People’s Health

Do you know that to get clear of acne you have to eat pumpkin seeds every day? Pumpkin is irreplaceable mean in skin care, because of great content of zinc salts and vitamins E and T. It helps to increase metabolic processes. Also facial masks from pumpkin and pumpkin seeds have fine moistening and tonic effects. Today I offer some recipes of homemade facial masks from this useful vegetable.

For normal skin. Mince 200 gram pumpkin pulp and add 1 tablespoon non-fat sour cream. Mix everything and put on the face with thick layer. In 20 minutes wash the face with cool water. This mask cleans and tones skin very well.

For dry skin. Boil the piece of pumpkin and make puree. Add one grated apple, 1 tablespoon olive oil and mix everything. Put on the face and keep for 20 minutes. Then wash with warm water. This mask has moistening and emollient effect.
Grate a piece of fresh pumpkin and mix with 1 yolk and 1 tablespoon milk (for anti-aging effect change milk to vegetable oil). Put the mask on the face and neck. Wash with warm water in 15-20 minutes.

For greasy skin. Mix 2 tablespoons boiled pumpkin with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Put on the face and keep for 20 minutes. Then wash with cool water.
Mix 2 tablespoons pounded fresh pumpkin with egg-white and beat. Put on the face for 10 minutes and then wash with cool water.
Rub the face skin with a piece of fresh pumpkin some times a day to get rid of acne and pimples.

Anti-aging mask. Slice some pumpkin pulp and boil. Pound pumpkin and add a yolk, 1 teaspoon honey and mix carefully. Put the warm mask on the face and keep for 15-20 minutes. Then wash with cold water.

For all types of skin. Make puree from boiled pumpkin and add 1 tablespoon grated carrot and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Mix everything carefully and put on the face and neck for 15-20 minutes. Then wash mask with warm water.

Bleaching mask clears spots away and whitens freckles. Pound 2 tablespoons fresh cleaned pumpkin seeds adding boiled water (2 tablespoons). Then ass 2 tablespoons honey and mix carefully. Put the mask on the face, especially on the pigmental spots and freckles and keep for 30 minutes. Then wash mask with cool water. Keep the mixture in the fridge. Use this mask every day until desired result.

Moistening cream from pumpkin. Slice 150 gram of pumpkin pulp and boil in the steamer. Make a puree. Add 3 table-spoons milk and boil the mixture on the water bath until density of sour cream. Then add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, mix carefully and put into glass can. Keep this cream in the fridge and use every morning.

Get the sexual health checks you need…

Lots of lesbians, especially young queer women, think that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can’t happen to them. 

According to Australian research, almost one in ten young women who are same sex attracted have been diagnosed with an STI.

Sometimes, STIs will cause symptoms like itchiness or a discharge.  With some STIs, you get no symptoms at all.

If you’re not diagnosed and treated early, you could be at risk of complications later on. Most STIs are easily treatable.

Have check-ups, get treatment…

Have a full sexual health check up at least once a year, or whenever you notice any symptoms or changes to your genital area.

Most of the time, a sexual health check up will include:

• a blood sample to check for HIV, syphilis and immunity to hepatitis A and B,
• a urine sample to check for chlamydia and other STIs,
• a vaginal examination to check for lumps, discharges and other abnormalities as well as crabs, warts, syphilis and herpes.

Depending on your recent sexual history, a vaginal, throat and/or anal swab may also be required (a swab is like a cotton bud you would use to clean the inside of your ears).

Talk to you health care provider about the sex you have to determine exactly what tests you need.

ACON can help you…

ACON can refer you to a lesbian-friendly GP, women’s health centre or sexual health centre for a check up.

For more info, contact Siri at smay@acon.org.au

You’ve just finished making love, and you’re in that pleasant dream-like state when you go to the bathroom and discover that you are bleeding. Nothing can bring you back to reality faster than vaginal bleeding after sex. Post-coital bleeding can occur for a number of reasons, and is nothing to take lightly. Here’s a look at the top 10 causes of vaginal bleeding after sex:

1. Cervical dysplasia: Cervical dysplasia is precancerous changes of the epithelial cells that line the cervix. Risk increases with multiple sexual partners, sex before age 18, childbirth before age 16, or a past history of STDs. Treatment is usually cryosurgery or conisation.

2. Chlamydia: A bacterial infection that is usually transmitted through sexual activity or contact with semen, vaginal fluid, or blood.

3. Gonorrhea: A usually sexually transmitted disease caused by a bacteria. Several pharmaceutical treatments are available.

4. Vaginitis or Cervicitis: Inflammation or swelling and infection of the vagina or cervix. Treatment depends on the cause.

5. Cervical polyps: Cervical polyps are smooth, red or purple, finger-like growths that grow out of the mucus layer of the cervix or the cervical canal. Cervical polyps are extremely fragile, extending out of the cervix, and easily and painlessly removed.

6. Trichomoniasis: A usually sexually transmitted disease caused by protozoan. Can also be passed to newborns during vaginal birth by infected mothers. Although rare, transmission is also possible in tap water, hot tubs, urine, on toilet seats, and in swimming pools. May cause vaginitis.

7. Vaginal Yeast Infection: An overgrowth of the normal fungi that inhabits the vaginal area. Common symptoms include itching, burning, and an odorless, white, cheese-like discharge.

8. Endometritis or adenomyosis: Endometritis is defined by Dorland’s Medical Dictionary, 27th Edition as an inflammation of the endometrium (the innermost layer of the uterus). Both conditions are associated with endometriosis. Adenomysis is when endometrial tissue attaches itself to the uterus, or another organ such as the ovaries, and grows outside of the uterus.

9. Uterine polyps: Uterine polyps occur when the endometrium overgrows causing these protrusions into the uterus. It is extremely rare for these growths to grow in a way that is either benign or malignant. Women with uterine polyps frequently experience bleeding between periods (metrorrhagia), other symptoms includes vaginal bleeding after sex, spotting, menorrhagia, bleeding after menopause, and breakthrough bleeding during hormone therapy. Hysteroscopic-guided curettage is the preferred treatment, since the normal D&C is basically an unguided procedure that may miss many of the uterine polyps.

10. Fibroid tumors: Uterine fibroid tumors are usually benign tumors. They are solid masses made of fibrous tissue. Fibroid tumors are rarely malignant. Symptoms of fibroid tumors vary among women, with some women never experiencing any symptoms at all. Women who can wait until menopause will see their fibroids shrink and disappear once their bodies stop producing estrogen. It’s important that women with fibroids make sure they never take estrogen, in any form including birth control pills, since estrogen increases fibroid growth. Several treatments are currently available for uterine fibroid tumors from myomectomy and uterine artery embolization to the traditional hysterectomy.

Diagnosing vaginal bleeding after sex is usually a matter of exclusion. Anytime you experience post-coital bleeding or vaginal bleeding after sex see your physician.