Treat Your Back Pain Now!

If we randomly choose any five persons, three of them would complain of a back ache. Thanks to the stressful lifestyle, long hours of work that makes us static for more almost 12 hours a day, lack of exercise and lack of rest. Back pain is one of the most frequent complaints. Back ache is a pain that can be felt anywhere along the spinal chord. It is an outcome of the malfunction and discomfort of the spinal chord as a whole and muscles, nerves and bone joints in particular. The back pain can be divided into neck pain, upper back, lower back, tail bone pain. The intensity of pain can vary from a dull, slight pain to an acute pain. Sometimes the pain is sharp and piercing.

The symptoms :

You can feel a constant discomfort and pain in the back. Taking rest and pain killer cream like Moove or pills do not make any difference.The pain may become worse with some activity. The pain can increase with prolonged sitting and or sleeping in any one position. If its a neck or upper back pain, pillows can increase the discomfort. A neck pain can make you feel giddy and sometimes pukish. You may find it difficult to bend or pick up heavy weights. An acute pain may cause difficulty in moving about. Depending on the intensity of the pain, back pain can be treated with long term treatments or short term treatments.

Short Term Treatments

Use of medicines, pain killers and other muscles relaxants can treat back pain at the initial stages. Non-sterodial anti inflammatory drugs are the most common medicines.A regular oil massage can relax your muscles and give you some relief. Ayurvedic oil massages are the best for treating back pains. Acupressure and pressure point massages are also effective. Long Term Therapies .If the pain is acute and short term home remedies are not effective, it is advisable to consult a doctor as soon as possible. Physiotherapies are one of the best treatments for back pain. A session of 10 days or even longer may give you a lot of relief.

Cold compression therapy is advocated for a chronic pain and is postulated to reduce pain and inflammation.

For extreme cases, doctors may also advice electrotherapy. Back pains can be worst enough to go under the knife. Patients with Lumbar Disc Herniation, Spinal Stenosis, Compression Fracture are all adviced to undergo a surgery. Regular Care .Back pains can not be cured 100 per cent. Long term treatments also loose its effect if regular care is not taken. Back pain patients should regularly take steps to avoid recurring of the pain. Regular exercise, enough rest, lowering down of the stress level and a balanced nutritious food is important.

The coolest food of the season

Is the heat making you listless and dull? Try a glass of cold limejuice with a bit of sugar, salt and a dash of cumin powder. Or grab a tumbler of buttermilk. If neither is accessible, stop over at a fruit stall and help yourself to tender coconut.

You'll be surprised how fast these quick-fix solutions work to recharge your energy-sapped system. Peddar Road-based jewellery designer Reshma Mehta has a favoured recipe to beat the heat: "Panna (a juice made from boiled or roasted raw mango pulp). I don't drink carbonated beverages - they make me feel bloated. I prefer my mother's recipe for raw mango juice - the pudina (mint), coriander leaves, cumin seed powder and dash of black salt make it very tasty and refreshing."

Pushpesh Pant, a professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and researcher of traditional Indian food, seconds that. "Traditional Indian cuisine," he says, "contains redhydrant and restorative supplements in preparations like chutneys and sherbets, as well as the vast variety of raitas that we have." The key summer advisory for food is to eat light and include ingredients that have cooling properties, he says.

Curd, cumin, khus, sandal, rose water, tamarind and anaardana (pomegranate seeds) are naturally cooling. Go heavy on homemade salads and squash vegetables like bottle gourd, snake gourd, pumpkins, which have high water content. If you don't like these vegetables, the good professor has interesting alternatives. "Go for soups like gazpacho and chooza chaat (chaat made with smoked chicken cuts), Mediterranean dips and Thai salads instead of heavy spicy food," he says.

Tofu, green Thai curries, hummus, moussaka and the Lebanese version of bhartha are very good alternatives to the hot Indian food we are used to. Cold cuts are fairly foreign to the Indian food habit, but Pant says cold cuts, tandoori or dum make great fillings for pita bread sandwiches and wraps."Steamed dhoklas and idlis, chaat items like dahi bhalla can be substituted for a main course," he says. And don't forget sol kadi, that divine coastal preparation from Maharashtra. The diluted-coconut-milk-and-kokum base soothes the digestive system.

Skin Care Tips For Summer

Body Care

Summer is the season when you have to take special care of your skin. You may be surprised that your summer skin, which looked radiant throughout winter, suddenly looks dull, blemished and oily. This is because, in winter your skin's natural oils solidifies, whereas in summer it flows freely. It's estimated that 90 percent of wrinkles cause due to sun exposure. The sun's long- and short-wave ultraviolet rays, or UVA and UVB, penetrate the deepest layers of skin, damaging the collagen -- the spongy protein that gives skin it's structure, firmness, and elasticity. Fair skin wrinkles more readily than dark skin because it contains less pigment, which acts as a natural sunscreen, blocking some of the sun's damaging UVA and B rays...Continue reading...

To prevent wrinkles caused due to sunrays stay out of the sun, especially between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when it's almost directly overhead and UV radiation is strongest. Stay in the shade as much as possible. And wear protective clothing and plenty of sunscreen. Strive to apply sunscreen 15 to 30 minutes before stepping outside. Sunscreen should always be reapplied after contact with water or after sweating. Sunscreen also should be worn year round--every time you leave the house. Shop for sunscreen that blocks against UVB and UVA rays both believed to induce skin cancer.

Smooth on a moisturizer that contains sunscreen in proper concentration. Put it on before you leave the house and reapply every two hours. Wear proper sunglasses (see our article on sunglasses) and a hat with a broad brim.

Moisturisation is the most important part of daily skin care. Your skin needs more water than anything else and moisturisers are more needed in summer when you lose most of your body salts by sweating. Buy a water-based moisturizer and use it without fail. Make it a habit to wash your face gently with water a number of times in a day (try and use mineral water). You can splash as many as 20 times as long as you don't use very hot or cold water on your skin (which can cause fine vein to appear on your face). Steam your face regularly to open the pores and clean your face of the dirt (five minutes for dry skin and 10 minutes if it is oily). Pat dry with tissue and moisturize.

A few moisturisers you can make at home:

1. Take cucumber juice and watermelon juice in equal proportions and apply on face. You can cool it in the frig before use.

2. Rose water is also a good moisturiser and it can be sprayed on the face to tone and refresh it.

Feet Care

Just as you take care of your body you must not forget your feet and hands. Mostly people neglect their feet and hands and think that they don't have to take care of them or rather feel unnecessary to waste their time on them. Coz believe me there's nothing more off-putting than looking at cracked, dirty heels. So all you have to do is use plenty of water and voila… you will have wonderful and sexy feet and hands you will love to flaunt.

Soak your feet and hands in water for 15/20 minutes. Add a pinch of salt in it…..it is excellent to help you get rid of fatigue. It is advisable to change water from hot to cold. That is for 2 minutes soak your feet in cold water and then soak it in hot water. This is good because it improves your blood circulation. Do this for 15 minutes once a week.

Do not wear shoes and closed footwear in the summer. Wear strappy, low-heeled sandals or some fancy flats. Wear a footwear that will allow air circulation and which are comfortable.

The most important tip: drink lots and lots of water. Drink at least 15 glasses of water.