By Dr. Heather McCarter
It’s that time of year again…gardening, mowing lawns, and enjoying the outdoors. After a long winter indoors the mind is ready to get back outside, but is the body ready to handle the rigors of regular lawn maintenance? Many people complain of low back pain and/or shoulder and neck pain after a weekend of gardening and lawn maintenance. Some even notice that they can’t be on their hands and knees as long as they once used to be. Others notice that hours of mowing and weed-eating cause the low back to cramp and the shoulders to throb. If the problem continues to progress, gardeners may notice numbness in the arms or legs as a result of their hard work.
Follow these tips to help ensure that your time between the sheets leaves you feeling refreshed and renewed. Make breakfast your heaviest meal of the day. Digesting food takes energy, so if you eat a heavy meal late in the day, your body will have to work hard to digest it while you’re trying to go to sleep. Many people sleep better if they have protein at breakfast and lunch, and a light dinner with some carbohydrates.
Cut back on the sleep robbers. Cut out caffeine after 2:00 p.m., and refrain from drinking alcohol within 3 hours of bedtime. You may become drowsy after a couple of glasses of wine, but too much alcohol will make you wake up frequently during the night. In addition, although coffee is the most obvious source of caffeine, don’t forget that there’s also caffeine in colas, chocolate, tea, and some medications. (more…)
By Barbara Stewart
Question: We’re replacing our mattress set, which is about fifteen years old. What should we expect to pay for a quality mattress set?
Answer: The answer depends on your comfort preference. Fifteen years ago, manufacturers were building many more firm beds; today softer beds dominate the market. There are two reasons for this shift:
1. As we age, our muscle tone and connective tissue have less integrity, and more comfort layers are required to relieve pressure points on the body. The aging boomer generation continues to shift the market toward softer beds.
2. New sleep research continues to shows that firmer beds are not necessarily better than a softer bed with good underlying support.
Now, back to the original question of price. Firm beds are less expensive because there is less foam used in construction. If you’re buying a firm queen bed, expect to pay $800 – $1400 for a quality set constructed with a spring unit. And expect to pay $1400 – $2500 for a firm foam core bed (memory foam or latex).
The question of the price of a quality soft bed is more difficult to answer. A quality soft mattress will cost significantly more than a firm mattress because quality foam is expensive to manufacture. For a quality queen set, constructed with a spring unit expect to pay between $1000 – $1800 and up to $2800 for a soft foam core set.
Barbara Stewart is the owner of MattressMax, a 4000-sq foot Mattress Gallery located in Vienna, WV. www.mattressmax.biz
By Lee Rector
The skin is the largest organ of the body that is often neglected. During the winter and cold months, the behavior of your skin reveals the characteristics of your skin type.
Remember, your skin profile changes seasonally with age and your environment. The best solution is to consult with a skin care specialist to recommend the right skin care products for healthy -looking skin, at every age.
Since the skin is usually always dry during this time of the year, here are some characteristics that you will find in dry skin:
- No oil in T-zone
- Cheeks are uncomfortable or slightly dry
- Dryness may be present around the eyes
- Your face may feel a bit taut in areas without a moisturizer
- Blemishes are rare to occasional
- Possible visible flakiness
The objective to the dryness would be a monthly hydrating seaweed facial; and for a daily routine to add moisture and comfort to the skin would be to use a milky cleanser, an alcohol-free toner, a hydrating moisturizer, boosters, hydrators and exfoliators to target and restore the ph balance of skin cells. Both of these recommendations would be the perfect solution to protect your skin from the cold winter months.
Lee Rector is the owner of Lee’s Studio and Medispa, located at 3113 Murdoch Avenue, Parkersburg, West Virginia. For more information, call (304) 422-2940.
By Dr. Samia Turner
A new term coming up in the media concerning facial aesthetics is the “Liquid Lift.” This refers to the use of BOTOX® Cosmetic and Dermal Fillers to improve the look of facial lines and contour.
This safe, minimally invasive alternative to surgery is most attractive to patients because there is virtually no down time. Experienced physicians can “sculpt” the face using dermal fillers (Restylane, Perlane, Juvederm, Radiesse, etc.) to dramatically improve “laugh lines,” “marionette lines,” “frown lines,” “jowls” and more in about an hour in the office.
BOTOX® Cosmetic is used to weaken the muscles that create dynamic wrinkles like frown lines, forehead lines and crow’s feet. These combined procedures can be performed in a single office visit for an instant lift with no down time.
The results last from 6-18 months, depending on the products used and the individual patient. Some fillers are permanent, but most physicians recommend treatment with absorbable fillers first, to get a feel for what the permanent results might be. For those wanting a “lift,” but not the downtime that comes with surgery, the “liquid lift” is a great alternative.
Dr. Samia Turner is the owner and medical director of Turner Medical Spa, located in Cross Lanes, West Virginia. For more information, call (304) 776-1611.
The heart is not an inanimate pump: It is a living, dynamic community of millions of hardworking cells. Its job is to deliver blood to organs that would die without it. Blood contains oxygen and nutrients necessary for the functioning of every cell in the body, including heart cells.
Everyone’s heart beats around 70 times per minute, or 100,000 times per day, or about 2.5 billion times in the average lifetime.
This vital organ is programmed to work automatically for every second of every day for as long as you live, no matter what else you’re doing mentally or physically.
In other words, the heart never rests. Your heart is located just about in the center of your chest and is divided into four chambers: The two smaller upper chambers are known as the left atrium and right atrium and the two larger lower chambers are the left ventricle and right ventricle.
Oxygen-poor blood enters the right atrium and is then pumped into the right ventricle and through the pulmonary artery to the lungs, where it is enriched with oxygen (and loses carbon dioxide). The oxygenated blood is then carried to the left atrium via the pulmonary veins, from where it enters the left ventricle, the main pumping chamber of the heart. It is the thick, powerful muscle of the left ventricle that pumps blood to all the organs of the body via the aorta. From a cardiologist’s point of view, it is the left ventricle that is the most important chamber because it is the area of the heart most likely to be affected by a heart attack.
As blood enters the aorta, some is immediately directed to the coronary arteries. The left main coronary artery divides into two major coronary arteries the left circumflex artery (LCx) and the left anterior descending artery (LAD). A third major artery, the right coronary artery (RCA), has its own point of origin from the aorta.
All of these arteries have branches, which are also known as coronary arteries. They supply the beating heart muscle with blood and oxygen. If anything obstructs the flow of blood through one of these arteries for more than 20 to 30 minutes, the heart will likely not receive enough oxygen, and the part of the heart muscle fed by that artery will die. This is what happens when you have a heart attack. Heart failure occurs when your heart muscle damaged to the point that your heart can no longer pump sufficient blood to the rest of your organs.
When your heart is damaged and can no longer pump efficiently, blood also tends to back up into the lungs, making them heavier, which results in difficulty breathing.
For more information, visit www.everydayhealth.com
Factsheet: Holiday Depression and StressT he holiday season can be a time full of joy, cheer, parties and family gatherings. But for many people, it is a time of self-evaluation, loneliness, reflection on past failures and anxiety about an uncertain future.
What Causes Holiday Blues? Many factors can cause the “holiday blues”: stress, fatigue, unrealistic expectations, over-commercialization, financial constraints, and the inability to be with one’s family and friends. The demands of shopping, parties, family reunions and house guests also contribute to feelings of tension. (more…)
Driving Safely In Winter
Weather Snow, ice, and extreme cold can make driving treacherous. These safety tips from CDC, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the National Safety Council can help make winter car travel safer.
" Before winter arrives, have your car tuned up, check the level of antifreeze, make sure the battery is good, and check your tire tread or put on snow tires.
" Keep emergency gear in your car for everyday trips:
" cell phone
" flashlight
" jumper cables
" sand or kitty litter (for traction)
" ice scraper, snow brush, and small shovel
" blankets
" warning devices (e.g., flares, reflectors)
" For long car trips, keep food, water, extra blankets, and required medication on hand.
By Laura Kelland-May
Does your skin get dry and flaky during the winter? By following these simple tips your winter skin care routine could go from flaky to fully hydrated.
I could tell winter was coming just by the way my skin was feeling. The humid summer evenings seemed to turn to arid winter days that left my skin dry and parched. The cool winter winds coupled with central heating is a double whammy, sucking the moisture from your skin. This often leaves your skin dry, itchy and flaky. If not protected from the drying effects of winter conditions, your skin may be permanently damaged. To prevent excessive moisture loss and keep your youthful appearance try the following tips:
Drink plenty of water: Supply your body with adequate moisture by drinking eight 250 ml glasses of water per day. Moisture loss really can not be prevented, so, provide additional moisture for your skin to draw upon to prevent dryness.
By: Ruth Bird
Something more and more employers are educating their employees about is proper eye safety.
The type of eye care used is dependent on the work being done. It’s obvious to some that when you are using large manufacturing tools where small fragments fly about often then eye safety would make sense. Yet, many neglect the ‘simple things’. You don’t have to work at a construction site to be mindful of your eye safety.
Another area in which people are being educated is the safe keeping of your eyes on a day to day basis. Knowing what will keep your eyes safe and what equipment is available can prove most useful.