Shocking! Puberty and lavender?

Do you remember when you got your first bra? Certainly not when you were five, right?

Well, read this:
"Hayley... started developing breasts when she was five. A year later... she had her first period. She was dealing with monthly mood swings, stomach cramp, migraines and spots at the same time as learning to read and write. Every month she missed three or four days of school..." 

And what is more, "evidence suggests that Hayley's experience could soon be commonplace."

Before you dismiss all this as nonsense, know that these are quotes from an article I read in Intelligent Life, a magazine from The Economist - which, in case you don't know it, is a very reputable source of information and analyses on world affairs.

Hayley still seems to be an extreme case but they have been conducting studies and "the results... showed that over 15 years the age of breast development in Denmark had dropped a year, from 10.8 years in 1991 to 9.8 years in 2006." Also in China, a study reported the lowest-ever average age for breast development (9.2 years). And boys' voices are breaking earlier - studies in Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy have all come to similar results. 

What are the implications?
- "Children who go into early puberty are prematurely sexualised and too immature to deal with the implications. They are more vulnerable to sexual abuse, inappropriate sexual behaviour, sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy."
- "Adolescents who go through puberty earlier are involved in more risk-taking behaviour, such as taking drugs, binge drinking and breaking the law."
- For women, there could be health problems: an increased "risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and of developing cardiovascular problems."

Why is this happening? Nobody knows for sure. They've looked into obesity, chemicals, absentee fathers ("a girl who lives apart from her father tends to get her period earlier") and now also hormones: "Children are extremely sensitive to hormones before puberty because they are producing so little that small amounts can make a difference." 

What has lavender got to do this any of this? Well, here is another shocking revelation:

"In 2007 a study in the New England Journal of Medicine described how three young boys began growing breasts after using products containing lavender and tea-tree oils. In one case a mother used a healing balm containing lavender oil on her four-year-old son; in another a ten-year-old boy used hair gel containing lavender and tea-tree oil; in the final example a seven-year-old was using lavender soap. Lavender and tea-tree were found to cause hormonal disruptions by mimicking oestrogen."

This article freaked me out. What are your thoughts on this?

1, 2 (Intelligent Life print), 3 

How well are you sleeping?

It's been raining a lot lately, which is a bummer because it's too cold and wet for my spring clothes and open-toe sandals. But the one good thing it's done is wash away the pollen that was giving me such a hard time.

Just to show you how much health damage - including lack of sleep - the pretty flowers and trees were doing, I thought I would share my graphs from the Sleep Cycle app on the iPhone. I'm still fascinated with the app and use it every night - just out of curiosity, really. Three graphs from the worst week are in the column on the left. And on the right I've included the 'after' graphs.

And here's what I had to do. I went to see my doctor, who prescribed me some drugs and a nasal spray that cost a whopping EUR 60 / GBP 51 / USD 76! For a tiny 6ml bottle! Absurd. (but who's the fool? Me, for buying it?!)

Spring cleaning also helped. My cleaner happened to bring someone (to be her substitute whilst on holiday) and I got both of them to stay for four hours. That's eight hour's worth of cleaning! I felt so much better afterwards :-) And the substitute (who has come again on her own since) does a better job - she doesn't just clean, she also tidies up. Hmm I feel bad about getting rid of the usual cleaner and employing someone she introduced but...? I'm still thinking about it. Should I do it?

And those nose plugs... I tried some one weekend when I had a terribly runny nose and I quickly discovered that they can't replace tissues. But they weren't as uncomfortable (or visible!) as I'd imagined them to be.

One other thing I'd started taking were homeopathic tablets but I kept on forgetting (three times a day is such a hassle) so I've now given up. I'm not sure they do anything, anyway... Do you believe in homeopathy?

Relax on 8820 spikes?!

When you first come across this curious thing, you're likely to touch it with your fingers or hand. Ouch!

But the yantra mat promises better sleep, more energy, stress and pain relief. Sold!

Anything, I thought, that will improve blood circulation and reduce backaches. Even if it means lying down on 8,820 spikes!

Apparently this is based on the ancient healing art of acupressure and improves blood flow by stimulating various parts of the body.

After 10-20 minutes of lying on the mat, I have a pretty pattern of 'holes' in my back. But it feels great. Since starting this, my chronic shoulder-arm-back pains have almost completely disappeared. I have had these pains for YEARS! And I have never been able to get rid of them.

Sometimes I even fall asleep on this thing!

It's not just for the back, though. I roll the mat with the spikes on the outside and prop my legs on it. I sit on it. I even stand on it. I also put my head on it to massage the scalp. 

I have become so dependent on this - I use it every day! - that I was happy to read that it travels well, too. All you have to do is take out the foam mat and just pack the spiky cover in your suitcase.

Do be careful when handling the mat. If you accidentally brush your hand or foot against the spikes, you'll get nasty scratches and some bleeding even! (excuse: "It was my cat.")

A very similar mat was featured in the May issue of Tatler:

It's worth trying out! Let me know how you get on. 

Travel-friendly massage ball

It's such a pain when flights gets delayed. But once in a while it can be an opportunity in disguise. I was walking around the airport shops, bored, when suddenly I spotted one of these little reflexology balls. It's simply a ball with spikes, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.

Unlike a lot of other massage props I've tried, this one is relatively hard and doesn't give way too much when you press on it. So the massage is effective, if you want it to be.

I liked it so much that I rushed back to get some more before my flight - another back-up for me and one for my mother.

Do you have any favourite massage products?

When pills aren't enough

The anti-allergy tablets that I've been taking don't seem to be helping.

I had so much trouble breathing last night that I thought I was going to die in my sleep. (I can't die yet! I want my car first!)

A blocked nose forced me to breathe through my mouth but that didn't go too well, either. I felt like I was being strangled. My throat was so tight that I was quite desperate for something like an inhaler.

Now for the multiple choice question.
a. Is the pollen count just extremely and horribly high this year? or
b. Do I blame it on my cleaning lady for not getting rid of the house dust properly? or
c. Are bored and deranged spirits trying to tell me something?

Spring would be my favourite season, if...

... if it weren't for hay fever. I get it badly and it is really the worst time of the year for me.

The sneezing itself, even if I manage about seven in a row each time, is not so bad. But itchy eyes are uncomfortable. Usually, I never ever rub my eyes because of all the make-up I wear but I just had to make an exception the other day. Yes, I had to take off my make-up in the middle of the day so I could rub until my eyes were red and swollen. Attractive. First thing I did the next morning was to run to the chemist and plead for anything that would help.

The problem with the nose - either completely blocked or totally runny - is also annoying. Thank goodness for tissues (what did they do before tissues were invented? wash handkerchiefs each and every time - in dirty, smelly water, no less?) but the skin on my nose has just had it, with all the blowing I've been doing.

Wait... maybe I won't have to use tissues anymore?

I've been given something very curious. I've never seen or heard of these things (from Japan) - stoppers that you put up your nose to (1) catch the nasty stuff coming out and to (2) prevent pollen and dust from coming in.

I'm not sure what to make of these. It must be uncomfortable, having them up your nose all day. Has anyone tried them?