Two weeks from the big day! Can you believe it's almost here? And from the reports, most of us will have a white one this year.
A couple of years back, my husband had a terrible reaction to tea tree oil, a commonly used alternative to topical antiseptics you'd buy over the counter. It took 4 doctors and much grief and hobbling before the dermatologist came to the conclusion that he had a delayed onset severe allergic reaction to the stuff. It isn't all that common, he said, but there it was. I had used it for years and years, but after that incident, I threw the bottle into our hazardous waste container. And that was the end of it, or so I thought.
Then last Friday I had the pedicure from hell. As a final gesture, the aesthetician poured tea tree oil over my poor little toes. I woke up this morning to ten little sausages of burning swollen horror! The only thing that could have caused this reaction is tea tree oil. It's pretty weird that I'd have the same reaction as my husband to such an everyday product, so I thought I'd pass this along to you kids as a warning.
Tea tree oil can, I believe, be used safely diluted, as in 4 drops in a bathroom basin of water, but NOT poured directly onto an open wound as happened to me on Friday and to my husband two years ago. (He figured that if I always used it diluted, then he'd be so much better off treating his boo boo with the stuff full strength.)
Anyway, since I can't wear shoes, I'll be in most of the day making meatballs and doing the laundry. Have a happy Tuesday, all! What's on your agenda?
Oh no, I'll never go back there. But it's the spa attached to my hair salon, so I'll see that girl all the time. There's another really wonderful spa nearby that I'll use for my next time, but it's a bit more expensive. At that place you get this fabulous sea weed pack on your legs up to your knees that leaves the skin super soft for over a week. And they throw in a fantastic leg and foot massage that is divine. I'll just have to go a less often.
Shelly, I had Y&R on today - not much to report except that Jack resigned. Oops - I'll put this in the Y&R place.
OH my Gosh kae!!! That's just plain horrible. I am trying to make my buckeyes and dad blast ... I forgot to pick up paraphin. I started it all last night and had to refrigerate my peanut butter mix. My mom's going to try and find the paraphin for me while she's at the store. I told her some shortening would work as well, so let's just hope we find it before I start just eating the peanut butter lol. You wouldn't believe how much peanut butter we have. I am trying to come up with as many recipes to use up the overflow of peanut butter. I do also want to make some white chocolate covered strawberries, but I am probably never going to find any today lol. Oh maybe some cherries would work ... I know I saw some at Meijer. OH man now the ADD is kicking in lol. I will probably baking and cooking and tinkering all day.
KaeEll, that's really horrible, but I think that you ought to let both the pedicurist, and the owner of the salon know what happened to you so that they can ask future patrons if they have similar allergies. If those patrons don't know to a certainty that they don't, then the pedicurist ought to use something more traditional. I mean, someone could potentially go into anaphylactic shock!
Natural products that carry benefits still need to be approached with caution, and I am personally not confident that all "experts" in various fields that incorporate their use are properly trained in what adverse reactions might be with some vitamins, minerals, etc., etc.
One of my biggest worries, only because I had a near-fatal experience with a blood clot, is the current trend of guzzling massive quantities of green tea for its antioxidant benefits. I was specifically told, after surviving my clot, to avoid green tea entirely as it's very high in vitamin k which is what helps to clot the blood. If you don't know how fast your blood is clotting, don't drink green tea!!! Do you guys know how fast your own blood clots? The truth is that black tea is not as high in vitamin k, so it's safe, and has ALMOST the same amount of other antioxidants...
Okay -- that's the end of my rant on green tea!
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"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Moore, you're absolutely right about this. "Herbal" remedies and the like can be potentially as dangerous as prescription drugs, and I've learned that myself when I was told by a very prominent naturopath to use a certain remedy for a rash I had. I took it exactly as told and became violently ill for three days. I was told I had "proved" the remedy, that is, displayed the very symptoms that the remedy was supposed to cure. Not impressed.
And that's good news about black tea. I'd be more than a little ticked off if it was somehow not good for us. I never liked green tea anyway.
kae, I am with you. I hate green tea. And we drink so much ice tea in this house its rediculous. When Vinnie is here I boil bags for a gallon probably 2-3 times a week. We like tea
I never liked green tea either, so it wasn't a hardship when I was told that I would have to "give it up". LOL...!!!
I read something a couple of years ago that studies are being done to determine whether or not tea -- good old black tea -- has properties in it that helps to prevent skin cancer. Very interesting...
-- Edited by Moore ideas at 10:09, 2007-12-13
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
Lol you know I took up drinking green tea recently when I was talking with the homeopath that I recently started seeing only occasionally though because she's in St.Louis. I have very low iron and my blood does not clot so well without extra vitamins and such. So I have to take the green tea to help with all of that. Once I get it all leveled off she is pretty confident that I can stop drinking it daily and maybe just once a week or so. You know it's been hard giving up my white tea. Yummm I love it. It's a bit more sweet and when mixed with peaches it is the best!!!
They are about 80% all better now, thanks, Jojo. I blasted the salon, told them that as a long standing client I wasn't going to make a federal case out of it, but that they had better use something more conventional and completely safe in the future. Some cranky old biddy might decide to sue them down the way. They threw the tea tree oil away.