Day: February 20, 2018

How to Protect Your Hearing Health

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Image source – https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-woman-music-pink-3100/

 

Our ears and hearing health is not something we tend to give a lot of consideration to until something goes wrong. However, it is so important to start protecting your ears. After all, hearing loss is an incredibly difficult thing to go through, and in some cases it can be prevented. With that being said, read on to discover some of the best ways to protect your ears and your hearing health.

Get regular check-ups – There is only one place to begin, and this is by getting regular check-ups. As hearing loss tends to develop very gradually, if you get check-ups on a regular basis, you are more likely to catch any issues in the early stages. The sooner you take action, the better.

Manage your stress levels – A lot of people do not realise it, but your levels of stress can actually have an impact on your hearing. Both anxiety and stress can be linked to permanent tinnitus and temporary tinnitus. This is a phantom ringing in the ears.

Start exercising more – Did you know that exercising is good for your ear health? Cardio exercise, for example, cycling and running, get the blood pumping to all parts of your body, your ears included. This will help to ensure your ears are working to optimal level and that all of your ears’ internal parts are healthy.

Keep your ears dry – It is important to keep your eyes dry because too much moisture can cause bacteria to enter and attack the ear canal. This is especially important for frequent swimmers or anyone else that is in the water regularly.

Stop using cotton buds – If you are someone that uses cotton buds to clean their ears, you need to stop. Although this is seen as a good way to get rid of earwax, it is actually important (and normal) to have a small bit of wax in your ears. This is because ears clean themselves, and the wax is critical for preventing harmful particles like dust from entering the canal.

Look after your hearing aids – If you are already at the stage whereby you rely on hearing aids, you do need to look after your equipment to ensure it is effective and that your hearing health does not get worse. You can learn more about this online, as there are plenty of guides regarding how to care for your hearing aids. You also need to ensure you read the manufacturer’s specifications, as not all hearing aids are created equally, and therefore, a different care regime may be required.

As you can see, there are many ways you can start looking after your ears and boost your hearing health. Follow the tips that have been mentioned above and you are bound to notice a difference.

 

Health Benefits and Good Reasons to Stopping Smoking

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Scary warnings about the risks of smoking all over every pack you buy clearly warn of the dangers involved in lighting up, and every year more and more people try to quit. Breaking an addiction can be a challenge of course, but the many health benefits stopping smoking brings can be enough to provide the incentive needed to finally stub out the habit for good.

 

This article was provided by Smoke Guru, they offer a wide range of content on smoking and e-cigarettes within the UK.

Healing kicks in after just one hour!

There are both short and long term improvements to health after stopping smoking, but the human body actually begins the recovery and repair process immediately; as within just 20 minutes blood pressure and heart rate drop back into normal ranges.

 

Better breathing

The lungs start to heal quickly too, reducing the typical gasping, wheezing and coughing smokers experience. Within a year lung capacity improves and exercise becomes easier now, improving general health. The chance of lung cancer is slashed in half after ten years of not smoking, and after 20 it falls to the same as a lifelong non-smoker. It goes without saying that conditions like asthma are easier to manage when smoking isn’t an issue anymore.

 

More energy

Within a day of quitting the body’s carbon monoxide levels drop to normal, restoring the oxygen levels to normal and boosting blood flow around the body. [This also improves sexual health as more blood means stronger erections for the guys, and more sensation where it matters for the gals.]

 

Boosted fertility

Male smokers have weaker and less healthy sperm, so quitting will definitely make starting or adding to a family easier. Women benefit too, as the positions in cigarettes affect the lining of their womb, making pregnancies less stable.

 

Less sniffles

Smoking stops the immune system working properly, so once you quit it’s easier to avoid colds and the flu. More importantly, serious life threatening conditions like pneumonia are also less likely.

 

Nicer teeth

Smokers generally suffer higher levels of gum disease, tooth decay and bad breath. Further damage can be avoided by taking cigarettes are off the menu. As a bonus, expensive dental procedures like implants are more successful for non smokers.

A healthier heart

The risk of a heart attack is much higher for smokers, and this starts to drop from the first day without tobacco, however the most amazing benefits take a little time to show themselves. In a pretty amazing feat, once the 5 year smoke free mark is passed important arteries and blood vessels are able to reverse the narrowing smoking caused. Get to 15 years off the tabs and your chance of heart problems is level with those who have never smoked.

 

There have been many indications that drugs such as marijuana can also affect your heart rate. There are many reasons to quit weed or cigarettes. Many doctors and sources advise to keep away from any types of smoking as they artificially control organs such as the heart within the body.

 

Giving up smoking is not always easy, but the health related rewards for kicking cigarettes into touch make it worth it. From the almost instant benefits, through to the longer term pay offs, it’s never too late to make the decision to live a smoke free life.