage, etc.) Niacinamide doesn't have such bad side effects, but isn't as much use against migraines, either. Smaller, safer amounts of niacin are also helpful. Niacin can trigger a migraine, though.

 -- Take some vitamin C, vitamin B6, choline, tryptophan and niacin and/or magnesium.

Videos

• How to cure Migraine using Pressure Points
• Another Cure for Migraine

Indian offers hope of migraine cure

A new surgical procedure developed by a US-based Indian medical researcher could result in a possible new treatment for migraine headaches, one of the most painful neurological conditions known to mankind, and one that affect hundreds of millions around the world.

Dr Sandeep Amin, an ansthesiologist at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Centre, has pioneered the use of what he calls “occipital nerve stimulation”, a surgical procedure in which an implanted neurostimulator delivers electrical impulses to nerves under the skin at the base of the head at the back of the neck. 

This may help migraine sufferers who do not respond to other available therapies, or who cannot tolerate the side effects of existing medications.

Says Amin: “Occipital nerve stimulation has the potential to provide relief to the large population of migraine sufferers who currently have no other medical treatments available to them that bring them relief.

If effective, the implantable neurostimulator would provide a new treatment option to free these patients from their long-standing headache pain.” 

The study is being called PRISM or Precision Implantable Stimulator for Migraine, and will involve 150 patients in a nationwide study led by Amin to be conducted at 15 research sites across the US.

“The purpose of the nationwide study is to evaluate the procedure’s safety and efficacy,” says Amin, who surgically implants the FDA-approved device in the two-visit operation.

Estimates by various agencies in the US suggest that the economic impact of migraine can be immense.

In the last such study conducted in 1994, the medical cost of migraine was calculated at over $1 billion while annual loss of productivity was estimated in the region of $13-17 billion. And these figures are just for US-based sufferers.

Varicose Veins

What is Varicose Veins?

When the blood moves back from the organs to the heart, it is carried by a network of vessels called veins. Veins are thin-walled vessels compared to the arteries (vessels that take blood from the heart to the various organs). Veins contain one-way valves every few inches to prevent the blood flowing back due to gravity. It is when these valves become weak that the blood starts pooling in the veins. Veins then become dilated (widened) and twisted, and are called varicose. Any vein may become varicose, but the veins most commonly affected are those in the legs and feet. Mainly in legs one or more of the valves fails to close properly, therefore the veins conduct blood back into the leg instead of up to the heart. As blood accumulates, abnormal pressures dilate the superficial vein system, causing the veins to bulge and become visible.

The symptoms

Symptoms commonly found in those suffering from varicose veins are

• Pain
• Achiness
• Heaviness
• Burning
• Throbbing
• Muscle cramping
  
• Swelling in lower legs

Veins appear as enlarged, snake-like, blue veins and are most easily seen under the skin while standing. Itching may be present around the enlarged veins. Skin ulcers at ankle, whenever present, indicate a sever form of varicose veins.

Treatment of Varicose Veins

• Sclerotherapy
• Varicose Vein Treatment - Advanced Trivex Procedure
• Trivex System - Advance Varicose Vein Treatment
• Laser for varicose Vein Treatment
• Surgery for Varicose Vein

Homeopathic Treatment

• Homoeopathic medicines Calcarea flour and Acid flour stand at the top of the table for treating varicose veins.
• Calcarea flour not only clears the symptoms but also eradicates the tendency for developing varicose veins.
• Calcarea Iodatum works extremely well for ulcers accompanying varicose veins.
• Hamemelis and Vipera are indicated when there is acute inflammation in the veins often called phlebitis.

Varicose Veins During Pregnancy:

It is common for women to develop varicose veins during their pregnancy. The main cause of this is due to the hormone changes in the womans body. There are increased levels of progesterone which cause the blood vessels to relax. This problem can be increased due to the fact that the enlarged womb may pressure the major veins that pass through the pelvis which results on pressure in the veins of the legs. Varicose veins during pregnancy are more likely to affect women who have an inherited tendency of varicose veins in their family.

Its important to note that varicose veins may disapear after pregnancy however after each subsequent pregnancy varicose veins are more likely to appear and become more visible. For women who had varicose veins in previous pregnancies its important you take precautions if you become pregnant again.

External Links for More details:

• Varicose Veins in Wikipedia
• Varicose Veins in Answers.com
• For Detail on Treatment Visit Here

Banana: Natural Cure for many diseases

Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.
Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.
Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a 'cooling' fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be re balanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, 'A banana a day keeps the doctor away!'