Sores in the Corners of the Mouth

The last few winters have brought me a new problem: the corners of my mouth dry out and crack open. It’s painful, it looks ugly and makes me self-conscious, and I’m having a hard time healing it. If I open my mouth too wide (like for a yawn), anything that has healed cracks open again. It’s very frustrating! You know what that means: time to do some research and write an article. There are a few names for this sort of problem. According to Columbia University’s Go Ask Alice health site, this is known as angular cheilitis, angular stomatitis, or … Continue reading

Reading Beauty Labels: Petrolatum

You may run across petrolatum as an ingredient in some of your favorite skin care products. Or, you may be familiar with petroleum jelly — a staple in many medicine cabinets. Moisturizers in beauty products fall into two categories: humectants (which draw moisture out of the air and into the skin) and occlusives. Occlusives trap water in the skin and prevent it from evaporating. Petrolatum is most definitely an occlusive, reducing water loss from the skin by as much as ninety-eight percent in laboratory tests! Other studies have pointed out that petrolatum can help fill in spaces between skin cells … Continue reading

Going to Recycling Extremes

Mary Ann and I have preached about recycling items such as paper, plastic, and glass but that is just the tip of the iceberg. I found an article at The Daily Green that takes recycling one step further. Quite a few of the items mentioned for recycling were quite personal. For example, there is now a non-profit organization in Japan that is specializing in recycling dentures. Now before you go gagging, note that the Japan Denture Recycle Association recycles the metals that are found in dentures. The organization has recycled 30,000 dentures and made about a quarter of a million … Continue reading

Is Your Toddler Nutritionally Deficient?

Trying to get a toddler to eat is sometimes like…well, I can’t even compare it. There are no words. As a result, we parents seem to always worry about our little ones getting enough to eat. Conventional wisdom tells us to just relax, continue to offer new foods and allow our toddlers to eat when they are hungry. But is there ever a danger of our toddlers becoming nutritionally deficient? While it isn’t likely that your toddler is nutritionally deficient, it is a good idea to know the signs, just to be safe. First of all, if you are all … Continue reading