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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome And How To Avoid It

Mila Sidman
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Carpal tunnel syndrome is a nerve disorder of the wrist and hand. It can cause pain, numbness and tingling. It’s caused by doing repetitive hand motions, such as typing.
Medical transcriptionists are especially at risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome due to the amount of typing they do.
Although, there is no way of avoiding typing if you’re a transcriptionist there are a few things you can do to alleviate or avoid carpal tunnel altogether.
1. Set up a comfortable work area. Make sure you have plenty of room to use the mouse comfortably and position your keyboard to elbow level.
2. Keep your wrists and hands parallel to the floor as you type. Do not rest your wrists on the keyboard unless it has a specifically designed wrist rest on it (these let you rest your wrist while keeping them straight).
3. Stretch your hands and arms before and after typing. Make a tight fist with your hand, hold for a few seconds then slowly release. This will help alleviate any tension in the hands and wrists.
4. Take breaks while working. Ideally, you should get up every hour to stretch and relax your body. Shake your hands and open and close your wrist to help relieve tension.
5. Sit up straight in your chair when working. Overall good posture will give you good hand position.
6. Wear a wrist band to help avoid the problem. This will give your wrists and hands extra support.
If you follow these tips early you may avoid carpal tunnel syndrome altogether since there may be damage being done before you actually feel any symptoms. And If you already suffer from carpal tunnel, following these tips should help alleviate the problem.
Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome include tingling/numbness in the hands, a burning sensation in the fingers, and/or sharp pains from the wrist shooting up the arm.
If you do have any symptoms of carpal tunnel, you should see your physician right away.
ZZZZZZ

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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Pinched Median Nerve at the Wrist

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Carpal tunnel syndrome, a source of annoying symptoms in the wrist and hand, can be reliably diagnosed with the help of nerve conduction studies. Surgical and non-surgical treatments of proven effectiveness are available for this pinched-nerve condition.

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Carpal tunnel syndrome is by far the most common and widely known of the “pinched nerve” conditions. This article addresses: What is it? Who is at risk for this condition? How is it diagnosed? What kinds of treatments work best?

Carpal tunnel syndrome refers to symptoms caused by entrapment of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel. “Carpal” itself means “wrist,” so a carpal tunnel is nothing more than a wrist tunnel. This particular tunnel can be a crowded place, as it contains not just the median nerve, but nine tendons as well. The “syndrome” consists of some combination of pain, numbness and weakness.

Pain, numbness, or both, are the usual earliest symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. Pain can affect the fingers, hand, wrist and forearm, but not usually the upper arm or shoulder. Numbness affects the palm side of the thumb and fingers, but usually spares the little finger because it’s connected to a different nerve.

When weakness is present, it usually indicates that the condition is already severe, and when muscles atrophy (wither) it means the condition is even worse. The affected muscles are those downstream from where the nerve is pinched, and can include those controlling any of three motions of the thumb. In addition, bending of the first knuckles of the index and middle fingers can be affected, as can straightening of the second knuckles of the same fingers. When muscle atrophy is present, it is most evident in the muscular ball at the base of the thumb.

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs more frequently in women than in men. People who work with their hands a lot – for example to sew, operate hand-tools or perform assembly-line work – are at increased risk for developing this condition. Various medical conditions can also increase the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome, including injuries, arthritis, diabetes, low levels of thyroid hormone and pregnancy. In the case of pregnancy, carpal tunnel syndrome often appears in the third trimester and resolves after the woman delivers.

Optimum diagnosis of this condition combines the time-honored methods of a doctor’s history-taking and physical examination with tests of nerve function called nerve conduction studies. Nerve conduction studies are exquisitely sensitive in detecting impairment of the median nerve at the wrist, particularly when the median nerve is compared with a nearby healthy nerve in the same patient.

In nerve conduction studies, the nerve on one side of the carpal tunnel is activated by a small shock to the skin. An oscilloscope measures how long it takes for the resulting nerve-impulse to arrive on the other side of the carpal tunnel. When the median nerve is pinched, the nerve-impulse is delayed or blocked. Nerve conduction studies are so sensitive that sometimes they show problems that aren’t even causing symptoms. That’s why nerve conduction studies don’t stand alone in diagnosing carpal tunnel syndrome. The examining physician needs to decide if the results make sense for the particular patient in question.

Nerve conduction studies not only show whether or not the median nerve is impaired at the wrist, but also provide precise data concerning how bad the impairment is. In addition, these studies survey the function of other nerves in the arm and hand. Occasionally, a nerve in an adjacent tunnel (the ulnar nerve in Guyon’s canal) can also be pinched. In other cases, nerve conduction studies show that the problem is not one of single nerve-pinches, but rather a more diffuse pattern of nerve-impairment called polyneuropathy. Of course, sometimes the studies are completely normal and suggest that the symptoms are due to something else.

To treat carpal tunnel syndrome, starting with “conservative” treatment makes sense in most cases, especially when the symptoms are still in the mild-to-moderate range. Conservative treatment usually includes a wrist-splint that holds the wrist in a neutral position. In a study published in 2005 researchers at the University of Michigan investigated the effectiveness of wrist-splinting for carpal tunnel syndrome in workers at a Midwestern auto plant. In a randomized, controlled trial – the gold standard method for judging treatments – about half the workers received customized wrist-splints that they wore at night for six weeks. The remaining workers received education about safe workplace procedures, but no splints. After treatment the workers with splints had less pain than those without, and the difference in outcome was still evident after one year.

Conservative treatment might additionally include use of anti-inflammatory medications like aspirin or naproxen, or even steroid drugs. A more intrusive, though still non-surgical, treatment consists of injecting steroid medication into the carpal tunnel itself. This might benefit selected patients, but in a 2005 randomized, controlled study of patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms, researchers at Mersin University in Turkey showed that patients receiving splints did better than those who received steroid injections.

Surgeons can relieve pressure on a pinched median nerve by cutting a constricting, overlying band of tissue. A 2002 study at Vrije University in Amsterdam compared surgical treatment to six weeks of wrist-splinting. After 18 months 90% of the operated patients had a successful outcome compared with 75% in the splinted group.

In some cases it can be reasonable to try conservative treatments without first confirming the diagnosis with nerve conduction studies. However, in the author’s opinion, this risk-free form of testing should be performed prior to any carpal tunnel surgery. (Full disclosure: The author performs nerve conduction studies!)

(C) 2005 by Gary Cordingley

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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Life After The Internet

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This article is about carpal tunnel syndrome.With the recent boom in technology, people have been computer dependent.Almost all work that needs to be done is on the computer.This article discusses the main causes of carpal tunnel syndrome.It includes work, trauma, physical conditions and idiopathic or unknown reasons. People are too swayed by the comfort of just staying in front of the computer for everything that they take for granted this will bring to their hands.

chronic pain, surgery

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Now that we’re in the information technology age, everything we need is within reach. And this is all thanks to the Internet. Work is mostly done through the Internet, facing the computer for long stretches of hours. Even kids’ homework is done and submitted using a computer connected to the Internet. Gone are the days when people would have to go and manually search for files in big folders stacked in shelves full of records. Gone are the days when researching meant going to the library to research using gargantuan encyclopaedias. People just aren’t as active as they used to be. And it’s because of this inactivity, and the long hours of slaving away in front of computers, that a lot of people have been complaining of certain chronic pain on their wrists.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) has been present even before computers were created, contrary to popular belief that CTS was brought about by the increasing use of technology.

The carpal tunnel is a hollow tunnel formed by the carpal bones and the surrounding tissues of the wrist. This tunnel protects the median nerve that makes your thumb, index, middle and ring fingers its feelings. And it is said that carpal tunnel syndrome starts when the median nerve gets compressed, this causes pain, a tingling sensation, and/or weakness in the forearm and hand.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is said to be caused by a lot of factors: work, health conditions, trauma, and idiopathic reasons.

o Work. Although still unproven, a lot of CTS cases were provoked by repetitive grasping and manipulating activities. This is commonly related to extensive labor that requires the repetitive use of the hand and wrist in industrial occupations
o Health conditions. Physical health conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, and certain hormonal disorders like diabetes may cause CTS.
o Trauma. Accidents such as fractures of one of the arm bones, or dislocation of one of the carpal bones, blunt force trauma on the wrist or lower forearm., blood clot formation inside the wrist, or deformities due to abnormal healing of old fractures may cause compression of the median nerve.
o Idiopathic reasons. The compression is of an unknown source.

Treatment

Of course, consulting a physician should always be the first step to take when dealing with any kind of pain in the body. They need to find out if the CTS is caused by any underlying physical condition that needs to be addressed right away.

Some people with mild symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome are able to relieve themselves of the pain by simply taking frequent breaks to rest their hands and arms. Some people apply cold packs to reduce occasional swelling of the wrists. If these quick fixes do not work, you might need to consider wrist splinting, medications and/or surgery.

o Wrist splint. This holds your wrist still while you sleep. This relieves the night time symptoms of tingling and numbness. This is most effective if you’ve only experienced mild symptoms of CTS for less than a year.
o Medications. Doctors usually prescribe either non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or corticosteroids. One to relieve the swelling, the other to relieve the pain.
o Surgery. This is advised only when the nerve impairment persists after using non-surgical methods of treatment.

It is understandable that now that we’re in the computer age where everything is accessible through the internet, we don’t need to move much. But even if technology offers us the convenience of just typing everything into the computer, we need to understand that it will affect our wrists sooner or later. So stand up, stretch, and give your hands a rest.

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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: An Overview

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What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

There are 8 bones in our wrists called carpals. They form a tunnel like structure. That is how carpal tunnel got its name. Finger movements are controlled by flexor tendons, which are found within this tunnel. The median nerve reaches sensory cells in the hand, through this pathway of tunnel.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a painful and progressive condition that occurs in the wrist. It is caused by the compression of the median nerve in the…

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What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

There are 8 bones in our wrists called carpals. They form a tunnel like structure. That is how carpal tunnel got its name. Finger movements are controlled by flexor tendons, which are found within this tunnel. The median nerve reaches sensory cells in the hand, through this pathway of tunnel.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a painful and progressive condition that occurs in the wrist. It is caused by the compression of the median nerve in the wrist. The median nerve runs into the hand starting from the forearm. When it becomes squeezed or pressed at the wrist, its message carrying and receiving ability from the brain gets inhibited. It is not necessary that the whole median nerve be pressed to cause carpal tunnel syndrome. The syndrome is caused when a point on the nerve is pressed. As a result of this compression the nerve does not function properly and causes carpal tunnel syndrome.

1 out of every 100 people is affected by carpal tunnel syndrome at some point in their life. It is commonly caused in the women of the age group of 30-50 years. Carpal tunnel syndrome is also known as Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). Carpal tunnel syndrome is inclusive of the (RSI) related soft tissue injuries.

What Causes Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Though there are various possibilities behind the cause of carpal tunnel syndrome, the basic cause is the compression of tunnel walls. As the tunnel walls compress, they put pressure on the median nerve. As the median nerve gets stressed, it causes carpal tunnel syndrome.

Congenital predisposition is also a cause of carpal tunnel disorder. In a majority of cases the carpal tunnel is smaller than the normal, which causes the median nerve to stress.

The syndrome can develop quickly, if the wrist has been fractured or injured. Rheumatoid Arthritis is also a cause of carpal tunnel syndrome.

In some cases repetitive stress induced carpal tunnel strain causes this syndrome. If a person’s occupation involves, gripping, typing or digging, the hand gets strained and it directly strains the median nerve.

Repetitive wrist and hand action results in the injury and swelling of the subcutaneous tissues. These tissues include muscle, ligament, fascia, sheaths, tendon, blood vessels and peripheral and retinaculum nerve. Due to the small and restricted passage of the tunnel, these swollen tissues can compress together and create concentrated pressure.

Carpal tunnel syndrome can also be caused due to some trauma based incidents. These causes include fracture or injury of the wrist or one of the arm bones. Internal hemorrhaging in the wrist leads to formation of hematoma which causes the syndrome. If any one of the carpal bones of the wrist gets dislocated, it leads to carpal syndrome. Obesity is another common cause of carpal tunnel syndrome. Women who take contraceptive pills can also go on to develop this condition.

Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

The early symptoms include tingling, numbness and burning in the thumb and the index and middle fingers. People suffering from this syndrome, find it hard to grip things, or make a fist. The symptom grows to a severe pain in the hand and restricts the movement of the hand at all. A person gradually loses his ability to squeeze things. They may even find it very hard to tie their shoe laces and picking things up becomes a challenge.

In the worst cases of carpal tunnel syndrome, the patients are unable to differentiate between hot and cold things by touch.

Who is at Risk?

People who are involved in assembly line work are at the maximum risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome. However it can also develop in the people who are constantly related to any of the following activities or professions:

Video games
Computer keyboard typing or typewriter typing
Musical instruments
Driving a vehicle
Surgeons and Dentists
People involved in exhaustive activity of hands like drilling, digging.

Treatment Available.

Avoiding repetitive and exhaustive activities related to hand movement, is the first instruction for someone suffering with carpal tunnel syndrome. The patient must abstain from such activities in order to give relief to their hand and free the median nerve of pressure.

Stretching exercises also helps in treating the syndrome as exercising helps in maintaining blood flow normal in the nerves.

Medicines like corticosteroid and prescription based NSAID’s can help in relieving the syndrome. If the condition gets worse, there is the option of surgery.

You should consult your doctor immediately if you feel you may be suffering with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

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Caroline Cardenas: One Woman’s Crusade For Good Health

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A short bio on Carolina Cardenas and her attempt to clean up the health supplement industry.

Carolina Cardenas, health, hoodia, colon cleanse

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It always starts with one person. A single voice will rise out of the murk of an overrun, misguided industry and sound a rallying cry that draws attention from every direction. Caroline Cardenas is that voice in the growing world of new natural health supplements, cutting through the thick layers of poorly formulated, over marketed goods and telling people how things really are. Shooting from the hip and focusing intently on spreading information first and foremost, Caroline has long been an advocate of the right kind of natural health.

Many people will assume that there can be no such thing as ‘bad natural health’. But, they would be incorrect as the industry has proven with the influx of poorly tested, underperforming, side-effect laden products. That is not to say that every product on the market is poorly made. Caroline Cardenas will actively tout the merits of any product that provides the results it promises without any adverse side effects, but the products that fail to do so are making it harder to find those good supplements.

In addition, the pharmaceutical company has ingrained in the collective mind of the American people that there is something fundamentally wrong and ‘unsafe’ about the herbal and natural supplements that Caroline Cardenas discusses on her website, http://www.CureYourBody.com .

People are pumped full of medications on a regular basis that cause further illness, breaking down the body’s immune system, clogging the digestive track, and weakening organs.

Caroline Cardenas has stood up against this old, dying dogma and spoken freely, openly decrying the pharmaceutical companies for their double standards and providing direct, well researched information to help people make solid, well informed decisions about natural health products that will not only work, but that will prevent those diseases from ever arising, negating the need for medications altogether.

Caroline Cardenas is unlike other voices in the industry because she does not try to push a specific agenda on her readers and viewers. She simply seeks to share information, gathered from her ten years studying the effects and combinations of various herbs and natural supplements, and provide it to the public so that people who may not know their options have a foundation from which to proceed; a starting point where they can start improving their overall health with natural health supplements.

Caroline Cardenas’ expert advice has been used to create articles and videos on the merits and dangers of various different supplements currently available. She has offered alternatives, debunked existing products, and uncovered potentially viable new supplements that may help to change how everyone thinks about natural health supplements.

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Caring For Mom And Dad As They Grow Older: What Baby Boomers Need To Know About Geriatric Health Care

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Like children, older adults have unique health care needs. As people age, their bodies change in many ways that affect their health.

Caring For Mom And Dad As They Grow Older: What Baby Boomers Need To Know About Geriatric Health Care

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I often get letters, like the two below, from Baby Boomers who are caring for aging parents and trying to find health care that meets the unique needs of older people. Finding the right kind of care can seem daunting, but a little information and some key resources can help tremendously.

Q: My 81-year-old mother recently fell and was rushed to the emergency room. The doctor who saw her suggested that she start seeing a geriatrician. What is a geriatrician and why should she see one?

A: A geriatrician is a physician with special training and expertise in caring for older adults, especially those with complex health problems. Like children, older adults have unique health care needs. As we age, our bodies change in many ways that affect our health. Among other things, we’re more likely to develop chronic health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and arthritis, and to need multiple medications (all with potential side effects). About 80 percent of adults 65 or older have at least one chronic health condition and 50 percent have at least two. As we grow older it’s also harder for us to recover from illnesses.

Q: I’ve tried to find a geriatrician for my parents but haven’t had any luck. Why aren’t there more geriatricians? What should I do?

A: Today, there are fewer than 7,000 practicing geriatricians in the U.S. That’s about one geriatrician for every 5,000 adults over age 65. Finding a geriatrician is likely to become even more difficult over the next 20 years, as the nation’s 77 million Baby Boomers reach retirement age. To prepare for this “Aging Boom,” we need to support programs that both train geriatricians and better prepare all health care providers to care for older adults. Until recently, the federal government’s “Title VII” geriatric health professions program did just that, by supporting geriatric education centers and young medical school faculty who trained medical students, primary care physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other providers to better meet the health care needs of older adults. Unfortunately, Congress eliminated all funding for this program in late 2005. We need to restore this funding–for the sake of all older Americans.

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Caribbean Stud Poker: How to Play

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544

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Here you can learn how to play Caribbean stud poker, one of the most popular table games in land and online casinos.

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Caribbean Stud Poker is gradually gaining in popularity as compared to its stud twin: Texas Holdem mainly because it is an easier game to learn and you can play it face to face and still enjoy.

Originating in the Caribbean and based loosely on five card stud poker rules, this game offers a fan alternative to traditional table games with an opportunity to place a side bet and hit a big jackpot too. Some of these jackpots are progressive and you can win millions of dollars if you break those machines or tables..

What is Caribbean Stud?
It is not a traditional poker game in the sense that you play against the other players and the best player wins the pot. Caribbean stud belongs to the family of games including Pai Gow poker, Let it Ride and Three Card poker for example, where your opponent is the dealer and your goal is to form a better poker hand than the dealers hand. However, basic knowledge of traditional poker hand ranking is required.

The Rules of Playing Caribbean Stud:
1) The game begins with the players placing an ante bet at the same amount as the table minimum on the ante circle on the table.
2) At the same time, you should decide whether to place an additional side bet for the progressive jackpot.
3) Then, the dealer deals each player five face down cards plus four face down cards and one up to himself.
4) After looking at your cards, you should decide whether to fold or to call. If you decide to call, you should place an additional bet double the amount of your former ante bet.
5) After all the players have made their decisions, the dealer shows his hand. In order to qualify in a Caribbean stud poker game, the dealer must have an ace and a king or better. If he does not qualify, you will be paid back your ante bet but the call bet is a push.
6) If the dealers hand qualifies, he compares hands against each of the players individually. If his hand is better than yours is, you lose both your ante and your call bets.
7) If your hand is better than the dealers hand, you would be paid even money for your ante while for your call you would be paid according to a paytable. The paytable can vary from one casino to another. Generally, US casinos pay out 50:1 on a straight flush; 20:1 on four of a kind; 7:1 on full house; 5:1 on a flush; 4:1 on a straight; 3:1 on three of a kind; 2:1 on two pairs and even money on one pair or less.
In case your hand and the dealers hand are even, both ante and raise will push.

One of the reasons that Caribbean stud poker is so popular is the option of placing a one dollar side bet and winning a large progressive jackpot prize. In order to qualify for the bonus payout you should have a flush or better. For a flush, you would be paid a 50 dollars bonus and in order to win the jackpot that usually resets from 10,000 dollars, you must have a royal flush. However, your chances to hit a royal flush are estimated as about 650,000 to 1, therefore I would recommend skipping it.

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Care To Listen: Proper Ear Cleaning

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This article is about the ears. It discusses about the different parts of the ear and their functions. The ears not only help us with hearing, it also gives us a sense of balance and body position. A lot of factors may give people ear infection, like: dirty water getting inside the ear, having small objects stuck in the ear canal, or even too much manipulation of the ears.

infection, medical complications

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The Ears
The ear is one of the body’s many sensory organs. Its main purpose is to detect sounds. But aside from hearing, it plays a big role in a person’s sense of balance and body position. The ear, along with the brain, makes up the auditory system.

The ear is made up of the following:
l The outer ear. It is composed of:
* Pinna. This is the cartilagenous external ear outside the ear canal. It reflects and attenuates sound waves into the ear canal. The change it makes on the sound provides more information in helping the brain locate the source of the sound.
* Auditory canal. This is the tube connecting the pinna to the middle ear.
l The middle ear.
* Eardrum. This is a thin membrane that seperates the external and the middle ear. It transmits sound from the air to the ossicles within the middle ear.
* Ossicles. These are the three smallest bones in the body. They are the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus) and stirrups (stapes). They transmit the sounds towards the fluid-filled cochlea. They convert lower-pressure eardrum sound vibrations into higher pressure sound vibrations at the elliptical window.
l The inner ear.
* Cochlea. This portion of the ear is filled with watery fluid that moves in response to vibrations from the middle ear. The fluid reacts to the movement, causing thousands of “hair cells” to start moving. It then converts the movement into electrical signals communicated through neurotransmitters to different nerve cells.
* Vestibules. This is the central part of the inner ear. It houses sensitive accoustic nerves that goes from the semi-circular canal to the cochlea.
* Semi-circular canals. It is composed of three, interconnected, half-circular tubes. They detect hea movement on a vertical, rostral-caudal, and sagittal planes.

Medical Complications
Improper care of the ears may cause one to develop ear infections and medical complications. The most common of ear infections is otitis. Otitis is a generic term used for inflammation or infection of the ear. It is subdivide into three different classes:
1. Otitis Externa. This infection involves the pinna and the auditory canal. Sufferers feel pain when their ears are touched or pulled. This condition is also called “swimmer’s ear”.
2. Otitis Media. This affects the middle ear. In this condition, the ear is infected or clogged with fluid at the back of the ear drum, in the normally air-filled tympani cavity.
3. Otitis Interna. This condition is also called Labyrinthitis. It affects the inner ear that houses the major sensory organs for balance and hearing. Vertigo is often a symptom for this condition.

Ear infections may be caused by dirty water, having things stuck in the ear canal, too much ear manipulation, diseases (colds), and certain lifestyle factors (smoking).

Proper Ear Care
Here are useful tips for taking better care of your ears to prevent infections:
l Take extra care in cleaning your ears. Use a washcloth or tissue to wipe the pinna dry. Do not use sharp, pointed objects to clear the middle and inner ears, these objects may injure the ear canal.
l Protect yourself from illnesses. Have upper respiratory tract infections treated as these may affect your hearing. If you notice a weird discharge from your ears, consult a physician immediately.
l Avoid exposing yourself to noise. Wear ear protection when you’re required to perform a task that exposes you to excessively loud noises. Avoid playing music at a very high volume. Wear ear plugs when attending loud concerts, especially if you’re seated near the stage speakers.
l Protect yourself from physical trauma. Wear a helmet when engaging in any activities that may injure the head. Wear filtered ear plugs when going on air travel, this helps equalize the pressure inside and outside the ears.
l Attend regular ear check ups with your trusted ear physician.

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Care For Your Eczema Better With These Skin Care Tips

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Many Eczema sufferers are unaware that sometimes good skin care regimes are all that stands between endless suffering and an improved quality of life. The simplest of changes and techniques can make all the difference, so I have put together a few tips to hopefully help you out.

cure eczema, eczema cure, beat eczema

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Many Eczema sufferers are unaware that sometimes good skin care regimes are all that stands between endless suffering and an improved quality of life. The simplest of changes and techniques can make all the difference, so I have put together a few tips to hopefully help you out.

Fix Your Diet-
There’s a whole lot more to skincare than just fancy creams and lotions. Real skin care starts on the inside-if you give your body the tools it needs to fix the Eczema damaged skin, you will have a definite advantage. Continuing to eat the wrong foods while trying to clear up your Eczema is like trying to run your car without gasoline! It just can’t get going! Scientists have found that foods with high acidity are linked to increased Eczema symptoms. For some reason high acid content makes the skin more prone to irritation, which of course brings on the Eczema. You can avoid this by obviously steering clear of acidy foods, which is easier than it sounds. A dietician should be able to steer you the right way though. Fear not though, there is a much simpler way to improve this too-kelp supplements. Kelp is very high in alkali, which will neutralize the acid it finds in your system, so you may find relief there.

Moisturize Regularly-
You need to get into a habit of moisturizing your skin at least twice a day, preferably after taking a bath or shower. This is great for your skin because the more moisture there is inside it, the suppler it will be, and obviously soft supple skin is far less likely to crack and itch than dry flaky skin. The reason you need to apply the moisturizer after bathing or showering is because this will help lock in the moisture from the bath. You should pat yourself almost dry with a very soft towel, and then apply the moisturizer to damp skin. It’s a little harder to rub in, but it’s worth it in the long run!

Protect Yourself-
Be aware of all the things than can trigger your Eczema, and do your best to avoid them. As a general rule, avoid wearing any kind of perfume or scent, as well as all scented soaps or toiletries. You will also probably find a little relief if you can get rid of all the perfumed detergents in your home. If you can wash your clothing in unscented natural detergents you will probably find that your clothing is suddenly not so itchy!

As I’ve tried to illustrate here, you don’t have to go to huge lengths to get some control in the battle against your eczema. In most cases all you need is common sense and some consistency. I hope these tips bring you some relief, but remember to be consistent!

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Care and Health Insurance for your Pet Pot Bellied Pig

There have been lots of books written about dogs like Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows, Black Beauty is every girls dream horse after his memoirs were so cleverly translated, and a recent string of mystery novels featuring sleuthing cats have earned felines a place in the literary annals. Considering that isn’t it interesting that some of the animal characters most people seem to remember the best are pigs. When book lovers think of pigs they smile as they remember the sweet innocence of Wilbur as he strutted around the barnyard, or they shudder with delicious distaste as they think about how George Orwell’s Napoleon ruled the farm after overthrowing the humans in Animal Farm.

Recently pigs have been finding their way into more and more homes as family pets. Many pet owners are delighted by the pig’s keen intelligence and dynamic personality. Or they walk into a neat tidy barn and spot and entire litter of new piglets sleeping in a little pig heap on a bed of straw. The next thing they know they have purchased a young pot bellied pig and are taking it home.

The first mistake people often make is assuming that a pot bellied pig would make a good pet for their family is that they don’t really understand that the cuteness fades…fast. One minute they are holding a cute little piglet, the next they are looking at a short legged growing piglet with a strangely shaped skull, drooping jowls, and stiff hair.

The next mistake pet owners make when they purchase a potbellied pig is that they assume it will stay miniature sized. While it is true that the pot bellied pig is considerably smaller then its barnyard cousins pet owners need to understand that the pigs that are used for bacon and Easter hams are normally butchered at weight surpassing three hundred and fifty pounds. The full grown sows can weigh in at well over five hundred pounds.

Once you have purchased a newborn potbellied pig you need to start thinking about its health care. Pot bellied pigs need to be spayed or neutered, they need to have their feet trimmed on a regular basis, they need to have their long tusks trimmed, and they need yearly vaccinations. Purchasing a pet health plan for your new pet might help make veterinary care more affordable. If you decide to purchase a health insurance plan for your pot bellied pig make sure it is one that it will still be valid at the end of your pets life, which could bet twenty years away. If you are unable to find a pet health insurance company who is selling coverage for potbellied pigs try to get a deal through an insurance company that insure farmers’ valuable livestock.

In addition to health insurance pot bellied pig owners should probably consider getting some type of liability insurance in case their pot bellied pig accidentally hurts someone. For the most part pot bellied pigs are low key and amiable but once in a while you can stumble across one that gets irritated with people. Just like their larger, barnyard cousins, pot bellied pigs a re very strong they literally toss a full grown man to the side with just a little nudge of their snout.