Enhance Your Health
Health Tip of the Week: Underarm Health
The underarm area is one of the most sensitive areas in the body (it is the go to ticklish spot for kids trying to tickle parents!). The underarm area is also where we tend to have the most perspiration come out of our bodies when we are over heated.
The defense for sweaty, smelly armpits is underarm deodorant. We use deodorant to keep our underarms dry and block offensive odors. The problem is that all deodorants (unless they are all natural) contain chemicals to accomplish this feat. The problem with chemicals is that over time they have an ill effect on the body.
As I mentioned above, the underarm is one of the most sensitive areas in the body and the fact is that the underarm absorbs these chemicals at a much faster rate due to its sensitive nature.
On the other side of the coin, deodorants can also make you smell worse. Antiperspirants affect the bacterial balance in your armpits, which actually leads to more pungent-smelling sweat.
Study participants who used antiperspirant for a month saw a definitive increase in Actinobacteria, which are responsible for that foul-smelling armpit odor. In some participants, abstaining from antiperspirant caused the population of Actinobacteria to dwindle into nonexistence.
Research has found higher concentrations of parabens in the breast and axillary area where antiperspirants are usually applied, suggesting they may contribute to the development of breast cancer. Aluminum chloride—the active ingredient in antiperspirants—has been found to act similarly to the way oncogenes work to provide molecular transformations in cancer cells.
Once I read these studies a few years ago, I switched to an all-natural deodorant. One that is aluminum free. This is the way to go.
The goal in life is avoid as many chemical toxins as possible. One of the best things you can do is switch your deodorant to an all-natural brand.
Good News: It took me years, but I found a deodorant that I have been using regularly that has long lasting protection from sweaty, smelly armpits. I use Jason’s Apricot All- Natural deodorant. It has been clinically tested and is contaminant free. My wife uses it and my oldest daughter does as well. I come in pretty close contact to my patients and no one has complained about BO!
Thought for the Week
It’s not so much the smell that bothers me, it’s the burning of my eyes! ~ George Carlin (referring to someone’s stinkiness).
Chiropractic Thought for the Week
According to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and funded by the National Institutes of Health, medication is not the best option for treating neck pain.
After following 272 neck-pain patients for 12 weeks, those who used a chiropractor or exercise were more than twice as likely to be pain free compared to those who took medication. Specifically: 32% who received chiropractic care became pain free. 30% of those who exercised became pain free. 13% of those treated with medication became pain free.
Researchers concluded: "For participants with acute and subacute neck pain, SMT [spinal manipulation therapy] was more effective than medication in both the short and long term. However, a few instructional sessions of HEA [home exercise with advice] resulted in similar outcomes at most time points."