news for health

Cramps in Calf at Night- Causes and Remedies

Diposting oleh Unknown Rabu, 20 Juni 2012 0 komentar

Calf Pain at Night

In the middle of night when you are sleeping and its not more than an hour or so that you fell asleep, you suddenly feel a severe cramp in your calf or calves. You realize that you are half awake and sometimes moaning in pain! These are the charlie horses cramps or the cramps in calf at night. If you have been in this situation once or for multiple times, you are aware of how painful these nocturnal calf cramps can be! There are many causes of leg calf cramps at night beginning from your lifestyle, the food that you eat which can be deficient in certain minerals to certain diseases as well as medicines that you regularly take for your diseases! Why do you have calf pain at night and what can you do to get rid of these calf pain and cramps? Let's explore!

What are Nocturnal Calf Cramps?

As the term itself says, nocturnal calf cramps are the nighttime leg cramps felt in calves- the back part of the legs situated right below your knees. They are sudden spasms, or tightening of muscles in the calf. In fact, they are more serious condition than spasms because the calf pain at night is a sudden, uncontrolled contraction of a muscle. Calf pain at night often occur just when you are falling asleep or waking up and they can last a few seconds to a few minutes.

What Causes Cramps in calf at Night?

While doctors are still not sure about the exact causes of leg cramps at night, there are many reasons stated by them on the basis of patients who sometimes have fluid imbalance or a vitamin deficiency in their bodies. Some studies, however, link nocturnal calf cramps with increased electrical activity in the affected leg muscles, but doctors still don't know what causes nocturnal leg cramps. In some cases, calf cramps at night may be caused by a fluid imbalance or a vitamin deficiency. Apart from these main speculative causes of calves cramps, there are many other causes cited as responsible for these cramps at night.

Overused and strained calf muscle. You might have tried a new exercise or overdone some of the exercises that strain your calf muscles.

Injury to Achilles Tendonitis tendon. Pain due to some injury to Achilles tendon which joins the calf muscles with the heel might also intensify your calf cramps at night. This type of leg pain often will extend itself to the heels where the Achilles tendon is situated.

Occurance of Varicose Veins. If you keep yourself standing for most of the time in the day, you might develop varicose veins- a condition when your veins in calf get wider and enlarged. This is due to the unusual accumulation of blood in the veins that fail to travel back to heart.

High cholesterol leevels. If you suffer from high cholesterol levels, it might lead to clogging of the arteries due to cholesterol deposition in them. This, in turn, affects the blood supply to the calf leading to pain and cramps. You must therefore know How to Control Cholesterol

Increased blood sugar levels.If you are diabetic, there can be yet another cause for your calf cramps at night- high blood sugar levels that damage the peripheral nerve known as diabetic neuropathy. Use this Checklist for Diabetes which talks about best diet for insulin dependent persons.

Knee pain and knee joint inflammation.If you suffer from arthritis or knee pain that causes inflammation in the knee joint, it is quite possible for you to have calf pain at night. Read about these Knee Pain ManagementDo's & Don'ts

Other causes of calf cramps at night may include sleep disorders; dehydration; deficiency of potassium, calcium, and other minerals; excessive body weight; sitting for a long time during the day; keeping your legs in awkward positions when you sleep; consuming certain medicines like diuretics for urine problems, statins, steroids or birth control pills; diseases like thyroid and kidney problems.

Remedies for Nocturnal Calf Cramps

You must first identify as to what causes your calf pains at night! If its is high cholesterol or blood sugar then you must take steps to treat these conditions. However, when you wake up due to cramps in calves at night, to get immediate relief, stretch out your leg or legs and stay in that position for sometime (about 10-15 minutes). You can gently massage your calves with your fingers too. Stretching of legs are a must for people who experience calf pain – either at night or anytime. So, how to do stretches for calf muscles?

Here's how you can do stretching exercise to get relief from your calf cramps at night.

Lay down on your back and extend both your legs.
Take a rolled up towel and wrap it around the ball of your foot.
Keeping your leg straight, pull your toes towards yourself. You will feel the stretch at the back of your legs.
Take your foot up and then down keeping your leg straight. Repeat this without stopping. You should not hold the stretch. Keep doing this for about 2 minutes.
Repeat the entire process with the other leg.

See this Calf Pain Rehab Video to get idea about how to stretch calf muscles to get relief from calf strain.

You can also do a simple calf stretching exercise daily for three times.

You have to stand against a wall with your hands placed at wall infront of your chest.
Keep one of your leg at a distance of one feet from the wall.
Keep the other leg at a distance of two to three feet from the wall (see image below).
Take it far from wall till you feel a stretch in your leg.
Hold for 1-2 minutes in this position.
Repeat with the other leg.

If you get calf cramps at night, almost every night, you should consult your physician to identify the cause. If its a badly pulled calf muscle, it would need treatment which include medicines and physical therapy with deep tissue massage and gentle stretching exercises. If its an injury involving severe rupture in your calf muscles, you might have to go for a surgery too. Varicose veins can be treated with compression bandage and crtain exercises.

Other things that you can do to get relief from your night calf cramps include the following

Have optimum sleep.
Drink enough water.
If overweight, lose weight
If having medicines that cause your leg pain, see your doctor and resolve either by asking for alternative medicines or other ways suggested by your physician.
Quit smoking as it constricts the blood vessels giving you more cramps.
Follow a healthy lifestyle and have healthy foods rich in potassium. Bananas, grapes, beans, apricots, dates, raisins, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes, oranges, grapefruits, potatoes, corn, saltwater fish like tuna, all are good sources of potassium and other required minerals. Diabetics should avoid bananas, they can have coconut water instead.
Do regular calf muscle exercises so that your calf muscles get strong and flexible.

If you do regular calf muscle exercises and pay attention to a balanced diet, you can get rid of the cramps in calves at night. If this doesn't work, you must see your doctor to get relief from your calf cramps at night!

Adults-Health, Calf Cramps at Night, Calf Pain at Night, Calves Cramps, Pain Management |

List of Healthy Snacks for Weight Loss

Diposting oleh Unknown Jumat, 15 Juni 2012 0 komentar

Healthy Snacks for Weight Loss

When you say that you must have 5-6 meals a day, you almost always mean to say that there should be two main meals (lunch and dinner) and 3-4 mini meals that we popularly call snacks. When it comes to snacking options, there too you have the choice of having a little more than just a snack once or twice like in the morning when you breakfast. So, here we have two lists of healthy snacks that will help you in suggesting what to have as 'heavier snack foods' and the other list that will tell you about 'light snack foods' that you can even have frequently within a gap of two hours or so! Heavy snacks might require a little effort in preparing them and the light snacks may be eaten as they are- they are the easy healthy snacks too! However, the one common factor among these two types of healthy snacks is that they are also the top foods to help with weight loss!

List # 1 of Healthy Snacks for Weightloss- Ready to Eat Easy Snacks

Now ready-to-eat not always means the packaged snacks foods that you get from your superstore shelves! The nature also provides certain ready-to-eat good snack foods though you have to buy them too. This list of healthy snacks contains both types of easy snacks for weightloss assistance.

Yogurt

Plain or mixed with fruits or other healthy foods, yogurt is a magical snacking otion for weightloss. This is because of its protein content which takes longer to digest keeping you satiated for longer. In this matter, Greek yogurt is even better choice as it has double the amount of protein than other yogurts have in them. If you want to use yougurt as a snack that would keep you full for even longer, you can just add some blueberries, apples, pears, dates, apricot or any other food that will add fiber to this protein! If not going for Greek yogurt, have the low fat yogurt made with skim milk.

Fruits

You guessed it right. Fruits can never escape from a list of healthy snacks! You like it or you don't, if you want to lose weight, you must add fruits in your snacks options. Some of them have high water content like watermelonand grapes. The water content in few grapes or a few chunks of watermelon will make you so full that you won't feel like eating anything for the next couple of hours. Other fruits like grapefruit, pears, apples are also good snacks ideas for weight loss due to their high fiber content. Pears and apples are high in water content too and if eaten with the peels, they'll give you some extra fibers to keep you satisfied for hours. You can even dress your apple with a little peanut butter which will give you long lasting energy too. If you are in search of naturally sweet fruits that are high in both, water content and fiber, nothing competes berries, especially the blue berries They are loaded with antioxidants to keep you looking good while you lose weight!

Raw Vegetables and Salads

Have you ever tried raw crunchy vegetables when you feel like having those crispy chips? If not, its time to do so because you are wanting to lose weight after all! Take some baby carrots and dip them in hummus, you won't regret not having that packat of chips with the fat filled dip! You can even take celery or zucchini sticks, green beans, pieces of green, yellow and red bell peppers, cucumbers etc. And have them with peanut butter. These are all tasty, healthy and good snack foods when it comes to weight loss. Use lettuce lavishly in your salads and make salads interesting by adding a an assortment of fruits and vegetables with grated low fat cheese. Better options would be to add salsa, hummus, or black bean dip as salad dressing.

Whole Grain Crackers and Crispbreads

Whole-grain snack foods are good for weightloss because they are rich in fiber and complex carbohydrates. This will give you energy with staying power. You can have a stock of low-fat whole grain crackers, whole-grain pretzels and whole-grain crispbreads or the rye crackers.

Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are rich in protein and fiber to make you feel fuller for longer. Although they are high in fat, but they are mono-unsaturated fat -the healthy fat. However, when having nuts and seeds as your snacks, eat them in moderation, never opt for large quantities as they are high in calories too. Opt for walnuts, raisins, pistachio in shell so that you slow down while eating, almonds. Cashews are only good once in a while as they are highly packed with calories.

Air Popped Popcorn

Yes! You can have popcorns too but the air popped popcorns. Forget the butter popcorns if you are serious about losing weight. You can have a big bowl of air popped popcorns as they are more of air apart from the healthy whole-grain carbs, fiber and even a little protein. Enjoy while you snack healthy!

List # 2 of Healthy Snacks for Weight Loss- Mixing or Making Snacks

Now here's a list of good snack foods that are healthy and will help you in losing weight too but they are not so easy as the above mentioned ready to eat snacks! You have to put some efforts to make them- only a little effort.

Eggs- high quality protein of eggs in your breakfast can keep you full for very long. Just don't fry them- eat boiled or poached.

Oatmeal-avoid the sweetened oatmeal and prepare it with anything that will suit you- water or skim milk. For flavor, use cinnamon or nutmeg.

Soup-not the creamy soups or even the packed ones that need a littlle boiling and they are done. It is the home made soup with lots of water with vegetables, beans, fish or chicken and herbs for flavoring that will make up a healthy snacks idea for weightloss!

Beans-they are good source of protein and fiber. Just toss some beans into soup or salad and your healthy snack food for weightloss is ready! You can even mash the beans up and use it as a dip.

Sweet Potatoes-the starchy vegetable can keep you full for hours. Although rich in calories, sweet potatoes are fat free. The fiber of sweet potato makes it a healthy choice for snacks when weight loss is in question. So, have mashed or baked sweet potatoes as one of the many good snack foods for weightloss.

You might also be interested in knowing other ways to reduce your tummy. Read How to Reduce Tummy - Know Your Tummy Type & Lose Belly Fat!

Diet, Food, Healthy Snacks, Weight-Loss |

5 Healthy Ways to Celebrate Environment Day!

Diposting oleh Unknown Senin, 04 Juni 2012 0 komentar

5^th June is the World Environment Day celebrated every year all over the world! We are safe only when our environment is safe. For this, we must conform to the rules of nature. Then only we’ll be able to safeguard our environment- and save ourselves! Being healthy the natural way is one of the essential ways to pay respect to our Earth’s environment and also to protect it. So, here we go with the 5 healthy ways to celebrate Environment Day. In fact, these are the ideal ways to lead our whole life and be healthy forever. Start today – on Environment Day- and form the habit gradually to follow these tips to be healthy for a lifelong health!

Have Green Healthy Food Menu!

Have lots of fruits and veggies. Use the right way ofcooking vegetables. If can’t do without a little bit of meat, try to have fish. If that won’t do, go for organic meat only! Avoid all aerated drinks and have natural beverages like fruit juice, coconut water, fresh lime juice etc.

To give environmental touch to your food menu today, try to buy locally produced foods that put minimal impact on environment. Instead of mass farmed meat, buy organic meat. The same applies to all your other food purchases- buy organic vegetables, fruits, spices and pluses. If planning to party today, decorate your table with recycled articles!

Reduce Global Warming while Exercising!

When you hit the gym and use that treadmill or the other gym equipment, you are consuming lots of power and releasing global warming ingredients into the atmosphere. Its good to exercise for health- just try to switch to natural mediums like yoga, aerobic exercises, walking, running, jogging, swimming etc.

Reduce Carbon Footprints while Traveling!

What applies to exercising, applies to your traveling options too. Let your car be parked in the garage and start car pooling to go to work- right from today! You will not only reduce carbon footprints but will also bond with your colleagues, share ideas, be more efficient at work- positive health effect to lessen your stress at work!

And when you go for shopping in the evening to the grocery shop, don’t ride your bike. Either use your bicycle or just walk down to the shop. This will make you fit giving you the right dose of exercise that you need after the whole day’s sitting at your office chair and will do a favor to the environment too!

Buy and Use Environment Friendly Products!

Because they are health friendly too! For example, you may use ‘vinegar-and-water mix’ to clean your kitchen counter. The same applies the toxic bleach cleaner that you use to clean toilets. You can, instead, use herbal toilet cleaners. This way, you are doing favor to your health too that gets deteriorated with the toxic fumes emitted by the chemical cleaners.

Other examples of environment friendly products include jute or cloth bags instead of plastic polythene bags, wooden toys in place of plastic or metal toys with lead content, recycled paper, herbal cosmetics, natural pesticides, and the list goes on- you just have to put a little effort to find them out- for the sake of your health and our environment!

Opt Green Fashion- Wear Natural and Organic Clothing!

When you can eat healthy then why can’t you wear healthy? Synthetic clothing or even the cotton ones made with conventional cotton grown with the help of pesticides don’t do any good to your skin’s health. So, wear organic cotton and other organic clothes made of such fibers as linen, bamboo, hemp and even soy fabric. You will be amazed at the soft feel and touch they’ll provide to your skin. Additionally they are cool too, considering the hot days we have in June! Those living in the parts of world experiencing colder climate in this month can wear Cashmere and Alpaca clothing.

Where there’s a will there’s a way! If you really want to give yourself and your kids a healthy life, you must first make your planet healthy. Adopt greener living options- not only on the Environment day but for all your life. Be Healthy, be Happy!

Health-Tips, Healthy Living, Healthy Ways for Environment Day |

Nicotine Withdrawal- How to Deal with Symptoms to Quit Smoking?

Diposting oleh Unknown Kamis, 31 Mei 2012 0 komentar

On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, what could be the ideal topic to discuss than nicotine withdrawal symptoms and how to deal with them while trying to quit smoking! Let’s know what are the nicotine withdrawal symptoms and some tips to overcome these symptoms to make your ‘Quit Smoking Mission’ successful!

How Nicotine Makes a Smoker Addictive?

Its not that a smoker doesn’t know the harms of nicotine or the benefits of stopping smoking, but it’s the lack of control on one’s will and the difficult situations encountered while trying to quit smoking that he/she is again and again unsuccessful in the mission- Quit Smoking. The frustration gets to such a level that a smoker starts finding the reasons for smoking and often ends up counting benefits of nicotine. Innumerable researches have, however, established the fact that nicotine is harmful for health. Why else was it used in insecticides in the past? The stimulant effect of nicotine is responsible for its addictive quality which make a person nicotine dependant and s/he finds it utmost difficult to quit smoking. It’s difficult but not impossible. It’s difficult till the level where you fight off the nicotine withdrawal symptoms!

What are Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms?

When you try to quit smoking, you will experience flu like symptoms, sometimes referred to as Quitter’s Flu. During this period when you are trying to quit smoking, you might experience various physical as well as psychological discomforts. But the good news is that, all these are short lived. Here is a list which contains the common nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Smokers trying to stop smoking may experience one or many of these symptoms of nicotine withdrawal but it is rare that they experience all of these symptoms.

Craving to smoke
Irritability and mood swings
Insomnia
Fatigue
Difficulty in Concentration
Headache
Cough
Sore throat
Constipation
Stomach ache/ gas
Dry mouth
Sore tongue and/or gums
Post-nasal drip (PND or Upper Airway Cough Syndrome (UACS)
Chest Congestion or Tightness in the chest
Increased appetite (feeling hungry often) and/or weight gain
Depression
Restlessness or boredom

How to Deal with Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms to Quit Smoking?

It’s easy if you want to think of it that way and it’s difficult if you opt to think it differently! It is always good if you plan before hand the ways to quit smoking by reading a lot and also by sharing information with people who have already quit smoking or those who are in the process of quitting smoking. When you see that what you are experiencing is a normal thing that happens while trying to give up smoking, you will feel better and hopefully more determined to quit smoking.

5 Things to do when there is Craving to Smoke!

Delay the act- It’s a matter of only about 5 minutes when this urge to smoke will go away. Repeat constantly and remind yourself that the urge is about to go just in 5 minutes!

Distract yourself and engage in other activity- To let the craving for smoking pass, do what you like (other than smoking!). For example, you can go for a walk without your packet of cigarette and your wallet too. You can call your friends and talk to them. You can read a book you were planning since days to read.

Drink water- It helps in fighting off the craving for smoking. Apart from this, water will also help fight off other symptoms of nicotine withdrawal like constipation, cough and unusual hunger. You can also have a refreshing glass of fruit juice but stay away from alcohol. It might trigger the urge to smoke!

Breath deeply- Close your eyes and try to concentrate on your inhaling and exhaling process. Breathe slowly and deeply while noticing the fine process of air going into your lungs and coming out of your nose. This will relax you and also let the usrge to smoke pass away.

Talk to someone-who cares for you and sincerely want you to quit smoking. It can be your family members, friends or someone from your support group with whom you have earlier discussed about quitting smoking.

Other Tips to Deal with Symptoms of Nicotine Withdrawal

Have Balanced Diet and Multivitamin Supplements

When you quit smoking, your body gets into the process of detoxifying itself. To flush out the toxins, your body would need extra energy. So, eat a balanced diet including healthy foods. Also take a multi vitamin substitute after consulting with your physician because you need it to fight off the fatigue – one of the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. You should stock up your fridge with some healthy snacks to binge on. Stay away from junk food as you might also be prone to weight gain when trying to quit smoking Some of the examples of such healthy foods include grapes, cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, watermelon pieces, fresh berries, low-fat yogurt, low fat pudding cups etc.

Exercise to Fight off Mood Swings

Depression and mood swings combined with irritability are common signs of nicotine withdrawal. To fight them off, you must exercise but make sure to consult your doctor before beginning any exercise regime. However, mild exercise like walking can be done by anyone. Start with slow walking for 10 to 15 minutes once or twice a day and then increase the duration as well as speed of your walking. Brisk walking for about 40-45 minutes is good for anyone- a smoking quitter or a non smoking person! Exercise release pleasure chemicals into your body compensating the joy feeling that you got from smoking!

Reward Yourself to Stay Motivated

If you have been able to not smoke for the whole day, reward yourself at the end of the day. You can take a hot bath or watch a movie or have a special dinner or buy flowers for yourself or go for window shopping at your favorite mall! When not smoked for a whole week, celebrate the week end either with family or just yourself. Go to spa, host a party, play with kids- anything that will make you happy!

Take Extra Sleep

Nicotine stimulates your body extraordinarily and when trying to quit smoking, you might get fatigued like never before. Don’t be disheartened, this is a temporary phase and will also go away. Meanwhile try to take extra sleep. If possible, take a power nap in the afternoon. If that’s not possible, go to bed a little early than usual. If, however, you face difficulty in sleeping, go for long walks a couple of hours or listen to soothing music before going to bed.

All these tips to deal with nicotine withdrawal symptoms can only help you to quit smoking if you sincerely internalize them. Just reading and then forgetting will never do any good to you. Remember that nicotine withdrawal is a temporary phase that will definitely pass. And you can’t even think of the joyous moments that come with the feeling of having one’s life in one’s own control! Just take a step forward- Quit Smoking- for YOU if not for anyone else!

Adults-Health, Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms, Quit Smoking |

Anaemia- Symptoms, Causes and Diet Home Remedies

Diposting oleh Unknown Selasa, 22 Mei 2012 0 komentar

Anaemia is not a new term for common people, a large number of whom suffer from this blood haemoglobin related disease. What is Anemia? Let’s not only know what is anemia but also the symptoms, causes and home remedies including diet remedies for anemia.

What is Anaemia?

Our blood is made up of different components, one of which is red blood cells. They carry oxygen to the tissues. Red blood cells are made up of, among other things, iron, proteins and vitamins, especially folic acid and vitamin B12. Of these raw materials of red blood cells, iron and proteins are extensively needed for making haemoglobin (which also gives the red color to our blood). Once made, the red blood cells die in about 120 days or 4 months. About 100 million new blood cells are formed every day in our bone marrows. An average person should have a blood count of about 5 million red blood cells per millimeter. Haemoglobin should be present in the blood in sufficient amounts (average is 15 gm to 100 cc of blood). When there is a drop in the haemoglobin in blood, it results into anaemia.

Symptoms of Anaemia

Symptoms of anaemia are very common conditions, and therefore, overlooked sometimes leading to chronic anemic state due to lack of proper treatment and diet.

Weakness and lack of energy
Fatigue
Dizziness
Premature wrinkles
Pale skin
Dull and tired eyes
Poor memory
Shortness of breath even while doing light work.
Headache
Delayed healing of wounds
Palpitation
Mental stress and depression

In acute or chronic anemia, the nails too get brittle and sores might develop at the corners of mouth.

Causes of Anaemia

The major cause of anemia is the inadequate production of red blood cells in our bone marrowwhich can be due to some defect in the bone marrow or due to insufficient intake of iron, vitamins and protein through diet. However, there are other causes of anaemia too. These include the following

Heavy loss of blood which can be due to any reason- injury, bleeding piles, or excessive bleeding during menstruation in women
Digestive complications leading to indigestion of iron and proteins. Lack of digestive acid (hydrochloric acid) which is required for digestion of iron and proteins.
Emotional or mental strain or anxiety. This can hamper proper formation of blood components.
Intestinal worms or parasites like hookworms, pinworms, roundworms and tapeworms that feed on blood.
Genetic blood diseases such as sickle cell anaemia, thalassemia etc.
Failure of body to absorb vitamin B12 from foods which is known as pernicious anaemia.

Diet Home Remedies for Anaemia

Foods are the main ingredients that ensure proper supply of iron, vitamins, proteins and folic acid for proper and sufficient formation of red blood cells and haemoglobin. So, here are some dietary remedies for anaemia. These have been divided into two parts- foods recommended to treat anaemia and foods to be avoided by the anaemia patient.

Diet for Anaemia

Here is a comprehensive list of food items that are particularly beneficial in treating anaemia.

Vegetables rich in iron- spinach, beets, green spring onions, carrots, squash, radishes, celery, tomatoes, yams, potatoes.
Fruits rich in iron- bananas, apples, dark grapes, plums, raisins, apricots, strawberries.
Iron rich foods- whole-wheat, brown rice, beans, sunflower seeds, honey, crude blackstrap molasses.
High protein foods- milk, cottage cheese (preferably home made), eggs, soyabeans.
Foods rich in Vitamin B 12- Organic meats like kidney andliver, dairy products, milk, eggs, cheese, and peanuts. Wheat germ and soyabean also have some B12 in them.

It is also essential to make sure that whatever iron and vitamin B12 gets into your body is absorbed well by it. Ascorbic acid facilitates absorption of iron and thus foods rich in ascorbic acid should also be included in diet to treat anemia. Citrus fruits have good quantity of this acid.

Bananas and Beets for Anemia Treatment

Why banana and beats are specially mentioned as a good remedy for anemia? Because they are extremely important for curing anaemia due to their contents. Bananas have easily assimilable nutrients namely iron, folic acid and B12.

Beet(or beet juice) is also a very important diet cure for anemia. It contains potassium, phosphorous, calcium, iodine, iron, sulphur, copper, carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins B1, B2, B6, niacin, vitamin C and vitamin P. Beets can thus regenerate and reactivate red blood cells and strengthen body’s capacity of resistance.

Foods to be Avoided by Aneamia Patients

There are certain foods that should be avoided by a person suffering from anemia. These include

Sugar
White flour
Refined and processed foods
Tea and coffee
Soft drinks
Fried foods
Condiments and pickles

Other Home Remedies for Anaemia

Apart from paying attention to diet, one should also adopt some other remedies to cure anaemia completely

Drink enough water during the day. At least 8-10 glasses of water should be had by people having anemia.
Exercising is also essential. It can be simple exercise like brisk walk, breathing exercises and yoga asanas like Trikonasana, Sarvangasana, Surya Namaskara, Yoga-mudra, Shavasana
Adequate sleep and rest

Anaemia, Diet, Diseases, Food, Home-Remedies |

Home Remedies for Prickly Heat

Diposting oleh Unknown Selasa, 01 Mei 2012 1 komentar

Prickly Heat - Sweat Rashes

If you stay in a hot and humid place, you are obviously aware of the 'Miliaria' or prickly heat. They are the very itchy tiny sweat rashes on your skin that make you more uncomfortable in the already hot climate. The severe heat rashes might need treatment given by your physician but the mild prickly heat may be cured with the help of some very effective home remedies for prickly heat. But how would you know whether you suffer from mild or advanced heat rashes from sweat? So, lets first know what is prickly heat, what does it look like and what are the levels of miliaria or the sweat rashes?

What is Prickly Heat or Miliaria?

Miliaria is the medical term for the heat rashes popularly known as sweat rash or prickly heat. It can be called a skin disease- inflammation of skin having spotty small and itchy rashes or eruptions which give a feeling of burning or pricking. The prickly heat occur typically in hot and humid months of summer. This is because in hot weather, people tend to sweat more. This sweat when comes in contact with sebum, dust, bacteria and dry skin give rise to a thick, sticky substance which blocks the sweat glands. This causes prickly heat. Heat rashes affect people of all ages but is more common in babies and infants as their sweat glands are underdeveloped.

Levels of Prickly Heat

Miliaria Rubra Prickly Heat

Prickly heat can be superficial, mild or severe and all of these levels have different medical terms to describe them. Miliaria crystalline is the superficial prickly heat where a person suffers from multiple tiny blister-like lesions without any symptoms. Miliaria rubra is the most common form of prickly heat that can be identified by many. It shows typical red spots on chest, neck and shoulders. In this level of miliaria, obstruction causes leakage of sweat go into the deeper layers of the epidermis which results into local inflammation (red blister like lesions but not more than a few millimetres in size). This form of prickly heat has typical symptoms like itching or "pricking with pins and needles". Miliaria profundais the most severe form of prickly heat which rapidly spreads all over the body and causes severe burning sensations. It generally occurs due to repeated instances of miliaria rubra. In this stage, the rash tends to be seen as flesh coloured and not like red blisters of miliaria rubra.

Home Remedies for Prickly Heat

Prickly heat are very irritable and hamper smooth running of your daily routine. So, always try to prevent these heat rashes because as the saying goes 'prevention is better than cure'. When you go out, try to stay in shaded areas. Avoid applying moisturizers lotions. Always wear loose clothes, better if made of cotton as the synthetic clothing tend to trap the sweat. Take bath using cool water, if possible twice or thrice a day. Avoid excessive heat and humidity whenever it is possible. Drink plenty of water during hot weather and have fruits and vegetables with high water content The common treatment for prickly heat is to apply non-perfumed talcum powder or the specially made prickly heat powder for four to five times a day. However, the home remedies for prickly heatare more effective and without any side effects. Here are some home remedies for prickly heat that will give you relief from your heat rashes.

Use arrow root powder instead of talcum powder for heat rashes
Dust your body with baking soda or sandalwood powder. Their cooling effect heals up the heat rashes fast.
Rub an ice cube on heat rashes to get quick relief from the burning sensation. You can also use cold compress or ice pack.
Take two tablespoons each of coriander powder and sandalwood powder. Add enough rose water to make a thick paste out of it. Apply the paste on your prickly heat rashes and let it dry. When dry, wash it off with cold water.

Prickly Heat Home Remedies

Take henna powder and make a thick paste with cold water. Apply this to cool off the pricking heat rashes. However, this might leave the area reddened due to the coloring effect of henna. You can apply this home remedy for the prickly heat rashes that would get covered with clothing.
Take some neem (margosa) leaves and make a paste by grinding with water. Apply this on sweat rashes. Neem has antibacterial properties and can heal the infectious blisters of advanced miliaria.
Take powder of sandalwood powder and alum powder. Make a paste using water and apply on heat rashes.
Take some Indian gooseberries, cut them in 2-3 pieces and soak in an earthen vessel with a lid overnight. In the morning, mash the gooseberries in the water, strain, add sugar and drink this water. Do this for at least seven days. This helps in cooling your body from inside.
Take about five tablespoons of Fuller’s earth and add rosewater to make a paste. Apply this paste on prickly heat. Wash with cold water when it dries off.

Fuller's Earth Rosewater Remedy for Prickly Heat

Oatmeal bath is one of the very effective home remedies for prickly heat. Add some oatmeal powder in to your bath water and soak yourself in the bathtub for about an hour on weekends.
Crush some leaves of Indian plum (jamun) and add baking soda to it. Apply this to your prickly heat for instant relief.
Take some neem oil and add camphor extract to this. Massage the body parts with sweat rashes with this oil. Let it be there for about half an hour. Take bath with cool water.
Apply watermelon pulp on the prickly heat to heal them.
Mix cornflour, flour or gramflour with water to make a diluted paste. Apply this to your body where you have prickly heat. Let it dry for about an hour. Have shower with cool water.
Apply aloe vera gel on prickly heat to get relief from itching as well as to heal them.

Body-Care, Herbal-Remedies, Home-Remedies, Prickly Heat |

What are Haemorrhoids- Facts on Piles

Diposting oleh Unknown Selasa, 03 April 2012 0 komentar

Know what are Haemorrhoids or Piles and how to treat hemorrhoids based on their causes, signs & symptoms. What are the treatments for hemorrhoids.

Haemorrhoids commonly known as Piles are the swollen veins that occur at the lining of the anus and lower rectum from where stool is passed. This causes bleeding and sometimes pain which can be mild and temporary to persistently painful. There are two types of haemorrhoids- internal and external . The internal haemorrhoids occur inside the anus and the external haemorrhoid occurs outside the anus. Internal haemorrhoids are more common and develop 2-4cm above the opening of the anus. External haemorrhoids, also called perianal haematoma are less common. They develop on the outer edge of the anus.

What are Haemorrhoids?

The network of small veins or blood vessels that lies within the inner lining of the anus and lower rectum, sometimes get wider and swollen with more inflow of blood than it usually does. These swollen veins and the tissues over them might form lump type small swellings which are known as haemorrhoids.

What are the Causes of Haemorrhoids Piles?

Most often pressure put in and around the anus region causes piles. This pressure can be the result of the following situations.

Constipation, requiring putting stress on the anus region due to hardened faeces.
Bowel disorders when lead to frequent motions can exert pressure on the tissues leading to bleeding.
Pregnancy where the baby can put pressure above the anus and rectum. Hormonal changes too can lead to piles during pregnancy.
Aging can also cause haemorrhoids because tissues within the lining of the anus might loose strength and give lesser support as a person gets older.
Prolonged periods of sitting or doing strenuous work can also cause haemorrhoids
Obesity, particularly fat around abdominal area may put pressure on the organs lying within the pelvic region which leads to swelling of veins of rectum and anus.
General weakness, especially a weak liver can not support the tissues and cause haemorrhoids.
Hereditary factors where a person might inherit weakness of the wall of the veins within the anal region.

What are the Symptoms of Haemorrhoids?

The most common sign of internal hemorrhoids include fresh red blood which covers the stool. It is often painless process. Itchiness or irritation and lump like structures coming out of the rectum are also a major symptom of haemorrhoids. External haemorrhoid is more painful and is accompanied with hard lump around the anus.

Bright red blood covering the stool.
Mucous discharge, itching, irritation and/or pain in anal region.
Swellings or hard lump around the anus.
A feeling of fullness/ heaviness in the anus and as if rectum hasn't got emptied even after going to toilet.
Sometimes a swollen vein might stick out through the anal opening.
A rare symptom is the hanging down of a blood clot that might have formed within the haemorrhoid.

What are the Grades of Haemorrhoids?

The haemorrhoids are classified into grades that represent their sizes and severity. Their sizes range from 2-4 cms. There are four grades of haemorrhoids.

Grades of Haemorrhoids

Grade 1- These are smaller swellings occurring inside the lining of the back passage. These are the most common types of haemorrhoids that can't be seen from the outside.
Grade 2- These are comparatively larger haemorrhoids and can be partly pushed out from the anus when passing stool but they spring back inside once the process ends.
Grade 3- These haemorrhoids hang out from the anus and can be felt when touched. There can be one or small, s multiple soft lumps hanging from the anus. They can pushed back inside the anus.
Grade 4- These are large haemorrhoids and hang down from the anus but they are permanent and can't be pushed inside.

What are the Treatments for Haemorrhoids?

The mild internal piles (grade 1 haemorrhoids) often do not need any treatment or can be treated with simple precautions and home treatments like avoiding constipation through fiber rich diet, drinking a lots water and other healthy fluids (not soft drinks), having fiber supplements like isabgol, avoiding pain killers that cause constipation and by going to toilet when the urge is felt. Delays can lead to formation of harder stool leading to constipation. Relief from itching and discomfort can be sought from ointments and suppositories that are available as over the counter drugs not requiring prescription. The crux is that one has to avoid putting pressure on the pelvic region, especially due to constipation, in whatsoever manner it can be done. Get Diet and Home Remedies for Constipation

The more serious haemorrhoids, however, do need treatments and there are lots of options for this.

Rubber Band Ligation- Also called banding, has become a common treatment, especially for grade 2 and 3 haemorrhoids. A surgeon places a special elastic band at the base of the haemorrhoid which stops the blood supply to the haemorrhoid. The haemorrhoid then drops off after a few days. This is usually a painless procedure as the base of the haemorrhoid lies in end part of gut lining which is not sensitive. Haemorrhoids do not recur after banding in most of the cases where the patient of piles take precautions against constipation and doesn't puts strain on the region..

Injection Sclerotherapy-Injection sclerotherapy is adopted to treat internal hemorrhoids that are smaller. In this surgery, a chemical is injected where the hemorrhoid is situated. This stops the blood supply into the hemorrhoid leading to its elimination.

Heat and Cold Treatments for Haemorrhoids- These are very rarely used treatment options for piles. Some of the treatments that use heating methods include infrared coagulation, photocoagulation, diathermy and electrotherapy. Sometimes cold therapy is also used where haemorrhoid is frozen with ice packs or liquid nitrogen.

Haemorrhoidectomy – This is a haemorrhoid surgery carried out in the conventional method. Mostly used for treating grade 4 haemorrhoids, the surgeon cuts it off during an operation done under general anesthetic.

Stapled Haemorrhoidectomy- This is also a surgery but here a circular stapling gun is used to cut off a circular section of the lining of the anal canal lying above the haemorrhoid. This pulls the haemorrhoids back to the up side of the anal canal. It also reduces the blood supply to the haemorrhoids leading to its shrinkage.

Adults-Health, Diseases, Haemorrhoids, Piles |