Beauty Talk

Sadia Moyeen, Beautician La Belle

Hello Sadia,
I'm 25 years old. Recently I went to one of the leading parlours of our country (not mentioning the name) to highlight my hair, I chose golden brown colour which they applied but it did not get the result I wanted. They told me that the colour did not settle properly because I use Mehendi and also because my hair is thick. But I had used mehendi almost a month back, I was so confused.... and upset.... can you give me any suggestion?
Samira

Dear Samira,
It's true that henna does not allow the true colour to set and this results in a reddish-orange shade. Usually the stylist will ask you if you have applied anything on your hair before starting so neither of you are surprised at the end result. If you had informed her with this knowledge before hand then you can ask to have it re-done but if you intentionally kept this from her then you can still have it re-done but will have to pay for it again.

Dear Sadia,
I am going be a teen this September. I am kind of upset about my eye-brows because they are joined and ugly. Is it okay if I (or anyone) pluck my eye-brows? I just want to know if it is okay if my eye-brows are plucked at this age?
Samia

Dear Samia,
Sure, if its bothering you, go ahead and have it shaped. I know self image is important at this age. Perhaps you can start by tweezing only the bridge of the nose and a few to create an arch under the middle of the brow.

Hi Sadia,
I am 36 years old. I love to take care of my skin and specially my hair. I would like some help about two things. I have dark circles around my eyes which looks very bad. I am using Nomarks for almost 2 months but I don't find any improvement. How can I get rid of my dark circles? Can you please name some good conditioners for dry, rough and fuzzy hair?
Jori

Dear Jori,
Use cotton pads soaked in cucumber juice with a few drops of rose water twice a day also continue your no marks cream. Use concealer for superficial cover. Caring treatment condition is good for dry hair. Leave in conditioner are also the new rage.

Hi,
I am a girl of 25. I used to have smooth soft hair and fair skin. Everything was ok. We went to Cox's Bazar sea beach and after returning I discovered that I have dry hair and tanned and dry skin. Please can you suggest a home remedy to have a fair skin like before and to have a soft shinier hair? Thanks,
Depressed

Dear Depressed,
Don't worry, suntan is natural after a holiday. If possible have a fair polish done at a Salon followed by a facial as well as a cream treatment for restoring moisture to the hair.

Dental wise

DR. Mahfujul Haq Khan BDS, DDS, FSDCE (USA), PhD (Japan), Post Doc. (Japan) Specialised: Crown and Bridge work, and Periodontal plastic surgery (USA) Consultant, Department of Dentistry, BIRDEM Hospital

Dear Dr. Khan,
I am suffering from wisdom tooth problem for the last 5 years. Its not coming out and seems locked inside. I am 29 years old. I never had history of sever pain and swelling but a sort of occasional discomfort and noticed foul smell. What should I do? What is your opinion? How can wisdom teeth harm me? How difficult will it be to remove the wisdom tooth?
Towfik alam

Dear Mr. Towfik,
"WISDOM TOOTH," also called third molars, usually make their first appearance in young adults between the ages of 15 to 25. As you are 29 years old and have had occasional discomfort with foul smell, I strongly recommend you for removal of that tooth after assessing the position by an OPG X- ray.

Wisdom teeth may be hard to access with your toothbrush or floss. Due to the difficulty of keeping these teeth clean with your daily home care, bacteria and food debris remaining on the wisdom teeth may present a foul smell-causing bad breath. Over time, the accumulation of bacteria, sugars and acids may cause a cavity to form in the tooth. If it is not restored with a filling, the cavity may spread and destroy more tooth structure causing severe consequences to the tooth and surrounding supportive structures.

A wisdom tooth that is still under the gums in a horizontal position (rather than a vertical position) may exert pressure to the surrounding teeth, causing crowding and crooked teeth. The gum tissue that lays over the tooth may harbour food debris and bacteria that gets trapped under the gum, resulting in an infection in the gums.

Depending on the size shape and position of the tooth, removal can vary from a simple extraction to a more complex extraction. With a simple extraction, there is usually little swelling, bruising and/or bleeding. More complex extraction will require special treatment which may result in more bruising, swelling and bleeding. However, your dental professional will provide you with post treatment instructions to minimise these side effects. The longer you wait and the older you get, there is the potential for more problems to occur. This is because as you get older, the bone surrounding the tooth becomes more dense, making the tooth more difficult to remove. The healing process may also be slower.

Dear Dr. Khan,
I have several missing teeth and am using artificial denture. I am facing difficulties to chew properly, especially hard food. My dentist suggested a bridge(Fixed), but before that, I want to know if there is any other way I can have a tooth replaced other than a bridge? Is it safe or regularly practiced to take support of healthy adjacent teeth for making a bridge? I am now 48 years old.
Firoza Akkas

Dear Ms Firoza
Yes another option is Dental Implant. Implant is possible when adequate supporting bone is available. A high percentage of dental implants are successful. Although more expensive initially, in the long run, they are cheaper because they do not have to be redone every seven to ten years like a dental bridge. But unfortunately we are yet to start dental implant in Bangladesh but you will be happy to know that we are planning to start very soon. Dental Implant placement is a surgical procedure. You will have an initial evaluation if a Dental Implant is right for you. Your dentist will then recommend a course of action. After the Dental Implant is placed it must be given time to heal. This takes several months. Your Dentist will then place a Porcelain Crown on the implant. Actually still the most common dental restoration to restore the missing tooth is a dental bridge. Yes it is safe to take support of healthy adjacent teeth. The teeth adjacent to the missing tooth site (abutment teeth) are slightly reduced. But a dentist should have sufficient experience and skill in this specialised field. A dental bridge usually covers two teeth, one tooth in front of the missing tooth and one tooth behind the missing tooth.

By The Way

Yawn makes you feel good

Research reveals that yawning is the body's natural way of bringing you back into focus. If you need a quick wake-up call, force a yawn (not in the public of course) and see how alert and alive you immediately feel! But of course the tough part is forcing oneself to yawn.

Special Feature

Sports for girls

Sounds of loud cheer awakened the entire neighbourhood from their afternoon nap. The lively cheer was coming from a tiny open space, in the middle of the concrete jungle, in one of Dhaka's most dense residential areas, Mirpur. Bordered by brick walls, the land is missing all its green grasses. The owner of the land lives abroad and did not show up for the last few years. Thanks to him and the broken gate, the children of the neighbourhood got a playground. Everyday in the afternoon children of all ages cram the playground trying their hands in cricket.

Asif, a boy of around 13 lives in the five-storey building right next to the plot. Rain or shine, he never misses his afternoon cricket. He cheers and often jeers with his pals every afternoon, while from the balcony, his 11-year-old baby sister Anika looks on with a gloomy face. Anika spends most of her afternoons either in the balcony listening to her mother chatting with the neighbour or on the rooftop along with two other young girls of her building. She does not remember when was the last time she played outside. The only recreation she knows is TV. All around Bangladesh young girls are missing from the playgrounds or from the tiny open spaces where the developers did not yet set foot.

In our country involvement in sports and physical activities have always been associated with males. Research reveals that sports, in general, influences physical health, psychological well-being and overall social and educational development of a child. Research also shows that the absence of physical activity can have negative impact on a child, psychologically.

Children learn about leadership, teamwork, discipline etc. more easily from the playground than anywhere else. They also become more creative by participating in different kinds of games. These attributes are most likely to last all through adulthood. Outdoor games provide children an opportunity to spend their extra energy in a healthy way. Aspiration for leadership is often missing from Bangladeshi girls. Women in Bangladesh, so far have shown poor examples in teamwork.

Physical activity increases metabolism and helps in physical fitness. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind. Outdoor games are a healthy way of recreation and helps to build a healthy peer group. Motivation, goal setting, practice, punctuality, healthy competition, frustration, tolerance and sense of achievement all these are learned from the playground.

Sports both outdoors and indoors especially benefits adolescent girls in many ways. Regular physical activity in adolescence can reduce girls' risk for obesity and Hyperlipidemia (i.e., high levels of fat in the blood), which is a common case in Bangladesh. Regular physical activity can also help girls build greater peak bone mass, thereby reducing adult risk for osteoporosis.

Teenagers all around the world experience frequent mood swings. Adolescent girls being left alone at home and having nothing to do, easily develop depression. Physical activity and exercise have been shown to be a mood enhancer and an anxiety reducer, thereby act as a natural, cost-effective intervention for the mental health of adolescent girls. Research suggests that physical activity is an effective tool for reducing the symptoms of stress and depression among girls.

Exercise and sport participation can enhance mental health by offering adolescent girls positive feelings about body image, improved self-esteem, tangible experiences of competency and success and increased self-confidence. Sport can help girls get in shape, socialise, improve skills and have fun at the same time.

Sports should be an educational asset for both boys and girls. Over the past few decades all over the world, girls' and women's involvement in physical activity has increased dramatically. Although in Bangladesh the practice is growing among the elite, the scenario is still quite different from other parts of the world.

In our socio-cultural perspective, outdoor games for girls is not accepted by the society. Most importantly it is not always safe for growing girls. Unless parents, guardians and the community as a whole come forward to take responsibility for building a safe environment, the risk probably outweighs the benefits under present situation. Overall, improvement of the law and order situation, stringent measures against sex offenders and other types of criminals are prerequisites of this condition, and of course a change of attitude.

By Shahnaz Parveen
Special thanks to Dr Nighat Ara