Hi Marian, I do not presume to know about your job - indeed I am a far cry from a beautician! However Jan’s letter to you in today’s column alerted me to another possible reason for the puffiness of her eyes. A visit to the GP, as you suggested, may look into the possibility of Jan having thyroid disease. My own daughter was diagnosed with this quite a few years ago, when the only obvious symptom she had was puffy eyes… Cheers, Allison P”

My response…

Thank you for your feedback and indeed you are correct in relation to the puffy eyes as being a sign of thyroid disease. This is because Hypothyroidism leads to increases in capillary permeability and slowing of lymphatic drainage causing a swelling of the tissues or edema. As with your daughter it was seen under the thin skin of the eyes. As thyroid hormones affect every cell in the body a deficiency will usually result in a large number of signs and symptoms. Depression, weakness and fatigue are usually the first symptoms but often they get played down only to be explained away by other situations that may be happening in the persons life at the time. So at times it can be a while before a person will go to their GP or seeks help and answers.

As I am a natural health practitioner my knowledge is both from a scientific base, (Medical) as well as a natural health base, (Naturopathy). I think that your point is important about presuming about someone’s health and I have always lead with the belief to not presume and always ask questions. When you are treating a client if there is evidence of a medical condition or you feel that the client is just not responding to their treatment as you would expect, it should always be suggested that they have a health review. As Natural Health Practitioner I offer this service to my clients and this allows problems solving on a health and medical focus rather than skin and connective tissue focus.

About The Author

Marian Rubock owns and operates the LSM Wellness Clinic, a Natural Health Clinic in South Fremantle, Western Australia. As a Naturopath, Medical Practitioner and Nurse, Marian and her team are committed to help others reach their wellness and health goals through natural health solutions. Visit www.LSMClinic.com.au

Lanolin is also known to  irritate sensitive skin.In Acne prone or pimple prone skin tend there is an abnormal or impaired acid mantle present with a compromise in the immune cells of the skin called the Langerhan cells, the general condition of the skin is inflammatory or easily irritated.

Therefore due to the nature of the lanolin being an emollient and possible irritant and then placing it on sensitive immune compromised skin may not always end in a positive outcome for the owner. Therefore it may be better to avoid these products.

On the other hand products that support normal acid mantel, ie. they have a Ph of 5.5 and promote health skin by breaking the bacteria cycle are great.

A great recipe that I have found that assists when used regularly for Acne skin is: 3 drops of Chamomile, 8 drops of lavender, 5 drops of Palmarosa & 4 drops of Tea Tree Oil in a 50mls base. Apply to clean skin morning and night and ensure to feed your skin through good nutrition and plenty of well filtered water.  Return to your doctor or skin specialist with any queries or concerns if your skin is not improving.

About The Author

Marian Rubock owns and operates the LSM Wellness Clinic, a Natural Health Clinic in South Fremantle, Western Australia. As a Naturopath, Medical Practitioner and Nurse, Marian and her team are committed to help others reach their wellness and health goals through natural health solutions. Visit www.LSMClinic.com.au

When this happens the normal flora of the skin changes and it looses it’s hydration thus the skin starts to become brittle and eventually cracks. Also you may need to look at your footwear. Are you wearing footwear that is open? If so I would recommend that you choose more closed in shoes initially until the cracks heel so that you can avoid any possible infections or other complications and maybe use flat soles for a while or smaller heels if there is evidence of circulatory compromise, by this I mean are your legs swollen or is there evidence of a sock mark at the end of the day?

Both Zinc and Essential Fatty acids are important nutritional support for skin renewal and hydration so you may want to supplement whilst your skin is cracked but also do consider adding foods high in Zinc and Essential fatty acids as well.

To treat the condition externally, exfoliating the dry skin that is there with a foot scrub. Any oil, such as emu oil is good together with coarsely ground salt or sugar, make into a paste, and rub around the heels. Do this only at night and where possible wear light socks to bed to keep the moist in. You might like to add a few drops of patchouli, sandalwood or Myrrh to your foot bath before you exfoliate to get a better result, ( remember to use a dispersing medium, e.g. a teaspoon of shampoo will do the trick).

Look after your feet, avoid wearing too restricting clothing and footwear. Where possible always put your feet up at the end of the day. Ensure that your daily water intake is around the 1.25 – 2.5 litre mark and eat mostly good quality foods to ensure that you are supporting the largest organ in your body… your skin.

About The Author

Marian Rubock owns and operates the LSM Wellness Clinic, a Natural Health Clinic in South Fremantle, Western Australia. As a Naturopath, Medical Practitioner and Nurse, Marian and her team are committed to help others reach their wellness and health goals through natural health solutions. Visit www.LSMClinic.com.au

When you add Skin friendly vitamins such as Folic Acid, Essential Fatty Acids( DHA/EPA),and Zinc to your diet you are sure to improve your complexion.

Sources of Folic Acid are; Eggs, green leafy vegetables, beans, organ meats
Sources of Essential Fatty Acids are Nut and seed oils such as sunflower oil, tuna, salmon sardines, cod
Sources of Zinc are beef, egg yolks, cashews, liver, milk, lamb, oysters, pumpkin seed and wholegrains

Including these in your diet as well as getting a good uninterrupted 8 hours sleep per night, minimizing your alcohol and ensuring that you drink 1.25 – 2.5 litres per day of good quality filtered water will ensure that you have a great complexion.

Now if you wanted to supplement to promotes skin health with the information that you now have you know that the best supplements are those with Folic Acid, Zinc and Essential Fatty acid.

Remember to feed your skin with a good quality vitamin A product and protect it from the harmful rays of the sun with a sun block that you use under your makeup every day.

About The Author

Marian Rubock owns and operates the LSM Wellness Clinic, a Natural Health Clinic in South Fremantle, Western Australia. As a Naturopath, Medical Practitioner and Nurse, Marian and her team are committed to help others reach their wellness and health goals through natural health solutions. Visit www.LSMClinic.com.au

As a Naturopath focusing on natural health solutions, my team and I are committed to helping you achieve your wellness and health goals. You can experience the latest technologies and treatments to help you achieve optimum health.

Our services include Endermologie, Kinesiology, Cellular Health Analysis, Cosmenique Non Surgical Facelift and many others.

About The Author

Marian Rubock owns and operates the LSM Wellness Clinic, a Natural Health Clinic in South Fremantle, Western Australia. As a Naturopath, Medical Practitioner and Nurse, Marian and her team are committed to help others reach their wellness and health goals through natural health solutions. Visit www.LSMClinic.com.au

Tour our website and see for yourself what many of our clients have been able to achieve.