1 Thing You Can Do Today

Get some sunshine

During rainy or overcast days you might notice how a lack of sunshine can affect how you feel. Here’s why getting outside and soaking up some sun will benefit your health.


Builds strong bones and immune system.

When the sun’s UVB rays hit your skin, they trigger the production of vitamin D. Vitamin D is needed to absorb calcium to support healthy bones, may reduce inflammation, and is important for a healthy immune system.

Sun exposure times will vary depending on season and location – depending on the time of year and your location, you will need more or less time in the sun to produce adequate vitamin D.

 

Promotes better mood.

Exposure to sunlight is believed to increase your brain’s release of a hormone called serotonin, associated with better mood and feeling calm. Without enough sunlight your serotonin levels can dip, and researchers have found lower levels in people during winter, when there are less hours of daylight. This may explain the prevalence of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in some parts of the world.

 

Caution:

The UV rays from the sun increase the risk of skin cancer, including the most deadly type, melanoma. That is why we must get the balance right between too much and not enough sunlight. Check the UV level before you head outside. If it is three or above, go out when it is not so intense, or use sun protection measures. There are plenty of apps that will let you know what the UV level is at your location, or you can try your local weather bureau.

Can Blood Pressure Ever Get Too Low?

Yes, it can. If it drops below 90/60 mmHg, doctors will say you have low blood pressure.


It is not always bad news. Low blood pressure can be a sign of good health in people who are very fit and have a slow pulse. As a bonus, people with low blood pressure tend to lead longer lives.

You can also experience low blood pressure from overheating; having too little blood circulating (from blood donation or bleeding heavily); being dehydrated; being pregnant; taking one of many different types of medicine; or having a lot of drugs or alcohol in your system.

Certain medical conditions may also cause your blood pressure to drop. These include allergic reactions, infections, certain heart conditions, nutritional deficiencies or severe pain.

There is also a type of low blood pressure called ‘postural hypotension’ where blood pressure drops suddenly when a person stands, making them feel dizzy.

Low blood pressure can cause some unpleasant symptoms. These include:

  • Light headedness or dizziness
  • Weakness
  • Blurry vision
  • Pale, clammy skin
  • Fatigue
  • Fainting

See your doctor if you think you have symptoms of low blood pressure as an underlying cause may need treatment. But if it isn’t causing you problems, treatment won’t be needed.

Your doctor may advise that you take precautions to prevent episodes of low blood pressure, such as avoiding dehydration, hot showers, or standing up too quickly.

Don’t Show Up to Work Sick

You may feel a little off colour. A few sniffles, a headache, some aches and pains. But you ‘soldier on’ – such a common and acceptable term that it’s even been used in an ad for a cold remedy.

‘Soldiering on’ is also known as ‘sickness presenteeism – being at work but being ineffective due to ill health. Presenteeism is also used to describe working excessively long hours, and working when you are burned out or mentally unwell.

We know absenteeism can be a problem for workplace, but presenteeism can be an even bigger issue. A study by the World Health Organization suggested that while absenteeism costs companies about 4 days a year per employee, up to 57.5 days are lost to presenteeism.


Since the pandemic we have learnt not to show up to work if we have tested positive to COVID-19, not least for the sake of our workmates’ health and that of their families. So what should you do instead to get better quickly?

  • OTC remedies. It is tempting to pop a pain reliever or flu remedy and head off to work. After all, they make you feel much better. But while these may help cover the symptoms, they do nothing to address the cause of the illness, and you will still be infectious. Stay home until your symptoms stop.
  • Take time to recover. If you do not take time off, it is going to take you longer to recover, whether you are working from your workplace or working from home.

While working from home does mean you will not spread a contagious illness to your workmates, there are downsides. Studies show that wherever you work, working while sick will affect the quality of your work, can increase the risks of poor health in the future, and increases the risk that you will have to take more time off due to sickness 18 months later.

Why Doctors Are Prescribing Social Connection

Science has shown that connection and social support are essential to our health – so essential that doctors are now prescribing it like a drug. Here’s why.

As humans we need connection, just like we need oxygen and water. Even for the most introverted among us, social connection is vital to our physical and mental health.

Lack of social support and not feeling connected to others has been linked to many chronic illnesses.

‘Social prescription’ is being used by doctors around the world, particularly for marginalised communities who struggle to access social services.

In this context, social prescription involves linking the patient with activities and services provided by community organisations, in a way that is trackable and measurable. It’s accepted in community health as a preventative and early-intervention service.

Research shows that it works. In Britain, social prescribing is a formal part of the National Health Service. An Australian literature review found it reduces chronic disease, depression and suicidal behaviour, reliance on medication and substance abuse, while improving social confidence, physical and mental wellbeing, sense of purpose and health self-management.


How social prescribing can work for you

You might not necessarily need help with linking to community services, but you might benefit from permission to socialise more.

For many of us, a doctor’s ‘prescription’ gives us both permission AND accountability. With a prescription for social connection, you won’t need to justify it, but embrace it as part of your health care plan.

Too often, we put socialising way down the list of things to do. We get caught up in the necessities of work, housework and caring for children or ageing parents. We try to find time for exercise and preparing good food, but catching up with friends, or joining a hobby group, can sometimes seem like a luxury.

What if you prioritised social connection, in the same way you prioritise drinking water, or getting exercise, or taking daily medication?

What if you scheduled it into your day as a non-negotiable?

 

Action item:

1. Next time you plan your weekly schedule, add in non-negotiable time for connecting and socialising with others. Make it fun!

2. If you think you need more permission or accountability to make this happen, consider raising it with your doctor during your next visit, and ask them to prescribe it for you on a formal prescription pad. It will do wonders for your health!

Are Supplements Worth It?

The pandemic has put our health under the microscope like never before, with many of us reaching for dietary supplements in the hope of fending off the COVID-19 virus.

A recent survey in the US found nearly 30 per cent of Americans are now taking more supplements than they were before the pandemic, while in Australia market researchers report sales of vitamins and supplements have soared.

Are supplements perfectly safe or could we be risking our health further every time we pop a pill?


What are dietary supplements?

Natural health products such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes and plant extracts all fall under the umbrella term of dietary supplements. They are also known as complementary medicines. Global supplement use is growing at a fast rate and expected to reach a value of almost US$300 billion by 2027.

Many dietary supplements are beneficial if used safely, says Geraldine Moses, Adjunct Associate Professor of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Queensland. Women who are pregnant or planning to be are prescribed folic acid and iodine, and deficiencies in certain minerals, such as iron, are corrected with supplements.


What is the evidence?

Some of us take a multivitamin as a kind of health insurance, in case our diet is lacking. Yet the highest-quality evidence, randomised controlled trials, has found no evidence that multivitamins improve your health.

The trials that have been done of vitamins have not shown benefit in people who are not deficient. We are just seeing it time and time again, Professor Rachel Neale of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.

One reason dietary supplements are so popular is the perception that they are harmless, says Professor Moses. But like any other drug, there are potential dangers from taking vitamins and minerals. Unlike other drugs, however, we rarely hear of their potential harms.

How to Choose Ergonomic Aids

Back ache, neck ache and eyestrain are all signs of a poor ergonomic set-up at work. Reduce stress on your body by choosing the right ergonomic accessories.

A good chair and desk can go a long way to ensuring you maintain correct posture when you are working. But to get the optimum set-up you may need a few additional supports. Follow this quick accessory guide from Healthworks’ Your Body At Work to find the best aids for you.

Q. Do you need to raise your monitor to have it at the correct height?

A. A monitor stand can easily fix this. If you use a laptop, a laptop stand can raise the height of the screen and allows you to use an external keyboard and mouse.

Q. Do your feet dangle above the floor, or are you more comfortable with them raised slightly?

A. Forget the awkward crossed legs position, it’s time to invest in a footstool. This will allow your thighs to rest comfortably on the seat of the chair and your knees to be bent between 70 and 110 degrees.

Q. When typing, do you tense your wrist or forearms, or are your forearms unsupported?

A. A wrist support will fix this problem.

Q. Do you need to manoeuvre your chair to access items required for work?

A. A slide mat will ensure your chair moves easily across the floor.

Q. Do you rotate your neck to one side when reading documents, or push your keyboard away to fit documents immediately in front of you?

A. A document holder or reading/writing frame (which sits over your keyboard) will fix this.

Q. Do you use the phone frequently, cradle it in your neck, or hunch your shoulders while holding the phone?

A. A phone headset. Bluetooth headset or speakerphone is essential.

Q. Is your back sore or uncomfortable?

A. Try a back support on your chair. There are a number of types available, depending on your area of discomfort.


Text Neck danger

Bending your neck forward and down for long periods looking at your mobile phone is causing a wave of neck, shoulder and back problems known as Text Neck. Minimise injury by raising the height of your phone or tablet and take a break or change position every 15 minutes.

5 Signs of Anxiety You Might Have Missed

Although it is a mental health issue, anxiety can often have surprising physical symptoms. These symptoms can appear even when you are not feeling overly anxious.

Anxiety changes the way you think, your hormones and your perceptions, says Micah Abraham, editor of Calm Clinic. It changes the neurochemicals in your brain that tell you how to think and act. It can both cause physical sensations and make you hyperaware of them, which can lead to a huge variety of symptoms.

When Calm Clinic asked its Facebook followers if they had any unusual anxiety symptoms, they received hundreds of responses, ranging from “forgetting how to swallow” to a “loud pop, like a firecracker, in their ear.”

“An individual suffering from an anxiety disorder perceives a wide range of feelings and sensations, which are unique, complex, and often difficult to explain,” says Abraham.

In fact, it’s possible to experience anxiety only as physical symptoms – your mind may feel completely relaxed and clear.


Here are five common anxiety symptoms which you might not realise are anxiety:

1. Pain

A sudden pain in your hip. A stomach ache. Chest pain with accompanying sweating so severe you think it must surely be a heart attack. Anxiety can create sensations of pain that have no physical cause.

Chest pain is one of the most common types of pain created by anxiety. Research in 2018 published in BMC Medicine found that Emergency Department providers believe approximately 30 per cent of patients seeking emergency care for chest pain are actually experiencing anxiety.

This kind of chest pain is caused by a stress response. Your heart starts to beat faster to prepare for fight or flight, which causes rapid breathing. This can lead to hypoventilation, which can cause shortness of breath as well as a contraction of blood vessels, which may result in chest pain.

Other times, you might notice random pain anywhere in your body that can stay for weeks, and then disappear. Similarly, you might experience muscle aches, spasms, and twitching.

These pains could be caused by rapid breathing, or by holding your muscles tensely for long period of time, or by hypervigilance.

Abraham explains: “Someone without anxiety may have a knee pain so mild that they don’t even notice it, but a person with anxiety feels that knee pain severely because their mind has been altered, making it hypersensitive to the way the body feels.”

2. Numbness and tingling

You notice pins and needles in your feet or hands. You Google it, and become convinced you have a neurological disease. Or it’s a sign of a heart attack. But could it be… anxiety?

Anxiety Centre says numbness and tingling are common signs of anxiety. It can also feel like part of your skin or body has lost all feeling, or you might even feel a crawly sensation. You might notice it in your arms, hands, fingers, toes, legs, feet, head, face, or it might shift around all over your body.

It can even strike when you are not noticing any other mental anxiety symptoms, for example when you are relaxing watching TV.

The numbness and tingling are caused by your fight or flight response: your body moves blood away from your extremities such as hands, feet and skin, and redirects it to your heart and muscles.

3. Yawning

Frequent and excessive yawning doesn’t necessarily mean you need more sleep. It could mean you are experiencing anxiety.

The need to yawn often – even in important meetings – can sometimes be accompanied by a feeling that you can’t breathe deeply enough, or becoming very aware of your breathing.

It’s caused by shortness of breath, which in turn is caused by a change in heart rate.

4. Digestive issues

Indigestion, the need to burp all the time, or just a plain old stomach-ache are common physical symptoms of anxiety. In fact, around one third of anxious people experience anxiety-related diarrhoea.

It’s caused by the fight or flight response, which changes your hormones and digestive enzymes. It can be exacerbated by lack of sleep – another common anxiety symptom.

Plus, emerging research is revealing the powerful link between the brain and the gut, where gastrointestinal issues are triggered or exacerbated by anxiety and stress, and on the flip side, your gut health can impact your mental health.

5. Hair loss

You brush your hair and a lot comes out. Are you ageing rapidly, or could it be anxiety?

Hair loss is a common symptom of anxiety in both men and women.

You might notice it just in one part of your head, or all over.

Anxiety Centre says its due to a body-wide hormonal response. For example, stress activates neuroendocrine-immune circuits, which pause hair growth.

How to Manage Screen Time When Your Work Is Online

We all know too much screen time is bad for us, but what if your job requires long and intensive screen usage?

It’s difficult, because most of us are aware of the health issues of too much screen time: the impact on our mental health, our physical health and of course our vision. It disrupts our sleep, our ability to concentrate and increases our risk of chronic disease due to lack of physical movement.

Yet often our work is online, our friends are online, and increasingly our leisure time is online. Even exercise is often through an online class.

It is become harder since the pandemic, when so many of us switched to working from home. Even with breaks, it has become easy and normal to be on screens for 12 or more hours a day. Studies show that on average, use of digital devices increased by five hours a day for adults, an increase of 60-80 per cent.


So what can we do about it?

The answer is to develop healthy digital habits, says Doreen Dodgen-Magee, PsyD and author of Deviced!: Balancing Life and Technology in a Digital World.


1. First, measure.

Dodgem-Magee recommends first documenting how you are spending your time. Apps are designed to be addictive, and it can be extremely difficult to pull yourself away from a device and extremely easy to scroll absent-mindedly.

Track every 15 minutes for a few days. Note down what you are doing and what device you are doing it on. It seems like a lot of work, but it will save you hours in the long run.


2. Do what you need to do and get out.

It is tempting to reward yourself for completing a task by allowing yet more screen time. Make sure the breaks you take and rewards you give yourself are off-screen.


3. Take breaks.

A five-minute break every 25 minutes is a good guide, with at least two longer breaks every day. And as above, move away from that screen to take your break. Get up and move your body, even if it is just rolling your shoulders or walking around a bit.


4. Create screen free zones.

When working from home, Dodgen-Magee recommends having zones in your homes where tech is not allowed. This could be the bedroom or the bathroom, for example, or the kitchen. You can then carry this through to after work hours, to give yourself time away from screens in the evening.

The Big Dry

You think your skin would lose less moisture in winter, compared to the heat of summer. But that is not the case. A combination of drier air and indoor heating can lead to skin that feels dry, tight and itchy.

Whether it is summer or winter though, dry skin is caused by a loss of water. For our skin to feel smooth and supple, the top layer needs to be at least 10 per cent water, a level that helps to repair and maintain the barrier function of the skin and keep it healthy.

As well as being uncomfortable and sore, overly dry skin can also be unsightly, developing small splits or cracks and appearing like the scales of a lizard. It can also lead to skin infections if there is a break in your skin from crackling, and make you more vulnerable to dermatitis.


Prevent and treat dry skin with the following tips:

1. Avoid very hot showers.

As tempting as it is to thaw out under hot running water if you are feeling cold. It is recommended to reduce the frequency and length of baths or showers and use lukewarm water. Overly hot water can strip away the protective surface oils that help your skin retain water.


2. Turn down the thermostat – or turn it off.

If you have heating or air conditioning in your home, don’t over-do it. Hot air tends to be drier than cooler air. However, air conditioners, cool or warm will dry the air out so try to limit your exposure.


3. Keep drinking water.

Your body loses water through your skin all year, not just in the hot summer months. Replenish it through the day.


4. Use soap substitutes.

Normal soap can irritate or damage your skin. Ask your pharmacist for advice on soap substitutes.


5. Quit.

If you smoke, consider quitting. Smoking will dry out your skin and vaping is likely to have the same effect.


6. Wear gloves.

Your hands are often the first place you notice dry skin. Put on gloves before you:

·       perform tasks that require you to get your hands wet

·       get chemicals, grease, and other substances on your hands

·       go outside on a cold day.


How to add moisture

Moisturisers work by providing a seal over your skin to keep water from escaping, and applying one regularly is an effective way of tackling dry skin.

Despite the hype around certain brands, you really can’t go very wrong with any moisturiser you choose, so pick one that feels good on your skin. For extremely dry skin you may need a thicker moisturiser – ask your pharmacist for a recommendation.

The best time to apply moisturiser is after showering when your skin is still damp. It is also advisable to apply lip balm multiple times throughout the day. If your hands are particularly dry, always apply hand cream after washing your hands.

1 Thing You Can Do Today

Slow Down


What goes through your mind when you hear that it’s healthy to slow down? Do you think, “that’s fine for others, but I’m barely keeping up as it is”? Or “if I slow down I’ll realise how tired I am and won’t be able to keep going”? Or “slowing down is weak and lazy”?

If you are worried about losing productivity, consider this: slowing down makes you more productive.

“It sounds crazy, but slowing down can be the difference between success or failure, or between thriving and burning out,” writes The Mindful Entrepreneur, Andrew Thomas, in Inc. magazine.

Thomas suggests: “Schedule an hour every week to check in. Reflect on your intentions and observe the challenges or opportunities showing up in front of you.”

Slowing down also helps you make wiser decisions.

“If success requires making good decisions, and slowing down helps you make better decisions, then consider how you can invest more time in slowing down.” Says Thomas.

When you slow down, you free up your brain, listen to your gut and make better decisions.

So next time you find yourself feeling guilty for resting or taking things slowly, remind yourself of the many health benefits of slowing down. It’s good for you!