Archive for category Health
Should You Consider Taking Weight Loss Supplements ?
Posted by GuestPoster in Health, Uncategorized on September 21, 2010
Everyone dreams about having a perfect body but losing weight does not happen overnight. You have to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regularly for you to lose weight. Many people believe that there is a magic pill for weight loss although there are methods which one can undertake including cellulite treatment or indeed by taking weight loss supplements. If you are thinking about taking weight loss supplements to hasten the process of losing weight, think again. These supplements will not provide you an answer to your weight problem as they can only do little without the help of proper diet and regular exercise.
Some may say that weight loss pills will help you lose weight fast but these are only temporary solutions to what seem to be a permanent problem. Although weight loss medication can increase your metabolic activity and boost your energy, you still have to couple it with exercise and healthy diet so the excess pounds will be gone for good.
Some weight loss products can alter the metabolic rate. When you are taking these supplements for a long period of time, it can result to different kinds of health problems. When you try to lose weight, you should see to it that your body still gets the nutrients it needs to function normally. If your body does not get the essential vitamins and minerals, it will start to falter. Herbal weight loss supplements have the ability to provide these nutrients and since they do not contain any harmful ingredients, they are also safe to use.
Choosing the right supplement is a challenging and arduous task. You have to do an online research for you to pick the best weight loss supplements. One thing that you have to consider when you are shopping for weight loss supplements is the ingredients. You can read the labels of these supplements for you to find out whether they contain harmful ingredients or not. Some supplements can block carbohydrates while others will boost your metabolic rate.
Weight loss supplements can help you lose weight but you have to do your part in order drop those excess pounds for good. If you only rely on taking these supplements, you will have the tendency to gain back those extra pounds. You still have come up with some weight loss maintenance such as eating well balanced meal and exercising regularly. If you want to take diet pills, make sure that you consult your doctor first and see to it that the pills you are taking are approved by FDA. If you feel any negative side effects, you should immediately discontinue taking these pills and seek advice from a medical professional.
Keeping Tennis Elbow Away
Posted by GuestPoster in Health, Uncategorized on September 19, 2010
Tennis elbow is basically a repetitive stress injury that can be very debilitating, inconveniencing and excruciatingly painful. If you have this injury, I know that you are going through a lot right now, I will give you a few pointers in this article that will help you reduce the pain, make the injury manageable and work at treating the injury fast and effectively. I will mainly focus on the great benefits of using elbow tendonitis exercises and their immense benefits of reducing pain, increasing the rate of healing and getting rid of some of the symptoms of the injury including the swelling and inflammation.
Tennis elbow exercises are great because they are scientifically and medically proven to initiate the healing process even immediately after the injury is noticed. We can group tennis elbow exercises into three: there are those gentle kneading and massaging exercises that are performed on the injured tendons immediately after the injury of shortly after it when the symptoms are still severe and painful. These exercises are simple and involve compressing and massaging the injured area to reduce inflammation, improve the flow of the blood on the injury region and the entire arm and initiate the healing process.
As the healing process begins, it is important to wear an elbow brace even if the injury does not seem that serious. This is because the tennis elbow support plays a significant role of ensuring that the torn tendonitis are in their rightful positions as healing takes place. We would not want tendons to heal, pain to go away and swelling to subside but the arm is not usable because it did not heal right, right? When the arm will be less painful, it will now be time to switch to the second category of exercises that will involve more intense activity mainly stretching. Stretching exercises are done to speed up healing and to make the arm ready for use once it is completely healed.
The last stage of the exercises are done when the arm is almost or completely healed. There are a number of weight and strength exercises that will make the tendons strong and conditioned enough for use as well as making all other tissues and joints in the arm ready for action. This is a very important part of the exercises but it can also be dangerous because doing the wrong exercises or doing the exercises wrong can lead to further or renewed injuries and that will be the beginning of newer problems.
Common Breastfeeding Myths
Posted by Guest in Health, Uncategorized on June 19, 2010
One major breastfeeding myth is that it is completely natural. That mother and child will just naturally know what to do. Well that is not exactly correct. What is natural about breastfeeding is that you are giving your child food that you have produced by your body instead of formula. The myth that both of you will know exactly what to do is only half correct. Most children when they are born have the instinct to want to feed right away. However, a mother is not always sure of exactly what to do. Some mothers do have a natural instinct and ability to make it happen without any help, however, most mothers need help breastfeeding. If you find yourself having trouble getting a proper latch with your child do not worry. This is completely normal. You can get help from the nurses in the maternity ward, a Lactation Consultant or Midwife.
Another myth is that a mother must drink a lot more liquids and eat more food to replenish their breast milk. Well this is not true either. You only need to eat and drink to satisfy your hunger and thirst. Your body will let you know when you need fluids. When you feel thirsty that is your body telling you it is dehydrated and needs more fluids. In terms of food it is recommended that you eat a healthy balanced diet. It has more to do with your health and not with what gets transferred to your baby during feeding. Your baby will get what they need from you without you having to change your diet.
Another common breastfeeding myth is that it is normal for breastfeeding to hurt. Well this is not true. You will experience some tenderness within the first few days of breastfeeding, however, it should go away. If the pain exists after the first 5 or 6 days go seek assistance, such as a Lactation Consultant. Note that limiting feeding time (i.e. feeding for 10 minutes instead of 20 minutes) will not help with the soreness. A new onset of pain after breastfeeding has been going well for an extended period of time may be due to a yeast infection of the nipples.
One myth that pops up a lot is that mothers who bleed from their nipples should stop breastfeeding. This is not exactly the case. A little bit of blood should not have an affect on your baby. When your baby spits up there may be some blood. There may also be some blood in your baby’s bowel movement, however, it should not harm your baby. Typically bleeding nipples are related to pain. As mentioned earlier if your nipples are painful when feeding you should go see a healthcare professional.
As you hear many different opinions on breastfeeding it will be increasingly difficult to separate the myth from the truth. The bottom line is it is important to get the appropriate breastfeed help or support from the beginning. Without help you run the risk of having and improper latch with your child, which can lead to sore, cracked nipples. When this occurred it made breastfeeding much more difficult and created a lot of stress. The first line of breastfeeding support when your child is first born are the maternity ward nurses. Remember if you experience problems breastfeeding after you have left the hospital use the resources that are available to you, such as Lactation Consultants, Midwives, Nurses or other healthcare professionals.
Breastfeeding Problems and Solutions
Posted by Guest in Health, Uncategorized on June 18, 2010
When women first start breastfeeding she may encounter many problems common to other new mothers. These problems could be anything from engorgement, poor latching, sore nipples, plugged ducts, and mastitis.
Mastitis
Mastitis occurs when a breasts becomes infected. Mastitis usually is formed as red, tender and swollen area of the breast. Some symptoms felt are chills, fever and other flu like symptoms. If this occurs consult your physician. It may require antibiotics to get rid of the infection and possible an anti-inflammatory to help with the pain and discomfort. It is still recommended to continue breastfeeding to help relieve the condition.
Plugged Ducts
Plugged ducts can result when milk remains stagnant in certain ducts of the breast, sometimes the breast has hardened lumps. Plugged ducts can be a result in changes in feeding, not emptying the breasts, engorgement or wearing poor fitting bras. To avoid plugged ducts it is recommended to feed or empty your breasts more frequently. If you do not want to alter your infant’s feeding schedule you could always use a breast pump to help empty the breast.
Latching
Latching occurs when the baby’s mouth creates a tight seal around your nipple and most of your areola. Improper latching could result in getting sore nipples. A common cause for improper latching could be the way the mother or infant is positioned. To get your infant to latch on, run your nipple along your baby’s upper lip and across her mouth. Your baby should respond by opening her mouth. When her mouth opens, bring her towards your breast. Ideally you would want your breast to touch your baby’s chin first. It is normal to have a little pain or discomfort when the baby first starts feeding, but this should go away. it doesn’t go away within the first minute of feeding you likely have an improper latch. You can adjust your child’s latch without removing him from your breast. Take your index finger and pull down on your baby’s chin to bring the lower lip out. You want your baby’s lower lip to cover more of the areola than the upper lip. If this doesn’t work you may need to take your baby off the breast and re-adjust. There are different positions you could use, such as a football position, the cradle and reverse cradle. If you find your child is pulling away from the breast they may not like position. Or you may have your hand on the back of their head. Some babies have an instinctive reaction to pull away when they have hands on the back of their head. Also pay attention to your positioning. Find a position that is comfortable for you and your child.
Engorgement
Engorgement occurs when a woman’s breasts swell due to an increase in milk production. Engorgement typically occurs within the first few days after the baby is born. Your body is not aware of the amount of milk needed to feed your baby, therefore it produces what it feels necessary. Once you get into a routine of feeding the body will adjust its production to meet your baby’s appetite. This should result in relief from engorgement. Some signs of engorgement can be (but are not limited to) painful, swollen, rigid and warm breasts. Some ways to treat this condition would be frequent removal of milk (i.e. frequent feedings or pumping), massaging the breast, apply a cool compress or use cabbage leaves.
This covers only a few breastfeeding problems. The solutions are just recommendations. It is recommended to seek the advice of a healthcare professional if you are ever unsure about what to do. Use your family doctor, nurse, lactation consultant or midwife to get professional help. If you would like further information a great resource to consult would be the La Leche League website.
How to Relieve Gas Pain in Infants
Posted by admin in Health, Uncategorized on June 14, 2010
All infants experience gas and gas pain. Air bubbles get caught in the infants stomach and creates discomfort. Gas can be caused by an under developed digestive system or from certain foods. At this age most infants do not know how to deal with the gas pain and will likely cry and be very cranky. If you haven’t experienced this before you may feel helpless. Well there are some things you can do to help relieve the gas pain.
The first thing you can try is to burp your child as often as possible. This should help avoid gas from forming in your baby. Even if your child is breastfeeding or taking formula you should try and burp them as often as possible.
Another suggestion to help relieve gas pain in your infant would be lay your baby flat on his back and pump your baby’s legs up and down. The motion is similar to that of riding a bicycle. What this does is create movement in his stomach to help the gas pass through and relieve their pain and discomfort.
For this next suggestion be sure that your baby can support their head. Another way to relieve gas pains in your baby would be to let them lay on their stomach. What this does is put pressure on your baby’s stomach, which then creates movement so the gas can pass through your baby’s stomach. It also allows your baby to play on her stomach, which is great for her development. Another way to apply pressure to your infants stomach would be to use a position called “Tiger in the tree.” This position has the child laying on his stomach across your forearm with their head near your elbow, their arms and legs on either side of your arm. With younger and smaller infants the heel of your hand will be positioned near the child’s stomach, which applies pressure to help the gas to pass through the intestines.
The type of food you eat could also help relieve gas pain in your infant. It has been found that foods you eat that are high in gas or that give you gas can be passed along to your child. Also your baby’s diet could produce gas. If he is eating solid foods, slowly introduce foods one at a time so you can identify which food is producing the gas. You can stop giving him that food and re-introduce it later when your baby is older and his digestive system can handle the food.
A final way you could help relieve gas pain in infants would be to give your child drops that relieve gas or an over the counter colic reliever. Some types of gripe water can help relieve gas. The drops contain simethicone, which has been found to help treat gas pain. However, be cautious with using drops. Speak to a healthcare professional such as a pharmacist, nurse or doctor before you decide to use drops.
At some point ever baby will experience gas and gas pain. As a new parent you may feel helpless, but there are tips to relieving gas pain. If the remedies you have tried do not work, do not worry. As your baby gets older their digestive system will develop further and will out grow the inability to pass gas.