All year round, we are vulnerable to an array of health disorders, be it due to poor lifestyle choices, a pre-existing disease, or changing climate/weather. While most people focus on the cure of grave diseases, the most common ailments are often overlooked. One such condition is cold and flu   a viral infection of the nose and throat. Although the infection usually occurs in winters, the viruses causing cold and flu can make you fall sick anytime, and when you do, you are forced to sit back at home and keep away from people because the infection is contagious.

What are the symptoms?

If you catch a bad cold and flu, you are likely to experience the following symptoms  

  Runny nose

  Nasal congestion

  Sneezing and coughing

  A sore throat

  Headaches

  Body or muscle aches

  Tiredness/fatigue

  Fever and chills

Usually, the symptoms resolve in a week or two and most people recover on their own. However, if the condition does not improve and if you fall sick repeatedly, you might have to turn to medications.

Who gets a cold and flu?

Ever wondered  Why am I getting sick all the time ? That is probably because you have a weak immune system. Certain autoimmune conditions exhaust the immune system and make you prone to infections, flu and cold. People, who have chronic immune conditions, tend to fall sick and take longer to recover.

How do you stop from getting sick?

If you have been falling sick more than once in every few months, then you can ask your doctor for supplements that will help build your immunity. Probiotics, zinc supplements, and vitamin supplements are good for cold and flu. You can also avoid getting cold and flu following a few preventive measures, such as the following  

  Get vaccinated against flu and cold, influenza, and seasonal allergies

  Keep your surroundings clean and free from pollutants because such viral infections are air-borne. If you need to go out, make sure you are using a mask to cover the mouth and the nose.

  Viruses that make you sick often spread by coming in contact with an infected person or contaminated surfaces. Therefore, you must always practice good hygiene. Wash your hands with soap or a sanitizer immediately after touching an unclean surface. Also, make sure you clean your hands before eating.

  Exercise at least thrice or four times a week. Any sort of physical activity helps build immunity, improves your overall health and reduces the risk of a number of ailments.

  Eat a balanced diet that includes enough proteins, fibre, healthy fats and lots of fluid. It is very important to keep yourself hydrated, especially in summer to avoid falling sick. The above measures not only prevent you from contracting flu and cold but also keep a dozen other ailments at bay.

How To Avoid Getting Sick?

Facial paralysis is when there is a loss of voluntary movement of the face on one or both sides. The following are the most common causes of facial paralysis.

Bell s palsy, the most common cause of facial paralysis
Stroke is another major cause of facial paralysis, could be combined with right side arm/leg paralysis
Tumours, affecting the facial region can exert pressure on the nerves and lead to paralysis
Infections such as herpes zoster infections cause paralysis
Symptoms:

Difficulty in speech, eating and drinking
Closing eyelids, movement, and expressions become difficult
Loss of sensation, which may be temporary or permanent
Ayurveda believes in not just correcting the paralysis but improving overall health so that there is no recurrence and other areas are also prevented from being affected. According to it, increased vata causes paralysis and so treatment includes correction of it plus prevention of vata accumulation through diet and lifestyle changes.

Dietary and lifestyle changes:

Avoid cold and sour foods like curd, buttermilk, ice creams, cold foods like cucumber, banana, watermelons, etc.
Avoid fermented foods as they aggravate Vata
Reduce or avoid pulses like dal as they can worsen gas accumulation
Substitute rice with wheat
Substitute cow s milk with buffalo milk
Avoid smoking and alcohol completely
Diet must be easily digestible and simple with lot of green leafy vegetables
Avoid foods which can cause constipation
Ayurvedic remedies:

Beejband or country mallow: This has nerve stimulating properties and so useful in paralysis of any sort
Kali Mirch or black pepper: Used as a water gargle, it is beneficial in correcting paralysis
Lavanga or cloves: People with Bell s palsy were given water to which some drops of clove oil were added, and they showed remarkable benefits.
Mulethi or licorice: This is proven to be effective in stopping the progression of paralysis. People with Bell s palsy, in whom there was involuntary tearing, had a stoppage of the symptom.
Ashwagandha capsules: They treat paralysis and also reduce anxiety and stress and depression. It helps by calming and rejuvenating the entire nervous system. It also helps control muscle and joint pains and reduces stiffness. It also helps control insomnia and allows for improved blood pressure.
Curcumin: This is very beneficial in Bell's palsy patients. With its rich antioxidant content, it reduces free radical release and helps control inflammation and reduces oxidative stress.
Nirgundi oil: It also cures the imbalance between Vata and Kapha in the body. Massaging with this oil heals injured facial muscles and nerves and improves paralysis. It also eliminates toxins and prevents greying of hair. Its anti-inflammatory properties provide relief from inflammation and pain.
Pranayam, meditation is sure useful in this condition. Do start asanas, slowly begin with surynamaskar. Along with this, one can take Shastrokta medicine, that are-- 1. Ekangvir Ras vati 1 or 2 bd + Maharasnadi kashay ghan vati 2+2 during the day.

Paralyses - Can Ayurveda Treat It?

Paralysis can be concluded as the state when the muscles lose functioning in any part of the body. Any kind of disruption in our nerve system can be responsible enough to cause paralysis. Our central nervous system and peripheral nervous system communicate and control our senses of movement. But interruption in nerve impulses can cause weakness in muscles which leads to muscle paralysis.

Symptoms
A paralysed patient will encounter symptoms like:

Decreasing the motor power
Decreasing vasomotor control
Loss of sensation
Decreasing bowel and bladder control
When it comes to treating a paralysis patient, physiotherapy is proven to be the best remedy. Physiotherapy has thoroughly helped patients with paralysis in getting to feel confident and independent. Physiotherapy includes various exercises and techniques which are developed with time in order to provide a complete rehabilitation to the patients.

Types of paralysis:
There are mainly four types of paralysis

Monoplegia: when one limb gets paralysed
Hemiplegia: when arm and leg of a single side get paralysed
Paraplegia: when legs get paralysed
Quadriplegia: when both sides get paralysed
Treating paralysis with physiotherapy

Physiotherapy is advised to patients with any type of paralysis. It should be started soon in order to improve blood circulation in the muscles. It also helps in relaxing the stiff muscles. This treatment improves the overall health condition of the patient.
Physiotherapy is also responsible for reducing any kind of swelling which takes place due to external brain injury.
Physiotherapy is helpful in making the patient stable and independent.
It also helps in maintaining the blood pressure.
It helps to improve the respiratory system.
Physiotherapy maintains the affected muscles and nerves. It provides strength to the affected muscles and works to prevent the limbs from getting deformed.
One major symptom of paralysis is a loss of bladder and bowel function. Physiotherapy helps in managing the paralysed bowel and bladder.
Physiotherapy involves different techniques which can be learnt from a physiotherapist in order to transfer a paralysed patient.
Othorsis, canes, braces, splints are the equipment that is advised to the patient by a professional physiotherapist.
Physiotherapy helps in resolving problems such as anxiety, anger, depression, a denial which takes place after post-paralysis mental trauma.
A physiotherapist provides safeguarding tips to the patient and his or her family in order to avoid accidents.
Physiotherapy has a big role in creating motivation in the patient's mind.
These are the benefits of physiotherapy which help the paralyzed limbs getting stronger and better. But it is always advised to be done under a professional physiotherapist.
 In case you have a concern or query you can always consult a specialist & get answers to your questions!

Paralysis - Can Physiotherapy Help You?

Paralysis refers to the loss of muscle function in a part of the body. It happens due to an error in the messages passage between the brain and the muscles. Paralysis can be complete or partial in nature and might occur on one or both sides of the body. Most of the times, paralysis occurs due to stroke or an injury but it might also take place as a result of diseases related to nerve, autoimmune diseases or even polio. Now let us briefly look into symptoms and causes of paralysis after which, we will take see how sound therapy can be effective in treating the problem. 

Symptoms of Paralysis 

The major symptom of paralysis is the inability of a person to move part of his or her body or even being not able to move at all. It can occur suddenly or over a period of time. The problem can even be stop-start in nature. The problem of Paralysis can affect any part of the body, which includes: 

1. One arm or leg

2. The hands 

3. The face 

4. One particular side of the body 

5. Both the legs 

6. Both arms and legs 

Tips on How Sound Therapy Can Help Treat This Problem

Paralysis usually occurs after one has suffered a stroke, which results in the brain getting badly damaged. The brain faces the challenge to develop new paths or re-routing of information to compensate for the damaged area. Under this situation, sound therapy can come to good effect. 

Sound Therapy is specifically designed to balance the frequencies of each paralysis symptom and bring it to a normal balanced stage, hence allowing the body to restore its healthy balance.

1. It is an extremely effective and easy way to help create new paths in the brain and thus re-form vital connections between more distant regions of the brain. 

2. The complex, multiple layers of harmonic and melodic information within the classical music helps to stimulate many parts of the brain. 

3. Thus sound helps to create a form as well as structure to assist with the different forms of sensory processing. 

4. Sound Therapy also helps in improving the integration of the cerebellum, which is an area near the stem of the brain and controls a number of automatic functions along with overall sensory and motor integration. 

5. The filtering which results in the sudden burst of high-frequency sound assists in stimulating increased firing of neurons. 

6. When neuron fires, it sends a message to other neurons in chemical as well as in electrical form. The process of firing off a message also creates new inter-neuronal connections known as dendrites. 

7. This goes to show that Sound Therapy can build new brain connections, thus increase the neural network.

Paralysis - How Sound therapy Can Help?

Paralysis means the loss of normal muscle function in a part of the body. It can occur to any part of the body such as just the legs, just the arms, or complete lower or upper body paralysis. The signals from the brain to that part of the body will stop, as a result of which, the person will not be able to move that part of the body. There will be a complete loss of sensation in that body part, the person will not be able to feel any pain or anything else.

Types of Paralysis:
Based on which part of the body is affected by paralysis, you can classify paralysis into four types:

When just one limb is paralyzed, it is called MONOPLEGIA.
When one side of the body is paralyzed, such as a leg and an arm, then it is called HEMIPLEGIA.
When the lower part of the body is paralyzed, then it is called PARAPLEGIA.
When both your legs and arms are paralyzed, it is called QUADRIPLEGIA.
How is Paralysis caused?
Our sensation and movement are controlled by the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system. So, when there is any disruption in the communication between the brain and the muscles, muscle movement and control will be affected. In the long term, this will cause weakness in the muscles and finally, end with paralysis.

How does physiotherapy help with paralysis?
Basically, there is one important thing that you need to know about paralysis and that is there is no treatment available for paralysis. But physiotherapy offers a ray of hope. It may not help in treating this problem totally, but the person with paralysis will be able to get independent and more mobile.

The first thing you need to do is, you should start the physiotherapy treatment as soon as a person is affected with paralysis. You should not waste a lot of time. Early treatment can offer better results.
The main objective of physiotherapy for any patient is to make them as mobile as possible.
When you are undergoing physiotherapy treatment for paralysis, it will stop the progress of the paralysis.
If the paralysis is due to an external injury to your brain, then you will be highly benefited by physiotherapy. The physiotherapist will start working on the external swelling and also on the muscles that are not affected by the trauma. This will result in making a paralyzed person more mobile.
Physiotherapy is always considered as one of the best treatments for many health conditions. Many experts recommend physiotherapy for paralysis.

How Does Physiotherapy Help In Paralysis?

Facial paralysis can happen due to many factors. Sometimes inflammation develops around the facial nerve as it passes through the skull from the brain. This presses on the nerve and makes it stop functioning. As the nerve stops functioning, so does the muscle it controls.


This is what happens in Bell s palsy, the most common cause of facial paralysis.


Bell s palsy can happen to anyone and its cause is, hold your breath, a viral infection. Herpes zoster, Varicella zoster and HIV viruses can cause Bell s palsy.


Bell's palsy is a common cause of a facial paralysis but there are many others too that affect or damage facial nerve. These include head injury, sarcoidosis, lyme disease, growths in the ear, tumours in the parotid gland, brain tumours and stroke.


The weakness of the face usually one-sided is a symptom of Bell s palsy. The face may droop to one side, chewing food is also tough, drooling, dry eyes and difficulty wrinkling forehead and speech are other symptoms of Bell s palsy, the most common reason for facial paralysis.


Treatment:
The type of therapy you receive for facial paralysis will depend on its cause. It will also develop on how long you ve suffered from facial paralysis and the extent of damage to the facial nerve.


Your physiotherapist can help and so can speech and language therapists to deal with the issue.


In physiotherapy, a treatment called 'facial retraining' with facial exercises helps with facial palsy. It is important that you seek help from a therapist who specialises in facial rehabilitation only.


This is what you can expect from facial rehabilitation therapy-
Exercises for eye care
Exercises for dry mouth management
Exercises to make drinking and eating easier
Speech therapy
Your physiotherapist will educate you on how the facial nerve works and how it recovers. This is important to make you recover. A home therapy programme plays an important role too. It includes massages to keep face muscles mobile and healthy, stretches to lengthen muscles, exercises to help re-learn balanced facial movements and relaxation of your facial nerve and muscles.


The physiotherapist will work on your facial movement to make muscles fit. The basic idea is to slowly rewire the brain-to-nerve-to-muscle pathway. The physiotherapist s first step is to retrain you to do correct movements voluntarily, while mentally focusing on the movement.


Physiotherapy may take months but keep at it to recover completely, especially the home exercises.


Injections of botulinum toxin or Botox also help especially if you suffer from spasms in facial muscles. Surgery is also an option for chronic cases.


Remember that exercises should be done gently as well as daily to reap benefits. Always do these exercises with the help of a therapist only. Doing exercises by yourself can be counter- productive.


Facial Paralysis - How Can Physiotherapy Help You Get Better?

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