A rash inside your belly button is usually caused by moisture and debris getting trapped in the folds of skin, creating a warm, dark environment where irritation or infection can develop. The most common causes are contact dermatitis, a fungal infection, or a bacterial infection. Less often, it can be a sign of a skin … Read more
Plaster of Paris is made by heating gypsum, a soft mineral also called calcium sulfate dihydrate, to drive off part of its water. You cannot make real Plaster of Paris from flour, because flour contains no calcium sulfate. What you can make from flour is a simple paste that dries hard, and it behaves very … Read more
An itchy palm is usually a skin problem, not a sign of something serious. The most common causes are eczema, contact dermatitis, and fungal infections like athlete’s foot spreading to the hand. Sometimes the itch comes from inside the body rather than the skin itself, which is why a palm that itches without any visible … Read more
Breakfast has always been framed as the most important meal of the day. But the question of whether that breakfast should be built around protein is a newer one, and the answer is more layered than most headlines suggest. Eating protein in the morning can be good for you — it supports satiety, helps maintain … Read more
Most people expect the weeks after birth to feel hard. Few expect to still feel this way months later. Postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety are common, treatable conditions — and for many women they last longer than the “baby blues” that fade within about two weeks. Without treatment, postpartum depression often runs for several months, … Read more
If you use a CPAP machine for sleep apnea, you have probably noticed a setting called EPR. EPR stands for expiratory pressure relief. It is a feature that lowers the air pressure slightly each time you breathe out, then brings it back up when you breathe in. The EPR level is the number that controls … Read more
The first ultrasound in pregnancy is usually done between 8 and 12 weeks of gestation, counted from the first day of your last menstrual period. Many clinicians schedule the first scan somewhere in that window to confirm the pregnancy, check how far along you are, and look at early development. Some people have an earlier … Read more
Most healthy adults can hold their breath for about 30 to 60 seconds without any special training. That is the normal range for a person sitting quietly at rest. Trained free divers can go far longer, often several minutes, but those numbers come from years of practice and a specific set of reflexes, not from … Read more
Milia are small, firm white bumps that most often appear on the face. They form when flakes of keratin, a protein that makes up the outer layer of skin, get trapped just beneath the surface. That trapped keratin hardens into a tiny pearl-like cyst. Milia are not acne, not an infection, and not contagious. Almost … Read more
Yes, apples contain vitamin C. A medium raw apple with the skin on provides roughly 8 milligrams of vitamin C, which is about 9 percent of the Daily Value for adults. That makes apples a modest source of the vitamin — not an empty one, and not a standout one either. Do Apples Have Vitamin … Read more