Health

Give time the healing of the body part that has been injured.

Repeated use of your injured body part is the same as repeatedly cutting or tearing it. It will be hard to heal an injured body part that has been repeatedly used. It’s never OK to ignore pain—even if that means stopping your usual activities or giving up a favorite sport. It’s best to immobilise the injured area, and rest it completely, so that the injury heals fully. If you have a chronic injury, like plantar fasciitis, and continue using the injured foot, it is more likely that your injury will become worse and harder to treat.

Consult a specialist to understand your injury

Most minor sprains or tears improve significantly after 2 weeks of rest and a break from activity. A visit to the sports physio clinic to examine the player if he’s not showing signs of improvement in two to three weeks. If you are having back pain, a physical therapist will perform a physical examination to diagnose the problem and design a customized plan of care that will include an exercise program that will address the specific problem and provide long-lasting results. If you understand the nature of your injury, then you’ll have a much easier time mentally preparing for the recovery process.

The acute phase of injury

Reducing swelling is the most important thing to do in the immediate aftermath of an injury. Follow the RICE formula for recovery: rest, ice, compression, and elevation, and limit your activities. Treatment at this stage may include surgery, bracing, or casting if your injury is severe. A clinically trained Allied Healthcare professional will recommend which treatment approach is best for you. Most injuries can be treated with over-the-counter pain relievers and ice packs.

Maintain overall condition

While your injury is healing, your health care provider and physio therapist will work with you to identify the ways for you to stay fit. Running in the pool is a good option for runners with injuries and sore muscles. Patients in a cast can exercise healthy muscles by strength training. Don’t worry about taking time to heal; you’ll get out of bed faster if you get up and moving

Recovering range of motion and strength in an injured joint or limb.

For most injuries, gentle range of motion exercises can begin almost immediately after injury. Your physician and therapist will create a plan for you, and monitor your progress.

Gradual improvement with Functional drills

Once your strength has returned to normal in your injured limb or joint, you will start doing specific exercises focused on balance and agility. If you have lost coordination as a result of the injury, these exercises will help you regain it. If you have a lower leg injury, you should be doing a lot of walking, hopping, and jogging. Light throwing will begin if your injury is in the upper part of your body. You may feel great at this point, but you are probably only about 75% recovered. It is crucial to take it slowly.

Returning to active normal sports

Your doctor and pyhsio therapist want you to be healed to the point where you are not at risk of additional harm. As you return to your activities, give special attention to warm up and icing, as appropriate. Advances in medicine can help athletes return to a 100 percent recovery. It should be as quickly as possible without sacrificing safety. You will be on your way to a healthy and safe recovery when you commit to the steps and have them monitored by your medical team.

 

There are some things you can do to help keep your eyes healthy such as visiting a specialist like discover vision center for example; check them out below:

1. Visit The Optometrist Every Year

Remember that many eye problems do not have symptoms, so you should see your optometrist at least once a year for an eye exam or run cataract test online. In addition, it is the best way to diagnose and correct refractive errors that, if left unchecked, can cause eyestrain.

2. Wear Anti-Glare Goggles

More than a luxury, anti-glare glasses have become a necessity for eye health, as they prevent artificial lights from putting an excess strain on your vision. Recently, some research has shown that blue light, when falling on the retina, accelerates the aging of these cells, which can cause early AMD.

3. Take Care Of Your Glasses As If They Were Your Eyes

It doesn’t matter if they are worn all the time, just for reading or working on the computer, glasses should always be well stored and free from scratches. They should be cleaned with water and only with optical products, as other chemicals can damage the lens.

4. Lubricate Your Eyes

Over the day, the eyes can lose lubrication and experience irritating symptoms such as redness, pain, and irritation. If you suffer from dry eyes, it’s best to have some eye drops or artificial tears to moisten them and help maintain healthy eyesight — but remember, your specialist can only prescribe any medication.

5. Protect Your Eyes From The Sun

Ultraviolet radiation is primarily responsible for various eye disorders that decrease their capacity. It is essential to protect them by using sunglasses with sunscreen that inhibit the action of these rays.

6. Improve Your Diet

A diet rich in nutrients fundamentally helps to maintain healthy eyesight. Essential fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals protect the retina and delay the aging of eye structures. It should not be missing from the diet:

• Vitamin A, C, E
• Zinc
• Selenium
• Lutein
• Omega 3

Without these elements, eye tissues cannot be adequately maintained, which is essential for maintaining eye health. 

7. Clean Your Makeup

Excess makeup on the eyelids and areas close to the eyes can have a negative impact on chemicals that can get inside the eyes. It is essential to remove these products every day as they can cause vision problems and prevent oxygenation to the skin and eye organs.

8. Control Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, And Diabetes

People with hypertension, high cholesterol, and Diabetes are at increased risk of developing several diseases, including eye disease. These aspects must be considered to maintain a healthy vision and avoid causing other, more serious problems.

 

IVF, or in vitro fertilization, is a popular procedure that helps couples struggling with infertility. But as with any medical procedure, there are myths behind IVF that people tend to pick up. Even though the process of IVF has come a long way since its inception, there are still many who believe various myths about this procedure.

Read on for details about the top myths about IVF and why you should avoid them if you’re considering this procedure.

IVF Can Help Young Individuals Only

Many individuals choose IVF as a means to get pregnant at a young age. While this is true to a certain extent, couples of all ages can choose to use this procedure to start a family.

In case of older women, the likelihood of having low ovarian function increases. This can lead to decreased egg production. Hence, for such women, donor eggs from young ladies are used. This can help older women to get pregnant.

The Success Rate of IVF is 100%

One of the myths that many believe is that the success rate of IVF is 100%. However, the success rate might vary based on the age of the couple, the reason for interfertility, etc. Many couples are not successful the first time around, which means they will need to try again with different donor eggs or fresh embryos. 

The amount of time spent on stimulation treatments, how many eggs are retrieved from the patient, and the number of embryos that are transferred to the uterus can all influence the success of the procedure. It’s also important to keep in mind that the woman must be healthy to carry a child to term.

IVF Children are Born with Birth Problems as well as Malformations

With IVF, the child’s health and well-being are typically the number one priority. While IVF is an effective way to create a pregnancy, birth problems can occur. These risks are similar to a regular birth.

The risk of birth defects and malformations with IVF tends to be low and less likely. It’s also important to keep in mind that the majority of birth defects and malformations occur during pregnancy and are typically not caused by assisted reproductive technologies.

Women Should be on Bed Rest for the Whole Pregnancy if they Opt for IVF

There is a lot of misinformation floating around about bed rest during pregnancy. In general, Fertility and IVF Doctors do not recommend full bed rest during pregnancy. The best practice is to follow your doctor’s instructions on what you should and shouldn’t be doing. There are some cases in which a doctor may advise you to follow a strict bed rest schedule for a short period of time. This is because pregnancy is particularly high-risk and requires that your body be completely shielded from any outside things that could harm it, like the Sun and heat.

IVF Pregnancies Always Lead to Cesarean Section Delivery

Again, this is a myth that could hurt individuals who are considering IVF. The truth is that, with proper medical care and prenatal care, IVF pregnancies can be done just like any other pregnancy.

IVF Requires the Woman to Be Admitted to the Hospital

The procedure of IVF takes a few hours during egg collection. Therefore, for this process, a person isn’t required to be admitted to a hospital.

Weight Doesn’t Have an Impact on IVF Result

Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial for IVF to be successful. Sudden changes in body weight can affect your fertility.

The Bottom Line

There is a lot of misinformation surrounding the process of IVF. It’s important to keep in mind that even though this process is similar to the natural conception process, it’s still a medical procedure that can have some difficulties. Before you take the plunge, it’s important that you know all the facts about IVF so you can make an informed decision about your future. Within India, IVF centres in Kerala are well renowned for their cost effective treatments.

 

A phobia is not avoiding something we don’t like to see or don’t want to do, or having a certain fear of an animal or going into an operating room. In life, we ​​encounter many situations that we perceive as threatening, and they naturally cause us some fear or insecurity. “But for it to deserve the qualification of phobia, the fear has to be disproportionate, unreasonable, escape the will of the person, occur persistently and cause avoidance of what is so feared. 

In general, phobias can be persistent and long-lasting, but some disappear after six months and not all remain for life. For example, a study indicates that only 30% persist ten years after starting. “Phobias can disappear spontaneously or with professional help. Some people avoid specific situations or expose themselves to them gradually, which makes them less and less afraid because a phenomenon of habituation occurs.  

Some mental health disorders, such as anxiety attacks, panic attacks, generalised anxiety, and depression, are most associated with phobias. But the expert warns of another problem that can arise from trying to overcome the phobia: using toxins, especially alcohol, as a sedative to deal with the phobia. This is the case for those afraid to get on the plane and have a few drinks with the idea of ​​calming down. “If it is something repetitive, it can extend to a pattern of alcohol abuse, including other toxic substances.”

Certain phobias with age and gender

Phobias, which globally affect men and women equally, can appear at any time of life, but they more often begin at an early age. Both phobias related to nature (storms, precipices, water) and the animal world usually debut in childhood. Blood-injection phobia appears more in young people, and there is usually a family incidence since between 30-60 per cent of cases have first-degree relatives to whom it also happens.

Those related to animals affect 95% of women as the only phobic stimulus with few symptoms. And in the subtypes of specific phobias associated with public transport, tunnels, bridges, elevators, aeroplanes, vehicles or closed spaces, there is a greater incidence in the second and third decades of life. 

There is another peak in the onset of phobic disorders around the age of 75, coinciding with the limitations of age and the fact that the person feels more helpless or vulnerable. In this group, phobias increase due to fears related to diseases and pain.

countless specific phobias   

The catalogue of phobic disorders is almost endless, but simple phobias are usually subdivided into several groups. 

Zoophobias

First, there are zoophobias, which represent the fear of animals of any species. The best known are the fear of dogs (cynophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), mice (muridophobia), birds (ornithophobia), insects in general (entomophobia) or bees (apitophobia).

Situations or elements of nature

They are followed by a wide range of phobias related to environmental situations or elements of nature. In addition to the well-known claustrophobia and agoraphobia, we can mention some such as cryptophobia (fear of small spaces), homophobia (of pointed objects), siderodromophobia (of railways), hypographophobia (of signing), potamophobia (of rivers), thalassophobia (to the sea), cheimophobia (to storms), aerophobia (to air currents), aviophobia (to fly in an aeroplane), brontophobia (to thunder), pyrophobia (to fire), homophobia (to cross the streets) and gephyrophobia (to cross bridges).

fear of disease

Another vast group is nosophobia or fear of disease. There are many connotations, depending on the type of disease that is feared (if it is cancer, cancerophobia; if it is cardiac, cardiopathophobia), but the cast goes further with the fear of contagion (mysophobia), vomiting (emetophobia), poisoning ( toxicophobia), blood and bleeding (hematophobia), deformity (dysmorphophobia), being buried alive (taphiophobia) or death (thanatophobia).

There is a type of blood/injection phobia that presents different symptomatology from the others since anxiety or fear adds an intense vasovagal response (fainting) that does not occur in other specific phobias. It can occur when undergoing an invasive medical procedure on oneself or when it is witnessed in another person. It will never occur due to fear of animals/insects, heights or illness.

There are many more phobias than those mentioned here, some very individualised, although only a small percentage require clinical consultation. The vast majority do not consult about them because they adapt or avoid the situation that causes them. If you’re terrified of heights, you don’t climb a peak; if on the plane, you limit yourself to ground transportation; if the bugs, avoid the outdoors. “The fear of dogs is very common, even if it is of a small puppy that comes to greet you, and the person knows that it is absurd but cannot control it and causes an avoidance. There is already a phobia if you dispense with something important due to the dog’s presence.”

Veins are blood vessels in the body that carry deoxygenated blood. They return blood toward the heart after the lungs have oxygenated it, and it usually returns to the right atrium of the heart. Vein and Surgery Center (VSC) specializes in vein treatment, and its services include sclerotherapy, laser treatment, non-surgical treatments, and surgery. If you have any vein conditions, you may need to visit a vein and surgery center to determine the specific cause of your problem and explore the different treatment options. For more information about the treatments offered at El Paso Desert West Vein & Surgery Center, read more below.

• Sclerotherapy

Sclerotherapy is a procedure used to close off abnormal veins with a medical solution. The solution irritates the lining of these veins, which causes them to harden and scar over. This prevents blood from flowing through that particular vein, which allows it to heal.

• Laser Treatment

A laser is used to treat abnormal veins. The laser treatment heats up and destroys these veins by destroying their lining. It is usually applied with a local anesthetic to reduce discomfort, but the procedure can be painful. Laser treatment can also help treat spider veins.

• Injections and Medicine

Injections are usually injected into the abnormal vein directly. In some cases, a chemical solution is applied to close off the vein from the outside. This solution irritates the lining of the vein, which causes it to harden and scar over. You may also use drugs to slow down the flow of blood in abnormal veins.

• Surgical Treatment

Surgery can help remove a vein that has been damaged or removed by another treatment. Surgery is also necessary when a patient’s veins have become enlarged and are causing discomfort or pain. In some cases, you may need surgical treatment to remove blood clots that have formed in the veins.

• Radiofrequency Ablation

This procedure uses radiofrequency energy to heat the lining of the vein. It is usually applied using a catheter inserted into the groin area and threaded up toward the abnormal vein. The surgeon delivers the treatment by guiding it through this catheter until it reaches its targeted location in the damaged veins. This procedure commonly works with spider veins, but you can also treat varicose veins and other vein conditions.

• VenaSeal

VenaSeal is a surgical mesh that is used to treat damaged veins by blocking them off. Once it has been inserted, it fills up with blood inside of the vein, which causes blood clots to form in the vessel. It blocks off the channel so that no more blood can flow through that area after clotting occurs. The clots that form after insertion of VenaSeal can remain in place for a few months or longer.

To summarize, vein and surgery centers offer treatments for different vein conditions such as varicose and spider veins, peripheral arterial disease, and more. If you have a vein condition of any form, you may receive treatments such as VenaSeal, radiofrequency ablation, surgical intervention, and sclerotherapy. The mode of treatment depends on your condition and its severity.

The first step to overcoming drug and alcohol craving is recognizing that when you crave, there’s nothing wrong with you. You can’t get rid of the cravings, but you can learn how about overcoming alcohol cravings.

You can’t avoid the cravings, but you can learn how to manage them.

The second step is knowing how to recognize what triggers your cravings for drugs or alcohol so that when a craving hits, you’ll be prepared for it:

• What makes me want a drink? Drinking at home with friends? Watching tv? Being bored? Talking on the phone? Thinking about something sad or stressful in my life? Feeling really happy and celebrating with friends/family/loved ones? The more specific your answers are about what triggers your cravings for drugs or alcohol (and why), the easier it will be for you to prepare yourself against those triggers so that they don’t lead directly into relapse.

You can fight back against drug and alcohol cravings

Overcoming cravings is an important part of recovery. It’s not always easy to do, but there are things you can do to beat them back.

• Make sure you talk about cravings with your sponsor or other people in your support group. They’ll be able to help you figure out what’s causing the craving and how to handle it.
• Practice different ways of dealing with cravings so you know how to respond when one hits. Do some reading about different methods of handling drugs and alcohol cravings, such as by talking yourself out of it or distracting yourself from thinking about it by focusing on something else (like going for a walk).
• Try new tools that haven’t worked before; try again! Maybe this time they’ll work because they’ve helped someone else whose story might sound similar to yours or who has gone through similar experiences as yours (such as being in a place where drugs were easy for example).

Fecal incontinence, or bowel incontinence, is the inability to control one’s bowel movements, resulting in fecal matter leakage. For millions of individuals, it’s a frustrating and unpleasant situation. The good news is that Lone Star Gastroenterology has effective treatment options to help you manage fecal incontinence and enjoy your life.

Understanding fecal incontinence

Whether you sometimes leak stool or have lost control of your bladder, fecal incontinence often arises from dysfunction with your rectum and anus muscles.

Your rectum has to be able to stretch to hold the feces, and your anal muscle must be able to close appropriately until you reach the bathroom to relieve yourself. Failure of bowel control may manifest in various forms:

Urge incontinence

Most people experience this problem when they are overcome with an intense need to defecate but are unable to get to a restroom in time to do so.

Passive incontinence

If you have this kind of incontinence, you may not notice leaks until it’s too late to do anything about it. As a result of passive incontinence, it may not be easy to detect whether your rectum is full.

 Constipation, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, and gas may accompany fecal incontinence.

Causes of fecal incontinence

Fecal incontinence may result from a variety of factors. Your doctor can help you figure out what’s causing your fecal incontinence. Common causes of fecal incontinence include;

• Muscle or nerve damage from childbirth
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Hemorrhoids
• Prolapse of the rectal tube
•  Rectocele

Fecal incontinence is more frequent in adults 65 or older since the muscles in your intestines become weaker with aging. If you have undergone a surgery like radiation that forces your muscles to stiffen, you can also be at an increased possibility of developing fecal incontinence.

Treatment and management alternatives

There are different treatment options for fecal incontinence, but they differ based on the underlying cause of your illness. Some of the treatment options include;

Diet changes

List everything you eat and drink for several days to see if any of the food is the source of your condition. Consuming caffeinated drinks, alcohol, fatty food,  dairy products, spicy food, and dairy goods might aggravate incontinence as well as cause gas and diarrhea in the bowel.

Dietary adjustments, such as eating more fiber-rich meals may also assist with incontinence caused by constipation. Drinking extra water may also soften feces, making it easier to pass.

Therapies and exercises

Strengthening your pelvic floor muscles with physical therapy, such as biofeedback and Kegel exercises, may help you release stool while supporting your bladder and intestines.

Bowel training is a technique for ensuring that you have bowel movements at set periods throughout the day. Other treatments include radiofrequency therapy, posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS/TENS), and sacral nerve stimulation with InterStim™.

Medications and surgery

If diarrhea is the cause of your fecal incontinence, anti-diarrheal medications may aid, and bulk laxatives can help with severe constipation. Surgical alternatives include colostomy, Sphincteroplasty, and surgical treatment of hemorrhoids, prolapse,  and rectocele problems.

Don’t allow the shame of fecal incontinence to keep you down any longer. Contact your specialist to get the treatment you deserve for fecal continence.

It is very common to opt for physiotherapy sessions when you have sudden pain in your back, knees, or shoulders. But how many of you would actually think about going to the therapist after witnessing issues with your pelvic floor muscles? There are many individuals who have been diagnosed with floor muscle problems and have been referred to the physios but had absolutely no clue about how they could help them. But the right therapists can help you overcome a number of pelvic floor dysfunctional problems. 

Bladder weakness

It is a common symptom arising out of the pelvic floor muscle’s inability to perform in the best manner. One will witness a series of episodes where their urine leaks after they laugh, cough, or sit. Also, one can feel the need to urinate multiple times for they feel they have leaky bladders. This situation is known as urinary incontinence and is a completely involuntary reaction of the body. Pelvic floor physiotherapy is a first-line treatment option for this. There is 85% chance that the situation will improve. 

Vaginal prolapse

This is the situation where the pelvic organs of the individual like the bladder, bowel, and womb descend and bulge into the areas of the vagina. The symptoms that are commonly felt are heaviness in the pelvic regions or the vagina or difficulties in having clear bowel movements. Most cases of mild prolapse can be treated with the physiotherapy techniques. With this, the strength and coordination of other important muscles will improve, and the pressure on the floor muscles will be lowered. 

Painful intercourse 

It is common for many women to witness pain during or after the intercourse in their vagina or in the pelvic regions. There may be many reasons contributing to the pain, but floor muscle dysfunction is the main issue. The internal and external physiotherapy techniques will help you alleviate this pain and resolve the issue completely. 

Pelvic girdle pain

Pelvic girdle pain is a common occurrence during pregnancy. This problem may also exist even after you had your baby a few months back. Every one out of five women is known to suffer from this issue during their pregnancy phase, and pelvic floor physiotherapy is going to be the right solution for this. The therapists will assess your pain and devise appropriate exercises to give you relief. 

If you are facing any of the above problems, contact the Integral Performance Physiotherapy clinic right away.

The meniscus is a c-shaped pad of cartilage situated within the knee that serves as a shock absorber for the knee joint. Each knee has two menisci that lie between the femur and tibia, and meniscus tears are common knee injuries, especially among sports players.

The menisci also help stabilise the knee joint and keep knee movement smooth. Although meniscus tears are most common in sports players, it is also possible to get them through wear and tear as you  age. 

Meniscus tears are given different grades depending on how severe an injury is. For example, a sprained knee can involve the meniscus and other parts of the knee, such as the anterior cruciate ligament.

Younger people can sustain meniscus tears after twisting their knee while playing sports such as football or tennis etc. Older people can experience meniscus tears after the menisci become worn down and can be damaged by simply standing up. These are known as degenerative tears. 

Occasionally the menisci can develop as a block or disk shape in children, which is called a discoid meniscus. A discoid meniscus is more likely to tear.

Symptoms of meniscus tears

Patients can report feeling a pop in their knee joint that indicates a problem. Some patients may still be able to walk on their injured knee but may find their knee stiffens over the next 48 hours. They may delay seeking help from their doctor until their knee causes pain.

Other symptoms of a meniscus tear can include:

• A feeling that the knee is locking, catching or clicking, usually when bending the knee
• An inability to flex and extend the knee fully
• Limping while walking
• Mild, severe or intermittent pain in the knee that comes and goes
• Swelling and inflammation of the knee, usually experienced a few hours after the meniscus injury
• The knee feels loose or unstable and about to give way 
• The knee feels tender along the line of the joint

Are you a medical professional involved in patient assessment and treatment?

PDUK offers a Minor injury essentials Face to Face course, Accredited by the RCN Centre for Professional Accreditation. This fully interactive course focuses on the needs of community practitioners who are now expected to include basic injury review and care.

The course has been designed to help junior doctors, nurse practitioners, practice nurses, school nurses and allied health professionals to assess and manage minor injuries with greater skill and confidence. 

Participants will get practical hands-on experience in a wide range of tasks, including: 

• Apply history-taking essentials, thereby promoting safe practice.
• Link and apply anatomy of upper and lower body musculoskeletal (MSK) structures to various physical assessment techniques.
• Discuss appropriate management of common traumatic MSK presentations, including analgesia and supportive therapy principles.
• Examining and managing various types of wounds, including closure techniques and patient education.
• Develop competency in some standard basic minor clinical procedures.

Junior doctors, nurse practitioners, practice nurses, school nurses and allied health professionals may also be interested in participating in our Minor injury essentials Online workshop, which is Accredited by the RCN Centre for Professional Accreditation.

This three-day workshop in a virtual classroom covers many of the same skills as our face-to-face workshop. Participants get to focus on practical assessment and management of basic injuries. The workshop aims to enable participants to feel more confident in dealing with patients presenting with minor injuries. 

By the end of the 3-day workshop, you will have gained knowledge in how to:

• Apply history-taking essentials, thereby promoting safe practice.
• Link and apply anatomy of upper and lower body musculoskeletal (MSK) structures to various physical assessment techniques.
• Discuss appropriate management of common traumatic MSK presentations, including analgesia and supportive therapy principles.
• Be able to examine and manage various types of wounds.