Health Iconteam

Developed in the late 1800s and early 1900s by Joseph Pilates, the Pilates method is a proprioceptive system that coordinates every movement you make in space and time. In other words, Pilates is as much about the mind as it is the body. Every exercise is designed to get you to know your own body.

Joseph Pilates, the creator of the Pilates, called his method Contrology, as it was created to teach people how to master their minds, giving them complete control over their bodies. For this reason, Pilates is known to create a thinking body.

We are all familiar with the five major senses: smell, hearing, sight, touch, and taste. However, we also get signals from other systems in our body which make up our proprioceptive system, or our own reception. This is where we receive signals that tells us that it’s time to eat, or that we are thirsty, or need to get some sleep. So, deep inside each and every one of us, there is an internal conversation going on between our body and our mind, and our mind has an instinctive way of controlling our muscles so that they do what we want them to do.

The movements designed by Joseph Pilates require the mind and body to work in harmony. They also require a great deal of concentration and precise movement. But with repetition and practice, we are able to fine tune our prioceptive sense and learn to focus our minds. Over time, our bodies will earn to perform these movements with control and precision, without even making us think about what we are doing. By performing Pilates, you can be sure that you will have more strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination than you thought was possible.

Genital herpes, known specifically as herpes, is an STD caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV). It is mainly passed on through direct contact with the vagina, genital skin or the mucous-covered linings within the mouth. This particular form of STD is a viral infection that enters ones skin or linings via the microscopic tears. The virus would then travel inside the body to settle permanently in the nerve roots within the spinal cord.

When an individual suffers a herpes outbreak, it means that the virus had already traveled through the nerve fibers and had met the original site of the infection. The moment the virus reaches the skin, blisters and redness emerge. Subsequent outbreaks will then be experienced sporadically right after the initial manifestation of the outbreak. They could emerge every week or years apart.

The HSV-1 or herpes simplex virus-1 and the HSV-2 or herpes simplex virus-2 are two forms of herpes that cause genital lesions. The HSV-1 is the one responsible for the blisters in the mouth area and the HSV-2 brings about lesions or genital sores around the anus area. People having suppressed immune systems, as a result of either stress, medications or infection, would normally experience longer and more frequent herpes outbreaks.

An estimated 50 million people living in the USA suffer from genital herpes. Roughly 60% of adults with sexually active lifestyles are infected with the herpes virus. One of the main reasons for this prevailing high rate of herpes infection is that many infected individuals are not aware that they are infected for the disease show little or no symptoms most of the time. Many would experience outbreaks with only having a symptom of minimal discomfort or mild itching. The longer the infection stays in the body the lesser the emergence of symptoms during outbreaks.

Herpes belongs to the list of the most stubborn viruses that ever afflicted human beings. More than two thirds of its sufferers experience reoccurring outbreaks for the rest of their lives. Although the recurring condition is not anymore as uncomfortable and painful than the earlier attacks, it still continues to be highly contagious. Always be aware that once the herpes comes out again, the skin and the entire body becomes extremely contagious. Thus, one should be careful to manage the repeated outbreaks and prevent transmitting the disease to others.

One of the best places to seek assistance after the outbreaks emerge is the private STD clinics. Visiting an STD clinic will help you control the spread and the severity of your herpes. These private clinics can provide you appropriate treatments and credible diagnosis of your condition. There medical personnel are highly trained to provide you with the proper way to manage and treat the disease. What separate these clinics from others is that they offer 100% confidentiality and are way much faster to provide test results. So, may it be herpes or any other forms of STDs you are experiencing, be wise to visit your nearest STD clinic and have yourself tested.

Genital Herpes – this is such a stubborn STD that keeps on recurring over the course of your lifetime. Learn more about this condition and discover ways on how to deal with it appropriately.

If you experience daily chronic back pain, you may want to consider different shoes. Many people attribute their back pain to being on their feet too long or sleeping in a bad position and don’t consider the shoes they are wearing. On the soles of your feet are pressure points that can affect all parts of your body. Consider the problems that can occur from shoes that have a bad design or just don’t fit properly. Especially for people who work on their feet all day, the net effect from the wrong shoes can be severe back pain.

High Heels – Why Torture Yourself?

If you are a woman that wears high heels to work, you are setting yourself up for a back ache. Under normal circumstances, standing upright doesn’t cause a lot of stress on your body since it is a normal posture. There are a couple of muscles in your legs, the calf and shin muscles to be exact, which work together to maintain your posture. This is why you will sway slightly while standing for any length of time. This swaying is caused by the muscles working to keep your body aligned properly and is normal.

Wearing high heels causes your heels to be raised up and your toes to point forward which seriously limits the ability of your calf and shin muscles, or plantar muscles, from doing their job properly. In order for your body to compensate for this, other muscles, many in your back, must take up the slack. This extra work from your other muscles can tire them out and put them out of alignment. This is why serious back pain can be experienced after an extended time in heels. Not only do they cause discomfort in the short term, but permanent damage can be done over time.

Are Your Shoes Too Tight?

Tight shoes can also cause you to experience back pain for many of the same reasons that high heels do. Even if you are wearing orthopedic shoes that were designed well, if they are not a proper fit they can cause you pain. Never mind the pain in your feet, but your back muscles can become strained because you are not properly distributing your weight. Since you shoe is compressing your foot, the foot is not positioned in a natural position and the plantar muscles again are limited in what they can do. In order for the muscles in your body to work effectively together, they all must be doing their job properly. When you limit the work some muscles can do, you are effecting many other muscles in your body.

Just Need to Break Them In?

I am sure that many of us have been taught that shoes need to be broken in before they will really be comfortable. Nothing could be further from the truth. A properly designed and fitted pair of shoes should be comfortable from the moment you put them on. If there is any discomfort when you are trying on a shoe for the first time, they are probably not good shoes. If you intend on keeping them and “breaking them in” you are more likely to cause issues with your back and leg muscles. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really care for back pain. I would rather avoid it at all costs. Buy a pair of shoes that is designed to let your body work the way it is designed to, not fight against it.

Although there are certainly a lot of factors that can go into back pain, wearing the proper shoes can eliminate many of them.

You may consider trying out a product that claims to be a natural remedy from Aunt Ida which contains a lot of secret ingredients such as cow manure that has no proven effect that it can make a hair grow on anything. You may also consider using a toupee, but beware of the possible embarrassment when it falls off from your head at the most inappropriate moment. You may also use the hair growth drugs. However, these have unpleasant side effects such as birth defects if a pregnant woman touches the drug with her finger. Another option could be the cockamamie light brush which promises to make your hair grow like the one you see in Star Trek.

As a matter of fact, one method is available for you that provides long-term solution and makes sure that the look is natural. Getting hair grafts is the solution that can be really effective. In 1950′s, the hair loss treatment called hair plugs really left undesirable results. It looked like a bunch of hair was really just plugged into the scalp. Thankfully, the newly developed techniques from the past 15 years are very much different.

Through the micro-transplantation techniques, surgeons are now able to remove hair follicles individually from areas with thick hair and they are now able to implant these hair follicles into the balding area. A skilled surgeon can insert hair follicles in such a way that they blend in well with the surrounding hair. Also, since the hair implants are the actual hair of the patient, they match the hair shafts found on the bald spot. As a result, the hair implants are unnoticeable.

The new techniques have also made it possible to perform hair implants for women. Once a woman has developed pattern baldness, she will develop thinning hair over her entire scalp.. Because of this effect, the old process where hair follicles are harvested from a patch of scalp with good hair growth was impossible to perform. The new method of maneuvering each hair follicle makes it possible for the donors to be taken individually from the thinning areas of the scalp or even from areas beside the head. With this breakthrough, the dream of getting hair implants is now a reality for a lot of women and there’s no need to worry anymore if they will continue to lose their hair.Deciding what is the best method to use to control your baldness is quite challenging. There are lots of methods to choose from and it’s hard to determine which one is really effective.

What Is Low Vision?

We know that as we age, things don’t always work the way that they used to. But as caregivers for elderly parents and aging loved ones, it is very important to stay aware of any changes we see happening in the lives of those under our care.

One of the changes that may have a very profound impact in the daily life of your elderly loved on is Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). According to the Macular Degeneration Partnership, AMD can be described as:

“A progressive eye condition that affects as many as 15 million Americans and millions more around the world. The disease attacks the macula of the eye, where our sharpest central vision occurs. Although it rarely results in complete blindness, it robs the individual of all but the outermost, peripheral vision, leaving only dim images or black holes at the center of vision.”

Some of the causes of AMD are:

• Macular degeneration
• Diabetes
• Glaucoma
• Retinitis pigmentosa and congenital
• Neurologic

AMD can affect senior members of the family in a variety of ways, turning the most basic tasks of daily living into an exercise. Some of the ways low vision may affect your elderly loved ones include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Impact on Daily Living Activities:
These daily tasks include activities like bathing, moving about within the home, eating, dressing, grooming, etc. The attempt to fulfill these daily activities can put your senior family member in precarious situations that may not have been considered risky prior to the loss of vision.

• Impact on Driving:
Understanding the combination of skills that are needed to drive a vehicle, we can understand how impaired vision can cause many complications. If adequate lighting is not available, this can put your elderly loved one as well as other drivers in danger, especially at night.

• Impact on Social Life:
Low vision affects the social activities of elderly persons in a number of ways. Psychologically, low vision limits senior citizens because they are often afraid to leave their homes. Studies have shown that low vision adults have a much harder time moving about in unfamiliar places than in their more familiar homes.

How Can Low Vision Be Treated?

AMD is a bilateral impairment to vision that significantly impairs the functioning of the patient and cannot be adequately corrected with medical, surgical, therapy, conventional eye-wear or contact lenses. It is often a loss of sharpness or acuity but may present as a loss of field of vision, light sensitivity, distorted vision or loss of contrast.

Low Vision Rehabilitation Services do not cure the cause of the vision problem but rather utilize the remaining vision to its fullest potential. Low Vision rehabilitation programs offer a wide range of services, such as low vision evaluations and special training to use visual and adaptive devices. They also offer guidance for making changes in your home as well as group support from others with low vision.

If your elderly loved one is experiencing vision loss that may be due to Age Related Macular Degeneration contact a Vision Rehabilitation Program to find out how they can help your senior family member utilize their remaining vision in the most optimal way possible. It’s also good to keep in mind that depending on your elder’s situation, Low Vision Therapy may be included in their Medicare Home Health Benefit.