& Some Self-Care Tips

When it comes to your health, it seems like there are new discoveries made daily about things you should be doing and not doing, things that need treatment, things that need dietary changes, things that need air and water that isn’t filled with microplastics. The following will explore a few of the more common minor health problems and conditions a person might have as well as some tips for caring for yourself both as a reaction to these conditions and as preventative steps.

What Are Minor Conditions?

Minor conditions are conditions that are problematic but often do not drastically alter the course of someone’s life. According to minor conditions services in Scarborough, things like cold sores, eczema, heartburn, skin rashes, and fungal infections can all be considered minor conditions. They are health problems that are unpleasant and uncomfortable but often do not need intensive intervention as part of their treatment.

Heartburn

Heartburn is an unpleasant sensation of burning in the chest that tends to arise as part of acid reflux as a result of eating foods that upset a person’s stomach. Medically, heartburn is caused by the contents in your stomach backflowing into your esophagus, where your stomach acid then burns your skin. Many people consider heartburn to be a normal part of life, but this thinking is incredibly toxic and problematic. Just because something is common doesn’t mean it’s ideal or normal. 

If you have heartburn, your body is informing you that there are digestive issues. There are medical treatment options as well as herbal remedies that can help treat symptoms of heartburn, but it’s important to note that these are treating symptoms, not the cause. You need to be addressing the cause if you want your health and quality of life to improve.

Foremost, heartburn is strongly correlated with weight, so losing weight can drastically improve the situation. Eating quickly and overeating are also highly correlated, meaning you might need to look at your lifestyle. If you’re shoveling food into your mouth between endless errands or in those few moments when the office slows down, you need to find alternatives and designate time for eating at a comfortable pace where you have the time to chew your food entirely and eat slow enough that you realize you’re full and stop eating before overeating. 

It takes about twenty minutes of being full before your brain gets the message, and you feel like stopping eating, which means you might want to aim for “not hungry anymore” rather than “full” while eating. Finally, lying down too soon after eating can also cause heartburn. Try not to eat right before bed and avoid lying on the couch after eating.

PMS Symptoms

Premenstrual syndrome has a wide variety of symptoms that appear just before or during menstruation. Again, just because something is common does not mean that it is normal or ideal. If you have PMS symptoms, treating the symptoms can provide relief, but it does not solve the root cause of the problem. If you have any PMS symptoms at all, this is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. In almost all cases, this has to do with hormone health.

In a world filled with plastic, fragrance, and hormone-packed meat and dairy products, everyone’s hormones could use a little care. If your hormones are out of whack, it’s not just the PMS symptoms you’ll experience. You could gain weight, deal with emotional struggles, have appetite problems, struggle with sleep, have fertility problems, deal with irregular periods, fatigue, insomnia, low libido, poor energy levels, digestive issues, and hair loss or thinning. 

This family dentist in Ballwin also adds that some women have been known to have oral health issues before or during their periods. These may include gingivitis and bleeding gums.

The good news is that there are many things you can do to improve your hormone health naturally. Use your period as a monthly check-in with your hormones and listen to what you’re being told.

Fungal Infections

Fungal infections are pretty common and involve an invading fungus taking over an area of the body despite the immune system’s best efforts. In many cases, fungi will need to be treated topically with herbal or over-the-counter treatments, but additional steps need to be taken to help your body stay free of the fungus or the overgrowth of a fungus. 

This will include cleanliness habits (particularly surrounding moisture like not letting your feet stay within damp shoes for hours, for example) but also immune system boosting habits. Walking in the woods for half an hour can boost your immune system for an entire week. Certain foods like garlic can also boost your immune system.

The above list is by no means exhaustive. There are endless possible minor conditions that people encounter in their daily lives. It’s critical that you don’t assume something you’re dealing with is something you’re just going to have to handle for the rest of your life. Keep doing research and speaking with professionals until you find a solution that not only handles symptoms but gets to the root cause of your condition.