Most of us don’t drink enough water every day and there are plenty of benefits to making sure you are well-hydrated. Eight glasses of water a day is the right amount for some people, but depending on your weight and age, you may need more. The medical research center at the Mayo Clinic devised a formula to help you to come up with your own optimal daily water consumption amount: divide your weight by 2.2. Multiply that number by your age. Finally, divide that sum by 28.3. For example, if you weigh 170 pound and are 50 years old, you should consume 136 ounces of water each day which equals 17 eight ounce cups. This may seem like a lot of water, but remember that coffee, juice, and the water in fruits and vegetables also count towards this amount. Coffee does not cause dehydration, but drinking alcohol will dehydrate your body.
In many ways, gravity has some long-term negative effects on our bodies. A great way to overcome that is to include strength training in your weekly exercise routine. This combination is critical across the age spectrum from teens to senior citizens. Any physical activity has a positive influence on your overall health and it’s critical to have a balance between both aerobic and muscular strength training. Regular strength training has a positive influence on your muscles, bones and joints.
For those of you who may not have an active exercise routine, a first goal should be to simply reduce your amount of inactivity. New research supports that even a single episode of exercise has a significant beneficial effect on your brain activity. The greater the intensity of the workout, the more significant the positive impact on neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine and epinephrine, which are all naturally produced within our bodies. Scientists refer to these as endogenous opioids or “feel good” substances, which can lead to a true natural high!
Building muscle without the use of weights, also known as body weight training, can be very effective. Regardless of the equipment you use, the key is to place your muscles under tension by using resistance and progressive overload. The classic routine of body weight training includes squats, pull-ups, chin-ups, sit-ups and lunges. There are many interesting ways to expand on these basic principles and I encourage everyone to learn a little bit more about closed kinetic chain exercises (CKCE). Regardless of which method you ultimately choose, if you stick with a brief weekly routine, the benefits can be immense and help you maintain flexibility, alertness, prevent loss of bone minerals and maintain critical muscle mass.
Yoga can be an excellent way to reduce or eliminate the use of over-the-counter or prescription pain medicine to treat your back pain. A recent study indicates that those who suffered from chronic low back pain and participated in activities such as tai chi, yoga and massage had a significant reduction (greater than 50 %) in the dependence upon medication! Yoga offers more tangible benefits without increasing the risk of worsening the underlying condition or injury. If you never participated in yoga previously, be sure to attend a class with a certified instructor who will properly guide you with the appropriate poses and relaxation techniques so you’ll have a greater chance of success in reducing back pain.
Ticks are skillful at attaching themselves to skin. When they do, it is difficult to remove them. Use fine tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin surface as possible and pull at a perpendicular angle to the skin surface until they let go. Removal should be attempted as quickly as possible to decrease the length of exposure. Avoid “breaking” the tick so that no small pieces are left in the skin which could cause a localized infection. In rare instances where a tick bite does lead to an infection, initial signs and symptoms include itching, burning and redness in a circular fashion around the tick bite. Sometimes that rash can proceed to what is called a bull’s-eye lesion with concentric red circles around the bite area. If the disease is going to progress, you’ll start to have flu-like symptoms including muscle aches, fatigue, headache and fever. If you begin to experience any of these symptoms following a possible tick bite, get evaluated by your primary care physician or go to a certified urgent care like Lakes Urgent Care to initiate prompt diagnosis and treatment.
Most ticks don’t carry diseases and most tick bites don’t cause serious health problems.
But several diseases are attributed to bacteria transmitted by tick bites including Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Ticks can act as a transmitter of disease for both humans and many domesticated animals. When ticks latch onto their host to obtain a blood meal, they transmit these potentially infectious bacteria through their saliva. If you have a dog that likes to run in the woods, he will be at higher risk for having a tick join him. Your veterinarian can recommend either a monthly flea and tick preventative chew tablet or topical medication to reduce the risk of your dog becoming infected with ticks or bringing them into your home.
Tick infestations and activity in the lower Peninsula of Michigan has been increasing over the past few years and there are some specific things you can do to stay safe. When on a hike, walk in the center of the trail. Wear light colored clothing to make ticks easy to spot. Apply an insect repellent containing at least 20% DEET. Consider wearing clothing treated with permethrin when hiking or working in wooded areas. Also consider placing your clothes in a dryer on high heat for at least 60 minutes upon returning from potential exposure areas to kill the ticks. In our region, the greatest time of risk is from April through September.
The pre-participation physical is NOT a substitute for your child’s annual complete physical with his or her pediatrician or primary care physician. The focus of this annual visit is much different and should never be ignored or avoided in your child’s best interest. Vaccination status, psychosocial history exploration, in addition to a much deeper history and physical exam are critical in maintaining excellent health in our children and keeping them safe.
A sports, camp, or pre-participation physical is an abbreviated physical exam which essentially looks for any health issues that may preclude a young athlete from safely participating in the sport or activity of interest. When done properly, the history portion is completed by the parent and then reviewed with the health care provider to determine potential risks.
Family history is an important component to a sports physical.
The physical portion of the exam focuses on the patient’s vision, heart, lung and musculoskeletal system. If the doctor finds any sign of a potential problem, he or she should require a more in depth evaluation or testing with the patient’s regular pediatrician or primary care physician. At Lakes Urgent Care we also routinely complete vision testing along with urine testing as a part of the pre-participation physical. If there appears to be no reasons for exclusion, the appropriate forms are completed for submission.
A concussion is a type of closed head injury, which is often referred to as a traumatic brain injury or TBI. The symptoms of concussion include headache, dizziness, sleep disturbances, visual changes, difficulty with balance, fatigue and memory problems. TBI encompasses many more brain injuries aside from concussion. Some examples would be, epidural or subdural hematomas, traumatic brain hemorrhage or skull fractures.
Fortunately, the vast majority of TBI cases in relation to high school athletes is on the milder side and most often is related to concussion. Take time to learn about all the potential risks associated with the sports activities that you or your family members participate in and learn about the specific ways you can mitigate risks and help avoid a traumatic brain injury.
Good luck on the field and play it safe!