Tag Archives: health

Chronic pain is no fun, trust me. It can sometimes feel like you are constantly clock watching, waiting for when you’re able to take your next dose of pain relief.

Depending on your chronic pain condition, there are some more alternative options we can try to help alleviate some of the pain. Whilst different things work for different people, let’s take a look at some other non-medication options to manage chronic pain.

Understanding The Causes Of Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is a seriously medical condition which affects millions of people all over the world. Chronic pain affects all ages, genders and backgrounds, and the medical community is yet to find a ‘cure’ or solution for chronic pain.

It’s thought that chronic pain is caused by a malfunctioning nervous system, which is a theory that dates back to the start of the 19th century, when scientists first discovered that chronic pain was related to inflammation within the body.

Latest research suggests chronic pain could be caused by a genetic predisposition to abnormal sensory processing, as well as an abnormal central nervous system plasticity. Whilst there is no cure for chronic pain, there are alternative treatments available, which don’t involve taking medication.

What Kinds of Alternative Chronic Pain Treatments Are There?

You’ve probably heard all about TENS machines, and the benefits of using one. They’re extremely effective, but with all of the wires and nodes, they’re not typically the most travel-friendly, which is where Paingone comes in.

Paingone pride themselves on creating devices that deliver fast, effective medication-free pain relief. Whether you suffer from joint pain, muscle pain, backache, migraines or other painful chronic pain conditions, Paingone have a range of products to suit your every need.

With chronic pain, you’re more likely to have pain in more than one problem area, which is why the Paingone devices are so useful, as they have devices like their Paingone One or Paingone Plus, which feature a pen-like design for targeted treatment wherever you need it on the body.

Their special pens can be used practically anywhere on the body (their words), be that your shoulders, knees, back or neck, for effective, targeted relief. They even work through clothing, so they’re ideal for throwing in your bag for when the pain strikes, and they offer a rapid 60-second treatment, which is much quicker relief than taking any pain medication.

Another popular treatment method for chronic pain is mindfulness. Mindfulness and meditation has been shown to help with anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. Mindfulness has also shown to be beneficial in improving the quality of your sleep, as well as helping to reduce the severity of migraine attacks.

One suggestion which is never fun to hear, but exercise has been proven to help with some chronic pain conditions. Exercise helps to relieve stress and release endorphins, which can help with pain management, as well as helping with loosening any tight or tense muscles which could be exacerbating the pain.

If the idea of exercise is a little off-putting due to pain levels, you could consider yoga. Yoga can help with chronic pain in a number of ways, including; releasing endorphins, improving your flexibility and balance, strengthening your muscles and spine, as well as raising your serotonin levels.

It’s also something you can do and adapt to however you feel on the day, and there’s endless yoga videos on YouTube to follow for chronic pain sufferers, which you can follow at home to give it a try, to see if it’ll help with managing your pain. It’s always worth trying anything you can, just to see if you can some much-needed relief, and I hope these suggestions have been helpful.

Self doubt is something we all suffer from sometime in our life, and it’s natural to feel this way, when you’re feeling unsure. There are steps we can take to help us overcome the feelings of self-doubt, but the first step in overcoming these feelings, is by trying to identify the cause of why it’s happening.

Self doubt is described as being the lack of confidence in oneself and one’s abilities. It can also be defined as the feeling of uncertainty, concern or worry about one’s abilities. The root cause of these feelings could come down to feeling a lack of confidence or security.

It’s a perfectly natural feeling. It doesn’t need to be seen as being necessarily a negative experience, as self doubt can help us to grow as individuals, and allow us to be more aware of both our strengths and weaknesses.

What Are The Symptoms Of Self Doubt?

Symptoms of self doubt can manifest in different ways, where we make have an inability to take initiative when doing tasks, feeling inferior to those around us, anticipating failure, poor performance when completing tasks, and just feeling like we’re not good enough. Whilst self-doubt is a completely normal emotion we’ll all experience, it’s important to not let that doubt take over, and impact our life.

How To Tackle Your Feelings of Self-Doubt?

Accept Self Doubt

Self doubt can affect all areas of our life, from personal relationships to our career. When we think about what we have to offer, it becomes a cycle of destructive thinking that leads us down an even more uncertain path. We must be mindful and accept the feelings of self doubt, because it is just a feeling – it’s not permanent.

Take Care Of Yourself

Start by understanding self-doubt and how it impacts you creatively. Determine what triggers your self doubt, and then arm yourself with an action plan for dealing with it when it strikes. Be gentle with yourself; you’re doing the best you can.

Give Yourself Credit

The best way to overcome a feeling of self-doubt is to give yourself credit for what you have done so far. If you are just starting, then you can’t expect too much from yourself. Give yourself some time, and work hard on your goals, and soon enough you will have accomplished more than you ever thought possible.

Challenge Negative Thoughts With Positive Thoughts

When you catch yourself feeling down, try challenging your negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Instead of telling yourself how terrible you are, tell yourself that you can do better next time, or that you can find a way to make things better. It’s all in our mindset, and this can really help to drive away the negative thoughts.

Seek Support When Struggling

You might think self-doubt is only a problem for those who are insecure or lack confidence. But it’s actually a common feeling that many people experience at one time or another.

It’s important to try and work through and get past, rather than letting it control you, but if you find that your feelings of self-doubt are impacting your life, it’d be a good idea to reach out to your doctor for extra help in overcoming those feelings.

We all have moments in our lives where we feel less than confident. In these moments, it can be hard to believe in yourself and your abilities. However, these are some things you can do to improve your self-esteem, to minimise the feelings of self-doubt, to make yourself feel better about what you can achieve.

If you suffer from migraines, you have my utmost sympathy, as they’re truly terrible. I’ve suffered from migraines since I was eleven years old, and whilst I was lucky to get only one or two during my twenties, they’ve been a regular occurrence in my thirties, and let me tell you, they aren’t fun.

The word migraine is often thrown around, but what exactly is a migraine? How can you tell if you’re having a migraine, or simply a very painful headache? Trust me, you know. Migraines have a very different level of pain, and they’re never just a headache. Migraines are a neurological condition which affects the brain.

Migraines can be trigged by different factors such as food, stress, a lack of stress and more, and the pain can range from being mild to severe, and they’re typically experienced on one side of the head. Migraines are never *just* a headache, with symptoms of light or sound sensitivities being common, as well as visual disturbances.

Annoyingly, a migraine can last for hours or even days, and is often accompanied by nausea or vomiting, and some even suffer from neck stiffness, or extreme sensitivities to smells. Migraines are typically triggered by hormonal changes in women during puberty, menstruation (periods), pregnancy (pregnancy) or menopause (end of periods).

What Are The Different Types of Migraines?

There are two main types of migraine: episodic and chronic. Episodic migraines happen less often and tend to last less than 72 hours. Whereas chronic migraines happen more often and can last for days or weeks at a time. There is also a third type of migraine called ophthalmoplegic migraine, which happens when the muscles that control eye movement become weak or paralysed in some way, but the two most common types of migraine are episodic and chronic.

Common Migraine Triggering Factors

Migraines are the most common type of headache, with about 1 in 7 people suffering from migraines, and they’re found to be more common in women than they are men. The triggers for migraines change from person to person,

Some of the most common triggers for migraines include:

• Changes in hormones; puberty, menstruation, pregnancy or menopause.
• Sleep deprivation
• Stressful events or life changes
• Too much or too little physical activity
• Atmospheric pressure falls or rises
• Changes in temperature
• Humidity fluctuation
• Bright artificial lighting
• Alcohol consumption
• Consumption of certain food types (such as chocolate, cheese and nuts)
• Excessive caffeine intake
• Smoking tobacco products

What are the Most Effective Treatment Options for Migraines?

Migraines are often debilitating, and some people have to suffer with them on a daily basis. I’m lucky in that I get maybe 1-2 a month at the most, but I’ve had times when they’ve been a lot more frequent, and it’s really tough as they are so debilitating.

If you think you might be suffering from migraines as opposed to general headaches, I’d recommend creating a headache diary, when you can record your episodes and food/drink intake, to help you establish any noticeable patterns or triggers.

I for one, know chocolate to be a big trigger for me, so I try and limit how much chocolate I consume, and once you spot your triggers, it really does help to minimise the frequency of your migraine attacks.

When it comes to effective migraine treatments, there are many different options, with some people responding well to medication, lifestyle changes or focusing on preventative measures. It all depends on the individual person, and it’s always good to try different things to see which is the best plan of action for you personally.

One popular medication when it comes to migraines are triptans (and my personal favourite treatment for dealing with my own migraines). Triptans are a type of medication that can be taken at the onset of a migraine to reduce its severity and duration. They work by blocking serotonin from binding to receptors in the brain, which helps stop the release of chemicals and other neurotransmitters that lead to migraine symptoms.

There are many treatment options for migraine sufferers, but not all of them work for everyone. Some people find relief from pain by using over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen. Others find relief from taking prescription medications such as ergotamines, or opiates.

How To Treat A Migraine Attack With Alternative Therapies

Alternative treatments for migraines include acupuncture, meditation, yoga, chiropractic care, massage therapy, low-level laser therapy (LLLT), and biofeedback. You could use a TENS machine designed for migraines, hot water bottles, heat-up eye masks, or many other non-medication based treatment options.

Living with migraines can be really tough. You live in worry wondering when the next attack will strike, but there are different treatments available, and alternative therapies to hopefully help with the symptoms once you do have an attack.

Meditation is the practice of concentrating on one thing to clear the mind and promote relaxation and mindfulness. The term meditation refers to a broad variety of practices that includes techniques designed to promote relaxation, build internal energy or life force, thus helping to improve health, increase awareness and spiritual communion, develop compassion and forgiveness.

There are many different types of meditation, all of which can be based on religion, culture, personal beliefs and goals. The ultimate goal of meditation is to help someone become more aware and mindful about their thoughts and feelings.

How does Meditation Improve Health?

Meditation has been widely accepted as a practice that can improve our mental and physical health. It is not difficult to find scientific studies on the benefits of meditation. There are various ways of meditating including, but not limited to; mindfulness, transcendental meditation, yoga, qi gong, tai chi and many more.

There are health benefits to meditation, with meditation being said to improve the immune system by lowering the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines that cause inflammation in the body. A study found that Zen meditators had lower levels of inflammatory markers than those who had no experience with meditation whatsoever.

Increasingly, people are turning to meditation as a way to cope with chronic pain. Meditation can help those who suffer from pain by calming the mind and reducing the amount of stress hormones in the body, as well as increasing production of endorphins.

Meditation has proven to be effective in reducing blood pressure. Studies show that people who meditate regularly have lower blood pressure than those who do not meditate. This is likely due to the release of endorphins after meditation, which reduces stress and lowers blood pressure.

The benefits of meditation are endless. Meditation can help reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and improve your mental health. It also increases self-awareness and empathy for others, so how about trying meditation yourself?

Allergies are the result of the immune system reacting to substances that it finds unfamiliar or dangerous. These reactions can vary from mild rashes to life-threatening conditions like anaphylaxis. They are one of the most common chronic conditions in children and teenagers, with the most common allergen being pollen, but an allergen can be anything from pollen, mould, dust or animal dander.

How Do Home Allergy Tests Work?

It all depends on the test you’re having, as some home allergy tests are blood tests, some are saliva tests, but there’s also hair tests. I’ve only had experience with home bloody allergy tests, and they’re very easy in that you use a lancet on your finger to make a small prick, and then you squeeze your finger to fill the tiny vial, and send it off to be tested. The company you bought your allergy test from, will receive your sample and test it within their lab.

An allergy blood test is a simple, painless test that looks for specific antibodies in the blood. These antibodies are present in people with a particular allergy or sensitivity to a certain food or substance. It’s important to know which food you’re allergic to because if you eat it, your body will release histamine.

Histamine is the body’s natural response to an allergen and is known to cause symptoms such as sneezing, itching, and watery eyes. It can also lead to serious symptoms such as difficulty breathing and symptoms that mimic a heart attack, so it’s important to know what you’re allergic to, so you can eliminate the allergen from your diet / life.

Home allergy tests are a great way to figure out what you are allergic to and how bad it is, without having to wait for your doctor’s appointment. It’s obviously better if you can get your allergy tests via your GP and doctor’s surgery, but if your doctor’s is anything like mine, it’s impossible to even get an appointment these days, so it’s handy to be able to get the ball rolling with home allergy tests.

The best time to take a home allergy test, is if you’ve already started to experience symptoms of allergies, so you can see if you do have any allergies or not, and what they are. The tests are done at home by yourself, and they genuinely take 5-10 minutes max. Some tests give you an answer there and then, but most need you to send them off to be tested within a laboratory, and once you’ve got your results, you can then book an appointment with your GP to discuss the results, and go from there.