Category Archives: Health

Health, Life, Lifestyle, Parenting

An Individual Approach: Helping Your Teen With Image Issues

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If you remember back to when you were a teenager, low self-esteem probably was a big part of your life. So many people don’t feel confident in themselves. And it’s incredibly heartbreaking when your own flesh and blood view themselves as inadequate. Teenagers can have image issues, as we all do. But what can we do to help our teenagers develop more confidence, but also fix the deep-rooted psychological issues?

Encourage Role Models of All Sizes and Aesthetics 

After you address what the issue is, you can help to encourage a wider variety of solutions. When your child has image issues relating to something aesthetic, sometimes these things can be fixed. For example, something like problems with their teeth can be easily remedied with SmilePath clear aligners instead of braces. But we have to remember that insecurity stems from feeling alone or singled out. When we start to highlight that they are not alone, and there are others who are similar, we can start to show that there isn’t a single ideal of what we want to look like. In other words, nobody is perfect.

Consider the Impact of Social Media

If you were lucky enough to escape social media until your late twenties, you might not realize the impact it is having on your child. Social media has shown that it can impact how young women and men see their bodies. There’s plenty of debate around the negativity associated with social media. And with regards to body image, you’ve got to remember that social media is a rabbit hole of negativity, especially when it comes to imagery.

Look at Your Own Insecurities 

Our children learn, consciously and subconsciously, from ourselves. We have to be open and honest about how we feel about ourselves. And this is difficult, but it provides a perfect template for your child. Because you might think you are the only person experiencing issues, and when you start to see that your teenager is beginning to feel insecure about how they look, you can share your insecurities and start open and honest conversations. This will help them to feel less intimidated when it comes to talking about their own feelings. But also remember that you have to practice what you preach. We will always pass on our emotions to those closest to us. And if our children have body image issues, we will need to look at ourselves as well.

Focus on Body Positivity

Body neutrality and body positivity is the baseline. And it is difficult to go from negative perceptions of oneself to the positive. But there are support groups that can help, and it’s so important to find those that offer a supportive space for people who struggle to love themselves. Learning to raise a happy child is not just about giving them love, but it’s about making them realize that everybody is individual. When people are tainted with a negative view of themselves, it colors their entire life. But there are ways for you to help.

Going Healthy, Health, Life, Tips

What to do when you have a chronic toothache

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A toothache is a pain like none other. It can often start as a dull sensation and gradually become one of the worst pains you may have ever experienced. Unfortunately, many things can cause a toothache, from getting food stuck between teeth to more internal problems like shifting teeth. Whatever the cause, there are a few ways you can manage the pain as soon as it hits. If you’re experiencing a toothache, you’ll likely need some emergency toothache relief, so you’ll certainly need some tips!

Take some pain medicine

It may seem obvious, but not even people take pain medication when experiencing a toothache. This ache is just like any other ache in your body, and it can be treated the same way. By taking some painkillers, the pain of a toothache should start to fade in a matter of minutes. Most painkiller packaging will say that you can begin to feel the painkiller’s effects after 20 minutes or so, but you can sometimes the results more quickly. After a few hours, you can then take another dose of your preferred painkiller to keep the pain at bay.

Clean your mouth

It’s common for food to be the leading cause of toothache. Even if we have no visible gaps in our teeth, food can still work its way between teeth and get stuck. The gums in our mouths can then react to this food, causing inflammation and pain. Although it might be a little sore, brushing your teeth can dislodge any food that may be stuck. If this happens, after a few minutes, the swelling will begin to go down, and the pain will ease. You will probably want to rinse your mouth a few times to ensure that any remanence of food or bacteria is removed. You can do this with an antibacterial mouthwash or a saltwater rinse. If you can feel something that is lodged between teeth and brushing can’t remove it, trying using a toothpick. You may be able to wiggle something out between your teeth. Remember to be careful though, you don’t want to push anything deeper into the teeth. Alternatively, use clean tweezers to try and dislodge anything.

Watch what you eat

The last thing you need to be eating is anything chewy, crunchie, or hard. This can easily irritate a sore tooth as well as cause even more pain. Think of a bruise, the more you press it, the more it hurts. The same logic applies to a toothache. The more pressure you add to a sore tooth and the more you make it work, the more painful it can become. The area can become more inflamed, and the pain can begin to travel further down the tooth, creating a more significant wound. Ideally, you would eat soft foods or stick to liquid foods, like soup. This eases the pressure on any tooth. If toothache occurs because of a cavity, any tough food can make it worse, especially chewy sweets. Stick to the foods your teeth can cope with to save yourself endless pain.

Garlic has a powerful compound called allicin which is actually an antibacterial property. Eating foods with garlic can clean the mouth and rid of any infection that may be brewing. You could even eat it raw for maximum benefit, although it may give your smelly breath.

Embrace cold

There are two ways that you can embrace the cold when it comes to toothache. Firstly, you can use a cold compress to help reduce the swelling, easing pain. With a small ice pack or even a cold compress, you can hold down on your tooth, reducing inflammation. For example, say you have a toothache because of a wisdom tooth, you could hold a small ice pack to the bottom of your cheek and feel the pain ease. It may take some time for the cooling effects to work, but they will. Secondly, you can also embrace the cold by drinking ice cold water. The almost freezing water can almost numb part of your mouth so that you won’t experience too much pain. This also has the added benefit of keeping you hydrated, which can also combat pain as your body is feeling prepared for anything.

If your toothache persists and lasts for several days, you will need to see a dentist. You could have an infection underneath the tooth, or teeth could be grinding together and wearing each other down. Whatever the cause, a dentist will be able to take a better look inside your mouth and try to resolve the problem.

Going Healthy, Health, Life, Tips

4 Ways to Relieve Rheumatoid Pain

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Rheumatology is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and therapy of all rheumatoid conditions. In this field, rheumatologists are doctors and will have specialist knowledge of a variety of rheumatoid conditions concerning their patients.

Some common rheumatic disorders include rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, lupus, Sjogren’s syndrome, ankylosing spondylitis, scleroderma, and gout, to name some of them.

This article will examine four ways in which we can relieve the pain from such conditions.

Medication

The DMARDs most often prescribed by rheumatologists to treat rheumatoid arthritis will include methotrexate, leflunomide, sulfasalazine, and hydroxychloroquine. Their purpose is to slow down the progression of rheumatoid arthritis, which saves the tissues and joints from permanent damage. This is no prevention as such, just the ability to slow the condition down with medication and to relieve it in other ways. Using the medication to slow things is relief to many sufferers and avoids them experiencing the worst symptoms for as long as possible.

Rheumatologists will prescribe prescription medicines and over-the-counter ones can be obtained for mild pain relief.

Compress

Warm, moist compresses can be used to loosen up stiff joints. Conversely, an ice pack can be used on inflamed joints. In addition, patients may find that a massage helps them. All these treatments are quick and easy to apply and will provide relief for the milder symptoms. In more severe cases, pain relief will be the best relief.

In addition to the compress, which is relaxing, it is also important to relax mentally and avoid becoming stressed, as this is one sure way of making a rheumatoid condition worse.

Diet

Eating a healthy and balanced diet can help with all rheumatoid conditions.

Continuing with Rheumatoid arthritis as the example, foods that should be avoided include fatty ones that are full of omega-6 fatty acids, meats that are fried, grilled, or boiled, gluten, sugars and refined carbohydrates, preservatives and anything that enhances flavour, and of course alcohol.

The best fruits to eat that will help with rheumatoid arthritis are tart cherries, red raspberries, watermelon, grapes, and avocado. In the case of the cherries, their dark red colour is indicative of them having powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties from their flavonoid anthocyanin.

Although diet is not a cure, it can certainly create a relief. Not only by eating foods that help with the inflammation that results from rheumatoid conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, but by avoiding foods that exacerbate the condition. As with anything eaten, moderation of the worst kinds of foods will help almost as much as their avoidance altogether.

Exercise

As with everything that is good for you, a good diet should also be combined with regular exercise. Contrary to what might seem logical, exercise will make joints better rather than worse. Even in pain, certain exercises can still be carried out that will help. A rheumatologist or physiotherapist will be able to advise on some good ones that are suited to a certain condition.

Exercising together is a good way of forming a support group of people who are in the same situation, who can talk over their complaints and what works best for them in terms of relief. There is nothing like receiving first-hand knowledge and support from a fellow sufferer who knows just how it is to live with the condition. This is on top of the professional health care that will hopefully already be being received from a rheumatologist. There is plenty of help for those who take the time and trouble to seek it out. Also, it is knowing about where to turn for help. A local GP can be the best place to start, as they can then make a referral to a specialist.

So, four ways to obtain relief from rheumatoid conditions. Medication where prescribed, compressions to provide much relief, a sensible diet to provide further relief and not worsen symptoms, and exercise to keep the joints moving.