Month: October 2020

As much as we’d like to believe we are all safe in our own homes at all times, that may not be true. There are a number of common injuries that you or your children can experience while at home.

Even the safest of households can be guilty of one of these accidents.

This article should help you learn about and avoid some of the most common injuries you can have at home.

1. Falling, Slipping, or Tripping

The first and most common would be trips, slips, and falls. This can happen to anyone of any age, and can be caused by a simple misplacement of a foot stool, or a pet at the wrong place at the wrong time. Imagine you are in a hurry to get something off of the stove while you are cooking and you quickly walk toward the kitchen. Then, there is something in your way that wasn’t there before. Next thing you know, you’re on the floor and hurt.

How to avoid it: Make a mental habit of always being hyper aware of your surroundings. Don’t rush in any particular direction, especially when the house is full of pets, kids, toys, or other objects. Always keep an eye on both the lower and upper part of your vision. Scan up and down as well as left and right as you move. At home, you are much more likely to trip over something than to walk face first into something. So, always look at the floor area while you are walking around.

In addition, make sure your home is well- lit during all waking hours, especially if you don’t have great vision.

2. Cuts and Burns

Cooking can be dangerous, and you probably have to cook pretty often in order to feed yourself and your family. This greatly increases the chances of cuts, burns, or other cooking accidents. Distractions or not feeling well while cooking can be a major cause of these two things.

How to avoid it: To avoid cuts, learn proper knife etiquette and form. Ask a friend or do a search on the internet for the best ways to hold the knife and how to hold the foods while cutting it. Don’t let your cutting board slip and slide around your table while you cut. Make sure your knives are sharp and don’t require hard pressure to cut things. It is super important to take your time, reduce distractions in the kitchen, and make sure you are feeling well and energetic as you cut or handle hot objects. Don’t wear anything that drapes or frays and could get caught on fire by a stove or oven. Make sure you have good quality oven mitts with no holes.

3. Falling Objects

Toddlers and children are the most likely victims to this injury, because they don’t always understand gravity and how it works. The best thing to do is make sure there’s nothing they can pull on or put their weight on that might fall. They may try to climb a dresser with a TV on it, so be sure that dresser cannot tip over. They might pull on a table cloth with something heavy on it and that heavy item might fall on them.

How to avoid it: Keep a very close eye on kids at all times, or ask a friend or family member to help watch. If that is not possible, you can install a camera in one room while you watch them from another room. Avoid being more than 1 room away from them, and make sure you would be able to reach them if something were to happen. Think ahead, and try to think like a kid. Don’t leave electrical cords or outlets exposed for them to get shocked on.

Hopefully all these tips will help you and your family stay safe at home.

Anxiety is something that many people experience on a daily basis. Although anxiety is sometimes misunderstood as simply feeling worried, anxiety can be a real danger for those who have it in a moderate or severe case. In fact, about 18 percent of American adults have an anxiety disorder.

If you experience debilitating anxiety, or if you are having trouble with the difference between anxiety and everyday worry, this article may be helpful for you.

There are a few types of anxiety with a variety of severity and symptoms. Some of them include panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), and PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Anxiety becomes a real problem when it becomes overwhelming and disrupts your life frequently, especially when there is no real threat or stress to face at the time. Anxiety can cause so many symptoms and is so dangerous that doctors often mistake real medical issues for anxiety. It can cause heart irregularities, nausea, chest pain, throat pressure, dry mouth, fainting, dizziness, shaking, chills, breathing issues, and more. It is no wonder that people would like to avoid experiencing anxiety.

When You May Need Medical Help For Anxiety:

• If your anxiety causes you to self-medicate with dangerous drugs or excessive alcohol
• If you have depression caused by the extreme negative effects of your anxiety
• If you become too afraid to care for yourself, including fears of exercise, eating, drinking, hygiene, or other important things.
• If you experience frequent and intense panic attacks with hyperventilation
• If your anxiety runs your life and you are worried you may harm yourself or others

Seeking medical help for your anxiety may be critical for your health and safety. If you don’t currently have a doctor or health insurance, do some online research for any options available to you. There may be nonprofit organizations to help you pay for your medical bills. There might be a free state funded health insurance available to you that you didn’t know about, or other resources to help you get your life back.

No matter what, your health is important.

The knee joint is the largest joint in the body, other than the hips.

It has four separate elements that keep the knees strong, stable, and healthy. Bones, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments keep the kneecap from moving and keep the knee strong and stable.

An injury to any of those elements could cause an injury in the others. They work as a team.

Although there is a difference between dislocating the whole knee joint and dislocating the patella (kneecap), they’re both dangerous and painful. The kneecap bone is actually grown/fused together with the tendon in the quadriceps. When the kneecap moves, the tendons can tear or become damaged. Tendons are similar to ligaments, which also can move and become damaged during a dislocation of the kneecap.

Dislocations typically happen when someone’s leg is straight and their feet aren’t on solid, flat ground. It also happens when their knee gets hit or knocked out of place by something, such as another person or an object. Many people with high arches on their feet will suffer patellar dislocation when they aren’t wearing arch support shoes on even ground. In addition, women are much more likely than men to have issues with their kneecaps dislocating due to how wide their hips are.

Here are some ways to keep your kneecaps from moving out of place:

1. Make sure to use your leg muscles evenly. Do not do exercises on one leg and then skip the other leg. Don’t miss out on any important muscle groups when you exercise. Keep your muscles toned and strengthened evenly. If you work too much on a certain muscle group and not enough on another, the knee may want to pull off to the outside of your leg, and dislocate.

2. Consult an expert. If you do exercises by yourself without guidance, you may actually be doing it wrong and putting yourself in danger. Ask an expert such as a personal trainer if you are doing everything in the right form. If you aren’t, they can help you do things correctly and safer.

3. Work on your IT band and hips. The iliotibal band/tract lies on the outside of the leg. It is important to stretch and exercise this muscle properly so that the kneecap isn’t pulled to the outside.

4. Ask your doctor for some helpful exercises and stretches for your knees and muscles. Maybe start working with a personal trainer or physical therapist.

5. If something doesn’t feel right, or if your kneecaps feel like they want to move out of place while you are doing something specific, avoid doing that for now. Ask a specialist when all else fails.

If you believe you have experienced a patellar dislocation, seek some medical attention.

It is the year 2020 and more people than ever are sitting at home, working. It could be for 2 hours, or for 16.

Regardless of the time spent, it is important to prevent back pain after all those hours in one position.

If being on your computer or doing work at your desk seems to always result in pain, stiffness, and sensitivity of your back, this article may help you avoid that. See below for our tips on how to care for yourself during long sitting times.

1. What chair are you sitting on? If your feet aren’t touching the floor, lower the chair a bit until they touch. If you don’t have back support, find a good chair with some support. If your arm rests are uncomfortable or in the way, see if you can remove them, or get a new chair without them.

2. What kind of desk do you have? Certain desks just aren’t made for computers. Also, you can get a standing desk so that you can do work while standing up instead of sitting.

3. How high up is your keyboard, monitor and mouse? The keyboard should be positioned so that when you use it, your elbow should be forming an angle of about 90 degrees, with forearms parallel to the floor. Your mouse should be right next to the keyboard. Your monitor should be positioned so that you don’t have to tilt your head up or down to look at it. If your monitor is too low, consider putting the monitor up on a box or a few books if you have some.

4. How are you positioned in your chair? It can be very difficult to remember, but do not slouch. Check your posture. Leave yourself a sticky note at your desk to remember. Keep your back straight, your shoulders back, and your head looking straight forward. Consider using a pillow behind your lower back to keep the right back posture.

5. Are you getting up to stretch? Even if you do everything right, you should definitely take time to get up and move around to stretch out. Do this about every hour if you can. Every 30 minutes is best case scenario. A good quick way to straighten your back out again after sitting is to lay flat on the floor and try to stretch in a few ways. Get up slowly to avoid pain.

Hopefully these tips will open your eyes to how you could be avoiding pain and discomfort of your back and, as a bonus, your wrists.

When you get up and get ready every day, you may not realize how certain parts of your routine can be good or bad for you. You brush your teeth, do your hair, grab your things, put on your shoes, and leave.

You may need to ask yourself if those shoes are doing you any favors. Especially if you are active and on your feet all day. You could be hurting yourself if you aren’t careful. This article will help shed some light on your feet and why you should keep them in mind.

Here are some tips on choosing the right shoes for your needs:

1. Make sure your shoes have a stiff, supportive back. You shouldn’t be able to move your heel back and forth in the shoe.

2. The shoe should have some minor flexibility so you can move your feet the way you need. If you step on an uneven surface, the shoe should allow your foot to grab a few angles to prevent falling and especially to prevent rolling an ankle and spraining it.

3. The shoe should have at least ½ inch or more of space between the toe and the front of the shoe so you have room to move your toes a bit.

4. The shoe should provide the right kind of arch support for the arch in your feet. If you need more support for high arches, get some insoles for that. If your insoles are too big, consider finding another kind or cutting them to fit your shoes.

5. The shoe should be comfortable when you buy it, and not after breaking it in.

6. The shoe should fit the purpose. If you are running in the grass, maybe some cleats will help. If you are walking in mud or snow, choose boots. Do not wear flip flops or non supportive sandals on long distance walks.

7. It should be tight or loose enough to be comfortable and functional. Use your laces, straps or other options on the shoe to make it tighter, if the shoes have those features.

Now that we have went into more detail, you can probably see why the shoe situation is more important. Your feet support your whole body, are connected to many other muscles, and are important to care for.