Tag: Medical Practices

The Costs of Microdermabrasion

The cost of microdermabrasion can be categorized under three general levels: at-home, health spas and salons, and medical practices. Each category also varies in price. Lets explore the at-home cost of microdermabrasion first.

The cost of microdermabrasion home systems is the cheapest of the three levels.
However, home systems vary widely in price and quality. For example, many home systems do not provide the hand-held re-surfacing tool, but only the micro-crystal cream and usually a replenishing lotion.

This is more like traditional exfoliating regimens, but with the added bonus of the micro-crystal technology. You can find these systems for $15 to $55. Many prefer the added revitalizing power of a hand-held re-surfacing wand.

Other home systems provide the micro-crystal creams, foam applicators, and a hand-held resurfacing wand.

The advantage to this all-inclusive home system is that the resurfacing wand allows you to more deeply cleanse and polish pores while giving your circulation a healthy boost. The massage action of the wand actually speeds the process of cellular generation, leaving your skin feeling brand new, ranging in price from $40 to $150.

Spas and salons utilize state of the art microdermabrasion systems that use a closed-loop vacuum system.

Like home systems, professional microdermabrasion treatments also rely on the polishing effects that micro-crystal creams perform on the skins surface. Additionally, the re-surfacing device simultaneously vacuums and sweeps the debris clear, increasing tissue stimulation. Professional systems pack more power and durability due to repeated use and varied clientele needs, requiring training and cost several thousands of dollars. Treatments usually cost around $100 to $140.

The cost of microdermabrasion in a medical setting is usually more expensive because of the expertise of a dermatologist or cosmetic surgeon, though RNs and other medical technicians also provide this treatment.

Medical microdermabrasion treatments are often provided as a compliment to other more invasive procedures. Medical microdermabrasion systems are the most expensive, being the most specialized, costing up to $25,000. Treatment prices range from $100 to $200, and are often offset by combining other services.

So whether in the comfort of your own home, at a health spa, or under the supervision of a medical professional, microdermabrasion technology empowers you to seriously beautify your skin at a reasonable cost, without the risks involved in laser therapy, harsh chemicals, or traditional surgery.

The History of Essential Oils

In modern times, essential oils are used in aromatherapy to aid people with their physical and emotional health. In the past, they have been used by many people all over the world and in different cultures to do just that. The history of essential oils is a long one. Thousands of years ago, the Chinese were using plants with aromatic qualities for healing. Although these plant substances were being used in the medical practices of the day, they had not yet been distilled into essential oils.

The Egyptians, and perhaps also the Persians and the people of India, were the first to make distillation machines. Oil of cedarwood distilled with such machines was used along with myrrh, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg oils to embalm the dead.

The Egyptians were concerned more with the sense of smell than with any of the other senses. They believed that it was the most important and dominant sense. They adopted the essential oils they made to their medicine, cosmetics, and fragrances.

The use of essential oils was taken up by the Greeks next. Hippocrates did an ancient form of aromatherapy. A Greek named Megalleon invented a perfume called megaleion. This substance was used in aromatherapy and as an essential oil as an anti-inflammatory and to heal wounds. A Roman, Discorides, wrote on the uses of 500 different plant substances. Distillations were also made of such substances. However, these distillations didn’t produce essential oils. Instead, they made floral-smelling waters.

Avicenna was a Persian man who refined the process by inventing a distillation machine with a coiled cooling pipe. This allowed for more effective cooling. Eventually, the focus shifted towards more emphasis on true essential oils and their uses.

Paracelcus was a doctor of the fifteenth century who began using the term “essence.” His emphasis was using essential oils for medicine. During this time, many new essential oils were being produced. Among them were juniper, rosemary, rose, and sage. During the sixteenth century, people would go to their apothecary to get essential oils for many different uses. Around this time, the advent of new essential oils flourished. In the next few centuries, essential oils changed little except in their use in perfumes.

The major chemical ingredients of essential oils were identified. Scientists became more interested in the subject of essential oils. In the twentieth century, this became a problem for those interested in the use of true essential oils.

Much of twentieth century science has been consumed with creating synthetic versions of essential oils. However, an early twentieth century Frenchman named Gattefosse became increasingly involved with the study of essential oils and their medicinal values. He was the first to use the term “aromatherapy”. Aromatherapy and the use of essential oils were not well known in English-speaking countries. Robert B. Tisserand changed all that. He wrote the first English book on the subject, and many other books and articles.

As the years go by, people are becoming more and more interested in natural ways of doing things. They want to find ways to soothe their minds and comfort their bodies without synthetic drugs. Essential oils give them a way to do it.

Homeopathy Remedies – The Case For

Many people, disillusioned and disgruntled with conventional medical practices and medicines, have begun to seek out homeopathy remedies to help them manage and treat all manner of medical conditions and diseases. However, before jumping in and opting for homeopathy it is best to have an understanding about just what homeopathy is and how it differs from conventional medicine.

Homeopathy plainly put, is using like for like to treat. That means if a patient presents with insomnia, then coffee what we traditionally consider to be one of the a reasons for insomnia, is what a homeopathic practitioner would use to treat insomnia. It should be further explained that the coffee would be prescribed in the most minute of proportions.

What homeopathy remedies are also concerned with is treating the patient and not simply the disease or the condition. This is why when someone goes to see a homeopathic practitioner for a consultation, it will take some time for a full patient history to be taken. The practitioner is interested in documenting all areas of a patient’s life from diet, to family medical history, personal medical history, mental background, allergies, exercise regime, everything! Only then can a full picture of how to treat the patient be reached.

One of the homeopathy remedies for allergies that clearly indicates the like for like principle, on which all homeopathy is based, is the use of honey. Local honey is prescribed to beat allergies because in local honey can be found the exact geographical allergens that will trigger Hay Fever, for example. In exposing the body to these local allergens via the local honey, homeopathic practitioners believe that the body’s own immune system then has a basis on which to fight local allergies. It is this same belief that underlines the use of many vaccines that conventional medicines make use of: small pox, measles etc.

Homeopathy and conventional medicine though at times operating at different ends of the spectrum, do at times make use of the same ingredients. Take acne for instance, the recognized homeopathic remedy for acne is sulfur. Sulfur is often mixed with alcohol and salicylic acid to make an anti-bacterial paste that is applied to the skin. If you look closely at the tubes and boxes of conventional medical ointments for acne, that are available from your local pharmacy, you will see that the base ingredient of these ointments is sulfur.

The other great thing to remember about homeopathy remedies is that one of the main positives is that there are no side effects with using them. That means they are perfectly safe for young children, pregnant women and they can even be used in conjunction with many conventional medication.

So, do your research and find yourself a reputable homeopathic practitioner!