Article Archive

Some Serious Baggage

Body Talk

A lipstick—or two or three. A book. A phone. A snack and a water bottle. Maybe even a change of clothes. On a daily basis, many women carry this and more in their handbags. Bags are getting bigger, and they’re just as jam-packed as ever. Carrying all of this weight on one shoulder is leading to stiff necks, shoulder pain, and even headaches. Increasingly, massage therapists, chiropractors, and doctors are being called upon to treat the symptoms of women who have been carrying around too much for too long.

BlackBerry Thumb

Body Talk

The huge success in the past few years of the BlackBerry and other personal digital assistant (PDA) devices has led to a new injury. Margot Miller, a physical therapist and president of the American Physical Therapy Association’s Occupational Health Special Interest Group, indicates that BlackBerry thumb is “a catch-all phrase for repetitive stress injury, causing pain and/or numbness in the thumbs and joints of the hand.” Swelling, hand throbbing, and tendonitis are among the symptoms associated with using the thumb for composition of e-mails and prolonged instant messaging.

Relief for Teen Stress

Body Talk

High schools and universities across the country are adapting to the needs of their stressed students. Competitiveness, heavy workloads, and excessive involvement in activities are among the factors stressing out our kids. From offering massage therapy to teenagers weary from the college application process to arranging yoga classes to curb exam stress, school administrators are recognizing and trying to ease the heightened stress of today’s students.

Nail Knowledge

Body Talk

Fingernails can reveal a significant amount about your body’s overall health. White or yellowed nails, separation of the nail from the bed, depressions or pits, horizontal indentations, and more can all be signs that your body is going through a change. While some changes may be harmless, many can serve as warning signs that a visit to a physician or dermatologist is warranted.

Reconsidering Salt

Body Talk

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has long classified salt as a substance “generally recognized as safe,” a designation that necessitates little oversight or regulation. With sodium playing a significant role in blood pressure and heart disease, however, the American Medical Association (AMA) is calling on the FDA to revoke this classification and to limit the amount of salt companies are allowed to add to foods.

Food

Your Body’s Natural Healer

Your body can heal itself from skin and digestive disorders, as well as a host of other maladies, if you just give it a chance. What does it take?

According to Scott Ohlgren, holistic health practitioner and proponent of nutritional cellular cleansing, it’s as easy as changing what goes from hand to mouth. What’s difficult, he says, is living with the diseased state your diet has created and the rounds of pharmaceuticals that never quite cure what ails you.

Rapid Fire Arms

Keeping Your Arms Taut

The years have a way of tugging at your biceps, but a few minutes a day can help keep your arms taut. These three exercises can be easily integrated into a demanding day. But don’t be fooled. Just because these movements are short, doesn’t mean you won’t feel the burn. Each of the major arm muscle groups—biceps, triceps, and deltoids—are all attacked with vigor. Begin these exercises using small hand weights (two to three pounds will do). After you start building strength, increase the weight to five or six pounds.

Skin Care

Turning Back Time

Someone once said, “Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician.” The signs of aging are obvious—wrinkles, fine lines, sagging skin, age spots, enlarged pores, hormonal imbalances. Yet, we live in an age where skin care is at its most advanced, allowing us to prevent and treat the signs of aging like never before. First, let’s take a look at how the aging process affects our skin, and then hear from the experts about how to combat those effects.

Smile

Natural Wisdom for a Healthy Smile

While there’s no getting around the American Dental Association’s recommendations to brush our teeth twice a day, floss regularly, and visit the dentist twice a year for the best oral health, there are some simple things we can add to that regimen to improve our chances for healthy teeth and gums.

The Ageless Mind

How to Stay Sharp No Matter What Your Age

Roger had never thought about his age in relation to his position during his eight years at the company. Everything was fine until a wave of new hirings and promotions came through his division. He noticed for the first time that he was beginning to be the senior member of the organization, not only in his length of time at the company, but also in his age. This was unsettling. Roger noticed there was a certain youthful enthusiasm in the new hires, and suddenly it occurred to him that he had gradually lost that quality over the past eight years.

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