Berdepan masalah kulit kusam, tona tak sekata dan penuh bintik hitam bukan satu keinginan yang didambakan sesiapapun dalam dunia ini.

Tambahan pula Malaysia berdepan iklim panas yang berpanjangan.

Bagi Sharon Teh atau nama sebenarnya Teh Swee Lin masalah bintik hitam di lengan dan tangannya dialami sejak 20 tahun lalu benar benar menyesakkan matanya.

Wanita berusia 52 tahun dari Taiping, Perak yang bekerja dalam bidang jualan ini pada satu tahap rimas dengan masalah yang bagai tiada pengakhirannya.

Kerap ‘berjemur’ dek komitmen keluar bekerja di bawah panas terik matahari antara punca masalah bintik hitam mula bermaharajalela.

“Puas mencuba pelbagai produk kulit di pasaran, hasilnya tetap mengecewakan saya. Kesudahannya lebur semua wang begitu saja.

“Pernah juga terfikir mahu melakukan rawatan laser di kulit tangan itu. Tapi difikirkan kosnya memang sangat mahal. Saya amat realistik namun tidaklah sampai tahap membazir wang.

“Pada satu tahap, saya hampir putus asa mencari solusi terbaik merawat masalah dialami. Biasalah golongan wanita mahupun lelaki zaman sekarang ini semua pentingkan kecantikan diri,” katanya

Malah pada satu tahap Sharon terlalu geram hingga tidak sanggup melihat lengan sendiri.

“Nak pakai baju tidak berlengan pun tak sanggup. Saya jadi geram, tak selesa dan malu nak berpakaian mendedahkan kulit

“Pendek kata, saya akan cari solusi untuk menyarung jaket, kot atau memakai baju berlengan panjang,” katanya.

Bagaimanapun dipendekkan cerita, sekitar Mei lalu, iklan produk kesihatan kulit Saapuu pantas mencuri perhatiannya.

“Sejujurnya saya tidak tahu kenapa iklan produk berkenaan begitu pantas menangkap pandangan mata dan hati. Lantas saya menghubungi pihak mereka untuk bertanyakan lanjut mengenai produk itu.

“Saya masih ingat lagi tanggal 11 Mei produk itu selamat sampai di rumah untuk dicuba.
Selepas beberapa kali menyapu krim dan gel kulitnya berturut turut, kesan bintik hitam kian pudar. Kulit saya perlahan demi perlahan nampak kecerahannya. Bintik hitam juga sudah berkurangan.

“Dalam hati saya sendiri tertanya mukjizat apa yang ada dalam produk ini sampai begitu hebat sekali kesannya. Tak sangka dengan kos minimun, saya boleh lihat kesan dalam masa singkat,” katanya

Tambah Sharon lagi selepas meneliti kandungan yang digunakan dalam produk Saapuu ternyata ia satu pelaburan berbaloi

“Produk SaaPuu mengandungi pelbagai bahan organik yang sememangnya terbukti untuk kebaikan kulit. Contohnya seperti minyak argan, madu, daun sirih, daun pegaga, curcumin, daun gelenggang dan aloe vera.

“Tambahan pula, paling utama dan meyakinkan saya kerana produk ini mendapat kelulusan daripada Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM). Jadi memang diakui produk ini selamat untuk dipakai tanpa rasa was-was.

“Hati saya kini meloncat kegembiraan apabila ‘penderitaan’ masalah kulit saya akhirnya selesai begitu sahaja selepas menggunakan produk berkenaan. Kini saya boleh menjalani hidup dan bekerja dengan lebih berkeyakinan,” katanya tersenyum.

Bagi yang ingin membeli atau mendapatkan maklumat tambahan mengenai produk Saapuu boleh layari
www.online.saapuu.my

I’m 36 going on 37. I gave birth really young and now my only son is already 16 years old. Family and friends alike are always asking me; when am I going to get pregnant and expand my little family? Don’t I want a bigger family? Don’t I want a baby daughter to dote on?

Well, feeling miffed on the questions that I considered as an invasion of privacy aside, I have to say that pregnancy is a huge thing for me, and it’s not something I’d consider lightly. I didn’t enjoy much of my pregnancy when I was pregnant with my son. I felt sick all the time, walks around like a zombie throughout the entire pregnancy and worst, I can barely keep anything that I eat down, no matter what I do. Everything seems to disagree with me. I was so physically worn and emotionally distressed during my pregnancy. My conditions only improved towards the end of the pregnancy, so excuse me if I blatantly tell you that I don’t feel like going through a repeated experience just so that I can hold a bundle of joy in my arms.

Anyway, speaking of pregnancy, one of my friends is pregnant and we happened to catch up via Google Meet. You know how it’s like now. My friends and I missed each other very much. We used to go for hi-teas every other weekend but since we’re still fighting the pandemic now, we called each other via Google meet often to catch up. And catch up we did. We spoke about pregnancy woes and she was sharing about how terrible her pregnancy is as well. Apart from the regular morning sickness, she’s also suffering from poor digestion, fatigue, bloating, loose stools and anemia, but her condition slowly improves as she changed her diet to light &easy to digest food and taking probiotics. She mentioned that her doctor said that all her problems actually point to a weak gut and that’s what actually ails most pregnant women, and prescribe some light diet for her to follow alongside with probiotics to help her with her symptoms.

I listened intently when she was sharing her experience and I was taken aback a little. I suffered the same thing she did during my pregnancy; poor digestion, fatigue, bloating, loose stools and anemia, and I wondered if I had the same problems and I could have improved my situation back then by taking care of my gut? You see, the gut is part of the digesting system and is a vital organ in the body that absorbs all the nutrients that we eat and expels it as feces. If this organ is unhealthy, it will definitely affect our entire bodily system.

And so, I did some Googling and discovered that taking care of the gut, especially during pregnancy is really important. It helps to dispel unnecessary pregnancy discomfort such as poor digestion, fatigue, bloating and helps

Apart from practicing light exercises and healthy diet, one way to take care of the gut’s health during pregnancy is to take probiotics as probiotics good for pregnancy. Not familiar with the term probiotics? Simply put, probiotics are made of good live bacteria and it naturally lives in your body. Yes. Generally, bacteria are portrayed as a villain and something bad. But this is not true. Not all bacteria are bad. You actually have good bacteria in your body too, and they’re working behind the scene to keep you healthy. For example, if you have an infection or gets sick, that means there are a lot of bad bacteria is attacking your system. This is when the good bacteria in your body will counter-attack to keep your system in balance and help you get better. Basically, the role of good bacteria in your body helps to eliminate the bad bacteria and keep your body in a good condition. One way to add good bacteria is by consuming probiotics supplements.

There are plenty of probiotics in the market but here’s one that’s great for pregnant ladies; Yourgutt.

YourGutt is a fermented rice bran powder that’s beneficial for overall gut health, and it is the first in Malaysia and Asia to have the complete-biotics, the prebiotic, probiotic, and postbiotics.

The best part? YourGutt not only taste good, but it’s practically allergent-free, made from natural, ingredients and is vegan and vegetarian friendly.

So ladies, whether you are pregnant or not, your gut health matters, as it helps your entire bodily system runs healthily. If you haven’t included any probiotics in your diet or your family’s diet, you might want to look into this to improve your lifestyle and health in whole. I regret not discovering this earlier. It could have save me alot from unnecessary ailments.

My last dental check up was way back in 2019, pre-Covid era. It’s way overdue considering now it is already the first quarter of 2021. I have been feeling slight discomfort every time I have to bite on the regulator during my dives, and I thought perhaps it’s time that I get my teeth checked.

And so, despite of not really wanting to go out of the house as the Covid19 cases is still on the rise, I dragged myself to IFloss Dental to get some help I badly needed.

IFloss Dental is located in Plaza Arkadia, at Desa Parkcity, Kuala Lumpur and it offers all sort of oral health services for both children and adults, and practicing strict Covid19 SOP as ruled by the government. You’re required to wear the mask at all times while waiting for your turn and practicing social distancing while in the clinic is a must.

The clinic is absolutely welcoming and children friendly, with spacious waiting area filled witg toys and books for little children.

This is Dr. Aaron Lai, my dentist. During consultation and a brief examination, I was informed that I needed a dental scaling and polishing treatment.

I was also told that apart from the nasty plaque and tartar buildups on my teeth, my gums are not in a very good condition too and I need lotsa help in that.

Scaling procedure is being carried by Dr.Aaron Lai. Specialized instruments are used to gently remove plaque and calculus deposits without harming the teeth. Basically, the scaler uses vibrations to loosen hardened tartar that sticks to the teeth or in between the teeth while the water spray is used to wash away the tartar and plaque debris.

This may look a bit highly graphic and rather uncomfortable, but if you are wondering if this is painful, I assure you that it’s not that painful. While I could practically feel all the dirty stuffs being gradually removed from it’s resting place, all I felt was merely strange sensation of my teeth being scraped every now and then.

After about 45 minutes of scaling, it is time for the the polishing procedure to wrap up the session. Teeth polishing is usually carried out after scaling to remove stains and make your teeth feel smooth and shiny. The polishing procedure was done with a soft rubber- dental instrument that spins. A toothpaste-like material is scooped up into the cup and was spun around on the teeth for a little for a good polish. Polishing just took a little while before the good doctor told me to rinse my mouth with water and mouthwash.

After the procedure was done, I was given an oral check up. A scanning was done and I was informed of my oral health condition before the doctor finally calling it a wrap. I was told that I was suffering from a gum disease where my gums were inflamed and I need a more frequent deep cleaning routine. Apart from that, I’m also adviced to get braces for my crooked teeth, but as far as braces goes…I’m not really considering it for the time being as it will impede me from biting onto the regulator properly while diving. Of course, if I really wanted to get braces and still dive, I can always consider using the full face mask, but that’s going to cost me heaps since I needed to take a specialty license to enable me to use a full face diving mask. It’s not something I’d like to do. At least not for now. Maybe I’ll get braces to correct my teeth once I get my full face mask specialty license, hopefully within two years.

Anyway, as far as scaling and polishing goes, it’s quite an experience. While it is is not very painful, it does gives me a strange sensation by the time the procedure ends. I could practically feel my teeth feeling really clean and smooth, which is something I’m not really used to. The surface of the teeth used to feel so coarse and uneven. And there are now tiny gaps in between the teeth as there are no more dirty plaque and tartar filling them up. Strange feeling, but I guess I can get used to it as I like the clean feeling in my mouth.

Post-scaling aftercare is not complicated. All you need to do is brush your teeth as usual, and if your teeth and gums were already in a bad shape prior to the procedure, you might want to remedy that by using toothpastes that’s specially made for sensitive teeth or those that helps fights bleeding gum. They will be very helpful in improving your oral health.

Wondering why my teeth still looks slightly yellow even after the procedure? Well, the original colour of my teeth is very yellow, so there are no changes after teeth cleaning as the yellow colour comes from inside the tooth. Teeth whitening was not part of the treatment. Teeth whitening is strictly for cosmetic purpose where a cosmetic dental procedure that lightens pigmentation within the teeth is carried out. Don’t confuse it with scaling and polishing as it is a procedure that removes dental plaque, tartar and extrinsic stains that are present on the outer surface of the teeth. If I were to whiten my teeth, I got to do it in another appointment.

Before I pen down, I’d like to say that it is vital to visit your dentist every 4- 6 months depending on your dentist’s advice. Going for your regular dental check up not only helps keep your gums and teeth looking healthy and helps you give an attractive smile, but it also also allows early detection of any serious oral problems such as gum disease, cavities and even oral cancer.