The problem of morning back and neck pain may be due to the position of sleeping or it may be related to inflammatory arthritis which can be familial. Morning back pain is largely related to wrong sleeping posture and less commonly due to arthritic conditions like Ankylosing Spondylitis or Rheumatoid Arthritis. Whatever be the cause- this condition requires attention by an Orthopedic doctor as it may worsen in due course of time and should not be taken lightly.

Some common factors causing this are:

Mattress: Too soft or too hard a mattress might induce back ache after sleep. For people with waist and hips of equal proportion, a firmer mattress would do well. For those with narrower waist than their hips, a flexible and softer mattress that can move with the pelvic weight would be a perfect choice. Refrain from using old hardened mattresses.

Pillow: The pillow you use must be able to render support to your neck naturally. Instead of using excessively firm or soft pillow, try substituting it with memory foam pillows, refillable water pillows or cervical support pillows.

Posture: Not changing your position while sleeping or sleeping on the belly exerts strain on the back muscles, causing pain. On the other hand, sleeping on the back or on the sides causes comparatively less strain on the spine.

Other causes such as strenuous workouts or physical activities or sitting at a stretch during the day might cause pain while sleeping or after getting up from bed.

Remedies for Morning Back Pain:

Fortunately, there are some home remedies to cure the morning back pain.

Switching your mattress is a more expensive remedy for back pain, but may often be the ultimate cure. Most people sleep the best on medium-firm mattresses. Be sure to try out the mattress before you buy it.

For occasional back pain after sleeping, apply heat to your back to relax your muscles before you go to bed and when you get up in the morning.

Massage your back with pain relieving creams and apply heat on it with a heating pad for quick relief.

Specific spinal stretching exercises and Planks (a type of exercise) can greatly help in easing back pain, if done on a regular basis.

It is always recommended to CONSULT an Orthopaedic doctor if you suffer from morning back pain.



What Should You Know About Morning Back Pain And Neck Pain?

How Smoking Impacts Your Organs

As you inhale cigarette smoke, about 7000 carcinogens stir the crevices of your body. In India, about 3,00,000 people die every year due to smoking-related issues.

Here's a list of 5 such organs, which are the most affected by cigarette smoke.

1. Your lungs - Your lungs are probably the first organs to bear the wrath of cigarette smoke. Majority of the lung cancer cases are due to smoking. Other diseases include bronchitis and emphysema. This smoke paralyzes the cilia lining the inner walls so much so that it overproduces mucous. When the mucous builds, respiration suffers. Asthma and cancer follow.

2. Your Skin - Your skin also gets affected up to a huge extent if you smoke. You could have deep circles under your eyes, wrinkles on your skin, and stretch marks, if you continue smoking over time. Also, there lies the risk of major health issues like skin warts, psoriasis, skin cancer, and wounds, which may take longer to heal.

3. Your Penis - Studies revealed that you can take longer for an erection and find it difficult to maintain it if you are a heavy smoker. Studies have also revealed that men who quit smoking had longer and firmer erections.

4. Your Liver - Smoking increases the chances of you suffering from liver cancer dramatically. According to studies, half of the liver cancer cases are due to smoking. Obesity can also take place if you're a heavy smoker.

5. Your Eyes - Smoking affects your eyes to the extent of making you blind. Partial vision loss, glaucoma, cataracts, dry eye syndrome, and diabetic retinopathy are some of the other diseases you are susceptible to if you smoke.

Despite the negative effects, quitting smoking can save you from all of these potential health hazards.

Here are some ways to help you quit smoking.

1. Nicotine Replacement Therapy - There are a few nicotine replacement tools in the form of nicotine nasal sprays and nicotine inhaler, which you can use to quit smoking.

2. Chew on something - You should try to chew on some candy, or a gum, or anything crunchy and satisfying once you start getting restless for a cigarette or any other form of nicotine. That usually helps.

3. Relaxation techniques - If you are resisting tobacco strongly, it can be very stressful indeed. Take a break from whatever you are doing and go out for a walk, practice muscle relaxation, yoga or deep breathing to keep the craving out of the way.

4. Get involved in some physical work - Getting involved in some work will surely go a long way in reducing your craving. You can also try out physical exercises like squats, running, or jogging. Otherwise, you can also indulge in some needlework, or anything, which involves concentration or physical work.



Why Smoking Impacts Your Crucial Organs the Most?

Six hours of sleep daily is as important as the food you consume and the amount of exercise you do, in a day. Poor sleep can lead to reduced concentration the next day coupled with low productivity. Thus, it is necessary to get at least 6 to 8 hours of sleep daily.


Here are few benefits of getting the required amount of sleep every night:
Sleeping improves memory: Lack of sleep has negative effect on your brain, which affects your memory and retention. If you sleep more, you are more likely to retain things because in your sleep, your mind goes over everything you ve read when you were awake. This process is called consolidation. Thus, an optimum amount of sleep helps you retain whatever you have learnt during the day better.
Stimulates creativity: Getting sleep for the required number of hours is a necessity as your creativity levels are bound to soar after some good rest. Working relentlessly without a break in between can lead to saturation in your creativity levels. Thus, rest is a requisite for a spur of creativity.
Reduces stress levels: Not sleeping enough adds even more strain on your brain. Sleep deprivation increases stress, which adds to the blood pressure level and cholesterol in the blood, putting you at risks of suffering from coronary diseases. Thus, to keep your heart health intact, it is important to sleep for at least six hours, which is a minimum requirement for your body to rest.
Leads to weight loss: Sleep deprivation can lead to an alteration in your hormone levels, which activates the cortisol (a fat producing hormone), thereby, leading to obesity. It also leads to negative modifications in your diet and a lethargic approach to your regular exercise routine. Thus, the easiest hack to lose weight is to get adequate sleep at night.


Because the benefits you gain out of sleeping for a minimum of six hours are invaluable, you should aspire to give your body the rest it deserves.

Why You Should Sleep for 6 Hours Everyday?

In most cases, pain anywhere in the body can be explained as a symptom of some other problem, but sometimes, there is no reason for abdominal pain. This type of pain is known as chronic functional abdominal pain. This is a gastrointestinal disorder that cannot be explained through X-ray or laboratory findings. It can be triggered by altered sensitivity to nerve impulses in the brain and gut. People suffering from this condition are often so debilitated by the pain that it becomes the central focus of their life.

This condition cannot be cured, but with proper treatment, it can be managed so that it does not affect the quality of your life. The aim of treatment for this condition is to control the symptoms and improve functioning. When it comes to treating this condition, the patient s relationship with his or her doctor plays an important role as the condition cannot be proven through any form of testing and it has a great psychological effect on the person. Regular checkups are also a key to managing this condition effectively.

The first step towards achieving this is to identify possible emotional and situational triggers. Maintaining a journal that records these experiences can help with this. Further treatment is usually either through psychological treatment or antidepressants.

Psychological treatment is based on the understanding that the brain can block pain by diverting attention elsewhere. Nerve impulses that travel from the abdomen to the brain must pass through a type of  gate  that is controlled by nerve impulses generated by the brain. When these impulses close the gates, pain is blocked while when these gates are open, the pain can be magnified. Psychological treatment for chronic functional abdominal pain can be in the form of relaxation techniques, imagery, hypnosis and cognitive behavioral therapy. While relaxation techniques such as meditation and hypnosis help a person shift focus from the pain, cognitive behavioral therapy teaches a person how to change thoughts and perceptions in order to control the pain.

Antidepressants can also act as pain relievers. This form of medication stimulates the production of brain signals that close the  gates  of nerve transmissions. This blocks the pain but can take several weeks to be effective. Some people may experience side effects such as drowsiness and nausea and hence should never be taken without a doctor s supervision. In some cases, antidepressants may also be combined with cognitive behavioral therapy or medication to regulate bowels.

Ways to Treat Chronic Functional Abdominal Pain!

According to Ayurveda,  Jwara  or fever refers to the irregularities of body temperature. In majority of the cases, there is reduced heat in the GIT (gastrointestinal tract) and an increased temperature in the external body. Fever might be a symptom of a disease or can be a disease in itself. According to Ayurveda, fever happens because of an imbalance in the following doshas:
1. Vata
2. Aghantuja
3. Pitta
4. Kapha
5. Vata-Kapha
6. Vata-Pitta
7. Vata-Pitta-Kapha
8. Pitta-Kapha

Fever Management Rules
Light food or fasting is advised at the early stage of fever. This helps in drawing away heat from the external parts nd shifts it to the center. You should drink warm water in all fevers, except Pitta fever. Doing so balances the stomach heat. Warm liquid foods that include sago or barley should be consumed. Vegetable soup help as well, but astringent foods should be avoided at the early stages of the fever. During the early fever stages, antipyretic medications are to be avoided. These medicines reduce the stomach s temperature and by doing so, render the Ayurvedic treatment redundant as the GIT s heat is lowered.

General fever treatment therapies

Sudarshana Choorna should be taken twice daily and about 2 grams should suffice. This  Choorna  can be taken along with any of the above mentioned treatments.
Vasaka leaf is another simple remedy for treating fever. It should be mixed with  Shukti Bhasma  (10%) and should be taken twice daily in 2 gram doses.
Ginger tea is another remedy that always turns out to be comforting and is of great value. Consume a concoction made by adding half a teaspoon of fennel seeds, cinnamon, ginger powder and a little clove to a hot cup of water helps. The herbs should be soaked for about 10 minutes. They should be filtered afterwards before drinking the tea. It should be kept in mind that both ginger and aspirin dilute the blood. Thus, ginger tea should be avoided for two hours after consuming aspirin.
Fasting for about a day is advised for fever without any other symptom as the body gets rid of toxins. A strict diet regimen should be followed after consulting a doctor. Steamed vegetables without spices are recommended.

Suffering from Fever? Try these Ayurvedic Remedies

Diabetes is also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic diseases, which raises the glucose level in the blood. If suffering from diabetes, parts of your body might get affected with other diseases as well, like bad eyesight, etc. 

Diabetes is of 3 types:

1. Type 1 Diabetes: where your body stops insulin production.

2. Type 2 Diabetes: where your body does not produce enough insulin to function on or where the cells of your body do not react toward the insulin produced

3. Gestational Diabetes: This is the diabetes you or your partner may suffer from during pregnancy.

Suffering from diabetes can make your lifestyle extremely difficult as you will have to go through a lot of restrictions. In order to avoid diabetes and its various outcomes, here are some tips you can follow:

1. Keep your weight in control: Make sure you are of the right weight according to your height. If you are more than what you should weigh, and you are creeping towards obesity, you have a high chance of succumbing to diabetes. If you are already obese, start working towards losing weight. Even if you lose 5% of your weight, you will slash the risk of having diabetes by 70%. 

2. Walk: No exercise is better and easier than walking. Try walking as much as you can. Walking will help you reduce the risk of getting affected with diabetes. If you walk for around 35 minutes every day, you are cutting down the risk of diabetes by almost 30%. Walking, being an exercise, helps your body use the insulin produced in your body more efficiently. 

3. Drink coffee: Coffee, unlike common belief of being harmful, is actually very beneficial when it comes to keeping diabetes at bay. Coffee contains caffeine, which is believed to improve metabolism. Coffee also has potassium, magnesium and various antioxidants which enable the cells to absorb glucose. Drinking coffee regularly might lower the risk of diabetes by 29%.

4. Get proper rest at night: If you sleep for less than 6 hours every night, then the risk of you suffering from diabetes is doubled. But that doesn't mean you are supposed to oversleep. If you sleep more than 8 hours, the risk of being affected with it rises to almost 75%. Hence sleep at least for 6 to 8 hours each night for a healthy life sans diabetes.

4 Tips to Keep Diabetes at Bay

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