FitSugar

Soothe Your Scalded Tongue

FitSugar — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:00:00 PST

Cold weather means more hot chocolate, and I will admit my tongue has paid the price of my impatience. Since I can't wait for my cocoa to cool, I have been researching how to help heal a burnt tongue.

Women's Health magazine offered up this simple advice: Rinse with salt water. The saline solution of one teaspoon salt to one warm cup of water can help soothe a scalded tongue. The salt water also draws the infection to the surface of your tongue and can neutralize mouth acids, which promote harmful bacterial growth. Both of these actions help to heal the burn quickly. The only drawback to this method is you need to perform your oceanic oral rinse immediately and that can be challenging to find a salt water solution in a ski lodge. The simplest solution: Wait for your cocoa to cool.

Source

Canker Sores Are No Crack up

FitSugar — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 03:30:00 PDT

Let me just begin by clarifying that canker sores, which occur inside the mouth, are not contagious like cold sores and they have no relation to the herpes virus.

These painful little ulcers can happen anywhere on the soft tissue surfaces inside the mouth – tongue, gums and cheeks. The sores are usually red, but may have a white coating over them.

Anyone can get canker sores, but they seem most prevalent in women in their 20s and can run in families. However, the cause of canker sores remains a mystery, researchers believe they could be caused by the following things:

Faulty immune system function
Nutritional problems, such as a deficiency of vitamin B-12, zinc, folic acid or iron
A disease of the gastrointestinal tract
Food allergies
Menstrual periods

To see how to treat those painful buggers just

read more Most canker sores disappear on their own in about two weeks. For pain relief, you can try taking ibuprofen. Some people find relief by: sucking on zinc lozenges, taking supplements of the amino acid lysine, or rinsing with a sage-chamomile mouthwash. Fit's Tips: You should seek medical advice if: a fever accompanies your canker sores, the sores last longer than three weeks, the pain cannot be managed with self care measures, or they prevent you from drinking enough fluids. You can help reduce the pain also by avoiding irritants like SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate), sometime used in toothpaste, and spicy food. Source

Are Your Birth Control Pills Safe?

Shape — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:06:17 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

Last year during my annual exam, when I complained to my doctor about my terrible PMS, she was quick to pull out her pad and give me a prescription for the birth control pill Yaz. "You're going to love this," she said. "All of my patients that are on it think it's the best. It's even helped some of them lose weight!"

Less PMS and not having to worry about my weight? I was sold, even though I'd only intended to talk to her about lifestyle and/or diet modifications since my birth control needs were already taken care of. Before I stopped into the pharmacy, however, I looked up the pill online (Paging Dr. Google!). The results were anything but the lovefest I'd been promised. In fact, the information I found scared me so badly that I never filled that prescription.

Am I Normal? Your Top Six Sex Questions Answered

It quickly became evident that I wasn't the only woman concerned when Yaz and it's sister pill Yazmin, two of the most popular pills on the market, came up for review by the FDA after reports that the manufacturer may have hid and minimized critical health risks. But is the hysteria warranted?

Find out how safe birth control pills are after the break!

Kristin Chenoweth on That Amazing Smile, Her Skin Care Secrets, and More

Miriam Lacey — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:01:27 PST

Kristin Chenoweth is more than just a triple threat: the lady is a dynamo. She swings from Broadway to television to album-making without missing a beat, and she always looks amazing. Kristin recently became Listerine's newest spokes-smile, so we talked to her about her famous pearly whites, how she keeps her skin looking so great, and what products from the film set she uses at home. To see what she had to say, just keep reading.

Oral Sex Linked to Throat Cancer

Annie Scudder — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:10:28 PDT

Oral sex might be the new smoking. New research has found that oral sex may cause more cases of throat cancer in men than smoking thanks to HPV transmissions. In 2004, HPV caused 2.6 cases of throat cancer per 100,000 people, compared to .8 cases per 100,000 people in 1998. At this rate, by 2020 HPV will result in more throat cancer in both men and women than cervical cancer.

What's making the rate go up? A higher rate of going down. Cancer researchers told the New York Times that younger people are having more oral sex because they think it's safer than intercourse. In addition to increasing awareness about the risks associated with oral sex, there may be another solution already available.

The HPV vaccines currently recommended for girls could probably help prevent throat cancer when given to boys. Vaccine companies would have to test the drugs for that purpose specifically, and then health professionals would have to convince parents to vaccinate their boys against HPV. But maybe that would be easier than it's been to vaccinate girls against a potentially deadly, yet common STD, since society doesn't have the same hang-ups with male sexuality.

All of Your Most Common Acne Questions - Answered!

Jaime Richards — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 12:07:11 PDT

While 80 percent of teenagers will experience acne at some point or another, it's not uncommon for the condition to afflict women well into adulthood. "The good news is that we have really great treatments, and nobody has to suffer with it," says Dr. Linda Stein Gold, director of dermatology clinical research at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

That's why I asked Dr. Stein Gold some of the more pressing acne questions: all the things you want to talk to your dermatologist while you're visiting his office, but either don't have the time to fit in or simply forget to inquire about. So to see Dr. Stein Gold's top acne advice, just keep reading.

Did Your Birth Control Pill Get Recalled?

Annie Scudder — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 11:10:50 PDT

Pharmaceutical company Qualitest Pharmaceuticals has slacked on the quality part of its name, causing a recall of birth control pills manufactured at its factory. Last week, the producer of generic drugs admitted that a packaging mix-up put pills in the wrong places. The company said it didn't cause any immediate health danger, unless you count the risk of unintended pregnancy. The recall notice read, "As a result of this packaging error, the daily regimen for these oral contraceptives may be incorrect and could leave women without adequate contraception." Might there be a spike in births nine months from now?

The list of recalled birth control pills includes:

Cyclafem 7/7/7
Cyclafem 1/35
Emoquette
Gildess FE 1.5/30
Gildess FE 1/20
Orsythia
Previfem
Tri-Previfem

Birth Control Is Now Covered: Why You Could Save Up to $18,000

LearnVest — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:15:14 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

As we learned from our article on the fate of Planned Parenthood, women’s health issues spark intensely opinionated debates.

While the government’s stance on Planned Parenthood funding is still up in the air, a definitive decision has been made regarding birth control: The Obama administration released new standards last week requiring health insurance plans to cover all FDA-approved forms of contraception, with no co-pay required.

The idea is to take a preventive approach to health problems rather than dealing with them after the fact. In addition to birth control, these other preventive services will now be provided by insurance companies free of charge: well-woman visits, HPV testing for women 30 and older, STI counseling, screening for gestational diabetes, breastfeeding support and supplies, and domestic violence screening and counseling.

Why Is This Even Necessary?

As it turns out, getting all of the recommended preventive health measures for women can be pretty pricey - even if you have health insurance that shares the cost. According to the website Good, the average American woman spends 30 years trying to prevent pregnancy. Assuming an average co-pay between $15 and $50, a woman should expect to pay between $5,400 and $18,000 for birth control in her lifetime - and that’s with health insurance.

It’s easy to say that using oral contraception or getting an IUD (also expensive) is a personal decision that women make, and they should live with the ramifications. But in reality, contraception - or the lack thereof - is a national matter because of the cost of unplanned pregnancies.

Read on for more about free birth control.

Oral Sex and Throat Cancer: The Real Risk

Colleen Barrett — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 12:45:18 PST

Oh, HPV. There are 130 types of you, but a few spiteful strains won't quit. While various lead to genital warts, only a few like HPV-16 and 18 can cause cervical cancer. Now researchers say HPV-16, transmitted through oral sex, can cause oral cancer. So HPV-16 is a monster, worse than 18, but there are still plenty of strains of HPV that don't cause cervical or oral cancer.

I'm not saying don't be safe, though 81 percent of you said you don't use condoms for oral sex. But since public health officials aren't hyperspecific about actual risk or transmission, it's easy to say "well, we're all screwed" or be completely paralyzed into total fear of all sex (I've seen it).

Here are the facts: about 64 percent of oropharynx cancers (the middle part of the throat) in the US are caused by one HPV strain (HPV-16) not by all HPV. The risk of oropharnyx cancer rises with the number of people someone's performed oral sex on, as is true for any other cancer-causing STD. The real takeaway here is that HPV-16 can cause not just cervical cancer but also oral, so we really should be talking about specific strains and not pinning it all on the very vague and common HPV.

Researchers say it's too soon to tell if the current HPV vaccine will prevent against oral cancer, but since it's targeting the same HPV strain many believe it will. This news shouldn't be used to terrify kids. Instead it should serve as a reminder that the HPV vaccine - one of the many services Planned Parenthood provides besides abortion - is important, and that while oral cancer is not rampant, oral sex does come with risk.

DrSugar Answers: HPV Positive and Sexually Active

DrSugar — Tue, 03 May 2011 13:18:15 PDT

DrSugar is in the house! This week she's answering a question about preventing the spread of HPV.

Dear DrSugar,
I am sooooo scared about this. Just had a cervical biopsy and I just tested positive for HPV. I am in a severe panic. I probably gave it to my current boyfriend. Can we keep passing it back and forth to each other? I do not know what to do. So if I have HPV, will definitely get warts or not? Gosh I am paranoid; help me.
Worry Wart

First of all, I'm so glad you asked this question, since human papillomavirus (HPV) is so common. This question is the perfect springboard to discuss HPV and answer your questions specifically. To learn more about HPV, keep reading!