Tag: Prescription Drugs

How can Upper Back Pain be Helped

Upper back pain may not be as common as lower back pain but it may also induce severe pain and extreme discomfort. It is frequently caused by myofascial pain or muscular irritation and dysfunction on the joint. Degeneration on the upper back discs may occur but this condition is too rarely observed among upper back pain sufferers.

Both the myofascial pain and the joint dysfunction can best be helped with treatments in the forms of:

Active and passive physical therapy and daily exercise

Osteopathic or chiropractic manipulation

Massage therapy or deep massage

Acupuncture

Massage therapy

Injections with a local anesthetic on trigger points

Over the counter medications

Prescription drugs

The back bone is divided into several categories and each are at risk to different factors. As much as lower back pain is a condition that affects the lower portion of the spinal bones (lumbar), the upper back pain is mainly due to irregularities or impairments on the thoracic spine. While the lower spine and the neck are intended to allow us for greater mobility, the thoracic spine is designed to protect the internal organs that the section covers and to help the framework of the body to hold itself in its respective postures.

Because this section of the spinal chord are created for limited movement and more stability, it’s susceptibility to injuries and degeneration is much too less when compared with what the lower back is facing. Additionally, upper back may develop lesser disorders and like herniated spinal disks, degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis.

Upper back pain may be the resultant of poor posture or extreme trauma. Interestingly enough, the most recent cases documented for upper back pain typically came from people who work continuously in front of computers. Upper back pain often occurs with neck and shoulder pain.

Rarely, thoracic disk disease is the cause for upper back bone. Though this often is the case with lower back pain, the case is the opposite with thoracic back pain since lesser mobility is created with this spinal bone part.

Another less occurring condition responsible for upper back pain is the trauma that may cause the fracture or extreme injuries on the thoracic vertebrae. In this case, there is no room for neglecting the condition. This needs immediate medical assistance via early diagnosis to measure the damage incurred and to formulate the ideal treatment plan.

Tips to Better Your Brain Performance

It may be true that as you get older, your memory also deteriorates. But this does not mean that if you are younger, your brain is not capable of memory deterioration. Aging is just one cause of memory loss, but there are other factors. Thus, if you want to prevent this, you may want to read these tips to a better your brain performance.

1) More Relaxation Period, Better Thinking

If you want to protect your recent memories, you should stay away from stress. Stress can trigger the release of cortisol, a neuro drug which can interfere with the brains performance, especially with handling recent memories. Furthermore, with chronic stress, the part of the brain which handles recent memories may even shrink. If you want to prevent this from happening, you should learn to relax a little and release the tension from your body. You should never let stress overwhelm you.

2) Refrain From Cigarette Smoking

Cigarettes affect the flow of blood in your veins. Because of this, there may be a chance of reduced blood flow to your brain; and reduced blood flow means reduced oxygen. With lesser oxygen to consume, the brain may not function well as expected, hence the memory may be prejudiced.

3) Stay Away from Brain Toxins

As you may know, illegal drugs may cause harm to your brains functioning. However, you should also know that prescription drugs, if misused, may also have the same toxic effect to your brain. Thus, you should always follow the prescription given to you be your doctor, and never self-medicate. This may affect your brains normal performance. Prolonged use of drugs may cause memory loss.

4) Eat Healthy

Your brain functions according to the nutrients that it receives from the food that you eat. Thus, if you are deprived of certain nutrients, then it may have an adverse effect on the functioning of your brain. You most certainly would not want this to happen. Thus, as prevention, you should eat a healthy and balanced diet so that you will absorb all the vitamins and nutrients that your body needs. Also, you should stay away from junk foods.

5) Exercise Your Brain

Find ways to use and improve your thinking skills. Some mentalists propose techniques which are designed to improve mental skills. We all have the potential to possess a good functioning memory, thus it should be something that we can all improve. All we have to do is to find ways and try techniques that can effectively help us develop our potentials.

Most people believe that by engaging themselves into educational activities, they are improving their mental faculties. This is true, and you can try this even at home. Simple activities like crossword puzzles can exercise your brain. This may help your brain functioning to get better, if not, to prevent it from deteriorating easily.

6) Shield Your Brain

There is no point of improving the brain if you cannot protect it physically. You should always protect your head from injuries because trauma may affect the functioning of your brain. Even simple injuries should be avoided, because repeated minor injuries, if accumulated, may cause damage to your brain. Thus, you should try simple prevention, like putting helmets when bicycling, in order for you to avoid situations that may damage your brain functioning.

If you want to be able to think better, your brains health is the key. Thus, you should keep it as healthy as possible and avoid all those factors which may expose you to mental deterioration.

Conventional Medication For Sinus Infections

Conventional Medication for Sinus Infections

There are many things you can take to fight a sinus infection. Apart from antibiotics, there are others as well namely antihistamines, decongestants, leokitrienes, mucolytics, nasal saline irrigation and steam inhalation as well as steroids.

Antihistamines are recommended if the doctor has determined that your sinus infection is caused by an allergy. Majority of them do not have to be prescribed by a doctor so you can easily get this off the counter. The only limitation with antihistamines is the side effects. Those who take it will usually feel groggy or sleepy while some may experience dryness. To counter this, decongestants are added to the ingredients of the antihistamine like those normally found on those that are prescribed by the doctor.

Then there are decongestants. These are also available over the counter and in prescription form. These are designed to relieve congestion, nasal pressure and nasal swelling by reducing the blood flow to the membranes that in turn will improve air flow, lessen breathing through the mouth, decrease pressure in the sinus and head as well as ease discomfort.

The one thing it cannot do is relieve a runny nose. Sadly, it also has side effects such as increased blood pressure and heart rate which means patients who have high blood pressure or heart problems have to consult a doctor before taking them.

Leokotrienes are anti-inflammatory prescription drugs that are used to prevent inflammation in the airway and sinus cavities. It has been proven useful in helping patients who have sinus infections due to asthma. The side effects associated with this drug include dryness of the nasal passages, headaches, bleeding, crusting, upset stomach and skin rashes.

The doctor may also recommend the use of mucolytics. This is also used in treating cough because it destroys or dissolves mucus which makes it difficult for the person to breathe. These are available in tablet or liquid form. You can also inhale it when this is placed inside a nebulizer.

This is usually given in high dosages as this is the only way to achieve easier drainage. Once this is done, it will be easy for the body to expel through coughing. If not, this has to be done with the help of suction.

Your doctor may also recommend nasal saline irrigation and steam inhalation. This is the only one that does not have any side effects. It is safe and non-addictive. This works almost immediately especially when what you are dealing with is indeed a viral infection so you can stop using it after 3 to 5 days.

Steroids are also used to get rid of sinus infections. In fact, there are two kinds and the one used for inflammatory conditions are known as glucocorticosteroids. This can be administered orally, applied to the skin or by injection.

The side effects associated with it include increased appetite, weight gain, upset stomach, increase blood sugar and blood pressure, sleep disturbance, mood swings as well as fluid retention. These gradually disappear of course once you stop taking it.

As you can see, there are other medications around that doctors can use to help you fight off your sinus infection. They will have to determine first what is causing it rather than through trial and error because this can lead to complications and you surely dont want that to happen to you.

Deciding to Stop Smoking: Rising Above Withdrawal Urges

When you smoke, your body is exposed to nicotine, a very addictive substance. The longer period that the body is exposed to nicotine, the harder it is for the body to function properly without such substance. This is the reason why people who smoke, especially those who have been smoking for a long time already, may find it difficult to stop smoking. They have become addicted to nicotine, and they will need longer time just to cleanse their system from the nicotine. So, even if they have finally stopped from smoking, they are still faced with the urge to go on a relapse and smoke again. This is commonly known as nicotine withdrawal urges.

Withdrawal symptoms may come in different forms, and has different effects on different people. Some urges may take form in the following:

* Difficulty to sleep
* Always being nervous and worried
* Unable to concentrate
* May feel depressed
* May feel irritable
* May feel the urge to light up another stick of cigarette
* Increased hunger and need to eat

Thus, before you finally stop smoking, you should first have an idea on how to fight these withdrawal symptoms, because if not you may end up starting on the process all over again.

Start by knowing the possible urges that you may experience once you have finally stopped smoking. By doing so, you would have ideas on how to manage them properly when they eventually manifest. There several products which can assist you as you begin to cut down your exposure to nicotine. There are nicotine gums and patches which are available in the market to satisfy your need for nicotine without the need of smoking a cigarette. However, if you choose to buy these products, you should realize that you would still have to stop using them eventually because you would want your system to be cleansed from nicotine.

There are also medicines and prescription drugs which can help you overcome depression after you have stopped smoking. Sometimes, these medications may also help with other withdrawal symptoms aside from depression. However, before you take any of these drugs, you should consult your doctor first so that you would be guided accordingly.

These withdrawal urges may come and go throughout the day. You just have to wait it out until the urge passes. You have to fight hard not to smoke despite such strong urges. After several times of being able to fight off the urge to smoke, you will feel that such urges will become less powerful, and you will find it easier to defeat such tendencies. You just have to stay strong because it is not easy to flush out the nicotine from your body, and will surely take time before you are absolutely cleansed from it. So, as you wait, you have to stay strong, firm, and focused. Try hard not to relapse; otherwise you might end up on the starting line again, and youd waste your efforts. Do your best to divert your attention to healthier activities so that you will not think of smoking as often as necessary. Remember your reasons for quitting, and hold on to them. The process you need to go through to stop smoking may not be easy, but it shall be worth it.