Remedicated

We all have bad days sometimes.  It’s only natural to feel some stress when life events start piling up.  But when does normal stress become a health concern?  And what are the long-term health effects of chronic stress?

Constant physical or emotional stress can have a very negative effect on your overall health.  The immune system tends to break down and provide less effective protection against illness when under stress, meaning that you get sick more often and stay sick longer than someone who isn’t chronically stressed.

If you’re under constant stress, you may experience a wide range of physical conditions.  Sleeping problems, sudden pronounced weight loss or gain, stomach pain, increased blood pressure, decreased libido, irritability, and loss of concentration can all accompany a long period of stress.

The reason that chronic stress causes disease is that our bodies are built to respond quickly to situations that cause fear, stress, or pain.  The “fight or flight” response that gets us through the most difficult situations releases stress hormones that allow us to react quickly.  When the stress becomes long-term, our bodies become overloaded with these hormones, which eventually begin to cause damage.

Stress has been shown to be strongly linked to heart disease and type 2 diabetes.  Some doctors even believe that stress plays a part in causing cancer, although that connection is debatable.

To reduce the possible health risks of stress, do your best to eliminate the causes of tension in your life.  Eating a balanced diet and getting daily exercise can go a long way toward keeping you calm, balanced, and healthy.  If you feel stress overwhelming you, taking a vacation or speaking to a counselor or therapist can also greatly help your health.

The connection between mental and physical health is often overlooked, but it’s a strong connection that we should all be aware of.  Keeping your stress levels down and your outlook positive may do wonders for your physical health now and in the future.

Anyone who has ever had a migraine knows that the pain is unlike any other type of pain. A migraine can last for many hours or even days, and it often includes other physical symptoms. Dizziness, vision disturbances, and sensitivity to light and sound are common symptoms that accompany migraines.

There are plenty of prescription drugs to control migraines, but most of them require you to take them every day, whether you have a headache or not. For migraine sufferers who try to avoid excess medications, this option doesn’t seem like the wisest way to manage migraines. There are more natural ways to deal with the agony of migraines - and they don’t involve daily injections or mountains of pills.

1. Keep a journal of the foods you eat and your migraine symptoms. You may find a correlation between certain foods and migraines. Some of the most common offenders: chocolate, red wine, caffeine, and artificial sweeteners.

2. For some people, caffeine is a trigger. For others, it’s a treatment. When you feel a migraine creeping up on you, try drinking a cup of coffee or a caffeinated soda. You may feel the pain receding.

3. When the migraine has already started to take hold of you, try to get to a dark and quiet place as soon as possible. Put in earplugs, cover your eyes so no light reaches your face, and lie down. The absence of sound and light works wonders for many migraine sufferers. A nap may also help, so if you find yourself drifting off in the dark don’t fight it!

4. See a dentist. Some migraines are actually a result of temporomandibular jaw (TMJ) disorder.

5. Ginger, taken raw, in a tea, or even in cookie form, may help arrest the increase of migraine pain once a headache has begun.

6. Relax. Many headaches are caused by tension. If you are prone to migraines, tense facial muscles can bring on one of the painful episodes.

Experimentation is necessary when you’re finding a migraine treatment that works for you. Every sufferer is different, and every migraine is different. Keeping records of your symptoms can help you to figure out exactly what works best for you.

You’ve read about the weirdest home remedies, and you know about some of the strangest diseases to plague humankind. But the positively implausible treatments of yesteryear deserve a mention also. Here are just a few bizarre outdated home remedies that are virtually guaranteed not to work. These are all real folk remedies that have been used at one time or another. (In case you’re wondering, we don’t endorse or condone the actual use of any of these treatments.)

1. For earaches, de-shell a snail and put the snail’s “froth” in your ears. (If anyone knows how to harvest snail froth, please leave a comment. We’re dying of curiosity.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Feeling sluggish and sleepy after a long night? Are your eyes becoming heavy-lidded in your morning meeting? Instead of turning to coffee or candy for a quick pick-me-up (and subsequent energy crash), why not try adjusting your diet? By eating a balanced diet with energy-giving foods every day, you can level out your energy levels and smooth those hills and valleys.
Read the rest of this entry »

You’ve probably used the phrase “pain in the neck” many times in your life. Most of us use it in a humorous way, but actual neck pain is nothing to laugh about. Neck pain caused by injury, bad posture, or a poor sleeping position can profoundly affect your quality of life.

Don’t be tempted to reach for the over-the-counter pain relievers. While medications may treat your pain, they’re only a temporary fix. As soon as the medicine wears off, your pain will come back - and you’ll be right back where you started.

For a more long-lasting and effective treatment, treat the source of the pain. A doctor or chiropractor should give you the go-ahead before you try any of these home remedies for neck pain.

1. Massage. May cases of neck pain are due to stress, strain, or overuse. An expert massage can loosen tight muscles and relieve inflammation in the neck and shoulders, easing your pain.

2. Acupuncture. This ancient Eastern remedy is still feared by some Westerners, but it’s nothing to shy away from. Acupuncture is painless and effective and can give you almost instant pain relief. Qualified practitioners use ancient techniques to insert needles at specific points to ease pain and help you feel better overall.

3. Yoga. Yoga may help immediately with a stiff neck by encouraging you to loosen up. But it’s even more helpful in the long term. By building core strength and increasing your flexibility, yoga can prevent future neck strain. And you don’t even have to contort yourself in strange postures - just a few simple yoga positions can get you on your way to a stronger and more stable neck.

If your neck pain continues despite your best efforts to relieve it, you may have a serious underlying musculoskeletal problem. When in doubt, it’s always best to see your doctor to rule out a serious condition such as a spinal injury.