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How’s your overall health knowledge? You don’t have to be a doctor or nurse to maintain positive well-being and know some excellent health tips. A little savvy benefits everyone. It’s much easier to prevent severe illness than treat it, particularly in a society where doing so costs such a pretty penny it bankrupts countless people each year.
Furthermore, a little know-how could help you save a life. Learning how to perform CPR and basic first aid provides emergency treatment before first responders arrive.
Unfortunately, American schools don’t emphasize caring for and feeding human animals. What should you add to your repertoire? Here are six health tips everyone should know and master.
Knowing how to perform CPR can save a life and potentially prevent permanent disability, making it a health tip everyone should know. Without circulation, your brain cells begin to die within one minute and suffer extensive damage after only three. At five, death becomes imminent. Few first responders could reach the scene that quickly.
Investing in a class is best — many workplaces offer them, so see if yours is one. If not, please memorize the following steps so that you’re prepared for a cardiac emergency:
If you have someone with you, you may wish to switch off to prevent fatigue. Giving CPR is tiring, but your results can be lifesaving.
Accidents happen — that’s why they’re called “accidents.” Your first business order is to get into the habit of carrying a first aid kit with you. Your second is to master its use in minor emergencies.
You can clean most wounds with running water. Afterward, apply a triple antibiotic ointment and cover them with gauze or bandages. Redress wounds after they get dirty or at least once every 24 hours until they begin to heal.
Most bruises require no treatment, although applying ice can minimize swelling. It’s also wise to learn how to sling a broken limb if you get injured somewhere deep in the country and travel for help.
The Heimlich maneuver is another must to master. Like CPR, it can save a life, making it yet another health tip we should all know.
Your technique may vary depending on the size of the person you’re with — or if you need to perform the maneuver on yourself. Here are pointers for each situation you might encounter:
Rates of anxiety disorders have soared since the pandemic, so health tips come in handy. Unfortunately, many people don’t get the mental health care they need, especially in America, thanks to the for-profit system.
Panic attacks can disrupt your entire day and lead to maladaptive thoughts and behaviors that worsen a bad situation. It’s vital to know how to reclaim control. Fortunately, it’s free. Remember the folks that advocated breathing into a paper bag? It turns out they were onto something, although this practice won’t work for everyone.
What does is breath regulation. Your breathing patterns and autonomic nervous system share a link, meaning one affects the other. Typically, panic makes your breathing rapid and shallow. Consciously slowing the breath, particularly elongating the exhales, activates the parasympathetic side — the half that tells you to rest and relax. Try the following patterns the next time you feel your self-control slipping:
Be honest — did you ever catch yourself overreacting to something minor? Chances are your behaviors weren’t driven as much by present circumstances as the mental schema you built up around similar events in the past. A trigger prompts a return of negative mental health symptoms by spurring an exaggerated emotional reaction, making you feel like you’re experiencing past trauma all over again.
The problem is that you may not recognize your triggers, which are some of the most essential health tips. For example, the whiff of a passing stranger’s cologne could remind you of an abusive relationship, making you anxious, edgy and snappy the rest of the day without you realizing what made your mood go south.
Your cure? Mindfulness is one of the most important health tips. Spending some time in quiet, meditative practices like yoga, gardening, mindful walking or meditation allows your brain “rest time” to explore and process your emotions with a spirit of gentle curiosity — not the urgency you feel to take immediate action in the heat of the moment.
Ask yourself, “What was I doing/thinking/feeling right before I started to feel out of control? What did I perceive in my immediate environment?” Do so without judgment, treating your inquiry as a simple fact-finding mission.
Once you recognize your triggers, imagine more positive ways to respond. Spend time visualizing yourself taking the preferred action that serves you instead of a maladaptive one that hurts other people’s feelings or leaves you in a precarious position.
For example, you get triggered when your boss puts too much work on your plate right before you leave for a much-needed vacation. You grow furious, thinking of all the times your parents overburdened you with chores.
Instead of barely restraining the urge to sock your employer and coping by getting drunk after work, you schedule a meeting for a calm time when you can reasonably discuss expectations and the need for work-life balance to maintain productivity.
Please — banish the notion that self-care means lazing about a pricey spa with an umbrella drink from your mindset. Practicing it is one of the most critical health tips everyone should know. Just ask the World Health Organization, which defines it as anything that helps maintain and promote positive health while helping you manage the existing disease.
What does self-care entail, then? It encompasses many things but should always include the following:
Many adults reach the age of 18 without knowing the basics of the human animal. However, everyone should know basic health tips to prevent disease and treat emergencies when necessary.
Pay attention to the six health tips above that everyone should know. You’ll enjoy enhanced well-being and possibly a longer life.
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