Hydrotherapy is a useful way to heal and ease a range of ailments and it has been used in different ways. Previously, I have written one particular post on cold shower. Today, I will be expanding on the 3 types of baths to help you understand how hot, cold and neutral baths works in hydrotherapy.
Hot baths
Hot baths is an indulgence type of hydrotherapy. You know it and experience its benefits in your bathroom. Hot baths or showers can help to ease muscles, joint pains and inflammation. Typically, a bath with the temperature between 36.5 Deg C and 40 Deg C is very useful to relax your muscles, dilate the blood vessels, open the skin pores and stimulate perspiration. In fact, hot bath is sedative, acts on the surface nerves as well as the autonomic nervous system and will reduce the activity of the hormonal glands, especially the adrenal. Some of us might not be aware that ten minutes of hot bath is good enough; beyond that, it can result in the opposite effect. So remember to time your hot baths time to reap its benefits.
Cold baths
If you are seeking to improve blood flow to internal parts of your body, cold bath may be the answer. It can constrict the blood vessel and divert the blood to internal tissues and organs to maintain the normal body temperature to function. The cold can also reduce swellings from bruises as well. You can splash or immerse in water, particularly on the inflammed or sore area to reduce the swelling. However, just as the principles of tepid sponging (to reduce fever) in nursing, it is essential to dry yourself quickly to prevent chilling. From my personal experience as a cold shower convert, I have mild breathless after a cold shower. Now, I didn't feel the breathlessness anymore and I also felt my body more resistant to common colds as well.
Neutral baths
It is said that the water used that has the same temperature (33.5 Deg C to 35.6 Deg C) with the body can also provide a sedative and relaxing effect on your body. The use of cold and hot baths targets at our stimuli that can affect our hormonal system. Thus, with neutral bath, it can calm a person in a state of stress. While hot and cold baths can provide two extreme effects on your body, the neutral bath does not strain too hard on the blood circulation, particularly the heart. A reccomended time for immersion in neutral bath requires at least 30 min and can be longer than that.
My previous related blog post
1) Cold Shower is good for health
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Desk vs Toilet Seat
For every career, there are some degree of work hazards you will be exposed to. As a blogger or sedentary jobs, it is no exception. The most obvious hazards are backache and tired eyes. As for the least obvious, nevertheless important to take note, is the cleanlinest of desk. YES, your desk!
Do you have any idea how much germs and bacteria is residing at your desk? From your food you eat at the desk, to the oily fingers from touching food and the accumulated dust where certain portion is mostly 'cleaned' away while you punched your keyboard furiously. In addition, you might sneeze and cough droptlets might fall onto your desks. To gross the facts further, microbiologists claim that most desks are many times more bacteria than your toilet seat! So what can you do to ensure the cleanliness of your desk?
Do not to eat at your Desk
Try not to eat while you are working at your desk. It is already unhealthy enough to eat while you work and eating at your desk could add undesirable 'flavours' into your food. If you cannot help eating while you work at your desk, I would reccomend that you at least clean the desk before and after the meal. With all the inconvenience, I still feel that you should eat somewhere else besides your desk.
Wash and clean your hands and wrist
Wash or clean your hands and wrist before you start working at your desk. This is to ensure that you do not transport the bacterias' relatives and cousins into the residence of your desk where you work and sometimes unavoidably eat and nap for a while.
Clean your desk weekly
This method requires you to make a religious habit to at least weekly clean your desk up using a moist cloth. Personally, I prefer to use moist tissue or a clean cloth sprayed with anti-bacterial liquid to wipe the desk. I cleaned it systematically from my phone receiver, to screen monitor, mouse, keyboard and then the whole table. Try not to use dripping wet a cloth when wiping your electical devices as they might get short-circuited and spoil. Semi-wet cloth should be fine.
Having a clean desk can make you feel psychologically good and well. It is also a good chance to sort your messy notes which you may procrastinate to organise. I do not like the idea of my desk equivalent to the toilet seat so I do strongly reccommend you to clean your desk regularly for health's sake.
Other related articles
1) How gross is your desk?
2) Spring clean your desk
Do you have any idea how much germs and bacteria is residing at your desk? From your food you eat at the desk, to the oily fingers from touching food and the accumulated dust where certain portion is mostly 'cleaned' away while you punched your keyboard furiously. In addition, you might sneeze and cough droptlets might fall onto your desks. To gross the facts further, microbiologists claim that most desks are many times more bacteria than your toilet seat! So what can you do to ensure the cleanliness of your desk?
Do not to eat at your Desk
Try not to eat while you are working at your desk. It is already unhealthy enough to eat while you work and eating at your desk could add undesirable 'flavours' into your food. If you cannot help eating while you work at your desk, I would reccomend that you at least clean the desk before and after the meal. With all the inconvenience, I still feel that you should eat somewhere else besides your desk.
Wash and clean your hands and wrist
Wash or clean your hands and wrist before you start working at your desk. This is to ensure that you do not transport the bacterias' relatives and cousins into the residence of your desk where you work and sometimes unavoidably eat and nap for a while.
Clean your desk weekly
This method requires you to make a religious habit to at least weekly clean your desk up using a moist cloth. Personally, I prefer to use moist tissue or a clean cloth sprayed with anti-bacterial liquid to wipe the desk. I cleaned it systematically from my phone receiver, to screen monitor, mouse, keyboard and then the whole table. Try not to use dripping wet a cloth when wiping your electical devices as they might get short-circuited and spoil. Semi-wet cloth should be fine.
Having a clean desk can make you feel psychologically good and well. It is also a good chance to sort your messy notes which you may procrastinate to organise. I do not like the idea of my desk equivalent to the toilet seat so I do strongly reccommend you to clean your desk regularly for health's sake.
Other related articles
1) How gross is your desk?
2) Spring clean your desk
Monday, February 12, 2007
Food Size Does Matters
Overeating can be a serious matter as it can harm your body. Research has shown that young children who were used to overeating has a higher chance of overweight in their adult lives. Many food restaurants or fast food would sell large portions of food to their customers to satisfy their customers' so-called common portion size, otherwise they might be misunderstood by their customers as a stingy businessman. But most people do not know that they have over-eaten, or do they?
According to a study from New Cornell University, food serve in large portions can induce appetite, including those food that may not be as appetizing. They prove this by serving large and medium portions of stale and fresh popcorns to the movie goers. They also conclude that those with larger portion of popcorns generally took more popcorns (stale or fresh) than those with the medium portion size.
What does this means? It simply means that there is a need to be mindful of the portions your restaurants, fast food or even your home is serving. Are you really eating the right portion? Personally, I think one great way to avoid overeating is to serve your food in smaller portions size. If it is not sufficient, you will then help yourself to a second serving, and a third.
In addition, if your plates and bowls are too big (since you typically use it for your regular meals), then, it may be a good idea to change it to a smaller size. This will psychologically make you more conscious of the number of servings you take for the meal and further assist in controlling your food portion. Some also suggest that you should weigh the food portion or transfer the food into the same bowl for evey meal you eat so you can estimate the food portion better. Whatever ways you choose at the end, I wish you success in healthy portion eating.
Other Related Articles
1) People eat more Stale Popcorn if served in a Big Bucket
2) Do increased portion sizes affect How much we eat?
3) How to avoid portion sizes pitfalls to help Manage your Weight
According to a study from New Cornell University, food serve in large portions can induce appetite, including those food that may not be as appetizing. They prove this by serving large and medium portions of stale and fresh popcorns to the movie goers. They also conclude that those with larger portion of popcorns generally took more popcorns (stale or fresh) than those with the medium portion size.
What does this means? It simply means that there is a need to be mindful of the portions your restaurants, fast food or even your home is serving. Are you really eating the right portion? Personally, I think one great way to avoid overeating is to serve your food in smaller portions size. If it is not sufficient, you will then help yourself to a second serving, and a third.
In addition, if your plates and bowls are too big (since you typically use it for your regular meals), then, it may be a good idea to change it to a smaller size. This will psychologically make you more conscious of the number of servings you take for the meal and further assist in controlling your food portion. Some also suggest that you should weigh the food portion or transfer the food into the same bowl for evey meal you eat so you can estimate the food portion better. Whatever ways you choose at the end, I wish you success in healthy portion eating.
Other Related Articles
1) People eat more Stale Popcorn if served in a Big Bucket
2) Do increased portion sizes affect How much we eat?
3) How to avoid portion sizes pitfalls to help Manage your Weight
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
More than Back Pain
If you think that it is only a back ache, you may like to re-evaluate the reasons why your back is aching for you. There are quite a number of reasons why we have back ache and you might be surprised:-
1) Carrying heavy loads with a poor posture
2) Poor posture and prolong sitting
3) Wearing high heel shoes
4) Indication of poor cholesterol control
5) Indication of kidney infections
I believe most of us know the first three causes of back ache. If you are a lady, you know how uncomfortable and dangerous it can be to your back to wear high heels, no matter how glamourous it is. But not many people might be aware of the third and fourth causes. If you think these lists above are too many, there are actually more, but I've narrowed it down on these two for today's post.
Back pain due to kidney infections
To differentiate back pain due to kidney infections, you may find bleeding and pain in urine. The pain may worsen if you press directly at the back where you kidney is (Kidney is located at the back of abdomen). Slight fever may also occur. The pain starts when the urine crystallise at the kidney as a stone that grows as it accumulates more crystals. To see some reccomendations, you can refer to my previous post on 'Urinary Tract Infection'.
Back pain due to poor cholesterol control
This is something that I've found quite interesting to know. As we grow older, our risks of higher cholesterol increase starting from the age of 30 onward, especially at the age of 40. Typically, the ratio between the High density Lipoprotein (HDL) and Low Density Lipoprotein(LDL) is determined using your blood sample. If your LDL is higher than HDL, it means that your diet contains alot of bad or unhealthy cholesterol. Having a higher HDL indicates a healthy cholesterol but if your total blood cholesterol is over 200, you should start to plan a diet program with your dietician or doctor to control your overloaded cholesterol.
[ Note: More HDL can help to remove excess cholesterol from the blood while more LDL can lead to build-up of cholesterol in the artery walls.]
Most people who has high cholesterol level usually are not very active individuals and are usually obese. Though the research study to link between obesity and back pain, it is logical enough that when one becomes obese, it increases the weight on the spine and on the discs, especially the lower back. If it is left unattened, your knees may be the next joint you'll feel the pain from. Take your fibre To cope with your cholesterol, you can start with taking more fibre; soluble and insoluble. Fiber is a carbohydrate that is not digested, but its function is to help to "wash out" the cholesterol. The best nutritious source of fibre are oats, legumes, fruits like apples and vegetables.
Garlic and Capsicum
Besides fibre, you should consider more garlic in your diet. Research done on 20 healthy volunteers and 62 patients with coronary heart disease shows that garlic can help to lower blood cholesterol, particularly the harmful LDL. It was concluded from the research that the essential oil of garlic possessed a distinct hypolipidemic, or fat reducing for everyone, including the healthy individuals. Taking Capsicum or the red and green peppers can also help in your back pain that is due to high cholesterol. It has been shown that capsicum can help to stimulate blood circulation, and lower your cholesterol level. Its benefits is due to the phenolic compound found in cayenne pepper and hot red peppers.
Exercise
You might wonder just how good can exercise be when my body is already in pain. I was surprised as well that it was only when I stopped exercising and began a sedentary job that started the pain on my back. When I went back to trekking on the mountains, I carried 8 to 9kg of my trekking bag and I didn't feel the pain on my back. Maybe because my focus of pain was more than that. Ha Ha! Anyway, for a moment, I thought it seems to have cured my back but when I head back to work on my desk and my sedentary life style, the pain just hits back. I am definitely not the only persons who experience this but if you have existing heart or lungs problem, a regular stroll at the park can benefit your health as well. Do consult your doctor just to be sure.
Other related links
1) Urinary Tract Infections in Adult
2) Tips on back pain relief and prevention
4) Capsicum as a herbal remedy
5) Back Pain
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Natural cough remedies
Cough is very common for many. You might also feel like coughing when the person next to you start a small quiet cough. You keep telling yourself it is psychological but somehow, the cough is as contagious as a yawn!! Sounds familiar? You are definitely not alone! At least I am feeling this way too.
The good news is that natural remedies are out there, but for those cough that includes coloured flams, I strongly advise you to see the doctor for the medicine. Still, I am one of those individuals who do not like to see the doctor that frequently.
1) Honey with lemon
I learnt this remedy from my mum. She likes to squeeze the calamansi or lemon juice directly into the ice-mold. When it is frozen, she would indulge herself to the ice-cubes, with ice water that is sweeten with honey. As for me, I like to use her lime-freeze cubes in warm water for my cough. The calamsi contains vitamin C while the honey is harvested from the bees that visit from the natural flowers. Do take some precaution on the brand of honey as the cheaper ones may not be as effective. There are so many honey brands available but it's your body who will eventually tell you if the honey grade.
2) Manuka Honey (activated)
For quality honey, I look for activated manuka honey. It is more expensive than the market price and what makes it so special is the 'activated' word. The honey is extracted from Manuka flowers that contains anti-microbial properties. If you pick up a bottle of Manuka honey, you will also notice UMF, which means 'unique manuka factor'. The higher the number, the more beneficial it is, but so is the price.
You may also notice that this honey taste different from the usual ones (somewhat slightly medicinal) and it is semi-solid. You can simply scoop half a teaspoon and dissolve in warm water. As it may be hard to dissolve the honey, you can take it directly and keep it in your mouth to dissolve slowly; Imagine the honey is like a piece of gold in your mouth! But seriously, I think it's really value for money.
3) Instant Almond powder or syrup
When I am feeling more budgeted, I look for Almond powder or syrup to soothe my cough. I am quite surprise it works well for me. Even when I was young, I remember one of my aunties mentioned about the almond syrup that is good for her kids. I often take it in warm water to enhance in soothing the coughing throat; it somewhat leave a moist film on my throat. In case you are wondering what type of almond I am refering to, its sweet almond, not bitter almond.
4) Apple Cider Vinegar
Sometimes, I like the natural apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar to marinade my green apples. Apple cider vinegar is naturally extracted from fermentation of apple juice to hard apple cider, then a second fermentaion to apple cider vinegar. Sounds really sour and acidic? Intially, Yes; subsequently I get used to it. In fact, it is the sourness that provides the antiseptic properties for your cough. I particularly like the aged rice vinegar that is diluted with apple juice. However, remember to drink lots of water or at least gargle your mouth with water to remove the acids as it can corrode your teeth. And if you have osteoporosis problem, you are not advised to take it too regularly as well due to the potential loss of calcium that you are salvaging in your diet.
5) How about Chocolate?
Actually having chocolate might be a great way to stop your cough due to the presence of theobromine, but sadly, it didn't work for me. Usually, it would block my ears to indicate a potential sore throat and makes my ears slightly painful as well. Still, if this works for you, lucky for you then, but do take them in moderation.
Reference
1) Manuka Honey
2) Chocolate could be cough medicine
3) Cure a Chronic or Nagging cough
4) Apple Cider Vinegar
The good news is that natural remedies are out there, but for those cough that includes coloured flams, I strongly advise you to see the doctor for the medicine. Still, I am one of those individuals who do not like to see the doctor that frequently.
1) Honey with lemon
I learnt this remedy from my mum. She likes to squeeze the calamansi or lemon juice directly into the ice-mold. When it is frozen, she would indulge herself to the ice-cubes, with ice water that is sweeten with honey. As for me, I like to use her lime-freeze cubes in warm water for my cough. The calamsi contains vitamin C while the honey is harvested from the bees that visit from the natural flowers. Do take some precaution on the brand of honey as the cheaper ones may not be as effective. There are so many honey brands available but it's your body who will eventually tell you if the honey grade.
2) Manuka Honey (activated)
For quality honey, I look for activated manuka honey. It is more expensive than the market price and what makes it so special is the 'activated' word. The honey is extracted from Manuka flowers that contains anti-microbial properties. If you pick up a bottle of Manuka honey, you will also notice UMF, which means 'unique manuka factor'. The higher the number, the more beneficial it is, but so is the price.
You may also notice that this honey taste different from the usual ones (somewhat slightly medicinal) and it is semi-solid. You can simply scoop half a teaspoon and dissolve in warm water. As it may be hard to dissolve the honey, you can take it directly and keep it in your mouth to dissolve slowly; Imagine the honey is like a piece of gold in your mouth! But seriously, I think it's really value for money.
3) Instant Almond powder or syrup
When I am feeling more budgeted, I look for Almond powder or syrup to soothe my cough. I am quite surprise it works well for me. Even when I was young, I remember one of my aunties mentioned about the almond syrup that is good for her kids. I often take it in warm water to enhance in soothing the coughing throat; it somewhat leave a moist film on my throat. In case you are wondering what type of almond I am refering to, its sweet almond, not bitter almond.
4) Apple Cider Vinegar
Sometimes, I like the natural apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar to marinade my green apples. Apple cider vinegar is naturally extracted from fermentation of apple juice to hard apple cider, then a second fermentaion to apple cider vinegar. Sounds really sour and acidic? Intially, Yes; subsequently I get used to it. In fact, it is the sourness that provides the antiseptic properties for your cough. I particularly like the aged rice vinegar that is diluted with apple juice. However, remember to drink lots of water or at least gargle your mouth with water to remove the acids as it can corrode your teeth. And if you have osteoporosis problem, you are not advised to take it too regularly as well due to the potential loss of calcium that you are salvaging in your diet.
5) How about Chocolate?
Actually having chocolate might be a great way to stop your cough due to the presence of theobromine, but sadly, it didn't work for me. Usually, it would block my ears to indicate a potential sore throat and makes my ears slightly painful as well. Still, if this works for you, lucky for you then, but do take them in moderation.
Reference
1) Manuka Honey
2) Chocolate could be cough medicine
3) Cure a Chronic or Nagging cough
4) Apple Cider Vinegar
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Shy about Urinary Tract Infection?
Urinary Tract infection (UTI) is common bacterial infection mainly at urethra (urethritis), bladder (cystitis) and kidney (pyelonephritis). If you suspect that you might be one of them, you might like to check the following common signs and symptoms:-
1) Frequent urination, usually in small quantity
2) Burning or painful sensation when passing urine
3) Bloody or chalky in urine
4) Foul smell in urine
5) Fever
6) Fatigue
For kidney infection, serious symptons may include abdominal pain, back pain, vomitting and even high fever. Women are more vulnerable to UTI as compared to men because the females urethra are shorter than the males. In addition, the urethra opening is also near to the vagina and rectum that can potentially cause infection. UTI can also occur if you frequently hold your urine and some urine may flow or reflux backwards into the bladder, ureters and kidneys. If the condition is not controlled, it may lead to urine crystallization at kidney and can cause kidney stones.
What to do?
1) Drink plenty of water
This will help to flush and clean your urinary tract from the acidic urine.
2) Drink the water (8 oz) containing 1/2 tsp of baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate)
Drink this for every hour will help to make your urine more alkaline
3) Take more fruits and vegetables; take less meat, fats and acid-producing foods
This was surprising to me at first, but fruits and vegetables can really alkalinize your urine. The most common juice is craneberry juice and even wolfberry juice. Alternatively, you can take diluted apple cider vinegar with honey. As meat and fats are 'acid-producing food', they should be reduced during the UTI. Caffeine should also be avoided as it can aggravate the UTI condition.
4) Massage your abdomen or visit a reflexologist
Use your favourite massage oil to massage the painful related areas can help to relief the pain and discomfort effectively. My favourite massage oil is lavender. Seeking a reflexologist to massage on the bladder acupoints on the back of your feet could help you to relief the pain as well.
5) There is always the doctor
For serious UTI conditions, I would advise you to visit the doctor as they would obtain a specimen to determine the culture before they administer the anti-biotics together with pain killers. Sometimes, the culture may be different so determining the culture can be useful for a more accurate diagnosis. Typical bacterial cultures that causes UTIs are be Ecoli, chlamydia or Mycoplasma.
Related references
1) US National Institute of Health - Urinary Tract Infections
2) Home remedies for Urinary Tract Infection
3) Mike Morin's GOJI juice website
4) Urinally Tract Infections
1) Frequent urination, usually in small quantity
2) Burning or painful sensation when passing urine
3) Bloody or chalky in urine
4) Foul smell in urine
5) Fever
6) Fatigue
For kidney infection, serious symptons may include abdominal pain, back pain, vomitting and even high fever. Women are more vulnerable to UTI as compared to men because the females urethra are shorter than the males. In addition, the urethra opening is also near to the vagina and rectum that can potentially cause infection. UTI can also occur if you frequently hold your urine and some urine may flow or reflux backwards into the bladder, ureters and kidneys. If the condition is not controlled, it may lead to urine crystallization at kidney and can cause kidney stones.
What to do?
1) Drink plenty of water
This will help to flush and clean your urinary tract from the acidic urine.
2) Drink the water (8 oz) containing 1/2 tsp of baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate)
Drink this for every hour will help to make your urine more alkaline
3) Take more fruits and vegetables; take less meat, fats and acid-producing foods
This was surprising to me at first, but fruits and vegetables can really alkalinize your urine. The most common juice is craneberry juice and even wolfberry juice. Alternatively, you can take diluted apple cider vinegar with honey. As meat and fats are 'acid-producing food', they should be reduced during the UTI. Caffeine should also be avoided as it can aggravate the UTI condition.
4) Massage your abdomen or visit a reflexologist
Use your favourite massage oil to massage the painful related areas can help to relief the pain and discomfort effectively. My favourite massage oil is lavender. Seeking a reflexologist to massage on the bladder acupoints on the back of your feet could help you to relief the pain as well.
5) There is always the doctor
For serious UTI conditions, I would advise you to visit the doctor as they would obtain a specimen to determine the culture before they administer the anti-biotics together with pain killers. Sometimes, the culture may be different so determining the culture can be useful for a more accurate diagnosis. Typical bacterial cultures that causes UTIs are be Ecoli, chlamydia or Mycoplasma.
Related references
1) US National Institute of Health - Urinary Tract Infections
2) Home remedies for Urinary Tract Infection
3) Mike Morin's GOJI juice website
4) Urinally Tract Infections
Monday, January 15, 2007
Cold shower is good for health
Do you know that cold shower helps to stimulate your blood circulation? With the improvement in blood circulation, it can also help when coping with depression. I am a living example. Recently I went into a depression and I found this dramatically improved my overall wellbeing.
Not only was I able to cope with the depression, I felt more energy and less prone to the viral flu and cold that is most vulnerable during these rainy season. I feel so good that I want to share about it. In the past, if you were to suggest a cold bath, I would put off that idea as I always take hot shower, and I mean really hot (almost scorching sort that fills the room with steam).
There is also study that shows taking cold shower is also good for your hair. And also the heat from the hot shower can spoil the hair strands too.
There was also a research done in 1990 at the Hannover Medical Scool where 50 medical students volunteered in a 6-months trial, where only half of the group takes cold morning shower. The results show that cold shower does have a significant resistance to cold as compared to the group that didn't take the cold shower.
In addition, cold shower that help boost sex hormone production, increase energy drive, improve blood circulation and immune system, prevent heart disease, improve nails and hair growth. I was also glad to find a yahoo group sharing about the benefits they found with cold shower.
Not only was I able to cope with the depression, I felt more energy and less prone to the viral flu and cold that is most vulnerable during these rainy season. I feel so good that I want to share about it. In the past, if you were to suggest a cold bath, I would put off that idea as I always take hot shower, and I mean really hot (almost scorching sort that fills the room with steam).
There is also study that shows taking cold shower is also good for your hair. And also the heat from the hot shower can spoil the hair strands too.
There was also a research done in 1990 at the Hannover Medical Scool where 50 medical students volunteered in a 6-months trial, where only half of the group takes cold morning shower. The results show that cold shower does have a significant resistance to cold as compared to the group that didn't take the cold shower.
In addition, cold shower that help boost sex hormone production, increase energy drive, improve blood circulation and immune system, prevent heart disease, improve nails and hair growth. I was also glad to find a yahoo group sharing about the benefits they found with cold shower.
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