Author: melissa

At one point or another, everyone has had a pulled muscle. It happens any time you stretch a muscle in your body too far, or stretch it to the point that the muscle tissue begins to tear. You can get a pulled muscle anywhere. They occur most often in your back, shoulders, hamstrings, neck, or shoulders.

You’ll know it when you get one, because the pain will be sudden and extreme, and will probably limit movement within the affected muscle group.  Those, however, aren’t the only symptoms.  Others include things like bruising or discoloration, swelling, muscle spasms, stiffness, or a sudden weakness in the affected muscle group.

The most common causes of these types of injuries include:

• Overexertion
• Fatigue
• Poor physical condition mixed with a sudden burst of physical activity
• Poor flexibility
• Failing to warm up properly before starting a physical activity

You can also suffer a muscle strain if you slip or lose your footing, lift something while you’re in an awkward position, throw something, or do anything involving running and jumping.  Pulled muscles tend to be more common in colder weather because the muscles in your body are stiffer and it takes more time to warm up properly.

In the vast majority of cases, you can treat a pulled muscle on your own with a combination of ice, compression, elevation and simple rest.  There are times, however, when you’ll absolutely want to seek the help of a medical professional.

Those conditions include:

• If the muscle pain is accompanied by any amount of blood coming from the injury.
• It’s severe enough that you can’t walk or have difficulty even moving the affected part of your body.
• The injured area goes completely numb.
• Or if the pain doesn’t subside after a week.

Don’t take any chances.  If you have any doubts, questions or concerns at all, it always pays to seek the help and advice of a professional.

 

 

The human body is made up mostly of water.  Any time you spend too long in the hot sun and you don’t replace the fluids you’re losing, you run the risk of dehydration.  If you pay close attention to the signals your body is sending you though, you can avoid the problem entirely.

What are those signs and signals, exactly?  We’ll outline them for you just below!

Dark Urine (Or Less Urine)

This is actually one of the best and most obvious signs that you are becoming dehydrated.  Generally speaking, when you’re well-hydrated, your urine is clearer. As you become dehydrated, it will grow darker.  There will also be less of it, as your body tries to conserve as many fluids as it can.

A General Feeling Of Lethargy

This is a sign of moderate dehydration and is typically accompanied by a feeling of growing weakness in your muscles.  You may also experience dry mouth that accompanies the sense of lethargy.  While either of those on their own is a decent indicator, both together are a sure sign.

Light-Headedness or Headache

Another sign of moderate dehydration is light-headedness or dizziness.  It may also be accompanied by a sudden headache or nausea.

You Stop Sweating

This is a sign of severe dehydration that normally only occurs when you’ve lost 10-15 percent of your body’s water content.  At this point, if you look in the mirror, you’ll probably also notice that you have sunken eyes and your skin looks shriveled and dried out.

Other symptoms of severe dehydration include:

• Delirium
• Fever
• Increased heart rate
• Low blood pressure

Anything you can do to put more fluids back into your system will help ward off the effects of dehydration. After a certain point, you’ll likely need medical attention to be sure that no complications arise as a result.  Be mindful of the signals your body is sending you and play it safe any time you spend extended periods in the heat!

When it gets hot outside, kids love nothing better than Slurpies, ice cream, popsicles, and other sweet treats like that.

When they’re indoors with air conditioning playing video games and the like, they love reaching for salty chips and the like.

It’s easy to see the attraction.  All of those things are delicious.  Unfortunately, they’re all incredibly unhealthy.  If you’re looking for ideas on how you can treat your kids to delicious snacks but keep things on the healthier side, then this article is for you.  Below, we’ll outline a few ideas!

Fresh Fruit

Sweetness, the way nature intended!  There are a nearly endless number of options where fresh fruits are concerned, from strawberries, to cranberries, blueberries and more.  If you’re not sure which ones your kids prefer, mix and match to try them all.  If you want to add a bit of salty goodness to the equation, pair small servings of salted nuts with your fresh fruit offerings.

Veggie Trays

You can make these yourself, but there are so many great pre-made ones to choose from on the market that it’s almost not worth the time and trouble. That is, unless your kids have very specific tastes you want to cater to.  Whichever option you choose, veggie trays are a versatile, great tasting alternative to conventional snacks.

Yogurt Cups

A cool, delicious alternative to ice cream.  In fact, if you want to spice things up a bit, mix in a bit of fresh fruit with your yogurt offerings and use the yogurt as a fruit dip.

As you can see based on the snack ideas above, it’s easier than you might think to provide healthier alternatives to your kids.  They’ll enjoy the diverse array of flavors and textures and you’ll have greater peace of mind because they’ll be eating healthier.  That’s win-win.

Did you make a New Year’s Resolution at the start of the year to get healthier?

How’d that work out for you?  How long was it before you threw your hands up in frustration and gave up?  Most people last a week.  A few last almost a month.

However, in the end only a handful of people stick with their resolution long enough to see much of a difference. That is, if they see any difference at all.

The reason?  Overwhelmingly, it comes down to a lack of consistency.  If you only work out once a week, even if you do so intensely, it’s not going to be as effective as it would have been if you work out more moderately, but more often.

Here are some quick tips to help you stick with it and start seeing a difference:

• Create a schedule – Not only that, but write it down! There’s power in the written word and you’ll have an easier time holding yourself accountable if you force yourself to look at what you’re supposed to be doing on any given day.
• Don’t do it alone – Find an exercise buddy. Someone who has the same basic fitness goals.  Not only will you have someone to work out with, but you’ll be able to help keep each other accountable.  That’s win-win!
• Flip the script – Many people just don’t like conventional workouts. It’s easy to see why, so don’t do that.  Find a fun physical activity you enjoy doing and do it consistently.  What’s your preference?  Tennis?  Fencing?  Frisbee?  All of those will give you a fabulous workout, but none of them really feel like exercise.

Even if you just do the three things mentioned above and nothing else, you’ll go a long way toward sticking with your exercise long enough to start seeing real, tangible results.  Once you do, it will provide all the motivation you need to keep going!

With the weather warming up, it’s no surprise that more and more people are moving outside for some serious summertime fun.  We can’t say we blame them.

As much fun as the great outdoors can be, it’s also important to keep safety in mind.

Accidents happen most often when people get so caught up in what they’re doing that they stop being mindful of their surroundings and bodies.  During the hot summer months, far and away the most common types of injuries and accidents fall into two broad categories:  Falls and Heat.  We’ll talk about both, just below.

Falls

When you read this heading, you might be inclined to think about kids falling down while playing outside.  That certainly happens and it is part of what we’re talking about here, but adults aren’t immune to summertime spills.

Where kids are concerned, the causes are much more wide-ranging.  It could be anything from taking a tumble off of a bike while riding, to roller skating in the street, falling off of a trampoline, and more.  Where adults are concerned, the most common type of fall is off of a ladder.

Unfortunately, nothing can outright prevent falls from occurring, unless you confine yourself to life in a bubble. Taking basic safety precautions can minimize the extent of any injuries that do occur.

Heat

After having spent the long winter months mostly indoors, it’s easy to overdo it when summer rolls around.  Heat exhaustion and dehydration are the two big things to watch out for here, and both are caused by  a lack of mindfulness.

When you’re out having fun, it’s easy to get so focused on your activity that that you stop paying attention to the signals your body is sending you to stop and cool down.  If you don’t listen to the early signals your body sends you, it’ll start sending stronger ones. That will invariably result in you collapsing and spending some time in the ER as medical professionals pump fluids back into your system.

Don’t let it come to that.  Just be mindful, stay hydrated, and don’t overdo it!

 

Just about every fitness expert you talk to will recommend doing a combination of cardio and weight training, rather than choosing one or the other.

It’s good advice because those are two very different forms of exercise with very different benefits.

The interesting question is, which should you do first in your weekly exercise routine?  Here, things get interesting and the answers will vary depending on who you ask.  In this article, we’ll shed some light on that, and in the process, uncover why there’s an ongoing debate on the topic!

Ultimately, the question of which you should do first for optimal results comes down to your personal goals.  Personal fitness goals tend to fall into one of three broad categories:  Losing weight, building muscle mass, or training for a specific physical event.  Note that muscle is sixteen times denser than fat, so if you’re focused on weight training, you’re actually quite likely to gain weight.  The muscle weight you add on will more than offset the fat you’re losing.

Here, then, is the answer:

If your goal is to lose weight, then you want to start with weight training and move to cardio afterward.  According to a study conducted by the American Council on Exercise, you’ll burn more pounds and shed fat more quickly if your heart rate is elevated when you begin your cardio routine.  An opening round of weight training accomplishes that goal and makes your cardio workout more efficient and effective.

On the other hand, if your primary goal is to build muscle and develop a nice six-pack to show off, then your best bet is to split your cardio and weight training workouts to separate days.  The reason is simple:  When you strength train, you need to be operating at 100 percent capacity when you exercise.  Bunching the two types of exercise on the same day will blunt your effectiveness on whichever one comes second.

If you are training for an event like a race or a marathon, you’ll want to do your cardio routine first, according to the latest research published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning.  Their recommendation is to use the cardio routine as a warm-up, and then exercise the muscles most needed for the event you’re training for before proceeding with the rest of your strength training routine.

As you can see then, there’s no one right answer here.  It is entirely dependent on what you want your exercise routine to do for you!

Eat healthy and exercise! If you’ve heard this once, you’ve heard it a thousand times. It’s easily one of the most often repeated phrases these days. But how much good does exercise actually do? Besides helping you achieve your weight loss goals, what other benefits can you derive from it?

Those are excellent questions, and as it turns out, there have been a variety of studies conducted on the subject.  Here’s a quick summary of what science has to say about the matter:

The human body is a wondrous machine, and the only machine we know of that gets stronger the harder and the more often you give it a good workout.  In addition to building muscle and improving your balance, it also makes you significantly less likely to develop heart disease, diabetes and even cancer!

The Department of Health and Human Services (Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans  recommends that adults between the ages of 18 to 64 get at least two and a half hours of moderately intense exercise a week. If you follow their guidelines, you’ll live longer.  How much longer?  Well, studies have shown that their recommended amount of exercise conducted on a regular basis will add anywhere from three to seven years to your lifespan.

If all that wasn’t enough reason to consider adding regular exercise to your weekly schedule, consider that there have been a number of studies that indicate better physical fitness enhances cognition as well. In a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, it was revealed that people over the age of fifty who built regular exercise into their weekly routines scored consistently higher on cognitive tests after six months than those who led a more sedentary lifestyle.

All that and weight loss too?  What’s not to like?

Summertime always brings the back and forth debate about the sun and the dangers it poses to the forefront of everyone’s mind. This is helped along by the plethora of sunscreen commercials that play on television during this time of year.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the sun and its effects, both good and ill. Let’s start with the bad news.  As anyone who has spent any time in the sun knows, too much sun causes painful sunburn. However, worse than that is  overexposure to the sun’s rays can increase your risk of getting certain kinds of skin cancer.

Those are obviously not good things. The best way to guard against those kinds of threats is to invest in a good broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30.  For optimal protection, you’ll want to apply your sunscreen 15-30 minutes before venturing outside for a day of fun. Be sure to take time to re-apply it at two-hour intervals.

Note that in addition to protecting from the threats outlined above, a good sunscreen will also help protect your skin from the aging effects caused by the sun.  If you want to keep your young, healthy-looking skin, good sunscreen protection is a must if you go outside.

Having said all that, the simple truth is that you don’t want to actively hide from the sun.  After all, sunlight is essential to generating vitamin D in our bodies.

The catch is that if you’re wearing sunscreen, then the sun’s rays won’t trigger vitamin D production in your body, so it’s a good idea to spend at least fifteen to twenty minutes a day in the sun without sunscreen.  Taking that approach will give you the best of both worlds, so grab your hat, grab your sunscreen and go enjoy the day!

 

 

 

Talk to anybody older than you and sooner or later, they’ll tell you all about their aches and pains. Their stories serve as a friendly warning of what you have to look forward to as you get older. Everybody seems to believe that as we get older, more aches and pains seem to creep into the picture, but is it actually true?

As it turns out, unfortunately, it is.  A new study conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control reveals that more than fifty million older adults experience chronic pain every year.  The aches and pains stem from a variety of common sources.

The sources include, but are not limited to:

• Stiffening joints
• Arthritis
• Longer recovery times from common injuries like slips and falls
• Longer recovery times from surgeries
• Cancer

This is just a basic list.  To make matters worse, a significant percentage of older people (40 percent!) do not receive timely or adequate treatment or care for the pains they suffer.

A related study conducted by researchers at the Translational Research Institute for Pain in Later Life at Cornell University did an in-depth review of nearly a hundred separate studies that evaluated a wide range of pain management treatments for the elderly.

This study revealed several intriguing findings, including:

• Older patients tend to view pain treatments as a form of weakness, and conversely view tolerating pain as a sign of strength and resiliency. As such, many are simply less likely to seek treatment at all.
• Patients are significantly less likely to seek treatment if they don’t have a close, trusting relationship with their doctor.
• Patients who suffer from any form of cognitive or sensory impairment may not be able to accurately describe the pain they are feeling to their caregivers.
• Older adults simply don’t absorb medicines as well as younger folks, and their bodies are less capable of flushing toxins from their systems.

The bottom line here is two-fold.  First, yes, more aches and pains can be expected as we age. Second, is that although there are certainly challenges with regards to treating aches and pains as we get older, such treatment is possible with proper care and good communication with your doctor.

So you got yourself in an accident and you really hurt your arm, leg, hand, foot, or other extremity.  You’re worried now that it might be broken, but pain is pain. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell whether a bone is genuinely broken or if you’re suffering from a simple strain or sprain.

Unfortunately, there’s no surefire way to know, but there are a few specific things you can look for that can indicate a break, rather than something less serious.  Here are a few:

Deformity – Let’s start with the obvious.  If the extremity you injured is bent out of shape, it’s probably fairly serious and a good sign that you’re looking at a break.  In cases like these, delay is not your friend.  Contact your doctor immediately.

Swelling and/or Bruising – This is always present when you have a break but unfortunately, it’s present any time you suffer from a strain or sprain too.  By itself then, this is suggestive, but certainly not definitive.

Reduced Motor Function – This is another suggestive symptom that isn’t definitive in isolation, but it’s certainly a sign post that you could be looking at a break.  Obviously, if you’ve broken a bone, you’re going to be faced with a serious lack of mobility. It’s certainly true that the same could be said of serious sprains, albeit usually with less pain than you’d feel if attempting to move a broken bone.

Grinding – This one is a pretty clear indicator.  If you can feel two bits of bone grinding together when you flex or move the extremity you’re worried about, you can bet that you’re looking at something more serious than a simple strain.

Again, it’s not easy to know for sure if you’re dealing with a break or something less serious so don’t take any chances.  If you get hurt, your next stop should be your doctor or the nearest emergency clinic, just to be sure.