Teeth & Ear Care

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When we talk about health there is a tendency to think of physical illness and heading to the local doctor. But health encompasses much more than just what a doctor can do to serve your ailments. With that in mind, we are going to give a rundown here of some of the other health issues that you should make sure you are getting checked out for the greater benefit of your overall health.

Teeth

First of all, let’s discuss your teeth. You spend parts of your day brushing them, flossing them and all the other daily rituals surrounding teeth. However, how often do you ask yourself about how your teeth are? While the routine of cleaning your teeth is vital to their health, there are also other parts of dental hygiene that we should all be doing. For starters, it is important to make sure you are keeping up appearances with your dentist with a regular six-month appointment.

Outside of the dental surgery, there are other things that you should be doing, especially if you have concerns about the health of your teeth. Limiting acidic drinks and sugary snacks will benefit your teeth greatly and work in a complementary way with the previously daily routine. Your dental regime should consist of at least two thorough brushes and a floss.

Finally, when it comes to teeth, you should make sure you do everything you can to protect them. People who take part in competitive sports might want to consider wearing a mouth guard and everyone should avoid using your teeth for anything other than chewing food. That means loosening bottle caps, etc.

Hearing

Another part of our general health that we don’t always pay full attention to is the delicacy of our hearing. It might have been a while since your last hearing test and so that should be top of your agenda if that is the case. As we get older our hearing naturally deteriorates and we need to make sure we are taking full advantage of the medical professionals who specialize in this field of expertise. You can learn more about hearing tests before getting one so that you are confident of what to expect.

There are some methods that you can employ to look after your hearing such as wearing ear protection in noisy environments like when using a lawnmower or in a workplace where heavy machinery is being operated. Avoid listening to loud music through headphones for extended periods of time. Also, maintain good ear hygiene using some of the many products on the market designed for this purpose.

These are just two parts of your body that need your attention and there are many more that could be discussed. From your eyes to your joints and beyond there are medical professionals to seek advice from and maintenance that you need to ensure you are doing. Your health is the most important part of your life, so keep it in check for a good time.


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Keeping Your Mind Young

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As a society, we’re all obsessed with youth, and with looking and feeling young. We use face creams to keep our skin youthful and soft. We drink water to try to keep ourselves healthy and our organs running at their best. We exercise to keep ourselves physically fit and to boost our circulation. Life seems so much easier when you are younger, and everything works properly, and we’re keen to keep it going for as long as we can. Even as early as our twenties, we’re starting to think about how to prevent wrinkles and aging.

But, we rarely worry about keeping our minds young. We assume that we’ve got decades before that’s something to worry about and fail to realize that by then it might be too late. Neurology will be able to help, but it’s much easier to make changes now that will help to keep your mind young in the future.

Use Your Opposite Hand

The best way to keep your mind young is to use it more and to use parts of it that you don’t usually. As children, we’re always learning and pushing our brains. They’re getting a workout every day. Then, as adults, we stick to what we know. Parts of our minds lay stagnant and unused, leading to decay.

An incredibly easy thing that you can do to challenge your brain in your day to day life is doing things with the opposite hand. Write with your opposite hand, hold your cutlery the other way around and try to rest your dominant hand when you can.

Try New Things

Trying new hobbies can be a fun way to keep your mind young. Every time you do something new, you are using a different part of your brain. Have a go at new hobbies, go to different places and try things that you’ve never done before.

Learn a Language

The language center of our brains is one that many of us rarely use. While you are young, you learn new words every day. Your vocabulary is constantly growing. Then as you get older, you just start to forget them. Reading, and having varied and interesting conversations can help a lot but learning a new language is the ultimate workout for that part of your brain.

Improve Your Diet

Your diet doesn’t just affect your body. It also has an impact on your mind. Eating healthy and getting all of the right vitamins and minerals can boost your brain power and those that regularly eat oily fish are less likely to develop cognitive impairment and dementia as they age.

Drink Less Alcohol

Drinking too much alcohol over a long period is one of the worst things that you can do for your mind and can lead to premature aging both mentally and physically. Try to limit drinking to a few units a week on only two or three evenings.

Avoid Loneliness

Loneliness is a crucial cause of mental health issues. Being lonely is a common problem as we age, and over time it can lead to increased risk of dementia, depression and even reduced life expectancy.

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The Importance Of A Strong Circle

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When it comes to wellness, most people completely forget that one of the most important tools in the bag is a good, supportive circle of people who love you and want to help you to get well again. When you’re in a crisis, the last thing you want to do is feel like a burden on others, so asking for help isn’t always the priority. The thing is, regular contact with family and friends can make you feel distracted from the pain that is going on in your own life, or it can mean that you have a good sounding board to get the support you need for your own issues.

The problem with a lot of mental health issues is that they make you think that you have no one to rely on, when in fact, you have a waiting circle of family and friends who want to know how you are doing and how they can help you. If you are suffering with depression and anxiety, these are the people that can make sure you’re not alone enough to feel so low there’s no way back. If you are suffering through the pain of addiction, these are the people who will be there for you with the information you need, such as Medication-Assisted Treatment: Fact vs Fiction, to help you to get the right treatment that you need. You need a strong, lasting circle to enrich your life and make you feel like you have something to live for. Friends and family around you make you feel good about yourself - even indirectly, and if you are struggling to recognize who is a good friend in your life, then think about these traits:

  • You respect, like and trust them, and they feel the same way about you.

  • They accept you the way you are. If you’re suffering depression, they’re there just to sit in silence with because they know that is what you need from them at that moment.

  • They will listen to you and share with you, whether good or bad.

  • They keep your confidence and trust you to keep theirs, too.

  • They will allow you to feel your emotions and not judge you for them, criticize you for them or make you feel like your feelings are not valid.

  • A good friend will give you the best advice - when you ask for it - and will assist you in taking the right action to feel better about yourself.

  • Will allow you to help them when they need it.

  • You look forward to being with them, but you’re not obsessed about it

  • Will never take advantage of you.

Not everyone in your circle will meet all of your emotional needs, but you can have a group, a solid circle of people who will all in some way make you feel like you want to be alive. They will appreciate you for your quirks and the way that you love them, and you’ll appreciate their support and friendship and the ability to make you smile when you don’t feel there’s anything to smile about. Looking after yourself means surrounding yourself with people who make you want to be better than you are. Making a list of the people that you feel close to in life can really help you to be a better, happier person because you can see on paper who you have that loves you in every avenue of your existence.

You should be able to rely on the people in your life for support and having a network of people who want to be with you and make you feel like a good person is important for your recovery. Emotional health and mental health are often fragile in those with depression and addiction, and if you know that you have a strong group of people who will always believe in you, even when you do let them down, you are lucky. You won’t always let others down, but it happens - in the same way that they may let you down. Your life can be a happier, more enjoyable thing to live when you have the right people making it worthwhile for you. Social relationships play a very important role in the quality of life that we achieve.


Life is a gift, and friends are the ribbons and bows on top that make us feel fulfilled. Making your heart feel full is easy, when you have a group of people around you who love you very much.

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Low On Energy? 3 Possible Causes To Explore

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Feeling low on energy is always difficult to cope with. You otherwise feel well and like yourself, but your energy reserves seem to be permanently depleted, making even mundane, simple tasks feel as if they require a Herculean effort. For most people, low energy is an acute issue that naturally resolves itself, but for some, the problem can become more long-term.

If you have been feeling low on energy and struggling to go through your normal daily routine for a while, there are three possible causes that you may want to investigate further, starting with…

Thyroid issues

The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in your neck and, in some people, it can cause issues. Some people experience an overactive thyroid while, for others, the issue is underactivity, with the latter more likely to cause symptoms of low energy.

Thankfully, if you do have an underactive or overactive thyroid, management is relatively simple. Both conditions are well understood, there is a range of medications that can produce favorable results, and specialists such as the likes of RedRiver Health and Wellness Center can ensure you’re feeling back to your best in no time.

If you believe thyroid issues are the cause of your low energy, speak with your primary care physician for further advice.


Vitamin deficiencies

While any vitamin deficiency can cause low energy, deficiencies in vitamin B12 and vitamin D are usually the prime suspects. With most vitamins, a balanced diet is usually sufficient to ensure that our levels are where they should be. However, some people cannot absorb B12 effectively due to a condition called pernicious anemia, and vitamin D is primarily obtained through sunlight exposure rather than diet - so even someone eating a perfect, nutritious diet could still find themselves experiencing deficiencies.

As you might expect, the treatment for these deficiencies is supplementation. Vitamin D deficiencies tend to respond well to oral supplementation, but B12 can be trickier, especially when pernicious anemia is present - so always speak to your doctor to confirm the diagnosis and obtain further advice if you suspect your low energy is caused by a vitamin deficiency.


Stress

Some people experience stress as a jolt of energy, feeling as if their mind and body are constantly whirring. However, stress can cause exactly the opposite issue; a complete lack of energy that no amount of sleep, exercise, or good nutrition seems to be able to cure.

Unfortunately, stress is a difficult condition to manage, and many people experience numerous flares over the course of their lives. You may find that taking some time off from work, indulging in self-care, and other simple remedies can help alleviate the condition. However, if simple at-home treatments do not appear to be making a significant difference, do take the time to speak to your doctor for further advice.


In conclusion…

It’s important to note that low energy is not just a fact of life. If you’ve found that your get up and go has got up and gone, it’s well worth considering the possibilities above when seeking a resolution to this all-too-common health issue.


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5 Ways To Feel Good This Winter

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As much as we’d all love to feel incredible at all times, this isn’t always the case. In fact, you may actually find that it’s just hard for you to feel good at all. When the weather gets a little harsher and the nights are darker, you really aren’t always that motivated to feel good. You lack energy, you’re tired, you feel gross, and it can be tough. But it’s just so important for you to remember that this can be changed and that your mental state really doesn’t have to be this way. Instead, you can work on turning your mind around, on improving how you feel, and boosting your wellness efforts to just feel fantastic.

Let’s take a look at five simple ways that you can work on this today.

1. Pamper Yourself

To start with, something that always works to make you feel good, is to have a good old-fashioned pampering session. Because when you’re able to pamper yourself, you’re going to find that it’s much easier for you to lift your spirits and start to feel incredible. So run a bath, put on a mask, give yourself a manicure - pamper away!

2. Nourish Your Body

But at the same time, what you put into your body can be just as effective as what you put on it. Feeling lethargic and low in energy? Maybe you’re eating too much junk? If you nourish your body with fruits and veggies and whole foods, you’ll find that you start to feel so much better.

3. Take A Break

Now, if one of the reasons that you know you’re not feeling all that good, is because you’re overworked and overwhelmed, then you’re going to need to do something about that and fast. You need to slow down. So take a break. Do what you can to distance yourself from whatever’s stressing you out and don’t put too much pressure on yourself because this will only ever make things harder for you.

4. Be Conscious Of Your Mood

It’s always going to be incredibly important for you to be aware of your mind and your moods at all time. If you are more present, then you’ll have a much better chance of stopping yourself when you start to feel a little off. Or at least pinpoint the problem and here, you can then work on a few simple things to be happy right away. So when you notice your mood slipping, change it.

5. Do Something Fun, Just Because

And then finally, just go crazy! Don’t beat yourself up all the time or be in your head. Live a little. Go for an impromptu dinner. Travel. Go visit family. Just so something fun, because you can. Don’t let yourself get all caught up in the stresses of life all the time. Instead, let yourself have a bit of fun because that’s what life is all about! So make sure that you’re having a bit of fun this winter!


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4 Ways To Rebuild Your Health After You've Quit Smoking

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So, you’ve quit smoking? Congratulations!

Quitting can be difficult because you’ve got to fight the cravings that come with it, as well as breaking a habit of a lifetime. No matter whether you smoked for a short while, or you’ve finally managed to kick the habit of over 20 years, there can be significant damage made because of this. After you’ve quit smoking, it’s important to rebuild your health, so here are some tips and tricks on what you can do.


Eat a healthier diet

Smoking can quickly deteriorate your health and more often than not, smokers tend to eat a more unhealthy diet because of the changes smoking causes to the tastebuds. Now that you’ve quit smoking, introducing a healthier diet will help your body rejuvenate. Not only that, many people find that when they quit smoking, they put on weight due to needing to keep their hands and mouths busy. Eat a healthier diet for the nutrients and to keep your waistline down!

Get yourself checked out

During the time that you were smoking it’s possible that it caused some sort of damage to your organs. Your heart and lungs are likely to be the main organs that have been affected, so it might be worth asking your GP for a heart and lung scan to check whether you’ve caused any long lasting problems. The sooner you find these problems, the more likely you are to be able to treat them.

Do a deep clean

If you smoked in your house or your car then it might be time to do a deep clean. Particles and chemicals from cigarettes can linger in soft furnishings such as sofas and rugs, and they can also linger in air conditioning filters. Doing a deep clean of your home and car will ensure that you’re not exposing yourself to any dangerous toxins, and also getting rid of any smoke smells which could tempt you back into that nasty habit.

Begin a new exercise regime

Finally, smoking deteriorates the organs and makes them weaker, so when you’ve quit smoking it’s important to put a solid exercise regime in place so that your organs can grow stronger and help prolong your life.



Quitting smoking is a fantastic achievement, so why not boost your quality of life by doing these four things so that you can rebuild your health!

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Does Depression Have A Physical Cause?

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Depression is classed as a psychiatric illness, and rightly so. For the majority of sufferers, chronic depression is caused by an imbalance of chemicals in their brain. This causes a mood disorder, with the most common symptom being a persistently low mood and feelings of anhedonia.

While depression awareness has risen over the past few years, it’s still a relatively misunderstood and misused term. Perhaps the biggest misconception is that depression is only caused by a few wonky hormones and unbalanced brain chemistry - when it can actually have a very physical root.

Depression As A Physical Ailment

The reason that depression is so often treated as a purely mental thing is that its primary symptoms are mental. That’s what makes it a mental illness, after all. While there are occasionally physical symptoms of depression, these tend to be found in more advanced cases, and are often overridden by the impact the illness has on mood.

So it’s easy to see why the physical causes of depression are overlooked. If you were to immediately jump to looking for physical causes of depression, then it’s akin to hearing hoofbeats and immediately assuming it’s zebras rather than the far-more-likely horses.

But sometimes, it might just be zebras after all.

Depression As A Symptom

Depression is not always an illness that is self-contained and in and of itself; it can sometimes be a symptom of physical health conditions. Most commonly, depression is a symptom of deficiency.

This makes sense. If your system is deficient in something, then it’s not going to be able to run on full power. Something has to give; and it’s far easier for your body to prioritize physical health over mental health, so depression is the end result. 

There are a variety of different deficiencies that can lead to depression. Vitamin B12 deficiency is often associated with the condition; the same is true of Vitamin D. Then there are minerals such as calcium, with hypocalcemia listing depression as one of its most common symptoms. 

These deficiencies are relatively easy to treat when you know you have them. A calcium supplement can change your life for the better in a variety of ways with very little in exchange; AlgaeCal side effects are next to non-existent, and it’s a great boost of calcium. The same is true of B12 and D vitamin supplements; next to no side effects, but plenty to be gained from taking them. 

How Do You Find Out If You Have A Deficiency

If you suspect a physical cause for your depressive issues, then the only way to be sure if this is the case is through a blood test to ensure you’re getting what you need from your diet. Express your concern to your doctor and they should order one for you.

Depression is a terrible illness that can blight lives, which is why investigating potential physical causes should be part of the diagnostic process. However, it’s often overlooked, despite the fact the medical link is well known and established. There is no harm in having a blood test just to check and see if something is amiss, so press your doctor until you are furnished with the information you need.

Now that we have talked about some of the symptoms and onsets to depression, there are many ways for you to get started on the road to recovery. The first step would be speaking with a clinician who is a specialist in helping people suffering from the many symptoms depression can cause. You can learn more about depression at thrivetalk.com.

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Stepping Stones of Mental Recovery

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When we receive a physical injury after an accident, there are logical steps to help us through. For one, we know to visit our doctors for treatment as soon as possible. The hope being that they can lead us to a (hopefully) quick recovery.

Alongside that, there are legal avenues we can take. These help us afford the costs of medical care, and can go a long way towards recovery. There are plenty of physical injury lawyers out there who can help. Even those suffering from burns and other less common injuries can call for an appointment with a lawyer who could see justice done. Again, this is a step most of us know to take in cases like these.

What you might not expect is that physical injuries aren’t merely physical. Often, accidents and injuries also have unexpected mental repercussions. What’s worse, these could impact your life far more than a broken leg. But, it doesn’t need to be that way. By preparing for matters like these, you can set some logical steps in place for tackling these issues as well. All you need to do is consider risks like the following.


Treatment-related stress

Even if compensation can cover costs, recovery causes stress. For one, an injury could mean leaving your routine. You’d also need to embark on all types of stressful situations- such as intense hospital appointments. In some cases, you may even need to stay in hospital. That can cause undue amounts of stress, especially if you don’t look after your mental health here. The best way of getting around this would be to let others help. Instead of getting yourself to and from appointments, let a friend drive you. Put a positive slant on things by going out for coffee afterward. It’s a small step, but it’ll make a huge difference.


Appearance anxiety

In some incidences, accidents can leave us with long lasting scars which may alter our appearance. That can lead to feelings of anxiety. You may become nervous to leave the house because of how you look. However there are many options from therapy to consulting a doctor for reconstructive surgery (if needed). Either way, finding a solution for you can help to get you comfortable in your skin again.


Fear you can’t face

Much like anxiety, fear can lead to panic attacks and depression. There’s a chance you’ll be fearful of whatever caused your accident. Those who have been injured on the road may struggle to get driving again. Those who were involved in a fire may feel a tightening of the chest at the sight of flames. The sooner you face those fears, the sooner you may find you can move forward. Bear in mind that, in extreme cases, it would be best to only face fears with the help of a professional. Still, determination here could help you get back to your old life.

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Keeping Yourself in the Best Health

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With the summer going as well as it’s going at the moment, the last thing you want to be dealing with is your health. Even if you feel as though you’re in perfect health, we all know that things can change in a heartbeat. What we don’t realize is that a lot of the time, we’re the reason why our bodies cry out for help. We all want to keep ourselves in the best health, but we’re not always actively doing things that would allow for this to happen. Instead, we’re making mistakes left, right and center, and these are the mistakes that we want to try and correct in this post.

No one likes being ill, in pain, or just generally feeling down, so have a read of the tips below, and see if you can keep yourself in the best health.

Taking A Holistic Approach

You shouldn’t just be thinking about your diet and your fitness here, you need to think about your health in general if you want to stay in top form. Of course, your diet and fitness levels are going to play a big part in your level of health, so making sure that you’re staying on top of things all of the time is obviously going to benefit you. That’s not to say that a cheeky cheat day once or twice a week is going to kill you. But, to take a holistic approach, you need to think about things such as your mental health, and how that can affect your general well-being. If you’re someone who always feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, and you’re always out and about rushing around, then take some time to fully relax. Take away all of the pressures of life, and do something for you. Whether it be going for a walk, reading a book, or practicing meditation. As long as you’re focusing on you, rather than just your health, you’re going to have a much better chance of keeping yourself in the best health.

Injury Aftercare

I want to talk about this because it’s something that a lot of people seem to struggle with. Injury aftercare is so important if you want to keep yourself in the best health. All of those things that your doctor tells you to do that you usually ignore, follow! Focus on rest and relaxation, and making sure you’re keeping up with the medical aftercare side of things. Check out things such as tegaderm film if you have a wound, and always practice good personal hygiene. When people suffer a big injury, it’s so easy for everything to fall apart if proper aftercare doesn’t happen. Plus, having an injury that impacts your life for a considerable length of time isn’t hard to happen. Something so simple as breaking an arm can have a negative impact for months.

Take Away Negative Factors

Finally, I urge that you take away all of the negatives factors that might be affecting your health. Even the people you hang around with could be seen as a negative factor. If they’re always leading you astray, eating bad, getting into bad situations, it just isn’t going to benefit you. Obviously, any negative habits that you have should also be eradicated.

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Squashing The Addictions Once And For All

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I get it, we can all find ourselves getting into bad habits when it comes to general things in life. Our lifestyle can change from one day to the next and there can be a lot of deciding factors in it. We now live in a world where technology and answers are at our fingertips, where things are more readily available to us than ever before, and with advancements in all sorts of ways, bad habits can develop. But these addictions don’t need to take over our lives.

I wanted to share with you some of the common addictions we can all face at some point,  and hopefully give you some comfort and direction on how to overcome them once and for all.

Are you addicted to drinking alcohol?

Alcohol can be the biggest issue some of us face, and it is because the addiction to it can vary so much. You have those people who just need that glass of wine at the end of each day. You have the people that can’t be out socially without a drink, and then you have the people that can’t get out of bed without a drink. All different version of addiction, but each one of them need to be handled, albeit differently. Often alcohol can be the answer after a tough day or when you are going through a tough time. But it is also known as a depressive and it can make things worse in your mind, not better. If you do think you have an issue, speak to someone regarding it.

Do you smoke more frequently?

Smoking is a bad habit that can really affect our health. It doesn't matter whether you smoke one cigarette a day or fifty, the chance of getting cancer is high because of it. Many people looking to kick the habit have switched over to vaping. Websites like License to Vape reviews different options for you, so it might be worth doing some research. You could also speak to health professionals about other methods available to you, but often just deciding to stop is the biggest change you can make.

Do you work too hard?

Would you believe me if I said there was an addiction to work and you could be struggling with it? Workaholism is a real thing, believe it or not. People are working harder than ever, chasing the big pay brackets and the difference in lifestyle it can make. But it can also be detrimental to your health if you don’t get enough rest. Try and ensure that you take time away from work every now and again. Enjoy annual leave and don’t overdo it when you don’t need to. Life's too short.

Are you endlessly scrolling your phone?

Finally, do you find that you are on your smartphone more than you should be? There is a real addiction to your phone and the endless scrolling you can do on social media. Perhaps not even taking in what your eyes are viewing. If you think you spend more time on Instagram than you do with your family, it is time to put the phone down and enjoy the art of conversation.

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