Tag: pain

Understanding Toothaches

As we all know, toothaches are the result of several different factors. The pain that stems from a toothache is always apparent, normally in the form of throbbing. The pain will normally intensify as time goes by, when you eat, lay down, or drink hot/cold liquids. Toothaches are very painful, and it may seem that no matter what you do – it seems to hurt more.

In the dental world, toothaches can include such things as cavities, infections or abscess in the teeth or gums, debris that has been trapped between the teeth and gums, and trauma to the face, teeth, or the jaw. Sometimes, toothaches can result from medical conditions and have nothing to do with dental. In most cases, if the problem goes without being checked, it can lead to serious trouble and maybe even become a life threatening situation.

Normally, when you have a toothache, youll experience tremendous pain. The pain will stem from the affected tooth or the jaw, and youll know it almost immediately. It will start out to be a throbbing pain, then continue to get worse and worse until you get it treated. If you wait too long and allow the infection to spread throughout the tooth, youll end up having to get it pulled or cut out.

Anytime you start to experience a toothache, you shouldnt hesitate to make an appointment with your dentist to have it checked. Sometimes, getting an appointment when your tooth starts hurting is easier said than done. Even though you may be able to use certain products to stop the pain, the pain will always come back until you get the problem fixed. A toothache will always come back, until you get the tooth taken care of.

If you visit your dentist in time and he catches the problem early, he may be able to save your tooth. Normally, this will result in a filling, crown, or root canal, although you wont have to have the tooth removed. Dentists always look to save teeth, as they dont like to remove a tooth unless they absolutely have to. If the tooth has become abscessed, the dentist will put you on antibiotics such as penicillin until the infection has subsided enough to remove the tooth.

Throughout our lives, most of us will experience the pain and agony of a toothache at some point. A toothache can be the worst pain you have ever felt in your life, especially if you are feeling the pain of an abscess. If youve never had a toothache, you should consider yourself lucky. Those who have had toothaches though, will tell you that the pain is something you never want to experience – it will make you feel as if your whole world is falling apart.

Manage the Pain of Osteoarthritis

Manage the Pain of Osteoarthritis
Kamau Austin

Manage the Pain of Osteoarthritis

The Mayo Clinic refers to osteoarthritis as a “wear and tear”
condition that effects people as they age. It is a degenerative
disease and is the most common form of arthritis. It is one of
the most common causes of disability among adults. More than 20
million people in the United States have the disease.
Researchers project that in the next 25 years over 20% of
Americans-beyond the age of 65 will be at risk for
osteoarthritis.

Today, more than half of the population age 65 or older would
show x-ray evidence of osteoarthritis in at least one joint.
Both men and women have the disease with more men getting the
disease before age 45, and more women getting the disease after
that point.

Osteoarthritis may affect any joint in the body and it is
characterized by a breakdown in the cartilage between the
joints. The most common joints affected are the hips, knees,
lower back, fingers and feet.

Osteoarthritis often develops slowly and quite often there are
no symptoms. A person affected with the disease may not know
that they have it until it is revealed during a routine x-ray.

People with osteoarthritis may have one or more of the following
symptoms.

– Pain in a joint during or after use; or after a period of
inactivity, such as after a night’s sleep. – Pain in a joint
during a change in weather. – Swelling or pain in a joint, after
use. – Bony lumps on the end or middle joints of the hands –
Loss of flexibility

Interestingly, the first year of onset of the disease may bring
acute pain, that then fades within a year or so of its
appearance. This is especially true of osteoarthritis of the
fingers.

The exact cause of osteoarthritis is not known but some
researchers believe that we are more susceptible to
osteoarthritis as we age. It may be caused by a combination of
factors, including being overweight,aging, a previous joint
injury, heredity and muscle weakness.

The pain of osteoarthritis can range from that of a minor
inconvenience for some sufferers, to chronic and debilitating
for others. In cases where pain is severe, joint replacement
surgery may be considered.

There is no cure for osteoarthritis, and treatment is geared
towards reducing pain and increasing joint. Treatment may
include medication, physical therapy, occupational therapy and
self-care.

Pharmaceutical medication is used to treat the pain and may
include, over the counter topical pain relievers that are rubbed
into the skin at the effective joint, NSAIDs and acetaminophen
taken internally to help with pain.

Prescription medications may include COX-2 inhibitors such as
Celebrex may be considered for relieving pain, But both Celebrex
and the recently removed from the market durg, Vioxx, are now
linked with some rather serious side effects including, high
blood pressure, and an increased risk of stroke and heart attack.

For some people, a side effect of living with chronic pain is
depression. Since disturbances in sleep may accompany
osteoarthritis, anti depressants may be prescribed because they
can reduce chronic pain a well as help to alleviate sleep
disturbances.

From time to time a doctor may suggest that an osteoarthritis
patient receive injections of corticosteroid, which when
injected into the joint space can offer some relief from pain
and inflammation.

Surgical procedures can provide pain relief and relieve
disability that may result from the deterioration of the joints.
These procedures may include joint replacement; repositioning
bones and fusing bones.

The surgical procedures and prescription medications may be
overkill in the case where the osteoarthritis sufferer has only
mild pain and inflammation. There is much that the mild or
occasional sufferer can do to alleviate their pain ontheir own.

Life-style changes can help the condition so dramatically that
it is sometimes the only treatment the occasional suffered will
need.

Some things that you can do to help with the pain and stiffness
are: – Exercise regularly – Control your weight – Eat a healthy
diet – Apply heat to alleviate pain – Choose appropriate
footwear to help support your back and hip joints. – Apply cold
for occasional flare-ups – Practice relaxation techniques

In all cases osteoarthritis sufferers can benefit from making
some changes in how they approach everyday activities. – Arm
yourself with information and a “can do” attitude: Work with
your health care professional to take control of your treatment
and actively manage your arthritis. – Make use of a brace or
cane if needed. A brace can greatly help to support a painful
knee. And walking with a cane can help support an ailing hip.

– Keep activity within your limits. Osteoarthritis can make you
prone to fatigue and muscle weakness. Take a short nap or rest
when you fell tired. – Avoid straining your finger joints. Use a
kitchen tool or hot water to help with opening jars and bottles.
Kitchen centers and hardware stores are beginning to carry a
supply of kitchen aids to help with simple tasks that may be
difficult for osteoarthritis sufferers.

– Take breaks. Periodically relax and stretch. – Maintain good
posture. Good posture more evenly distributes your body weight
making it easier to support.

Regardless of the approaches that people take to dealing with
their osteoarthritis almost everyone can benefit from the use of
natural supplements. Glucosamine. is a naturally occurring
substance that has been shown to be extremely effective in
treating osteoarthritis.

Phosoplex is a natural supplement takes glucosamine one step
better by combining it with Bio Cell Collagen II, a
concentration of many elements including glucosamine.

The makers of Phosoplex have a valid point when they tell us
“…If we consume only single elements involved in the complex
process of keeping our joints and other connective tissue
healthy we could only expect partial effectiveness.” Phosoplex
with its full spectrum of essential elements provides broader
nutritional support aiding the overall health of individuals
joints.

More information about Phosoplex can be found at
http://www.bodestore.com/phosoplex.html

About the author:
Kamau Austin is a health and fitness enthusiast and advocate. He
is also the publisher of … www.healthandfitnessvitality.com .
He writes on a regular basis on timeless health and fitness tips
at the Fit After Forty Blog. See more useful health and fitness
news and tips at…
http://www.healthandfitnessvitality.com/blogs/fitnessblog.htm

My Intralasik Experience

I wanted to investigate Lasik vision correction for myself, and found that there were several options. After talking it over with a great Lasik physician, I decided on using bladeless Lasik, or Intralasik, or Intralase. I cannot say that I decided that for any great technical reasons, mine were mainly psychological.

The advantage of Intralasik over a traditional Lasik procedure is that a laser is used to make a flap in the eye. Every Lasik procedure needs to make a flap in order for the excimer laser to be able to reshape the corner. In traditional Lasik, the flap is made with a microkeratome, which is “a very small blade, not a scalpel”. Well, maybe to you. Somehow, even though both the laser and the blade made the same flap, the idea of someone taking a sharp object to….. well, you get the picture.

In addition (though there is a lot of argument and debate over this) using a laser to make the flap might (let me emphasize might to be fair to everyone) make the Lasik procedure have less chance of getting other cells underneath the flap. I don’t really understand all of the Lasik arguments with regard to this, but I think you should discuss the various Lasik options with the physician. They do vary in cost also.

Before I talk about the procedure itself, let me give a bird’s eye view of myself as a Lasik candidate. In short, spectacular! Seriously, all of the items for a good Lasik candidate could describe me: a healthy guy in my mid-thirties, with moderate nearsightedness and slight astigmatism, with good results on all eye exam tests (thick cornea, no eye scarring or infections, etc.).

I did visit two different Lasik surgeons to get their independent opinions of me as a candidate, and also their description of their services. One of the Lasik surgeons is on the staff at the medical college in a nearby major metropolitan center, so I was pretty assured that their opinions were valid.

On the day of the Lasik surgery I came in, paid my first payment for the procedure, and had my eye prescription rechecked. I was given post-procedure instructions on eye drops, no exercising (yeah!), and to go to sleep after the Lasik procedure. I was given a relaxant, and the Lasik physician and I went to the surgery suite.

The chair has padded pillows to rest and restrict head movement, and a teddy bear to hold if I wanted it. There was a clamp to hold my eyes open, and a suction ring, and then my vision in that eye went a bit dim. The first Lasik laser made the flap, and I focused on a small light while the other laser made the cornea changes. This took less than thirty seconds, or so I was told.

Mainly I was aware of clicking noises and some pressure, but no pain or real discomfort. After the eye flaps were put back in place, I rested in a recliner for about 20 minutes. I could see more clearly immediately after the Lasik operation was over, but was told not to try and test my eyes for a number of days, and rather concentrate on getting them healthy and healed.

I am surprised and immensely pleased it went so easily, well, and pain free. I would recommend this type of Lasik procedure to anyone.

Living With Arthritis: 6 Ways to Cope for Arthritis Sufferers

Living With Arthritis: 6 Ways to Cope for Arthritis Sufferers
John Robben

Living With Arthritis: 6 Ways to Cope for Arthritis Sufferers

Just because you’ve been diagnosed with arthritis doesn’t mean
that you have to wait in pain for your doctor to contact you.
There are quite a few things you can do as an arthritis sufferer
while waiting for new medications, an appointment for a
specialist or just to work on the problem yourself. This article
will detail some of the simple but highly effective ways you can
manage arthritis comfortably on your own time and at your own
pace.

Living With Arthritis Tip #1: Keep On Moving Although it’s
painful for most arthritis sufferers to stay active, you need to
be mobile every single day in order to keep your current range
of movement. Even if you can only manage a ten minute walk
daily, those ten minutes will do wonders for your mood, joints
and pain in the long term.

Living With Arthritis Tip #2: Don’t Push Yourself If you don’t
have to use your body to move, push or pull something, don’t.
Living with arthritis means taking stock of what you can and
cannot do, and then creating new ways of doing the same thing
without hurting yourself. This might mean purchasing assistive
devices (special can-openers for instance), losing weight or
using the larger joints (such as your hips) instead of the
smaller ones (such as your back) to lift things.

Living With Arthritis Tip #3: Stay Tuned Keep up with the
current findings, research and information related to fellow
arthritis sufferers and the disease itself. As they say, knowing
is half the battle!

Living With Arthritis Tip #4: Talk About It Let your friends and
family know when living with arthritis becomes a challenge, or
when you are frustrated with the disease. Educate them as well,
since the more they know the more they will be able to assist
you as well. Even better, find a local support group where you
can discuss with other arthritis sufferers your feelings about
the illness.

Living With Arthritis Tip #5: If The Shoe Fits… Make sure that
what supports you is actually supporting you properly! Those
suffering from arthritis need even more foot, ankle and joint
support than most. Invest wisely in a pair of orthopedic shoes
and you’ll notice the difference almost immediately.

Living With Arthritis Tip #6: Stretch It Out By stretching the
joints that you use the most, you are not only making your body
work better, you’ll be making your disease easier to manage. Try
to focus on the larger joints (knees, ankles, hips, back) at
least once a day for a cat-like stretch to invigorate the mind,
body and spirit.

About the author:
John Robben is the owner/operator of Ultimate Water Massage
(est. 2000), a Washington-based company that offers over 2000
products to ease the pain of arthritis sufferers. Visit for more
information, tools, supplies and tips for living with arthritis
at http://www.ultimatewatermassage.com/.