Category: Women’s Health

Relieve Tight Neck Muscles-What A Pain In The Neck

“What a pain in the neck!” is often used as a humorously mild insult to somebody who is a pest. But when that pain is real it’s no laughing matter. It doesn’t matter if it only happens once in a while, or on a more frequent basis, when you have that kind of pain you want to know how to relieve tight neck muscles.

The good news is that are things you can do to get rid of the tension in your neck. As a caution though, if the pain won’t go away or if it’s a chronic problem, then you should go see your doctor to discuss your concerns.

The first step to relief is to look at your habits. For example, if you sit at a desk all day and bend your head down slightly to look at your computer, that can cause a stiff neck. Having good posture will go a long way toward preventing the problem. Try to avoid staying in any one position for long periods of time.

Stress is often one of the main culprits in having tightness in the neck; therefore reducing stress will help bring relief. Imagine a calming scene and take a few slow, deep breaths when you start to feel stressed. Meditation is an effective way to train yourself to stay calm, and that will keep you from getting tense as often.

A nice warm bath with Epsom salts is an excellent stress reliever that will loosen up your muscles and have you feeling relaxed. Light a few scented candles and put on some soft music (this goes for all you guys, too!) to feel even more relaxed as the cares of the day melt away.

It’s hard to beat a good massage to relieve tight neck muscles. You can go to a massage therapist for that professional touch, or you can enlist a friend or loved one to give you a good rub down. There are also massage devices such as pillows and rollers that you can use when nobody is around to lend a hand.

Note: Before you try any exercises to relieve tight neck muscles, it is critical that you make sure you are using smooth and gentle movements. You should never overstretch your neck, and jerky motions could make the problem worse.

Exercises are a great way to relieve tight neck muscles. You can start with a slow and gentle tilting of the head from one side to the other. Stop as soon as you feel any strain. This is meant to be relaxing, not painful.

Some people like to visit a chiropractor when they experience pain in the neck. Even though some people in the medical field scoff at chiropractors, most do agree that they are good at relieving pain in the back and neck. Patients of chiropractors are often amazed at the results after just a few visits.

As you can see, there are plenty of options that you can use to relieve tight neck muscles.

Relieve Sciatic Nerve Pain-Shooting Pain Is No Fun

Ouch! There it goes again. Your sciatic nerve just sent a shooting pain through legs, hips and back. Now you feel like you can hardly move, and even breathing seems difficult. “There must be a way to relieve sciatic nerve pain,” you say to yourself. Living with this kind of pain is hard to describe to someone who has never experienced it, but there is hope. There are a few things you can do to get the pain under control.

The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the human body. That means that it can cause pain just about anywhere, but it also means that there are more points along the nerve for problems to occur. What happens is that when it’s irritated in some way or has pressure applied to it, it causes pain or tingling; neither of which is very pleasant.

Before you do anything to relieve sciatic pain on your own, it is absolutely vital that you see your doctor. There may be more serious issues causing the pain, and you need to get a thorough check up to see if anything else is going on. Your doctor can also give you additional suggestions for treating the pain.

Anti-inflammatory medication taken each day can help keep the nerve from getting inflamed, and it can keep surrounding tissue from getting inflamed and putting pressure on the nerve. There are over-the-counter medications you can take, or you can have your doctor prescribe something.

If you don’t like the idea of taking medication, then you can eat foods that help to reduce inflammation. In fact, it’s a good idea to eat such foods to relieve sciatic nerve pain even if you do take medication. Wild salmon, sweet potatoes, broccoli, papaya, turmeric, and olive oil are some of the best anti-inflammatory foods.

Basic exercises and gentle stretching can sometimes bring relief. Lie on your back on a firm surface and put a pillow underneath your knees for support. This takes the pressure off and brings temporary relief. While in the same position, grab one of your knees with both hands and move it toward your chest. Don’t overdo it, just hold it for a few seconds then switch to the other knee.

Changing the temperature around the problem area will often ease the pain. Everybody is different, so if a heating pad doesn’t work then try an ice pack. Be careful to not make it too hot or too cold as you don’t want to suffer a secondary injury while trying to treat your sciatic nerve.

Make regular appointments with your doctor or chiropractor if your sciatic nerve continues to give you trouble. The doctor can do a full medical history and do tests to see if there is something else going on. A chiropractor can make adjustments to your spine that may be able to take some of the pressure off. Whatever you decide, it’s important to remember that there are things you can do to relieve sciatic nerve pain.

Relieve Leg Cramps-Hydration Key For Prevention

Having cramps in your legs is never a pleasurable experience, but it’s even worse when those leg cramps strike when you are trying to sleep. They can wake you up out of a sound sleep and keep you up for hours. It’s not as common, but leg cramps can also strike during the day, making walking uncomfortable. Regardless of when they happen, there are things you can do to relieve leg cramps.

You can go most of your life without feeling leg cramps, but then they start to become a problem as you get older. You cant get into a time machine and get younger, so you need to take action and do what you can to treat your leg cramps.

Your first line of defense is to make sure that you drink plenty of water and stay hydrated. This keeps everything in your body moving along. Aim for eight glasses of water per day, but you don’t have to obsess over it. Just do your best to make sure you’re getting a lot of water. Symptoms of dehydration include thirst and cramping, so it makes sense that staying hydrated will help to relieve leg cramps.

Many people have found that taking calcium supplements helps. A few researchers have found a link between leg cramps and calcium deficiency. Try drinking a glass of milk shortly before bedtime and see if that helps; if not, then a supplement may be the answer.

If you are on any kind of prescription then you should check the label carefully to see what the potential side effects are. There are medications that can cause muscle cramps, and some medicines can lower the level of potassium, magnesium or calcium in your body. Dehydration is also a possible side effect of a few prescription drugs. Be sure to discuss any of your concerns with your doctor or pharmacist.

A lot of times leg cramps are caused by a lack of activity, or from not going through their full range of motion. Doing stretches is one way to solve this problem. One stretch to help relieve leg cramps is to stand about two to three feet from wall and put your hands on the wall. Start doing a push-up like motion, but keep your feet completely flat on the floor. If it feels like it is stretching too much, then move a bit closer to the wall; if you can’t feel any stretching, then move back a bit. Be careful to not overdo it.

If, despite all of your best efforts, you end up needing to relieve leg cramps at night, then try this little trick: place your finger directly on your upper lip and then press gently. This is a pressure point that is connected to your leg, and can bring enough relief to get you to drift back asleep. Chances are the other remedies will work just fine, but it’s always good to have another trick up your sleeve just in case.

Pressure Points To Relieve Headaches-Temples Most Obvious

Having headaches isn’t any fun. When you have one the only thing you can think about is getting rid of it. Most people will either ride it out and hope the pain passes, or they will pop a few pills that promise to relieve the pain. However, a few people find that using pressure points to relieve headaches is a much better option for easing the pain.

There are pressure points located all over the body, and each one can help ease different ailments. Luckily, some of these pressure points will be able to treat your headaches. Some of the pressure points are quite obvious, while a few of them may end up surprising you. But where they are located is less important than the fact that they work. To be fair, not every single headache will go away instantly using these points, but they will almost always bring a noticeable level of relief.

Chances are you are already familiar with one of the pressure points, but didn’t even know it. We are talking about the temples. Now, you have to be careful to not apply too much pressure here, so just use your fingers to make a gentle circular massage motion. Keep doing this for a minute or so and you should find that your head is feeling better.

Another set of pressure points on the head can be found on the inside of your eyebrows right next to your nose. You should be able to apply more firm pressure here (though you always need to be careful to not overdo it on any pressure point). Use your thumbs to make smaller, then larger circles until you start to notice the pain lessening.

You can find another series of pressure points on the head along the front of your hairline, near the top of your forehead. Start at level that is even with the horizontal plane of your eyes (but close to the ears) then gently massage along the hairline until your fingers meet at the middle of your head (a few inches above your nose). However, the head is not the only place where there are pressure points to relieve headaches.

More points can be found at the midpoint between your head and the outside of your shoulders. These muscles typically store up a lot of tension, and releasing that tension with a massage can help bring headache relief.

Moving down to your forearms, you can find more pressure points on the inside of your arm just above the elbow joint. You can locate more points by moving diagonally toward your bicep. Alternating between both spots should make an improvement in your level of pain.

These are a few of the pressure points to relieve headaches, but there are several more. Sure, you can always take an aspirin or medication if you must, but trying natural remedies first may bring just as much relief without having to add chemicals to your body.