Archive for the ‘Alternative Medicine’ Category

Different Stress-related Illnesses That You Should Watch Out For

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Posted 06 Jul 2012 — by admin
Category Alternative Medicine, Diseases and Conditions, Health Procedures

By: Alleluia Reyes

Stress is a very common experience by a lot of people nowadays. As people’s lifestyles have started to become less simple, there are more stressors that each one must handle each and every day. Perhaps because the different stressors have become part of the everyday routines in your life, you have might been so used to it without having realized that this excess amount of stress might harm you because there are a lot of stress-related illnesses. In fact, studies say that fifty percent of medical consultations are suspected to be due to stress-related illnesses.

Stress can either indirectly or directly affect your health. That is why you must pause once in a while, and reflect if your activities at work or in school might already be leading you towards the road to stress-related illnesses. Because a stressful lifestyle is also equivalent to a very unhealthy lifestyle, it has an indirect negative effect to your body’s well-being. People who are very busy have the tendency to have less rest, deprived sleep and no time for exercise and leisure. Furthermore, very busy people resort more to eating in fast foods than preparing their own home-cooked meals. This kind of lifestyle may eventually lead you to stress-related illnesses indirectly.

Stress also can directly cause changes in your bodily reactions that might not be good for your health. When you are stressed, your body physiologically adjusts to be able to cope up with the demands of your condition. Your body tends to release stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline to be able to adapt to the stressful situation. However, the increase in release of these hormones might make your body more prone to stress-related illnesses because of the increase in stimulation that it does to your different organ systems, especially the cardiovascular system.

The following are the most commonly identified stress-related illnesses:

  • Hypertension
  • Coronary artery disease
  • Cerebrovascular accident
  • Asthma
  • Tension headaches
  • Migraine
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Acid peptide disease
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Stomach ulcers
  • Insomnia
  • Sexual dysfunction
  • Irregular menstrual cycles
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Natural Remedies to Back Pain

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Posted 03 May 2012 — by admin
Category Alternative Medicine, Health Procedures, Home Remedies, Keeping Healthy

By: Alleluia Reyes, PTRP

Back pain, either acute or chronic causes much discomfort and may disrupt a person’s functional ability. Many people who complain of back pain also complain that it decreases their productivity at work, with some people even opting to take a day off just to rest their painful backs. If you are experiencing back pain, it will be more practical for you to learn about the natural remedies to back pain so that you will know how to ease yourself even at the comfort of your own home.

Furthermore, you need not purchase many different medications just to relieve your back pain once you have tried the different available natural remedies to back pain. The following is a list of the most effective natural remedies to back pain. Most of these remedies are cost-effective, easily available and as effective as pharmacological treatment.

Back Exercises

There are particular exercises for the back that helps to relieve back pain. These exercises have components that either stretch the tight muscles of your back or strengthen your core muscles. These are both important in maintaining a healthy back. Thus, these exercises are considered as natural remedies to back pain because they can assure that your back muscles have a lesser tendency to experience pain and injury even during activity.

Cold compress

When your back pain is acute, you can apply cold compress for an analgesic effect. You may use ice chips placed in plastic bags and cover it with a thin towel. Applying it on the area that is painful for 5-15 minutes can also be one of the very effective natural remedies to back pain.

Hot compress

This is effective for the chronic types of back pain. Hot compress is one of the natural remedies to back pain because it can provide muscle relaxation to the muscles of your back. It also has a natural soothing effect that can help relieve you from aches and muscle spasms. You can use a heating pad if you have purchased one or you may simply use a towel dipped in hot water. You may apply the hot compress on the affected area for around 20-25 minutes.

Massage

This is one of the natural remedies to back pain that is considered as a favorite to many. Massaging the area that is painful can also relax the muscles and provide immediate relief to the back. Make sure to apply oil or lotion over the skin when massaging the muscles so as to prevent discomfort caused by friction on the skin as you massage the muscles underneath.

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Methods of Coping with Stress in the Workplace

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Posted 02 May 2012 — by admin
Category Alternative Medicine, Keeping Healthy

Coping with stress is very important especially if you think that your workplace is your major stressor. Your job is a big part of your existence that is why this is one aspect of your life that you should be able to handle with positivity despite the hassles and challenges that it brings.

The Workplace as source of stress

Though the workplace is a common source of stressful events, you must make ways of coping with stress so that you can still maintain a feeling of enjoying your job. It is very important to do so because your job productivity, professional relationships and self-fulfillment can be greatly affected by how you feel towards your work.

Another important reason why you should learn ways of coping with stress is for you to be able to prevent its adverse psychological and physical effects. Stress is highly linked to psychological problems such as severe anxiety, mood swings, depression and feelings of worthlessness.

It is also common that people who are stressed also experience physical manifestations such as chronic muscle pains, frequent headaches, gastrointestinal disturbances, breathing difficulties and sleep disturbances.

Management of stress

If stress is not managed immediately, it might even cause you more severe health problems in the long run such as having a weak immune system or having a higher risk for cancers. That is why, if you do not want to reach to a point of having all these manifestations, you should make ways of coping with stress now!

Different people have different ways of coping with stress. This is because a person’s personality and previous life experiences can affect the way a person handles stress. Some people are more tolerant to particular stressors in the workplace while other people may get easily stressed.

If you think you are one of those people who are stressed with your current work situation, you must try to make ways of coping with stress.

The following methods can be effective to help you in coping with stress:

  • Take care of your personal health. By paying close attention to your health, you can make sure that you are physically and emotionally ready to handle any demands of the type of work that you have.
  • Practice proper time management. People who are stressed usually complain of having a lack of time to do a large bulk of work. To prevent this, it might help if you make a priority list of things that you have to do and accomplish each task on your list based on how you prioritized items.
  • Prevent a feeling of being burned out. To do this, you must not neglect the other things that you love to do. You must still take time to do your hobbies for you to be relaxed and be ready to face the challenges of your job for the day.
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Meditation Methods to Cope With Stress

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Posted 31 Jan 2012 — by admin
Category Alternative Medicine, Keeping Healthy

By: Evelyn B. Trinidad

Meditation is a by word in the health profession but most people do not give attention to stress or want to cope with stress. This is simply because they do not know the effects of stress on their health and even if they do, how to cope with stress is foreign to them.  In a study conducted, 60-90% of the reasons why people visit the doctors are stress related.

The study further revealed that stress is related to immune system weakness, skin disorders, cancer, heart attacks, diabetes, insomnia, chronic pain, asthma. It has something to do with headache, backache and depression that may lead to accidents and suicide. It also decreases the number and function of white blood cells. It has been pronounced that meditation is one way to cope with stress.

Deep Breathing or body-scan meditation

Deep breathing meditation is a very good method to cope with stress. It’s an uncomplicated method that requires little effort. It’s done by sitting upright with eyes closed. Then you inhale deeply then exhale. Focus on your breathing. Then shift your attention to your toes and how it feels against the floor.  Stay with that feeling for a while then move to your legs. Do the same with the other parts of your body until your head.

Mantra or focused or transcendental meditation

The primary consideration here is clearing your mind and focusing on an object, mantra or a single thought. A soft music can be helpful during the meditation. Let your attention focus on your body, you will feel where the tension is and let it relax. Begin to say a word.  Doing this helps you cope with stress and you will feel re energized afterwards.

Metta meditation

Is an excellent way to cope with stress. Many negative thoughts about yourself and about others are all that are occupying your mind and these could stress you. Clear your thoughts of negative ones and think positively. Sit upright comfortably and remember a time when you were loved, how you felt about it and stay with the feeling for 15 minutes. In doing so, you are changing the negative thoughts with positive ones.

Mindfulness or depression meditation

This type of meditation helps you to cope with stress or depression as your mind is allowed to wander and not focusing on one thing. This is also the most common technique. It is done by sitting down in one place and watch people come and go. You just watch. The point is, your mind has a lot in it, and just let the thoughts come and go. Don’t dwell on them. The more you are exposed to negative thoughts the lesser the effect it will have on you.

Movement or walking meditation

Sit and close your eyes then rotate your head, the movement relieves and helps you cope with stress. You can also run, walk, and pace while meditating. As you run focus your attention on your movements especially as your feet touches the ground and you can feel the release of tension there. Continue focusing on your feet as you keep experiencing the feeling of your feet hitting the ground.

Empty mind meditation

As the term connotes mean, this is a meditation technique that makes you discard all thoughts from your mind or keep your mind blank let it rest. Find a quiet place where you can relax. Sit down with your legs crossed and start to remove all thoughts from your mind. Stay that way for 15 minutes. You will feel refreshed afterwards.

Visualization meditation

Imagine a peaceful scene with you in it using your mind. If the scene you imagined is the ocean, then you smell, see it through your mind, touch it and listen to the sound of the ocean and feel the breeze of the sea on your skin. Enjoy the moment as you savor the beauty and serenity of the place. This will relax your mind and help you to cope with stress

Meditation techniques have been used for centuries now to help people cope with stress and to promote a healthy body and mind. It has evolved from the simple to the more complex methods as combinations and new techniques were discovered.  Even if there are numerous methods, it does not mean you have to use them all simultaneously. You can use two or just one depending on your needs.

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Anxiety: How to Cope with It

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Posted 01 Jan 2012 — by admin
Category Alternative Medicine, Health Procedures, Keeping Healthy

Anxiety and how to cope with it, is a common dilemma nowadays. This is because anxiety has become a common occurrence as a result of the increasing demands in the home front, coupled with the fast pace of doing work in a very competitive arena. Before you attempt to use some of the techniques, you must understand first what is causing your anxiety.

Accept that you suffer from anxiety

Once you recognized that you are suffering from anxiety, determine what triggers your anxiety and look for ways to treat it. There are many causes of anxiety, and how to cope with it can sometimes be individualized. You can read further for a better understanding on the subject thereby giving you the leverage to treat yours.

Do simple relaxing activities

Breathe deeply and slowly release the air. It relaxes the body. Veer away from negative thoughts. Indulge yourself. You can go dancing, listen to music, go to the beach, and go hiking, joy riding. There are arrays of happy things you can do if you love to do it. These will help you ease away your anxiety.

Engage in physical exercises and body relaxation

Go physical for 30 minutes 3 times a week. This would help you release the tension from your body and mind. There are relaxing exercises such as yoga and tai chi that you can do.

Meditate

Meditation relaxes the body and mind that leads to lesser tension and calm mind. When meditating put your mind in a “blank” state, in that way your mind is free of all thoughts that may trigger tension.
Talk to a Friend about it or Write it down

Talk to a friend about your situation, it would help release the tension. You can also do a diary on how you feel every time anxiety attacks, this way you are easing away tension and you might develop a strategy on how to combat it when it attacks.

Use Herbal Remedies

Aromatherapy is known to have soothing effects to the body that causes you to relax. When you relax, the tension eases out of your body leaving it worry-free.

“Anxiety and How to Cope with It” books and manuals include among others herbal remedies to address anxiety, specifically aromatherapy.

Observe proper and balanced diet

Intake of proper diet helps the body function at its optimum. Stay away from caffeine and sweets it increases tension in the body.

Boost your Confidence

The common cause of anxiety is lack of confidence in yourself and in your capabilities. When you feel this way, your mind reacts to it resulting to an inferiority feeling that tends to agitate and stress you.

With the tips discussed on Anxiety and how to cope with it, it is hoped that you gained knowledge on how to manage yours and find a fulfilling life.

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Different Stress Relievers That You Should Learn About

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Posted 27 Oct 2011 — by admin
Category Alternative Medicine, Diseases and Conditions, Health Procedures, Home Remedies, Keeping Healthy

Most lifestyles today are full of deadlines, hectic schedules or quotas. That is why stress is a common experience for most of us today. The fact that some people consider stress as a natural thing is not a good idea. This is because, people might not be aware of how much stress is creeping into their systems and affecting their health. When stress becomes chronic without you doing anything about it, it may greatly affect your mental, physical and social health. This is why; stress relievers must be learned by you before stress takes its toll on your body.

Studies say that a large percentage of primary care consultation to physicians is due to stress-related issues. Come to think of it, these medical consultations could have been minimized if people know how to deal with stress on their own. If you think you are stressed now, you should learn some techniques that are known to be effective stress relievers. Do not let stress damage your health and well-being. You should do something about it now!

Find time to exit from the pressures of your daily routine. Try these different stress relievers and save yourself from the long-term adverse effects of stress.

  • Studies reveal that quiet reflection is one of the most effective stress relievers. This is done by stopping for a while, despite how fast paced the day is, and just think of thoughts that will be relaxing to you. It may be in a form of imagination of a serene place or reminiscing on a favorite memory. Studies further say that doing this for 10-20 minutes is the most effective duration that will help you relieve your stress.
  • Make a to-do list in chronological order based on the weight of priority of the tasks. To-do lists are also very effective stress relievers. Not only will they help you organize the things that you have to do, they will also decrease your tendency to mind-race. After you have listed the things that you should do in a day, cut your list into half. This means that you need only to do the “top priority tasks” in a span of one day.
  • Have a regular exercise regimen. Exercise helps your body to release the happy hormones called endorphins. These hormones are proven by many studies to reduce stress. In addition to this, endorphins cause a positive or euphoric feeling in the body that can help you have a renewed feeling of energy that will help you cope with the daily hassles that you will encounter.
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Know, Manage and Avoid the Harmful Effects of Stress

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Posted 26 Oct 2011 — by admin
Category Alternative Medicine, Health Procedures, Home Remedies

Know, Manage and Avoid the Harmful Effects of Stress

Many studies have proven how a stressful life can hurt your health. According to experts, stress causes some disruptions to the chemical activities in the brain. This is the rationale how stress can cause adverse effects to your health. That is why, if you feel that you are experiencing chronic stress, you must be alarmed about the harmful effects of stress and make a lifestyle modification to minimize the stressors in your daily life. Whatever the stressor is, it should be dealt with properly before it’s too late.

What causes stress?

Before getting to know the harmful effects of stress, you must first get acquainted with the idea of stress itself. Stress is something that we cannot totally eradicate in our life. In fact there is a point wherein stress is still considered as healthy. A small dose of stress can actually motivate a person to learn how to perform with grace under pressure.

Stress is the body’s mechanism to be able to cope that is why, at some level, it is favorable for the body. However, it is when stress becomes heightened and chronic will the body experience the harmful effects of stress.

Any change in your usual routine, whether it is a good or bad change, can cause stress. It may be a life-changing event, a physical state of health or any environmental change. There is always a negative connotation to stress, thinking that stressors are always in negative forms like deadlines, financial obligations or relationship problems. However, positive changes that happen in your life such as getting married, receiving a job promotion or having a new baby can also cause stress.

How does stress creep in the body

The question is, at what extent will the harmful effects of stress occur? The body responds to stress in a way that the body is being prepared for a “fight or flight” reaction. This is made possible by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Imagine the body undergoing chronic stress, there is an experience of a prolonged “fight or flight” situation which can possibly disrupt the physiologic processes of almost all the systems of the body.

To avoid reaching to a point that the body experiences the harmful effects of stress, you must be conscious of the red flags that will alert you that you are already experiencing chronic stress. Among these red flags are the following:

  • Drastic physical changes such as body aches, headaches, unexplained weight changes, hormonal imbalances, heart palpitations and insomnia
  • Mental and emotional symptoms like constantly having racing thoughts, forgetfulness, irritability, restlessness and short temper
  • Changes in functional level to a point where productivity is already being altered to a great extent
  • Social and behavioral manifestations such as nervous behaviors (nail biting, pacing or fidgeting), isolation and picking on other people

What illnesses are correlated to stress?

The most dangerous of all harmful effects of stress is the fact that stress is correlated to many types of illnesses. Stress is found to lower the body’s immune system, making you more prone to have colds or infections. Other illnesses related to stress are cardiovascular diseases and cancers.

Aside from these, additional harmful effects of stress are disruptions in fertility, which may cause a woman to experience difficulty in conceiving a child. Aside from other sexual dysfunctions caused by stress, it can also cause vaginal dryness, absence of menstruations and decreased sexual drive.

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Coping with Stress through Natural Means

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Posted 23 Oct 2011 — by admin
Category Alternative Medicine, Home Remedies, Keeping Healthy

Coping with stress using natural methods is quite easy if people become aware of it. Here are ways you can cope with stress.

1. Exercise

Exercising would help release those harmful substances accumulating in your system. When you sweat it out, unwanted substances are excreted through your sweat, urine, stool and breath.

2. Do breathing exercises

“Breath in and breathe out” exercises are excellent to relieve stress. Inhale with all your force using your nose and then exhale forcefully using your mouth and nose simultaneously. You could also take this opportunity to meditate.

3. Be an optimist

This is the most important thing to manage stress. When you look at things positively, the less stressed out you will be. This is because you spend your time worrying about unnecessary things.

Have a positive outlook in life, exercise and meditate. These three would definitely reduce your stress and allow you to enjoy life as you should. Coping with stress is a doable goal.

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Home Remedies for Low Back Pain

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Posted 14 Mar 2011 — by admin
Category Alternative Medicine, Diseases and Conditions, Health Procedures, Home Remedies, Physical Therapy

Low Back Pain
Image Credit: livenewspress.com

Home remedies for low back pain are effective if you know how to use them properly. Low back problems are one of the most common complaints experienced during adult life. The term “low back pain” is a very general term that represents a wide range of disease categories that may all manifest as pain on the lumbar area. Among the various conditions related to low back pain are the following: mechanical strains to the low back, herniated disks, fractures, arthritis, kidney infections, or even pregnancy.

The frequency of low back pain among adults brings a great deal of attention to this condition, especially in the field of rehabilitation medicine. Aside from its frequency, its impact on an individual’s functional activity poses a great deal of concern. It is said to be the most common cause why workers lose productive time at work.

Furthermore, studies have shown that the costs of treatment for low back pain may reach up to billions of dollars each year. Owing to these high costs of treatment, and also because this condition warrants immediate relief from pain and discomfort, knowledge regarding home remedies for low back pain may be very useful.

Among the home remedies for low back pain are the following:

* Application of superficial heat over the lumbar area

* Massage and therapeutic exercises that are focused on strengthening & stretching of key muscles that contribute to stability of the spine, especially on the lumbar area.The therapeutic benefits of these back pain remedies will be discussed further.

* Application of superficial heat is a very convenient home remedy for back pain. It can be done by using hot packs or hot water bottles applied over the painful area for 20 minutes. This can relieve the patient because of the thermal effects of heat causing analgesia, general relaxation and decreased muscle spasms.

* Another notable thermal effect of heat application over a localized area is vasodilation of blood vessels, which causes an increased blood flow to that particular area. Where blood flow increases, there would be more oxygen & nutrient supply to the area.

* Massage may be the most popular among the suggested home remedies for low back pain. It is the manual manipulation of superficial & deep muscles, done in a variety of strokes & techniques. During a session of massage, palpation of muscles spasms may be done to detect particular trigger points in the low back area. Just like heat, massage also causes, increased blood flow to the area, decreased muscle spasms & analgesia.

* Of all the given home remedies for low back pain, the therapeutic exercises are the interventions that provide long term effects. When muscles of the lumbar area are tight, they are in a state of increased tension, resulting to low back pain.

* stretching exercises of these muscles are advised to decrease their state of tightness. Strengthening exercises of the abdominal muscles are also advised because the abdominal muscles act as a corset that provides stability to the low back.

Among the popular strengthening exercises for the abdominals are curl ups, sit-ups or straight leg raising. It is important to note that of all home remedies for low back pain, the therapeutic exercises require active participation of the individual. Thus, compliance of the individual to do the exercises regularly is important to have its long-term benefits.

All of the home remedies for low back pain suggested above can provide both short term & long term relief for back pain. These techniques have the advantage of convenience and accessibility because they do not require purchase of expensive equipments and modalities. However, if in any case that these home remedies for low back pain are tried but offers no pain relief, it is suggested that the individual seeks further evaluation procedures to detect if there is other pathology that causes low back pain.

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How to Reduce Foot Odor

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Posted 07 Mar 2011 — by admin
Category Alternative Medicine, Home Remedies, Keeping Healthy

Foot odor is an embarrassing health problem. No matter what your age and gender is, you have to deal with the early signs before it gets worse to avoid awkward situations later. If you do not want to ask for professional help, you can go straight to your kitchen and prepare some home remedies from there.

Lukewarm Water and Salt

One way to reduce the stinky foot odor is to soak your feet in a mixture of lukewarm water and salt. Do this at least twice a week until the odor disappears. Just be sure to check the temperature of the water to avoid burns.

Baking Soda

Another effective and inexpensive way to deal with your problem is with the use of baking soda. This ingredient naturally absorbs odor in the environment. Before you put on your shoes, rub your dry feet with the powder. This will absorb the sweat in your feet and avoid the foul smell or foot odor.

Lemon Juice or Vinegar

If the salt and water is not effective in your case, you can use vinegar or lemon juice instead of salt. Pour about ½ cup of the juice or vinegar in a gallon of lukewarm water. Soak your feet in the solution for about 30 minutes to one hour.

Doing these simple homemade treatments daily would greatly reduce your risk of developing feet odor. Maintaining proper hygiene by washing and taking a bath daily is also a good practice. Never go to bed when you have not showered or at least have washed your feet.  This would prevent bacterial build up which can lead to foot odor.

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