6 Health Tips Everyone Should Know

Masthead Image
health tips
Author Name: Lucas Cook
Date: Wednesday January 11, 2023

Body + Mind is reader-supported. We may earn an affiliate commission when you buy through some of the links on our site. 

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. 

1. How to Perform CPR

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:

  • Check the scene: Never put yourself in danger, which could present more problems for first responders. Ensure there are no downed power lines or other hazards. Use PPE if at all possible. 
  • Check for responsiveness: Use shout-tap-shout, “Are you okay,” tap on the shoulder, “Are you okay?” 
  • Call 911: Or command someone to do it for you. If the latter, point to a specific person and say, “You, call 911.” Otherwise, people may stand around wasting time waiting for another to act. 
  • Roll the person on their back: You will need a firm surface, so a bed isn’t appropriate. If working with a bed-bound patient, you may need to slide a board beneath them. 
  • Give 30 chest compressions: Remove or cut bras and clothing. Find the midline of their sternum by locating the tip of their breastbone and moving up about one hand space between their nipples. Press the heel of your palm there and place the other hand on top, interlacing your fingers. Submerge their chest approximately two inches, allowing it to return to normal between compressions but maintaining 100 to 120 compressions per minute. Keep your elbows stiff and press using your torso. You may crack ribs — please do not panic. 
  • Give two breaths: Use two fingers under their chin and your palm on their forehead to tilt their forehead back, opening their airway. Breathe for one second at a time, letting it escape before giving the next. 
  • Repeat your 30 compressions to two breaths pattern until first responders arrive. Use an AED if available. 

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. 

2. How to Treat Minor Wounds 

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. 

3. How to Intervene If Someone’s Choking 

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: 

  • For most adults: Stand behind the individual with one leg braced between theirs for support, the other back at an angle. Tip the person forward slightly. Make a fist with one hand, placing it just above their navel but below their breastbone. As you “hug’ them, squeeze up and inward with a swift upward thrust. Repeat five times. Have someone call 911 or call between sets if you need more than one.
  • For children: Use the same technique with less force. 
  • For infants: Lie the baby face down along your forearm. Thump them five times in the middle of the back. Flip them over and try chest compressions if the first technique fails. 
  • For yourself or obese individuals: You might not be able to wrap your arms around someone whose waist circumference doesn’t allow it, or you could find yourself choking when alone. If so, locate a hard, fixed object like a chair pushed against a wall backward. Place your fist above your navel (or instruct them to do so), put the other hand on top and perform thrusts using the stationary item for force. 

4. How to Stop a Panic Attack 

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:

  • 5-5 breathing: Inhale for a count of five and exhale for the same count, focusing on the numbers instead of your racing thoughts. 
  • 2-to-1 breathing: In this pattern, you elongate your exhales twice as long as your inhales. 
  • Boxed breathing: This technique popularized by the Navy SEALS involves inhaling for four, holding your breath for a 4-count, then exhaling for four and remaining empty for four. 

5. How to Recognize and Respond to Emotional Triggers 

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.

6. How to Practice Self-Care 

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:

  • Eating right: You should focus on whole, plant-based foods, eliminating or reducing over-processed junk. It would help if you also took the time to discover sensitivities that hugely impact your health. Avoid unhealthy fats and espouse a diet similar to the Mediterranean plan, which emphasizes lots of veggies and fruits, whole (not processed) grains, and lean proteins like fish. 
  • Exercise: According to the World Health Organization, adults need moderate to vigorous physical activity for 30 to 60 minutes daily. Find something you love enough to stick with it for the long term
  • Sleep: Most adults need between seven and nine hours nightly. Keep your circadian rhythms on track by sticking to a schedule, even on weekends and make your bedroom conducive to sleep by banning unnecessary lights and electronic devices. 
  • Hygiene: You should wash your hands before and after eating, after taking out the trash, playing with animals, using the restroom or cleaning up someone else’s waste. Keep sanitizer handy — and, hey, a mask isn’t bad in times of high infectious disease risk. 

Health Tips Everyone Should Know 

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.

Previous ArticleYoga and Meditation for Beginners: 8 Tips Next Article8 Signs of High-Functioning Depression
Subscribe CTA Image

Subscribers get even more tailored tips & deets delivered directly to their inboxes!