The Complete Herbal Guide: A Natural Approach to Healing the Body - Heal Your Body Naturally and Maintain Optimal Health Using Alternative Medicine, Herbals, Vitamins, Fruits and Vegetables (94 page)

If the irritation is allergic conjunctivitis, your doctor may prescribe one of many different types of eye drops.
These may include:

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Antihistamines

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Decongestants

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Mast cell stabilizers

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Steroids

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Anti-inflammatory drops.

Prevention

Practicing good hygiene is the best way to control the spread of pink eye. Once the infection has been diagnosed, follow these steps:

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Don't touch your eyes with your hands.

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Wash your hands well.

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Wash your hands regularly.

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Change your towel and washcloth daily

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Don't share your towels with others.

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Change your pillowcase regularly.

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Get rid of eye cosmetics, especially mascara.

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Don't use anyone else's eye make-up or personal eye-care items.

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Follow your eye doctor's advice on proper contact lens care.

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A sty (hordeolum) is a painful red lump on the edge or inside of your eyelid that may look like a boil or a pimple. Typically a sty is filled with pus. As it swells in size, the sty may make it hard for you to see well because you can't open your eye completely.

More than one sty can occur at a time, causing the whole eye to swell.  This condition is called blepharitis. Most sties disappear in a few days.

Symptoms

Eventually most sties fill with pus and then break. The release of pus helps the pain of the sty or sties go away. Usually after the pus comes out then you will notice that the sty then will begin to disappear. But before this happens, a sty typically exhibits the following symptoms:

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A red lump similar to a boil or a pimple

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Swelling on your eyelid

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Light sensitivity

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Your eye will feel scratchy 

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Tearing

Causes

The cause of a sty is a bacterial infection, usually staphylococcus. The bacterial infection develops near the root (follicle) of an eyelash. You may have more than one sty at a time or several in sequence.

Diagnosis

If the symptoms of a sty continue or if you've had several infections, your doctor may want to rule out other possible causes. Some conditions exist that are similar to a sty, but require different treatment.

For
instance, a chalazion is a blockage in one of the small glands in the eyelid.  This can produce a swelling similar to that of a sty.

If your doctor confirms you have a sty, he or she can prescribe treatment or recommend ways to relieve your pain or discomfort. If a sty is ruled out, your doctor may refer you to an ophthalmologist for further tests and treatment. An ophthalmologist is a medical doctor who can provide complete eye and vision care.

Treatment

If your doctor confirms that you have a sty, he or she may prescribe a topical antibiotic cream to apply to your eyelid. To treat a pus-filled sty that won't burst on its own, your doctor or ophthalmologist may choose to cut and drain the sty to relieve pain and pressure. Usually you will not need oral antibiotics unless you have an infection of your eyelid.

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Motion sickness occurs when the body is sensitive to changes of movement in different directions or under conditions where visual contact with the actual outside perspective is lost. The balance center of the inner ear then sends information to the brain that conflicts with the visual clues of actually standing still in the inside cabin of a ship or airplane.

Symptoms

• Dizziness
  
• Fatigue
  
• Nausea, which may progress to vomiting
  

From one third to one half of airline passengers will experience some degree of motion sickness when encountering heavy turbulence.

Causes

It has been found that fear or anxiety can cause these symptoms. Some individuals seem to be naturally prone to motion sickness since childhood. Any type of transportation can cause motion sickness. It can strike suddenly, progressing from a feeling of restlessness to a cold sweat, dizziness and then vomiting. Motion sickness may quiet down as soon as the motion stops. The more you travel, the more easily you'll adjust to being in motion.

Prevention

You may escape motion sickness by planning ahead. If
you are traveling, reserve seats where motion is felt least:

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By ship,
request a cabin in the forward or middle of the ship, or on the upper deck.

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By plane,
ask for a seat over the front edge of a wing. Once aboard, direct the air vent to your face.

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By train,
take a seat near the front and next to a window. Face forward.

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By automobile,
drive or sit in the front passenger's seat.

If you're vulnerable to motion sickness:

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Focus on the horizon
or on a distant, stationary object. Don't read.

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Keep your head still,
resting against a seat back.

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Don't smoke

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Do not sit near smokers.

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Avoid spicy foods

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Avoid alcohol.

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Do not overeat.

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Take an over-the-counter antihistamine
such as: meclizine (Antivert, Bonine) or one containing dimenhydrinate (Dramamine) before you feel sick. Expect drowsiness as a side effect.

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Consider scopolamine
(Transderm Scop), available in a prescription adhesive patch. Several hours before you plan to travel, apply the patch behind your ear for 72-hour protection. Talk to your doctor before using the medication if you have health problems, such as asthma, glaucoma or urine retention.

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Eat dry crackers

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Drink a carbonated beverage to help settle your stomach if you become ill

Treatment

The over-the-counter medications, such as Dramamine or Bonine can work well for short trips or when symptoms occurr from time to time. For longer trips, a prescription medication called Transderm-Scop comes in the form of a patch can be worn behind the ear for up to three days at a time. Side effects of these medications usually consist of sedation and dry mouth and they should not be taken by people who have glaucoma or urinary obstruction. Recent studies have shown that ginger root may be as effective as the other drug treatments but is associated with fewer side effects.

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Infertility is when you and your partner have tried for repeatedly to have a child, but despite sexual intercourse without birth control, you've been unable to conceive a child.

If you've been trying to conceive for more than a year, there's a good chance that something may be causing you to not conceive. Infertility, also known as sub fertility, is the inability to conceive a child within one year. Infertility may be due to a single cause in either you or your partner, or a combination of factors that may prevent a pregnancy from occurring or staying full-term.

Infertility differs from sterility. Being sterile means you're unable to conceive a child. With sterility, you or your partner has a physical problem that precludes the ability to conceive. A diagnosis of infertility simply means that becoming pregnant may be a challenge rather than a feeling of hopelessness.

Symptoms

Most men with fertility problems have no signs or symptoms. Some men with hormonal problems may note a change in their voice or pattern of hair growth, enlargement of their breasts, or difficulty with sexual function. Infertility in women may be signaled by irregular menstrual periods or associated with conditions that cause pain during menstruation or intercourse.

Causes

The human reproductive process is complex. To accomplish a pregnancy, the intricate processes of ovulation and fertilization need to work just right. For many couples attempting pregnancy, something goes wrong in one or both of these complex processes and causes infertility. Because of the intricate series of events required to begin a pregnancy, many factors may cause a delay in starting your family.

The cause or causes of infertility can involve one or both partners. For many couples having problems with fertility, the male partner is either the sole or a contributing cause. Problems with female fertility are common as well, but present less often than those in the male partner. In both men and women, multiple factors can account for difficulty with fertility. Sometimes the problem isn't really one of infertility, but a more general sexual problem such as erectile dysfunction. Other times, the problem may involve an abnormality in the structure of the reproductive hormones or organs. Certain infections and diseases also can affect fertility.

Causes of male infertility

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Impaired shape and movement of sperm.
Sperm must be properly shaped and able to move rapidly and accurately toward the egg for fertilization to occur. If the shape and structure (morphology) of the sperm are abnormal or the movement (motility) is impaired, sperm may not be able to reach the egg.

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Absent sperm production in testicles.
Complete failure of the testicles to produce sperm is rare, affecting very few infertile men.

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Low sperm concentration.
A normal sperm concentration is greater than or equal to 20 million sperm per milliliter of semen. A count of 10 million or fewer sperm per milliliter of semen indicates low sperm concentration (sub fertility). A count of 40 million sperm or higher per milliliter of semen indicates increased fertility.

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Varicocele.
A varicocele is a varicose vein in the scrotum that may prevent normal cooling of the testicle and raise testicular temperature, preventing sperm from surviving.

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Undescended testicle (cryptorchidism).
This occurs when one or both testicles fail to descend from the abdomen into the scrotum during fetal development. Undescended testicles can cause mild to severely impaired sperm production. Because the testicles are exposed to the higher internal body temperature compared to the temperature in the scrotum, sperm production may be affected.

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Testosterone deficiency (male hypogonadism).
Infertility can result from disorders of the testicles themselves, or an abnormality affecting the hypothalamus or pituitary glands in the brain that produce the hormones that control the testicles.

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Klinefelter's syndrome.
In this disorder of the sex chromosomes, a man has two X chromosomes and one Y chromosome instead of one X and one Y. This causes abnormal development of the testicles, resulting in low or absent sperm production. Testosterone production also may be lower.