When people talk about arthritis, many are referring to the most common form of the disease, called osteoarthritis. It causes pain, swelling, stiffness and, at its worst, can be totally debilitating for millions of Americans.
Osteoarthritis is the degeneration of the cartilage that cushions the area where two bones meet to form a joint. When the cushion wears out or cracks, the bones rub together, causing intense pain. In severe cases, the joints can develop calcifications. This means that calcium builds up on the bones and soft tissues, making them stiff and painful to move.
The solution most mainstream doctors take, as usual, is to relieve the pain with drugs rather than fix the problem causing the pain. And research from around the world has proven that there are ways to reverse calcification and to restore damaged cartilage. This is the one true way to get rid of the pain of osteoarthritis once and for all.
Sex feels good. And the proper amount of sex can help maintain your physical and emotional health. Sex is important for relationships, not just emotionally, but for the organ systems as well. But balance is the key.
Did you know that having too little or too much sex can both lead to unhealthy conditions? It’s true!
As a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, maintaining balance in all life’s activities is what I strive for… in myself and in my patients. Let us look at the effects of too much sex, too little sex, and what the proper amounts should be, based on your age and condition.
Whether you have back pain, sciatica, neck or shoulder pain, headaches, PMS, tendonitis or something other… you have by now sought out alternative practices to relieve your suffering. Yes, the prescription meds helped a bit, for a while. But when they wore off, you had to take more… and more.
And now you are seeing an acupuncturist, a chiropractor, a massage therapist or some other holistic therapist and are finding that the requirements to do what is asked of you (outside of appointments), is just not quite fitting into your busy daily schedule.
Taking personal responsibility for your own health is difficult, requiring dedication and patience. Life is tough.
It seems we all, in our quest for health, well-being or simple pain relief, encounter the same set of barriers. These are things that seem either to be in our way or to fall along our path as we traverse it on our way to feeling good. And while everyone has a different set of stumbling blocks, the following three are by far the most common.
The Dow is falling! The dollar is shrinking! The economy is tanking!
We all need to take a deep breath and chill out.. Slowdowns are an unavoidable part of regular financial cycles.
We go through these business slumps every so often, and our economy always comes roaring back, stronger than before. Meanwhile, our personal resolve to stay well never changes.
Why not save the money spent on all those cleansing herbs, cholesterol supplements and tension headache pills and, instead, focus on diet and peace of mind? If we think smart as well as healthily, why shouldn’t a flatter wallet translate into a better diet? Let’s run through a few of the proven ways spending less can actually improve pain-free wellness.
“Politics makes me sick,” President William Howard Taft said. Election stress also gives regular citizens their share of backaches and heart troubles. If you take it too seriously, politics can be dangerous to your health.
All healers agree stress is a killer. No candidate’s office is worth voters developing backaches or headaches, insomnia, chest pain and rapid heartbeat, or any of at least six other major physical symptoms and the 20 other emotional and cognitive symptoms of stress.
Because Americans rank among the world’s best-informed citizens, we are among the most likely to let politics seriously upset us. Keeping in mind that harming your health does no cause any good, here are three Washington rules for a pain-free and naturally-well Presidential Year…
The historic 2008 run for the White House is already causing stress-related health problems. For example, this week, one online political blogger posted, “I have to put myself on another news blackout. Does anybody else get so stressed that they stay awake at night? And have chest pains?”
Rule One: Real political professionals never let their emotions get the better of them, so don’t you, either.
Today the online activist can get just as immediately involved with campaigning as a Capital Hill insider. That’s a mixed blessing. “The problem for amateurs,” points out one D.C. native, “is how easily, for a few supporters, somebody else’s run for office turns into a battle of good versus evil.”
Going into battle, the body’s natural “fight or flight” stress response triggers “a cascade of biological changes that prepare us for emergency action.” The problem is this occurs in tense situations whether they involve an immediate danger, like a car accident, or are only an upcoming public speaking engagement. The longer the stress keeps the body in emergency mode, the more drastic the worsening harm to health.
Rule Two: If you are starting to burn out, drop out of the campaign.
A little stress can act as a tonic; it elevates your game. However, as with any stimulant, as time goes on, larger and larger doses are required for the user to experience that same level of intensity. Similarly, because heavy political stress also induces loss of objectivity, emotional mission-creep sets in. What began pleasantly as part-time hours for a local congressman now turns into a caffeine-fueled fight for eternity at the edge of the world.
People always feel they are in control. Stress can be a serious health problem without the sufferer even being aware of it, so staying alert to symptoms is vital. For instance, you may think you’re okay because you aren’t jittery, but you might experience weight loss or gain, diarrhea or constipation, hives or eczema, loss of sex drive or frequent colds.
Even if you don’t actively work for a candidate, if you are a passionate partisan, common sense suggests that feeling tense, lonely and on edge — all symptoms of stress — are not signs of a healthy involvement in what you’re doing. It’s personal wellness at stake, not the fate of the world. A former D.C. street organizer advises, “Others can pass out the literature, carry the sign, staff the chat rooms.”
Rule Three: Somebody gets elected, all campaigns come to an end, but your life still goes on.
A Washington political novelist once wrote, “When the campaign is giving more meaning to your life than your life already has, the campaign is getting much too important.” Family, friends, work, community commitments and our pleasures all demand complete attention, in their order, because they, not politics, are our real life. And sound personal health is grounded in balanced arrangements of daily living.
In summary:
1) don’t let your emotions get the better of you,
2) when you start to feel the burn, take a break from the stress, and
3) maintain perspective on your priorities — a healthy life depends on it.
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When people talk about arthritis, many are referring to the most common form of the disease, called osteoarthritis. It causes pain, swelling, stiffness and, at its worst, can be totally debilitating for millions of Americans.
Sex feels good. And the proper amount of sex can help maintain your physical and emotional health. Sex is important for relationships, not just emotionally, but for the organ systems as well. But balance is the key.
Whether you have back pain, sciatica, neck or shoulder pain, headaches, PMS, tendonitis or something other… you have by now sought out alternative practices to relieve your suffering. Yes, the prescription meds helped a bit, for a while. But when they wore off, you had to take more… and more.
