Your skin is sensitive. It needs to be pampered and looked after well just like any other body part of yours.  

You will be reading about the different ways people damage their skin in this article. 

Just because you cannot see any dirt, pollution or oil on your skin, it doesn't mean it's all clean and hygienic. Washing your face with a gentle cleanser and a moisturizer will help you keep your face hydrated, fresh and clean. 

Cigarettes contain nicotine which reduces the blood flow to the body. Continuous and years of smoking reduce the elasticity of the skin. A smoker ages quite quickly as compared to a healthy individual. 

Using sunscreen protects your skin from harmful UV rays. Applying it daily when you step out of the house avoids premature ageing. It should be applied thoroughly on the face, hairline, nose and under your chin. 

You might feel body sore and stiffness after working out or after any form of physical stiffness. This doesn't necessarily mean that you've worked out in the wrong manner. 

The pain, stiffness and soreness are due to the level of intensity. It mostly occurs due to Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) which gradually decreases over some time.  

Here are some of the ways you can deal with DOMS 

Heat increases the blood circulation to the muscle. Applying any form of heat to the sore muscle will relieve your pain. BE it, warm water bath, a towel soaked in warm water, sprays and heat packs 

Applying ice cubes or ice packs in the region of the inflamed muscle causes numbness, prevents further damage and reduces pain. Ice pack shouldn't be applied for more than 20 minutes at one go.  

Ease your running. Do not completely stop your running. Continue to run at a slow pace or jog as it increases blood flow. 

Elevating your legs above your heart will reduce the blood flow. It will result in less stiffness. 

My biggest fear is of losing my loved ones without getting a chance to bid them goodbye. As I live across the borders. On one side are my parents anD siblings and on the other side are the rest of my siblings. Meeting them is not that easy and cannot be done more than once a year.  

With so many covid-19 cases and deaths since the past year, I have been in constant fear of what's going to happen to us. No matter how many precautions we all take, it is still not 100% possible for us to not get infected with it.  

We are a big family, and four of my siblings were infected with the virus along with my parents. My father had to be admitted to the ICU of the Covid-19 ward for two weeks. We all love him, but we couldn't do anything for him! We had the money to travel, but the borders were closed. When the borders opened, the flights weren't available. They say money can buy happiness, but at this point, all those sayings meant meaningless. Money couldn't even buy us an aeroplane ticket to meet my sick father. 

His weakened and painful body could be seen from the pictures he would send once in a while. We were scared to death. At this point, I felt we were going to lose them, and the fear of losing him without even meeting him was horrible and killing me from inside.  

Thank God! he recovered and returned home safe and sound. I can't wait to meet him and my mother and siblings again. 

No one knows what's going to happen the next moment. I have no idea when will I be able to meet them again. The fear of losing them is horrible and painful.

According to the entertainment industry, the definition of a hero and villain is a person with good acts and intention fights with a person with evil intentions.  

But, if we think outside the box, all human beings in the world feel a little jealous or have bad intentions at some point in time, although these bad intentions may not be that severe and hateful, yet they do exist in good people.  

I, personally feel a hero is good from heart, who has good intentions and who is ready to help others. But, this doesn't mean they do not have wrong thoughts or ideas. On the contrary, a villain has negative thoughts and ideas from a very young age and continues until they die. These thoughts are mainly of violence, enmity, hatred, jealousy and murders.   

Heroes and the villains of the real world, and not that of entertainment industries, need to be known to the public. But that's not easy either. Many of us can differentiate between them in the current world, but are unable to stop the villains as they are powerful than the civilians. 

Social media has changed our lives, especially the lives of the youth. The purpose of social media was to connect people from far and to make new friends. But, the meaning, ideology and use of social media have taken a complete turn. In fact, it has ruined our houses and the lives of our children. 

Since the current youth is the first generation to have used, heard and seen the social media exposure from the start, they don't know what life without social media and WIFI is.  

During their free time, the youth of today is more on social media, rather than playing outside with friends, enjoying family gatherings, celebrating each other's happiness etc. The sense, desire and need for communicating between parents and siblings have come to an end. Just a simple Hi, hello is what we have left our kids with. 

But, what's the reason for this? Most of the youth of today is in severe depression, and that's because of the constant impact of social media on our youth's brain. The pictures, videos, tweets, posts, likes and comments all make the youth's brain jam.

It desires for what the rest have.

It desires for what the rest do in their free time.

It desires for them to visit the places the other people visit.

It desires for them to keep partying and shop like others.  

It causes jealousy, anxiety and depression looking at others posts nonstop. This needs to stop, and the only way to do it is by not using social media. 

If you are an addict, stopping social media will be the toughest task ever for you, but you can start by limiting the use of social media. Reduce the usage time gradually. You may feel the desire to check the various platforms and notifications and the recent posts, but you need to stay strong. Keep the phone away from you that can be effective.  

Sore throat is a feeling of irritation, scratchiness and dryness in the throat. It can and cannot be painful. 

The most common symptom of a sore throat is a pain in the throat. It may occur due to viral infection, dry air or allergies. Apart from pain, other symptoms include;

• scratchiness
• burning mouth
• raw and dry mouth
• irritation
• pain upon swallowing and talking
• ear pain

A mild sore throat may heal within a few days. The severity of sore throat may cause additional symptoms such as;

• nasal congestion
• runny nose
• sneezing
• cough
• fever
• swollen glands in the neck
• ear infection
• headache
• trouble swallowing

You can try home remedies to cure sore throat. Apart from the above-mentioned symptoms, if a person undergoes severe symptoms like the one mentioned below, then they need to visit the doctor.

• severe sore throat
• extreme trouble swallowing
• difficulty in breathing
• difficulty in opening your mouth
• joint pain
• high fever
• stiff neck
• ear pain
• blood in your saliva
• sore throat for more than a week

you can purchase over the counter medicines like acetaminophen, ibuprofen or aspirin for treating mild sore throat. Apart from these, you can also try lozenges and cough syrup. A few herbs are known to help with treating sore throat.

Honestly, we take our sense of smell for granted. How many of us have ever wondered how would it be without our sense of smell? It's only when it is gone, we realize its importance and thank God for it. The condition where a person loses its smell is called anosmia.

Losing a sense of smell for some time isn't worrisome. But, if the situation continues and persists for long, you should check up on your doctor.  

With the current pandemic going on and loss of smell being a significant symptom of Covid-19, it's scary and alarming if you're unable to smell anything without any other signs of illness or symptoms.  

The common causes of anosmia are cold, flu, allergy, chest and nose congestion or poor quality of air. 

Other rare causes of anosmia include;

• cancerous growth in your nose that blocks the nasal passage
• damage to the nose and smell nerves after a serious head trauma or injury
• exposure to toxic chemicals, pesticides and solvents
• certain medications like antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal and others. (One of my close family members had to undertake antifungal medication, and unfortunately, its been over four years he still hasn't got his smell back)
• cocaine abuse
• the smell fades off as the person ages
• medical conditions such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, hormonal imbalance etc.
• coronavirus 
• radiation of head and neck cancer 

Each step of our life is a lesson. Sometimes these lessons we learn are happy, while sometimes they are unhappy, and in rare cases, the lessons we learn from life is more like a slap on our face. 

Similarly is academic life. I have learnt a lot of positive as well as negative aspects.  

As a school student, I was keen on choosing medicine as my field. But, as years passed by, I realized medicine wasn't my cup of tea. But, things weren't in my favour. I still opted for Science subjects in my 11th that turned my life.  

In the beginning, I struggled a lot as I barely had any interest in the field (apart from biology). My friends helped me a lot. I barely managed to pass my 11th. Opting out wasn't a chance at all as it was too late now. Then started the 12th. It became harder. I tried my best to focus and study better, but things didn't go in my favour. I had to give a re-exam a few months later, which luckily I passed through.  

Anyhow, I thought I passed through my tough academic years, and now it's time for me to breathe fresh air. But, little did I know the university is even more tough, challenging and competitive.  

I again chose Science, but with the subjects, I liked and had an interest in. This made my studies easier and life at university fun, unlike the college. 

The Summer Olympics, also known as the Olympiad, is an international multi-sport event held every four years. It first started in 1896 in Athens, Greece. The latest Olympics event was supposed to be held in 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the event was held in 2021. It was held in Tokyo, Japan. 

Looking at the success rate of the summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics started, which is the largest and most prestigious event in the whole world. 

Olympics has developed and gained popularity over the years. In 2016, 11,238 competitors participated from 206 nations in 306 events.  

Australia, France, Great Britain, Greece and Switzerland are the only five countries that have participated in all of the Olympiad events to date. Out of which, America bags in with the most number of medals throughout the history of the Olympics. Great Britain is the country to have a gold medal in all of the events to date.  

A few of the sports in the event are; 3*3 basketball, archery, athletics, swimming, baseball, canoeing, boxing, handball, judo, sailing, karate, shooting, taekwondo, water polo, wrestling. 

The next Summer Olympic games are scheduled for 2024 in Paris, France. Paris will then become the second city to have been hosted the Olympics three times. 

Commonwealth Games is an international sports event that involves athletes from commonwealth countries. It was first started in 1930 and is held every four years. Unlike the other sporting events, Commonwealth games included games and athletes of disability too.

Over 5000 athletes participate in more than 15 different commonwealth games and more than 250 events. The first, second and third position athletes are given a golden, silver and bronze medal respectively. 

54 Commonwealth nations take part in the games. They send 72 teams to compete with each other.

A few of the nations include Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Cameroon, Canada, Ghana, Guyana, India, Malaysia, Kiribati, Pakistan.

A few of the commonwealth sports include:

• archery
• athletics
• badminton
• basketball
• beach volleyball
• boxing
• cycling
• diving
• hockey
• netball
• squash
• swimming
• weightlifting
• wrestling