Massage Therapy And Your Blood Pressure
Are you one of those shoppers that are rushing around today – Black Friday – looking for the bargain of the year? Or are you enjoying a quite day off and ignoring the hustle and bustle? Maybe you are one of the unfortunate many that have to work today. Whatever your circumstances your blood pressure may be up today. If not today, then I am sure that it will be sometime during this holiday season.
Did you know that one in every three Americans suffer from high blood pressure? These facts are mentioned by the US Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. I am sure you are aware that high blood pressure is the major factor leading to stroke, heart disease and congestive heart failure.
Recent research published in Pubmed.gov shows that massage therapy can significantly lower high pressure. This study was done one controlled group and had promising results.
The researcher’s primary objective was to analyze the results of Swedish massage done to the neck, face and shoulders. This study was conduct with women who should signs of pre-hypertension. This study was a single-blind clinical study done on fifty women. During the study, the women’s blood pressure was carefully measured both before and after the massage.
Researchers noted that massage therapy was a safe and effective intervention for high blood pressure. This study was completed in conjunction with a school of nursing and department of internal surgery.
Enjoy the holidays and treat yourself to a massage to lower your blood pressure and help you enjoy your family and friends without stress (or at least less stress!) Better yet, treat a good friend or family member to a message.
Call Discover Chiropractic today and ask about massage specials. Your blood pressure will start to lower just making the call!
Myrtle Beach Chiropractic on Sweeteners
With all the media hype and the internet, you probably are already aware that refined sugar and high-fructose corn syrup are not the best for our bodies. But how do you know what is a good natural sweetener alternative? To make it even more complicated, a new study on Cancer Research found that fructose found in honey and even in some fruits actually feeds some cancers. Don’t give up on apples and oranges just yet – or honey – based on just one study.
“Natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables—things like berries, green apples, grapefruit, kiwi—are needed to feed beneficial micro flora in the gut for a healthy immune system,” explains Donna Gates, who led the movement to bring stevia, a natural sweetener, into this country more than a decade ago. “That’s why nature put a little bit of natural sweetener in fruits and vegetables. It keeps the ecosystem alive in us,” she says, adding that the small amounts of fructose in fruits and vegetables are balanced with minerals, vitamins, and other vital nutrients. “Our body reads it differently,” she notes.
Vegetables and fruits can provide the perfect sugar fix; however, what do you do when you need a sweetener for your sweet tea, to bake with, or for that morning coffee?
Myrtle Beach Chiropractic Discover Wellness would like for you to know the difference between the good and bad sweeteners.
Bad Sweeteners #1: Aspartame
Aspartame is a common chemical sweetener that is used in diet soda and other low-sugar foods and there is conflicting evidence regarding the safety of aspartame sweetener. Many people have complained of headaches after consuming any food source containing aspartame. A University of Liverpool study has found that when this chemical is mixed with a food color ingredient (commonly used in diet soda) the chemical became toxic to brain cells. As we mentioned in an earlier article, diet drinks have been shown to have an effect on developing diabetes. Did you know that one of the breakdown products from aspartame is formaldehyde? I think I’ll pass.
Bad Sweeteners #2: Agave
Many local health food stores will stock agave sweeteners, but we are recommending you steer clear. If you check the label, you will notice that most agave sweeteners consist of up to 80% fructose – more than is found in corn syrup. If you are set on using agave, take the advice of Christine Gerbstadt, MD, PhD, the spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, who recommends you check the label and look for products that are less than 30% fructose.
Bad Sweetener #3: Sucralose
This sweetener is better known by its brand name Splenda. Although this product originates with natural sugar, the end result is anything but natural. Chlorine is used to process and many researchers have found that the “natural” sweetener is going through our bodies and ending up in wastewater where it can’t be broken down. Recent tests completed in Sweden and Norway have found sucralose in surface water that was downstream from these wastewater treatment facilities. Many scientists are concerned this could change the feeding habits of organisms found in these streams and cause an adverse effect to the eco system.
Good Sweeteners #1: Stevia
“We need to be off of sugar, but we need good alternatives, and stevia is the safest sweetener there is, period,” says Gates, who coauthored The Stevia Cookbook: Cooking with Nature’s Calorie-Free Sweetener (Avery Trade, 2004).
Stevia is extracted from the leaves of a plant by the same name and usually comes in a powder. Because people tend to overuse powders, there have been some complaints about Stevia. Gates has helped to develop a liquid form of stevia for that reason. The one downfall of this sweetener alternative is that it doesn’t work well for baking.
You will be seeing more of stevia on the grocery store shelves as both Coke and Pepsi have the go ahead to use Truvia a sweetener made in part from stevia. This transition will take place later this year.
Good Sweeteners #2: Sugar alcohols
Some of the more popular alcohols sweeteners are erythritol, sorbitol and xylitol which are made from a fermentation process with sugar cane. The end result is fewer calories than sweeteners such as honey and pure sugar; however, more calories than stevia. An interesting side effect is a cooling sensation in your mouth which has been found to prevent cavities. A word of caution – too much of these sweeteners can cause some GI problems.
Good Sweeteners #3: Organic, raw local honey
Honey contains a lot of cancer-fighting antioxidants, even though it does have higher levels of fructose. Local honey has been known to alleviate certain allergy systems that are specific to geographic regions. In addition to using honey in your tea, a little rubbed on a burn or cut will help the healing process because it acts as a natural antiseptic. Honey is known for its low glycemic index so using it for your sweet tea won’t lead to blood sugar dropping later in the day.
Good Sweeteners #4: Blackstrap molasses
This sweetener alternative is the highest on calorie content but is great for an increase in potassium, calcium and iron, which makes it the healthiest of our choices. Dr. Gerbstadt cautions this is not the recommended choice for diabetics because of the high calorie content
Myrtle Beach Chiropractic Discover Wellness is always concerned about your health. We hope this article on sweeteners and choices will help you live a healthier lifestyle.
Myrtle Beach Chiropractor Explains The Importance of Omega
As a chiropractor and wellness adviser, nutrition is a very important facet of how I help my patients. No different than a car that has all the working parts but the wrong type of fuel, the human body can have the most perfect balance and alignment, but if it is given the wrong food, it will not work right.
Essential Fatty Acids (or EFAs) are a group of fats that the body must obtain through the diet. There are 2 main types: Omega-6s and Omega-3s. The Omega-6s are highly prevalent in the average diet, found in the majority of cooking oils as well as most processed and refined foods. The Omega-3s are much more elusive in the typical diet, being found only in flax and chia seeds, certain nuts and green leafy vegetables, sea vegetables and coldwater fish like salmon and sardine.
In an ideal world, the balance between Omega-6s and Omega-3s would be 1:1 or 2:1. However, today the average person has a ration around 20:1, and some even as high as 50:1. On the surface, this may not sound like a big deal, but nutritionally, when there is a sustained elevation of Omega-6s, several things start to go wrong.
As Omega 6s increase more and more, there is an ever-increasing amount of Arachadonic Acid (AA) that is produced. Excess AA leads to the production of chemical mediators that promote pain, inflammation, swelling, breathing difficulties, and allergies. On a much larger scale, deficiency in Omega-3s has been linked to a myriad of health conditions including cardiovascular disease, asthma and COPD, dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, MS, ADD/ADHD, Autism, not to mention joint pain and many others.
The majority of the symptoms and conditions mentioned above can be helped simply be restoring the Omega-6:3 ratio closer to its ideal of 1:1. The only way to do this is by reducing intake of Omega-6 rich foods (processed and refined foods), and increasing amount of foods containing Omega-3s and proper supplementation such as flax seed oil. Many of the Omega-3 supplements have fish oil that may contain mercury toxicity, pollutants, the wrong type of fish, or oils that have gone rancid. Rancidity is what causes many people to experience belching or a ‘fishy aftertaste’ after supplementing Omega-3s.
Any changes to the diet or addition of supplementation should be discussed with a properly trained health professional. For help with assessing your diet, proper supplementation or questions in general, please contact your local chiropractor or health professional. Make sure they are certified in their field. There are a lot of people marketing health products that are not health professionals.
Give us a call at 843-650-0247 and ask for Dr. Josh. He would be happy to answer your questions.
Myrtle Beach Chiropractic On Back Pain and Football Injuries
David Garrard says his back is a lot better today. This doesn’t mean that the Jaguars’ starting quarterback will play in the team’s open-to-the-public scrimmage Saturday, but Garrard said he expects to be fine moving forward.
Garrard has been working with the first team in Jaguars 2011 Training camp when he had to leave practice due to tightness in his back on Thursday. Garrard said he first became concerned about his back after completing a deep pass in the night practice.
“It started a chain of events, and as practice went on, I felt my back getting tighter and tighter,” Garrard said. “It wasn’t until that last throw that kind of set it over the top.”
Today Garrard says, “I’m much better. The fact that I’m up and walking around, I’m pretty good. It’s not fun when you back just tightens up on you like that.”
Garrard mentioned that he has dealt with lower back issues before but it has never kept him out of practice or games.
“I’ve has back issues before, but never to the point where it kept me from being able to do stuff, where the public would have never known that I had a problem. But this time it was definitely noticeable.”
Garrard said that working with Jaguars trainers and chiropractors kept him playing. Garrard said he normally works with chiropractors throughout the offseason, but because of the lockout did not have access to the Jaguar’s trainers and chiropractors. He said he has been working with the group since camp began, but felt he got back into maintenance a little late.
“There are a lot of things I do maintenance-wise keep my body healthy and to be able to absorb all of those hits,” Garrard said. “I had to be sidelined by an aggravating back, but when your back tightens up on you, there’s not much you can do. It is part of the game, but I just feel like the way the off-season went this year, not being able to get any kind of maintenance, I think this just happened.”
Garrard mentioned there are things you have to do to continue to feel fine and as the off-season went on and we were working out, I started to feel tightness in my back and a little in my hamstring.”
“Once I got to training camp, I finally started getting all my treatment and maintenance I realized that it was a little further along than I felt it was. When you are in off-season you think it is your time to relax and take a break, but there are some things maintenance-wise you have to do to make sure you are ready to go whenever you get things kicked back on.”
“I definitely want to be out there,” Garrard said. “It’s not to be out there just to look better than Blaine, I want to be out there so I can continue to get better as a quarterback and get this offense rolling. I never want to miss any time out there. I think you guys know over my career I don’t miss very many games. I don’t even like to miss practices. There are some things you can control and some things you can’t. “
As Garrard mentioned, maintenance is so important. Don’t let back pain keep you out of the game of life. Give us a call today at 843.650.0257.
Myrtle Beach Chiropractic, Discover Chiropractic, talks about back pain.
Massage therapy and five other types of complementary health care effect “great benefit” for back-pain sufferers, according to recent research.
Back pain is the second-leading reason for ambulatory visits in the U.S. This survey aimed to explore promising CAM therapies.
Overall, 60 percent of the more than 31,000 people surveyed who had at least one CAM therapy in the last 12 months found “remarkable relief” using the top six complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities, the researchers noted. Those modalities included:
• Massage therapy
• Chiropractic
• Yoga/ tai chi/qi gong
• Acupuncture
• Herbal therapies
• Relaxation techniques
Chiropractic care is the most-popular CAM therapy used for back pain, with massage therapy second-most popular, at 22 percent of respondents using it..
Just 24 percent of respondents who received CAM stated that their conventional medical practitioner suggested the use of CAM for back pain. Others turned to CAM treatments because they felt “conventional medicine would not help,” when dealing with severe back pain, the press release noted.
“Perceived Benefit of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for Back Pain” was published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. Researchers looked at used data from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey to determine relationships “between the perceived helpfulness of various CAM therapies for back pain.”
The research was conduced by:
• The Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies, Harvard Medical School Osher Research Center, Boston, Massachusetts
• The Department of Medicine, Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• The Department of Medicine, Osher Clinical Center for Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
If you are like me, this heat increases my daily stress level. I try and get away from my desk and walk outside during the day, however, a quick walk outside is no longer relaxing until the weather cools down.
As an alternative, you may want to turn to massage therapy to stay relaxed and stress-free during your busy day. Researchers in Sweden recently set out to take a look at the effects of massage on the stress responses of average healthy participants.
A sample population including 22 healthy volunteers with an even mix of male and female participants with an average age of 28. Each participant’s cardiac autonomic tone was measured by taking a look at their heart rate. The researchers reviewed areas such as hormone levels, blood glucose levels and insulin levels. The massage was done on hands and feet for approximately 80 minutes in the same controlled setting.
What they found was that the heart rate significantly decreased during the first few minutes which indicates a reduced stress response. The heart rate slowed down, insulin levels decreased and saliva cortisol decreased.
“In healthy volunteers, massage decreased sympathetic nervous activity, leading to decreased overall autonomic activity where parasympathetic nervous activity also decreased, thereby maintaining the autonomic balance,” the investigators noted.
In other words – they were more relaxed and stress-free!
Call today and schedule your massage therapy session – and watch your stress level go down!
Myrtle Beach Chiropractic Discover Wellness with a few key reasons:
Chiropractic Alleviates Pain – This may seem obvious but Chiropractors address the underlying cause of pain disorders such as headaches, low back pain, carpal tunnel and sports injuries. This is done by treating the causes, not covering up the systems with prescription drugs. More often than not, these painful conditions are caused by areas in the spine that are not working properly referred to as vertebral subluxations. This is where the movement in the spine is restricted or the spinal bones are misaligned. The pain is often alleviate by adjusting these vertebral subluxations.
Chiropractic Boosts Productivity – when you eliminate the pain, you are healthier and you will find that your efficiency at work increases. One of the areas that chiropractic care helps is in the systems of sitting for hours in an ergonomically incorrect chair. Research has shown that sitting incorrectly causes the pelvis to rotate backwards and causes problems through the back and down to the ankles. Studies have shown that patients that receive spinal adjustments experience a reduction in pain and few days lost due to illness. Many of our patients have also seen a decrease in carpal tunnel systems associated with long periods of time working at a computer. When you are experiencing pain in your back, legs and arms, your productivity is affected. Regular visits to a chiropractor will eliminate many of these problems.
Chiropractic Improves Cognitive Function – this is your ability to process information. In a recent study of 500 adults, researchers used technology to create maps of how the cortical portions of the brain functioned before and after chiropractic adjustments. What they found was the adjustments activated the neurological pathways in the brain. This will help with memory, mental performance and other mental processes.
Chiropractic Boosts Your Immune System – studies have shown that regular chiropractic care boosts the white blood cells associated with a healthy immune system. This will help with allergies and prevention of colds and other viruses that are spread from person to person. Children should visit a chiropractor when they are starting school to boost this immune system as they are coming into contact with new strains of viruses that they have not been exposed to previously.
Chiropractic Reduces Stress – one of the keys to reducing stress is exercise, however, this can cause impairments to the body. Regular adjustments will keep your body in balance which reduces stress on your system. One of the side benefits of chiropractic adjustments is the increase in endorphins which helps with mental health. Although chiropractors do not treat depression, this increase in endorphins has been shown to lower the effects of depression.
Increased Physical Activity – We have found that new patients have a new outlook toward a wellness oriented lifestyle because they are in less pain. With improved function there is an increased desire to implement a regular exercise program. At Discover Wellness, we also educate our patients on the importance of exercise and eating healthy with regular wellness seminars and fun exercise programs.
Chiropractic Reduces The Dependence on Medication – because chiropractic is treating the systems and not simply covering up the systems, there is a less dependence on both prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Long-term use of pain medication can worsen the very problem that the medication was intended to reduce. It is no secret that long term used of medication adversely affects the liver and other organs in the body.
Improves Sleep Quality – our patients have reported not only an improved quality of life, but also improved sleep quality. The primary reason is the reduction of pain and the associated anxiety that often interferes with a good nights sleep. Earlier we mentioned an increase in the immune system and improved sleep attributes to this improvement. Preliminary research links insomnia with vertebral subluxations. The study followed 221 patients being treated by 15 different chiropractors. What they found was that one-third of the patients who completed the interview reported their sleep patterns improved after an adjustment.
Chiropractic Care Adds to Live and Improves Wellness – You have heard the expression “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” When meeting others in business or in your personal life, the way you present yourself goes a long way to making that first impression. Good posture, standing upright and having self confidence will make a good first impression and command respect. Chiropractic patients learn to take control of their well-being and this will increase a feeling of self-confidence. When you are not in pain, you walk straight and can smile with confidence.
Give us a call today and talk with Dr. Brook or Dr. Josh. We can help your Discover Wellness.
Do you think that veggie chips are better for you than potato chips? Or that turkey burger from your local fast food chain is better than burgers made from ground beef? You better think again!
Myrtle Beach Chiropractic – Discover Wellness – takes a look at sever so called “healthy foods.”
Pretzels
With only one gram of fat, many would think this is a good snack choice. However, what many do not realize is that pretzels are essentially refined carbohydrates that offer very little nutritional benefits – coupled with an overdose of salt. Just 10 of this little tidbits amount to more than half of the daily suggested sodium intake.
Alternative: popcorn. It is high fiber, whole grain and only about 100 calories per cup
Splenda (and other artificial sweeteners)
Many people looking to lose weight will use artificial sweeteners to reduce the number of calories in beverages and foods. Researchers have found, however, that these alternatives can make people more prone to overindulge and crave sweet foods. When the calories don’t follow the sweetness, you will look for them in other foods. Research has shown that these sugar substitutes actually leads to weight gain and can cause damage to good bacteria in the gut.
Alternative: use real honey which is 60 calories per tablespoon and promotes better blood sugar control.
High-fiber cereals with sugar
You have seen the ads on TV promoting more fiber in your diet. So why not add a bowl of your favorite high-fiber cereal in the morning? Beware! Some of these high-fiber products come with high-sugar content!
Be sure and check the ingredients. Look on the label for corn syrup, white or brown sugar, evaporated cane syrup. Be mindful of natural sugars that come from dried fruit. Did you know that a cup of Raisin Bran has 6.5 grams of fiber (good) and 17.6 grams of sugar (bad).
Alternative: Kashi Go Lean has 140 calories, 6 grams of sugar and 10 grams of fiber.
Diet soda
We did a post a few weeks ago on this subject, so this should come as no surprise.
Diet soda may save you liquid calories in the short term, but in the long term, may contribute to overeating. A University of Texas, San Antonio study, which was reported at the American Diabetes Association annual meeting, found that with each can of diet soda consumed, an individual’s risk for being overweight increased by 41 percent. As with artificial sweeteners, diet sodas cause your body to crave more calories.
It gets worse: Diet soda is not only bad for your waistline, it can be damaging to your health. A recent study presented at the American Stroke Association followed 2,500 New Yorkers who drank diet soda every day, found that these individuals had a 61 percent higher risk of vascular events, including stroke and heart attack, than those who did not consume diet drinks.
Alternative: sip on seltzer water or Pierre Water with a twist of lemon or lime – great summertime pick-me-up
Frozen yogurt
Yogurt is a great healthy snack that helps protect your immune system. However, the frozen form often does not contain the live cultures that are beneficial to promote your health. Many frozen yogurts contain nearly the same amount of fat and calories as ice cream. This includes fat-free options. You are just getting calories from sugar instead of fat.
Suggestion: if you are craving ice cream – have the real thing. It will be so much more satisfying.
Veggie chips
Veggie chips must be healthy because they are made from veggies, right? Wrong. Often, veggie chips aren’t much healthier than regular potato chips. Most varieties of veggie chips contain mostly corn flour or potato, with small amounts of veggie powder or puree mixed in. The essential vitamins such as A and C that are found in vegetables are lost in the processing of these chips, so they don’t offer much in the way of nutrition.
Most of these chips are high in fat, calories and sodium. An ounce of veggie chips has 150 calories — the same as potato chips! Potato chips only have a gram or two more fat.
Alternative: try making your own veggie chips at home. Simply chop some kale and toss it with a small amount of olive oil and sea salt. Bake in the oven until crispy.
Turkey burgers
Many people assume that because a burger is made with turkey rather than ground beef that it contains less calories and fat. But this is often not the case. Often, turkey burgers ordered in restaurants are made from dark meat and turkey skin — which is plentiful in saturated fat and calories. Sometimes turkey burgers can be made from entirely dark skin, which can give it a very high fat content.
Alternative: Make your own turkey burgers using ground turkey that is 95% lean.
Next time you visit your Myrtle Beach Chiropractor – Discover Wellness, ask them about other healthy alternatives.
Myrtle Beach Chiropractic on Preventing Bone Disease In Healthy Aging
Each day we live, we grow older failing to see that our bones and muscles demand activities to continue strength, endurance and resistance to life’s nasty living demands. Our bones need continued activities throughout our lives starting as a child. Until we turn 30, the bones continue to build. After this age, the bones begin to disintegrate. You can cutback this degeneration process by taking care of your bones in youthful days.
How it is achieved: Bone health is achieved through activities, such as exercise. In addition, you maintain healthy bones by increasing calcium. Supplements are available and your Myrtle Beach Chiropractic Office – Discover Wellness can help you determine which suppliments are right for you and your situation.
Taking calcium is very important during our entire life. Children should drink 2 cups of milk each day and adults 3 cups. Calcium in food is better to take than pills because you get more of it; food sometimes doesn’t have the right amounts in it due to the way it has been processed. Get that calcium in your body at an early age and keep it there. Besides calcium however, your bones demand a mixture of magnesium. You will also need a healthy dose of phosphorous. Vitamin D facilitates calcium to flow through the bloodstream. Free flowing bloods make a healthier you.
To improve bones, we also need to start at an early age getting plenty of vitamin D. As we get older, we have a tendency to stay out of the sun more. Don’t sit in the house all day. Rather try to get outside around noon and get some sun with all those vitamin D rays. Supplements can be used but again the sun is better. Maybe take a walk for 15-20 minutes each day to get the sun.
As we aging into the later years of our life, we have to keep those bones strong. You can benefit from weight bearing workouts, such as walking. Keeping those bones strong will help you survive falls. Did you know that falls are one of the leading reasons of bone breakage or fractures, especially as we grow older? Unfortunately, adolescents don’t realize the importance of taking care of our bones. As these adolescents pass puberty however, their bones start to decline. Once a person reaches 50, the bones start to deteriorate, which puts you at high risk of fractures, disease and breakage. As the bones weaken, the muscles and joints will also degenerate. Injures then can lead to gouty arthritis, arthritis, osteoporosis and so on. The high-risks of bone fractures are charted, which include hip fractures being the most common injure amongst the elderly. Hip fractures may sound like a minor ordeal, yet the truth is hip fractures are responsible for some deaths.
Weak bones are avertable even once you are middle age. It’s never too late to repair or mend our bodies.
Staying fit is the key to preventing risks of disease, hip fractures etc since the bones will stay healthy. In view of the fact, you want to consider a daily schedule, which includes activities and exercise. You want to keep those muscles free to move, since the muscles protect the bones. Stretch workouts and exercise will prevent your joints from feeling stiff as well, which joints support the muscles and bones.
When you exercise you, maintain weight. As you start to age, the body fat increases to more than 30%. This is too much added weight for the muscles, joints and bones. Carrying around this kind of weight on the feet, legs, etc will cause problems later. Maintaining your weight will help prevent and lower your risks of heart disease, bone disease, high-blood, high-cholesterol, diabetes and so on.
It is important that you check with a chiropractor if you are experiencing pain in your bones. A chiropractor can thoroughly check what is the cause of your pain through various methods and techniques like xrays, mri, and applied kinesiology. They process spine manipulation to correct misaligned discs and alleviate compressed nerves. What is important is they provide holistic rehabilitating treatments like nutritional counseling to determine what nutrients do the body is deficient of. They then provide customized supplements specifically designed according to their patient’s nutritional deficiency. Exercises may be recommended to strengthen the back. Dr. Josh Pond with Discover Wellness has studied nutrition and it’s affects on your bones and overall health. He can help you with an exercise and nutrition plan that will help with the progression or prevention of diseases such as Osteoporosis that attack your bones.
It is only June 1st and already we are seeing records in heat – which means that stressful situations are increased due to the heat. We have created a list of preventative measures that can be followed by anyone to help you not become a victim of a heat related injury.
Preventing Summer Stress
Even if you are healthy, you need to take it easy when the temperature is extremely high. Be especially careful if you have a respiratory or other health problem. Here are some tips on preventing sun stress:
- This may seem simple, but stay out of the sun as much as possible.
- Always drink lots of fluids, however avoid dehydrating drinks such as sweet tea, colas and alcoholic beverages.
- With that in mind, you need to drink before you are thirsty and drink often during the day.
- Wear a hat or cap that keeps the neck covered. Also, you will want to wear loose fitting clothing that covers your neck and arms. Cooling the head and neck is an effective measure for reducing your core body temperatures.
- If possible, do any outside work in the cool of the morning or early evening.
Let’s take a look at heat-related injuries
Keep in mind that heat-related injuries fall into three basic categories
Heat cramps – this is muscle pain and spasms that occur when the body loses electrolytes when sweating or when you take in an inadequate electrolytes into your body. Most often this occurs in the arms, legs and abdomen and will often be a predecessor to heat exhaustion.
Heat exhaustion is a medical emergency and must be treated as such. The signs of heat exhaustion are profuse sweating and paleness of the skin. You need to get into a cool place and apply cool compresses. You should also elevate the feet and take in lots of fluids.
Heatstroke is the most dangerous of heat related injuries. This is caused by the brain losing its ability to regulate your body temperature. Your temperature will be high with little or no perspiration. This is a medical emergency and you need immediate medical attention to cool the body as quickly as possible. One thing you can do while waiting for emergency treatment is to wrap the victim’s body in a cool sheet.
