Self help for a stiff neck

I am very lucky that despite having many digestive issues, I haven't had heartburn.  However, I am aware as we go into the holiday sesaon, when people go on holiday their diets change so your chances of getting heartburn increases. Heartburn, which is a symptom of acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), occurs when stomach acid moves up into your esophagus. It can bring a lot of discomfort to those who experience it. It may also come with other symptoms, such as sore throat, long-term cough and voice hoarseness. 1. Use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) While this is not recommended as a regular solution, it may come in handy whenever you're experiencing extreme pain due to heartburn. Simply dissolve half a teaspoon of baking soda in one-half cup of water and drink it. This will help neutralize stomach acid and ease the burning sensation heartburn brings. 2. Chamomile Tea Try drinking a cup of chamomile tea before bedtime, and see if it can help alleviate heartburn. Chamomile can help soothe inflammation and help you sleep better. References https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314932.php https://www.spandidos-publications.com/mmr/3/6/895

In our day to day lives, during the times when we are deciding what to eat or whether to watch TV or take a walk, who is more likely to be around us, our family, friends, flat mates or a doctor?  Even for individuals living with a chronic condition who will probably only spend a few hours a year with medical professionals compared to the thousands of waking hours with family and friends. Recently researches discovered that women are more likely to survive breast cancer if they have a strong social network of friends and family, whereas those who are more isolated are twice as likely to die of the disease. University of Pennsylvania have found that good health is more likely if people see fewer doctors and more of their family and friends especially if they get their support and help.  They discovered that people are more likely to make healthier choices - like going for a walk over watching TV if they are around family and friends.  In addition people are more likely to go to the gym if they have someone to go with. Being part of a group e.g. family, friends, book club, tennis club, social group, religious/spiritual practice seems to aid our motivation to be healthier in terms of diet, exercise, smoking or drinking.  This could be because being part of a group enhances your sense of meaning in life, which in turn leads you to better take care of yourself.  Or it could be down to feeling a sense of responsibility towards other or even just wanting to fit in. References D A. Asch, and R Rosin, Engineering Social Incentives for Health, N Engl J Med 2016; 375:2511-2513 Kroenke, C. H., Michael, Y. L., Poole, E. M., Kwan, M. L., Nechuta, S., Leas, E., Caan, B. J., Pierce, J., Shu, X.-O., Zheng, Y. and Chen, W. Y. (2017), Postdiagnosis social networks and breast cancer mortality in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project. Cancer, 123: 1228–1237. doi:10.1002/cncr.30440 Tarrant, M., Warmoth, K., Code, C., Dean, S., Goodwin, V. A., Stein, K., & Sugavanam, T. (2016). Creating psychological connections between intervention recipients: development and focus group evaluation of a group singing session for people with aphasia. BMJ Open, 6(2), e009652.  

Counting sheep is the age old method of falling to sleep, but does it really work? Those finding hard to sleep often seek distraction and some distractions work better than others, a team at Oxford University has found.   Researchers have discovered that picturing an engaging scene takes up more brain space than the same old sheep.  In addition it is easier to focus on an engaging scene because its way more interesting that sheep. Harvey and her colleague Suzanna Payne asked 50 insomniacs to try different distraction techniques on certain nights, to see which helped them fall asleep more quickly. One group conjured up a tranquil and relaxing scene such as a waterfall or being on holiday, while a second were asked to think of a distraction such as counting sheep. A third group were left to their own devices. On average, those picturing a relaxing scene fell asleep over 20 minutes earlier than on nights they didn’t try the technique. But both the sheep-counters and the controls took slightly longer than normal to fall asleep on the nights of the experiment.  The researches concluded that counting sheep is just too mundane to effectively keep worries away. If you find it difficult to conjure up vivid visulisations, aromatherapy may help.  A few drops of lavendar, chamomile or neroli essential oils may assist you to relax and unwide, and counjure up tranquil springtime fields. References A G Harvey, S Payne (2002) The management of unwanted pre-sleep thoughts in insomnia: distraction with imagery versus general distraction.  Behaviour Research and Therapy vol 40, issue 4, 267 - 277