Constipation is not uncommon. It is a condition in which a person has fewer bowel movements than usual. You have to remember that every person has a different schedule. Some people could go from one to three bowel movements per day. However, the accepted minimum per week is three bowel movements.

Symptoms and Causes
If you have less than three bowel movements per week and you have a hard stool that is painful to pass, it could be constipation. You will also feel bloated all the time, have abdominal cramps, and sometimes you will see blood on the stool.

Some known causes are lack of fiber and water in the body. Constipation could also be a side effect of some of the medication you’re taking including daily vitamin supplements.

Constipation for women who can still give birth might be a sign of early pregnancy. An increase in progesterone relaxes the muscles in your intestine’s wall.

Some kids also have trouble with toilet training. If they ignore the urge to pass stools, then most likely constipation will develop.

Your state of mind and emotional health can also affect your bowel movements. Depression for example causes your bodily functions to slow down. Medications for allergies, depression, and blood pressure also affect your bowels.

Constipation might also be a symptom of medical conditions. Hypothyroidism for example, causes the metabolic processes to slow down. Inflammatory bowel disease causes constipation as well. Diabetes can also disrupt how your body digests food and gets rid of wastes.

Treatment and Prevention
If not treated, constipation can result into hemorrhoids, bowel incontinence and the hard stool might collect in your rectum.

Cut back on food that you think are causing constipation. There is no definite study yet, but there are food like banana with a reputation that could make passing stool more difficult. Don’t rely too much on laxatives. They should be taken only if indicated by your doctor. Common laxatives are oral osmotics, stool softeners, bulk formers, and stimulants.

Observe the type of food you usually eat. If you notice that you’re consuming too much high-fat food, cut back. Reduce food with white refined carbohydrates and those high in calcium. Some fruits and vegetables also cause constipation. Try sitting on the toilet after meals to stimulate your bowels, but if you already have routine, stick to it.

Children are advised to eat whole grain food along with fruits and vegetables. Sometimes too much milk and dairy products could be the culprit. Toilet training is also important. Eliminate the fear of going to the bathroom and if possible develop a routine to train the child to sit on the toilet at specific times of the day.

To prevent constipation, you have to make changes in your diet and lifestyle. Eat food rich in fiber, drink a lot of water and exercise regularly. Remember that too much of everything is bad. Even too much of healthy food is unhealthy. You don’t need to stop eating what you like, but eat and drink in moderation.

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is becoming popular here in Singapore for its myriad uses. The truth is, ACV has been used throughout history. This proves that it is effective to stand the test of time. If you already know its uses, you should remember to choose organic ACV just to make sure that it is healthy and toxin free.

But do you know everything about ACV? If in this case you want to know more about its uses (apart from being an excellent cleaning agent), you have come to the right place. Here are the wonders of ACV:

Sore throat

You already know that ACV has this bacteria-fighting property (no wonder it is an excellent cleaning agent) that can get rid of anything unpleasant to the body. If you think you have sore throat, the next thing that you have to do is gargle equal parts of ACV and hot water to keep bacteria constricted. If you think that you need to gargle after an hour, you should do it right away.

Itchy skin

Many people love ACV because they only know it as an instant relief to itchy skin even sunburned one. When things get itchy, you can seek for the help of ACV. You just need to apply it to the right place. It does not end there because it can also give relief to itches caused by poison ivy, bug bites and jellyfish sting. If you are dealing with sunburned skin, just add 1 cup of ACV in your bath.

Wilting energy

If you feel tired and exhausted, your instinct is to reach a bottle of energy drink to give you a boost. That is not good. If you want to boost your energy, you should grab your ACV and add some to your glass of water. ACV contains enzymes and potassium including amino acid that can help you boosts energy.

Deodorant

Using it as an alternative for your commercial deodorant can help fight odor-causing bacteria. Many commercial deodorants pose risk of getting cancer-causing toxins. Using it is as easy as 1 2 3 – just put little under your arms and feel how it works. If you have smelly feet, ACV can get rid of it.

By the looks of it, ACV can be used to treat all your problems from the smelly feet, cleaning agent to lowering of cholesterol. You can put it in any meals or with water. Remember to take at least one or more tablespoon every day because it can make a difference at the end of the day.

A Singaporean that does regular exercise and eats healthy can minimize the risk of blood clots but generally anyone can get them. It is easiest to get blood clots on your fingers especially whenever your finger gets slammed in a door or whenever it gets pinched with something. These blood clots are formed from a pinched nerve or trauma and are helpful to stop bleeding especially in accidents. Thankfully, 75% of finger blood clots are easily treatable. The following are some easy and efficient home remedies when you have blood clots on your fingers:

Elevate the hands

Elevating your hands is one of the first steps you should take right after getting your finger accident. This simple procedure is efficient in reducing the size the blood clot will form. This may even prevent blood clots if you’re able to elevate your arm as soon as possible. This is because elevating your arm will help reduce the blood flow and help promote drainage of the pooled blood.

Apply pressure on the affected area

Another thing that you may do right after sustaining your finger accident is to apply pressure on the affected area. As long as you’re able to do this right off the bat, this will help prevent blood clots from forming on your fingers.

Apply a warm wash cloth

You should then apply a warm wash cloth on your finger blood clot to improve the blood circulation and blood flow. The hot compression will help the clot be removed naturally. Make sure that the water you’ll be soaking in is not too hot.

Soak in water filled with Epsom salt

Soaking your finger blood clot in a water base filled with Epsom salt is also proven to reduce the amount of swelling and even help improve blood circulation just as hot compression does.

Do not open the blood clot

Do not burst open the blood clot if you do not want to expose it to bacteria and further complicate the wound. It’s best to wait for the natural healing procedure to take place.

Over the counter pain killers

Some over the counter pain killers are recommended for major blood clots that are inflamed and hurt too much. Some of the most common over the counter prescriptions are Tylenol and Ibuprofen.

When to see a doctor

If you have taken these home remedies and yet the pain from your finger blood clot is still too much for you to bear, then you should consider this as a sign to see your doctor. You may be prescribed stronger painkillers or some ointments to get treated.

You’re on a diet and you’re trying to lose those last 10 pounds to fit into that wedding dress or to show off those killer abs. But, for some reason, you just can’t lose weight no matter how hard you workout or how hard you diet. Well, it might be because what you’re eating isn’t actually very healthy at all. Some foods just appear to be healthy because they belong to the same food group of healthy foods but actually have different nutritional values. Here are some of them.

Diet Soda

Diet soda has less sugar, zero carbs, or sometimes even no calories at all. But make no mistake about it. They are not healthy foods because they substitute the sugar with artificial sweeteners that cause a spike to your insulin levels. Hence, there’s a chance that those sweeteners turn into fat.

Wraps

Wraps are meat and vegetables wrapped in a thin piece of pita bread. Some people are fooled to think they are healthier than sandwiches because pita is so much thinner than bread and buns. However, pita bread actually has double the amount of calories than ordinary bread.

Gatorade

We’re talking about sports drinks in general. Commercials fool us into thinking that these drinks are essential in a fit lifestyle because athletes endorse and actually drink them. But they are not all that healthy they contain a lot of sodium and artificial sweeteners.

Low-Fat Milk

The process of taking away fat in milk actually takes a lot of other essential vitamins and nutrients found in milk. That’s why low-fat milk has less protein than ordinary milk. While ordinary milk has more fat, it does make up for it in the amount of other vitamins and minerals it provides the human body.

Granola Bars

The problem with these bars is that manufacturers add sugar and oil when they cook the granola. Hence, it just compounds the amount of carbs and fat found in the granola itself.

Ever had the experience where you’re so into your diet and workout sessions but when holidays suddenly come up, you find your self binging in an endless feast of fatty meals and sugary treats? That happens to a lot of people. The bad part about it is that some of these people just blame the holidays over and over again for their lack of progress in their diet. Well, it certainly is difficult to find discipline in a season filled with feasts but here are some tips to help you stay fit during the holidays.

1. Avoid Unhealthy Foods

Eating in moderation may be difficult to do during holiday seasons. So the best thing to do is to just avoid the foods that are very much unhealthier than the rest of the holiday foods. Examples would be soda, cheesecake, cookies, and buttery foods.

2. Drink in Moderation

A six-pack of beer and a few glasses of wine are staples during the holiday season. The best way to stay off the calories that come with the booze is to simply drink in moderation. Don’t drink your self ‘til the next year. Drinking an extra bottle or an extra glass already has long-term effects on your diet.

3. Take Care of Your Cardiovascular Health

After a night of feasting or partying, try to wake up the following day (if you’re not hung-over) to a morning jog to get rid of the extra calories you added into your system last night. Aside from burning the calories, you also get to keep your heart healthy in the long run.

4. Don’t Stop

Literally don’t stop doing your diet. A lot of people give up after binging on the holidays because they felt that all of their progress just went down the drain. Just proceed with what you were doing prior to the big binge. Or think of Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and Thanksgiving (if you celebrate this Western holiday) as your cheat days. Workout hard and watch what you eat for a whole week or two and then reward your self on the holiday. Then go back to the daily grind the next day.

Many Singaporeans heard about the daredevil yet inspiring man named Philippe Petit. Philippe is a Frenchman who dared to cross the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center in 1974. The man dreamt of crossing the twin towers without a net. He made sure that his dreams will become reality.

He strolled on a wire and up to this day, no man challenged him. We can get to know him more once we see The Walk starring Joseph Gordon Levitt. It will be screened here in Singapore soon enough.

Petit struck us because he is not afraid of heights. We are afraid of heights and it really affects our life. Here are some tips so we can overcome our fear of heights:

• What is the likelihood of actual harm? They say that our fear is only in the mind. If we fear something, it creates an illusion that whatever we do will likely to cause us harm. However, we have to know that there is a slight chance of inflicting actual harm if we set our mind to it. We have to remember that phobia is defined as an “irrational” fear.

• Relax: Perhaps that next best thing that we can do is to relax. We resolved that the likelihood of walking to 50^th floor unscathed is high so we have to relax before our mind dictates how our body should react – increased sweating, heightened blood pressure and the likes.

• Remove caffeine: We might not know this but caffeine may contribute to the anxiety we feel. If we can abstain from caffeine, the better. If not, we should at least limit it.

These are just simple but if the fear is deeply rooted, interventions should be considered.

There are many Singaporeans who suffer claustrophobia. Claustrophobia is defined as the “irrational fear of enclosed spaces”. Managing claustrophobia is difficult but it is possible to lessen if not eradicate the fear.

The important thing here is we believe in ourselves. If we believe that we can overcome this, we can. We can begin by learning to manage our symptoms. When we are in an enclosed space, some feel nauseous, excessively sweating or heightened heart rate.

To manage this, we have to know breathing techniques. Here are some breathing tips that we can consider:

• Evade deep breathing: When we notice the signs, it is imperative that we avoid deep breathing because it will only make things worse.
• Do not hold breath: Holding breath is as worse as deep breathing therefore it should be avoided.

• Slow and shallow breathing instead: The crucial thing here is breathing the right way. We should not forget to breath because panic took over. We have to control our breathing so it will not harm us. The best breathing technique is slow and shallow. Slow breathing should be considered to conserve carbon dioxide.

Aside from breathing techniques, we can also consider physical relaxing techniques. Here are some:

• Relaxing shoulders: We have to let our arms loose.
• Relaxing face: From the forehead to the jaw, we have to relax our face. The tension will only make things worse.
• Relax eyes: We have to be alert. The eyes should be moistened so we have to blink more.

Getting out from claustrophobia may be the greatest struggle in our life but if we are serious of lessening it if not eradicating it, we will surely be successful.

How do you know if a stuffy nose needs serious medical attention, such as taking antibiotics? Doctors consider a guideline when answering this question, though many specialists say that it’s still a gray area. It’s hard to differentiate a a viral infection from a bacterial infection based on the symptoms alone.

So doctors use their professional and educated instinct—a combination of science and experience—when deciding whether a stuffy-nose case calls for an antibiotic. Here are the signs they often look for to conclude that a more potent medication is required.

1. Length of Time You’ve Been Sick

Health problems that have been hanging around for a while can evolve into a more serious health condition, such as sinus infection. Therefore, if a stuffy nose has been lingering for weeks, your likelihood of needing an antibiotic is higher.

2. Fever

If a stuffy nose is accompanied with fever and chills, you could be experiencing a bacterial infection. However, fever, shakes and chills are also common with viral infection. In determining whether you need an antibiotic, your doctor will consider your likelihood of catching fever—is it currently circulating in your community? Is the weather a factor for the health condition?—against the possibility of it as a bacterial infection. If you have flu and the weather is just bad, your doctor will probably not recommend taking antibiotics, but take ample rest instead.

3. Sore Throat

While the state of your throat already looks terrible to you, your doctor will have to look for white spots to be able to conclude that it’s a bacterial infection, before advising you to take antibiotics. Common colds start with sore throat, but without other cold symptoms like runny nose, it can be a strep throat, which is a bacterial infection and requires antibiotics to stop the dangerous bacteria. Your doctor may have to run a rapid antigen test to ensure that your case is indeed caused by bacteria.

4. Lab Test Results

This is the only one sure way to identify if you’re really in need of an antibiotic. Your doctor wil have to collect a body gunk sample (whatever you can blow out or cough up your nose) or take a throat swab. However, a lab test may not be needed if the doctor sees obvious signs of bacterial infection in the first symptoms mentioned above.

For most cases, stuffy nose is a less serious health problem that can be cured with home remedies or self-medication. However, if left unattended, it can evolve into a more serious case, which may need a more potent cure. To know whether it’s time to get yourself antibiotics, see your physician and take these health signs into consideration.