Pressure sores or ulcers should be treated as soon as possible to stop potentially life-threatening complications. Once a pressure sore reaches grade three or four, the wound is open. This puts the healthy, surrounding tissue at risk.

Complications

There are numerous complications that can arise from untreated pressure sores. One of the most common complications is cellulitis. This is a condition that happens when an infection has spread from the original site of the pressure sore to the deeper layers of skin. It causes redness, pain, and swelling. When pressure sores treatment is undertaken at this stage, it will need to include a course of antibiotics. If left untreated, it can spread to the bones or even to the blood; this causes blood poisoning. If the pressure sore is on the back, then there is a risk of the infection entering the spinal membranes, potentially leading to meningitis. 

Other complications that can arise, particularly if wound care is not received promptly, include necrotising fasciitis. This occurs when certain bacteria known as flesh-eating bacteria enter the body and cause tissue to die rapidly. This can only be solved with fast action including surgical debridement and antibiotics. 

Another form of bacteria that can cause serious complications is clostridium, which results in gas gangrene and potentially the need for amputation of affected limbs to stop it from spreading. 

Of course, there are other types of sores, like mouth sores, and they require specialist treatment from the likes of Dr. Saidapet R. Sridhar or another expert with a similar level of experience. 

Understanding Debridement

Treatment of pressure sores often requires a multi-phased approach combining preventative measures to stop the deterioration of the affected area, and other treatments to heal the ulcer. One essential treatment in many cases is debridement or the removal of necrotic skin and tissue in the wound.

Once a pressure sore has reached stage two, the skin and tissue in the affected area begin to break down. This opens the area to the air and potentially to infection from bacteria. As the health of the tissue deteriorates, it dies. At this point, it is known as necrotic tissue. To encourage the growth of healthy tissue and skin, and stop the spread of infection, this tissue needs to be removed. This process is known as debridement and can be achieved in a number of different ways.

Before any debridement takes place, the area will usually be treated with a local anesthetic. This prevents further pain or discomfort while the pressure sores treatment is being carried out. Methods such as pressure irrigation and ultrasound debridement are often the first courses of action taken. However, the use of surgical tools, such as scalpels and forceps, may be needed where several layers of tissue are affected. Where these forms of wound care are either not appropriate or have been unsuccessful, larval therapy may be tried, using sterile maggots that are covered with a special dressing. The use of maggots in this way ensures that only the dead skin and tissue is removed, while healthy tissue is unaffected.

If you type into Google ‘ways to lose weight fast,’ you’ll be presented with a cacophony of weight loss hack articles. Most of these will be fairly useful, but you still find plenty of authoritative sources pushing out the same old garbage. There are lots of ‘hacks’ that people claim will help you lose weight in record time. Usually, these hacks are seen as ways around the only true way to lose weight; eat a healthy diet and balance this with regular exercise. 

So, what weight loss hacks should you be most worried about? Here are three that you should definitely stay away from at all costs:

Go on a juice cleanse diet

Juice cleansing diets are really just awful. There’s absolutely no science behind them, and they only do one thing. By swapping out food for fruit juices, you fill your body with liquid fiber, mixed with a lot of sugar. After a few days, you’ll know exactly what this does to your digestive system. Essentially, it acts as a stimulant laxative, making you go to the toilet all the time. By the end of your cleanse – which can last a week or so – you will see incredible weight loss results!! That was sarcasm, by the way, you’ll lose weight, but only because you’re completely cleansed all fluids from your body and not eaten properly for the last couple of weeks. These diets are completely unhealthy, and anything involving a ‘cleanse’ should be avoided. 

Not eating after 7 pm

Some diet ‘experts’ will claim that eating after 7 pm will mean you gain weight. There are theories that the later you eat, the more chance there is of your body retaining the calories. In reality, there’s hardly any evidence to support this, and it’s a classic case of someone taking an idea and blowing it out of proportion. The original idea of not eating late at night is meant more as a way of stopping you from reaching for sweet treats and bad snacks. If you eat a nutritious dinner at 9 pm, it won’t magically make you fat. As long as you burn more calories than you eat, you’ll lose weight – regardless of when you eat!

Using fat burning supplements as a weight loss hack

There are all sorts of supplements on the market that claim to boost your metabolism and help you burn fat. Most of the time, the products you can buy in health food stores are just a waste of money. They literally won’t do anything, so there’s no point in even buying them. At most, they give your heart rate a little boost so you feel more energetic. Then, you have the hardcore supplements that are technically illegal and used by a lot of bodybuilders. Here, we’re back to square one as all these supplements do is make you go to the toilet very frequently. 

Stop wasting your time and risking your health on weight loss hacks that don’t work or have any science behind them. The secret to losing weight and improving your physique is simple; eat a healthy diet where you consume fewer calories than you burn. 

We all feel stressed form time to time. It’s natural. For many of you reading this, it’s fair to assume that stress is a regular part of your life. It plagues you most days and you know you should try to get rid of it. You’re always told to find ways of reducing stress, and you know it’s a good idea, but why is this important? What happens to you when you don’t try to get rid of stress, letting it continue to pile on?

Today, we’ll explore some reasons why you should de-stress, while also mixing in a few tips along the way!

Too much stress is bad for your mind

Stress can have a direct impact on your mental health and is very closely associated with anxiety, depression, and paranoia. Therefore, reducing your stress levels will be a good way of aiding your mental health. This is why a lot of stress-relief treatments, like CBD oil from places like Juna World, also help to calm feelings of anxiety. When too much stress is in your body, it plays on your mind and makes you think of all sorts of bad things. In turn, this causes more stress, so the two help each other out. You don’t want this to happen, so for the sake of your mental health, you should de-stress. 

Too much stress can raise your blood pressure

Similarly, when there is a lot of stress and built-up tension in your body, it will raise your blood pressure. This is all to do with the way your nervous system responds to stress – be it physical or mental. Long story short, it will raise your blood pressure, which can be super bad for your health as it increases the chances of cardiovascular diseases. If you’ve ever had your blood pressure checked, the doctor will always tell you to de-stress if the levels are high. One of the best ways to do this is through meditation or deep breathing exercises. Both are shown to help calm your nervous system down, reducing stress and helping to gradually lower your blood pressure. 

Too much stress can cause physical pain

Yes, being stressed can end up manifesting itself as physical pain. Often, when you’re stressed, you get very tense. As a result, you subconsciously tense your muscles and they become very hard and tight. This leads to muscle knots forming, which can cause chronic pain. While problems like this can exist throughout the body, it’s most likely to be experienced in your shoulder area. Much like the mental health conundrum, physical tension and pain end up causing more stress! This is why treatments like self-massage or acupuncture are beneficial to combat stress as you remove physical tension and let the body feel more relaxed. 

Overall, the conclusion we can draw is that getting rid of stress is essential for your all-around health and wellbeing. It can cause issues both physically and mentally, potentially putting you at risk of developing harmful diseases. So, if you feel stressed, make it your mission to calm down and be more relaxed.

Everybody has ‘triggers’ to some degree. A trigger is often referred to as an event that ‘triggers’ an immediate emotional reaction. These reactions are excessive and last longer than we can really make sense of. 

It’s normal to react in extreme ways when going through something devastating, such as the loss of a loved one. You shouldn’t avoid this or try to control it. However, triggers tend to be emotional reactions stemming from seemingly insignificant events. Eventually, these triggers can prompt us to look a little deeper. We can find things lurking below the surface that we didn’t realize were there. Once we understand them better, we can work to move past them. 

Addressing your triggers will be uncomfortable, but they can lead us to healing and happier lives in the long run. Triggers nudge us toward self reflection, and that can only be a good thing. Here’s how to get started. 

Identify Your Triggers

People, places, words, subjects, and behaviors can all trigger us for different reasons. When you identify your own triggers and where they tend to stem from, you will give yourself the ability to respond consciously in the moment. You can also plan and prepare, aiming to stay mindful as you navigate the situation. If a family member often triggers you, for example, you will be able to prepare better when you are around them. 

Find Out Where The Feeling Started 

Identifying the source event that created the trauma in the first place is a must if we are going to free ourselves from ongoing instances where we are knocked back by the trigger. Think back to when you were younger and see what comes up for you. You may be able to identify it straight away, or you may need to do some journaling and ongoing self reflection. 

Understand Projection

Trigger reactions often involve projection. This is because we tend to predict outcomes based on experience, whether we realize that or not. So if you were cheated on in the past, this can lead you to be suspicious of partners in the future even without evidence. We project those fears and insecurities onto others, even when this is unwarranted.

When we make our reaction about other people and their behavior, we disempower ourselves. We can’t change their behavior, but we can change our own. Taking ownership of how you respond to these triggers can go a long way to helping you let go of the original injury. Working with a pro such as Marc Effron of Legacy Healing could help you to look even deeper into what is going on so you can further let go of troublesome patterns and behaviors that have been holding you back.

Put Words To The Feelings

Practice knowing and showing emotions so that you have a deeper understanding of what you’re going through. Using the emotion wheel can help if you need clarity on what is going on – many people were not raised with the language required for this. 

Practice Acceptance

Try to appreciate your triggers for pointing you towards healing. Accept that they are a part of life. You can heal your triggers with time, but acceptance can make you more confident and happier in this moment.

Your diet is important to your overall life. With any good diet, you can reduce your chances of getting ill, perform better when taking part in a sport, and feel more positive about yourself. Every now and then, everyone’s diet slips. Luckily, there are a few simple tips to getting back on track. To help with improving your diet, I have put together four simple tips below. 

Make A Meal Plan 

A simple way to improve your diet is to create a meal plan. By creating a meal plan you will know what you are going to be eating each day of the week. If you are really organized you can plan to cook these meals over the weekend so that they are ready for you after a busy day at work. By planning your meals, you can base them around hitting certain nutritional points. Maybe you want to increase your vitamin d consumptions or be add more vegetable to the meal. There are a whole variety of apps that you can use that will tell you about what things are in your foods and what nutrients you are lacking within your diet. 

Try Not To Over Eat 

Overeating is something that many people struggle with, particularly when you are eating your favorite meals. When trying to improve your diet, reduce your portion size and aim to be around 80% full. By doing so, you will be reducing the number of calories you are consuming. This will help you lose weight. If you enjoy larger portions, do this in moderation so that you can continue to do so. 

Eat Five Portions Of Fruit and Vegetables a Day  

The recommended amount of fruit and vegetables you should eat a day is five or more. When you think back to what you are eating, do you regularly achieve this? If not, it’s important that you try to on a daily basis. This will dramatically help your diet. Why not try and add some fruit to your breakfast, a piece of fruit for a snack, and add plenty of vegetables for your dinner? You can even have vegetables as a snack. For example, carrots and hummus.  If you don’t enjoy eating vegetables, try and disguise the flavors by cooking something with a sauce and adding them into it. 

Allow Cheat Days 

Cheat days are important. They allow you to enjoy the sweet or unhealthy things that you like, but also make improving your diet more realistic. It’s ok to enjoy a meal out a couple of times a week or a glass of wine (or two) on a Friday night to say goodbye to the week. (If you struggle with alcohol and want to stop altogether you could consider looking for an American Addiction Centers location). When having a cheat day, try not to overdo it. You can still enjoy a cheat day without being excessive. 

As well as improving your diet, it could be worth looking into some simple tips to improve your health overall. Being healthy is important as this can help your mental and physical wellbeing. 

What simple tips can you recommended for improving your diet? Have you tried anything from the above? Let me know in the comment box below. 

Your immune system needs to be healthy to fight off invaders. Your immune system is your friend. It protects your body from infection. Give it your full support and, as with any friend, there will be perks. Here’s how it works: Your immune system creates, stores, and distributes the white blood cells that fight bacteria and viruses that enter your body, especially during cold and flu season. Here are the easiest ways to boost your immune system. 

Supplements to Boost Immune System

Since the worldwide pandemic, the popularity of immune-boosting herbs and superfoods has reached new heights. Understanding the key supplements to aid in strengthening your immune system and building physical fortitude is essential to cultivating good health. For example, if you are noticing vitamin d deficiency symptoms such as muscle and bone pain, this is a sign you need supplements. If we all took a step into ensuring we get enough vitamins, nutrients, and minerals, we can boost our immune system and fight off illness and infection.

These supplements are known to have immune-enhanced potential. But, keep in mind they are called supplements for a reason as you are to supp-le-ment them into your diet. Add nutritious food, regular movement, good sleep, and self-care rituals before you begin with supplements. These should be added as an extra benefit, not a replacement. Some supplements to include are:

• Probiotic
• Zinc
• Vitamin D 
• Vitamin C 
• Elderberry

Movement

Self-care moments can also involve exercise and movement. Movement is a practical step and method used to benefit the body and the mind simultaneously. Moving your body has impressive effects on the immune system. 

Exercise allows immune cells to perform effectively. Any form of exercise increases blood flow, reduces stress and inflammation, and can strengthen antibodies. Exercise is one of the pillars of healthy living. But, that does not mean the exercise has to be rigorous to be effective. Gentle movements such as walking in the fresh air, meditating in the morning, or doing yoga before bed are enough to boost the immune system and build strength. 

Sleep

We can have wellness moments every second of every day. Even when we are sleep. Sleep offers the mind, body, and gut-healing powers. Our bodies need rest in order to regenerate and regulate our energy, from breaking down our food to resetting our brains. Sleep also has restorative benefits for the immune system.

If you struggle to sleep well or enough, there are some sleep rituals that may help you improve your sleeping pattern. First, you should practice prioritizing sleep. No matter how busy you are, you need sleep to reset and be able to function properly. Seven to eight hours is enough for the body to reset. 

Before going to sleep, you may benefit from doing yoga, meditation, listening to a podcast, having a herbal tea, or simply switching off your devices. Creating a zen atmosphere in your bedroom will help you relax and drift off into a peaceful sleep. 

With these mindful practices in place, we can boost our immune system, we can obtain better health, and we can live beautifully.