Dehydration and lack of nutrients from the stress of trauma can cause our often-neglected lips to dry, crease, and even crack. If you've ever had anesthesia, you'll also know that feeling of waking up with your mouth and lips as dry as the desert.

My lips craved simple light, silky moisture to heal, not a greasy stick of gunk, and I found my lip-salving savior in an all-purpose beauty balm called Ouli's Ointment. Created by Greek-American makeup artist Stephanie G-M, Ouli's is the product of the organic olive groves of her native Zakynthos (or Zante as it's nicknamed) -- a Greek island in the Ionian Sea.

"I'm a firm believer in the power of simple natural ingredients to heal, and in oils over creams," Stephanie says. "Our skin hydrates and replenishes itself with oils, and we've known for centuries that taking olive oil internally is great for skin health. So why not treat our skin with olive oil from the outside?"

Made with a blend of extra virgin olive oil from Zante, beeswax, and Roman chamomile ("it's more apple-y"), Stephanie says Ouli's works through the simplicity of natural ingredients intended to nourish and calm us. "When it comes to recovery, women often back out of caring for their skin because of other trauma-healing priorities -- and because skincare is made too complicated. My ointment is intentionally simple."

Ouli's brought my lips back to life and closer to luxurious again, and is truly an all-purpose ointment. It keeps my scars soft (a recent horse accident), tames and nourishes my flyaway hairs, and gives my skin a glistening sheen, even under moisturizer and light makeup. It calms bites, burns and scrapes -- and apparently soothes babies' bottoms.

Loss of eyebrows (madarosis), caused by damage to the hair follicles, can be a traumatizing side effect from your body battling trauma, radiation treatments, and a variety of medical conditions, -- including autoimmune diseases, infections, chronic skin disorders, and especially chemotherapy. Affecting one or both eyebrows with partial or complete hair loss, t's both physically and emotional demoralizing.

Breast cancer survivor Elizabeth 'Lisa' Brambilla created a unique new beauty product called SurvivorEyes that helps women struggling from facial hair loss. "Losing our eyebrows creates physical and emotional challenges when our image is compromised," says Brambilla. "It's overwhelming to our self-confidence." That's why she created SurvivorEyes, an innovative kit of high fashion brows with all-day wear that are easy to apply.

Each kit contains 10 brow templates, a dual-sided cosmetic applicator, and through a strategic collaboration includes high-quality Sorme cosmetics available in 3 shade pallets for all skin tones. And while I haven't lost my eyebrows completely, the trauma of losing my son caused my already-pale eyebrows to thin rapidly from lack of proper nutrition and sleep.

I didn't care at the time, but now I do. And being able to easily apply natural-looking eyebrows gives a definite boost of much-needed confidence.

High levels of traumatic stress can profoundly impact our hair and scalp, shortening our anagen, hair growth Cycle, and lengthening our Telogen, hair shedding cycle. This imbalance causes thinner hair and hair loss.

"Hair is a non-essential tissue, so it's one of the most sensitive barometers to physiological and psychological health, and therefore to stress," explains Anabel Kingsley, trichologist at Philip Kingsley Trichological Clinics in London and New York (trichology is the medical and cosmetic study and practice of the hair and scalp). And it can be a vicious cycle because hair loss and scalp issues in themselves are incredibly stressful, making it even harder to heal your hair.

In addition to hair loss or thinning, Kingsley says your body can manifest trauma through your hair with Scalp Dandruff Stress -- severe flaking and itching due to the impact of stress on hormone levels that disrupts the micro-flora of the scalp. Worry and depression can also negatively impact hair health.

To help heal your hair, use soothing anti-microbial products and a scalp toner each morning such as Philip Kingsley Scalp Toner and Fig+Yarrow's Scalp+Hair Tonic, try to eat a balanced diet -- important because hair is made of protein -- and take daily nutritional supplements to give you hair internal support. The top five vitamins that help with hair loss and feed and strengthen your locks are biotin, vitamins A and E, pantothenic acid and inositol.

Also look for products containing organic peas sprout extract, which studies have shown to help with hair thinning and temporary hair loss. Try Revucell Organics Hair Growth Therapy -- Revitalizing Shampoo, Rejuvenating Scalp Serum and Volumizing Conditions, which are organic and vegan, and 100 percent drug-free.

Swelling is a result of fluid build-up between our cells when our lymphatic system is overwhelmed and can't effectively do its job -- which is to move around waste from our cells.

It's common and can be severe and pervasive after physical blunt trauma and surgery --especially plastic surgery, including face lifts and tummy tucks, and breast cancer mastectomy when lymph nodes under an armpit are often removed. The best treatment for swelling, which many surgeons refer, is MLD massage: Manual Lymphatic Drainage.

After a horse accident landed me in the trauma ER and serious injuries caused serious swelling, MLD massage worked liked magic with immediate visible results, under the experienced and gentle hands of Certified Lymphedema Therapist and Board Certified Massage Therapist Kathleen Lisson, CMT, CLT of Solace Massage & Mindfulness.

"Your body has to move to prevent serious swelling, which is why you're made to get up and move right after surgery," Lisson explains. "When you're debilitated or in serious trauma pain and not moving around, it means your lymphatic system can't move waste around, causing the intercellular fluid build-up."

MLD massage is very light touch with super gentle motions to get the fluid moving and absorbed. It also stimulates the parasympathetic system that helps us rest and digest (the opposite of the sympathetic system, which drives adrenaline for fight or flight.

"MLD is very calming, and has an additional somewhat metaphysical affect that helps nurture and relax our traumatized spirit as well as our body, and soothe our mind. People often fall asleep on the table, and that means it's working inside as well as out," said Lisson as I gently nodded off.

It's a known fact that our bodies need sleep to heal -- for our body and brain's ability to function, and also for healthy hair and skin. But did you know that our pillows are typically a gross ecosystem of dust mites, bacteria, pollutants, allergens and fungi, that all thrive on our hot sweaty pillows as we sleep -- and also suck our night cream and natural essential oils from our face.

I'd heard of The Night Pillow that claims to repel allergens, stimulate melatonin, prevent hair loss with its special Trisilk silky material surface, provide optimal moisture levels through the night for healthier, shinier hair, and hydrate skin cells to refine wrinkle. The Night Pillow technology also claims to hydrate cells to minimize and refine wrinkles, prevent breakouts, and even improve the effectiveness of face creams.

I was dubious. I tried it. I'm sleeping better. My hair is shinier, my face is smoother -- and I'm now a convert.