People who’ve experienced a headache will know how niggling and debilitating they can be. There are many forms of headaches you can experience, such as a tension headache that impacts your head and neck, or an intense and painful migraine. To help you avoid discomfort and pain, we are providing six natural cures to prevent and treat headaches.

1. Rest

A headache is usually a sign that you need to slow things down and take a break. That’s why people who live active, busy lives often experience a troublesome headache. Prevent and treat a headache by closing the blinds from natural sunlight and relaxing for a minimum of ten minutes. You might discover that the pain will promptly disappear.

2. Consume Small Meals Frequently

That nagging sensation could be a sign that you need to eat, as a headache can often occur due to low blood sugar. Say goodbye to the headache by eating something immediately. Foods that can also prevent and treat headaches include olive oil, spinach, tofu, and pumpkin or sunflower seeds. Keep the aches and pains at bay by consuming small meals throughout the day, rather than enjoying three larger meals, as it can provide consistency to your blood sugar levels.

3. Place Ice on Your Forehead

Placing ice, a cold compress or a wet washcloth over your forehead or eyes can provide a temporary headache relief – and it can even help the headache to disappear. If you don’t have any ice to hand, run a popsicle over your forehead and temples for up to 10 minutes, as it allows your brain to focus on the cold stimulus over the pain it is experiencing.

4. Try Hemp

Cloud 9 Hemp is helping to improve a person’s quality of life, as CBD hemp is believed to reduce stress levels, anxiety and headaches. Cannabidiol is a natural component found in the hemp plant, and is therefore a natural headache treatment that is compatible with many vape devices, and it can potentially alleviate an annoying headache.

5. A Hot Shower

Many people are more likely to turn to cold treatments over heat when experiencing a headache. However, a hot, steamy shower could be the answer to the problem if you have awoken with a headache. Don’t sit in bed and wait for the headache to pass. Get up, enjoy a spot of breakfast and have a hot shower. The heat from the shower can release cold or sinus pressure, as it can help to clear your nasal passages.

6. Apply Acupressure

Apply a little acupressure on a point between the thumb and index finger, which is believed to ease headache pain. Squeeze the area before massaging it in a circular motion for five minutes, and then perform the same action on the other hand. It’s certainly one tip that is worth trying if you’re struggling to shift a bad headache.

Do you have any tried and testing tips for relieving a headache? Please post a comment below.

There are more fitness class options these days than it is possible to count, from yoga to calisthenics, and from Zumba to spinning. However, there are some fitness activities that also give you muscle memory and skills that can help you in situations outside of the gym, as well as giving you a great muscle and cardio workout.

Kickboxing has long been the basis for contemporary training programs, from the fad for ‘Thai-bo’ in the early 2000’s through to people simply learning kickboxing style martial arts in their traditional form. Now, a new fitness program called 9Round brings kickboxing style workouts back into the fore. But what is it about this combat sport that makes it so effective for fitness and weight loss?

Exceptional Cardio Training

While steady state cardio like running or doing an aerobics class offer some great health benefits, for weight loss and overall fitness it is actually better to do a circuit style of training with intervals. This is because in normal steady state cardio, you get into a moderate heart rate zone which you can stay at for long periods of time while you work out (hence why you can run or do a Zumba class for an hour or more without too much trouble when you reach a fairly moderate level of fitness). Nobody, even the very fittest people, can stay at their maximum for long.

Circuit training, such as doing rounds of drills or sparring in kickboxing style classes, will push you closer to your peak heart rate, but then give you time to recover before doing it again. Even 30 seconds at your peak has powerful effects on your metabolism for up to 24 hours. This means that workouts that push you to your limits can be much shorter, but still much more effective than hours on cardio machines in a moderate heart rate zone.

It’s a Great Stress Buster

Fitness classes designed around kickboxing, such as you’ll find at 9Round are not true kickboxing classes like MMA fighters do where you have to actually fight people and risk getting hurt or hurting other people. While this is also a great option for fitness as the adrenaline of a real sparring match adds to the cardio effects, you don’t need it to get in shape, and working on bags or pads can be a great stress reliever as well as meaning you don’t have to actually fight.

It Is Empowering

You may never get into a real fight or be attacked, but knowing you have good punches and kicks will be a boon if it ever happens to you Of course, the only way to really prepare for a fight is by doing full contact training with other people. However, non-combat kickboxing based fitness classes will make you feel stronger and more confident.

Kickboxing is a great sport in itself, but if the fighting element isn’t for you, there are classes where you can use higher impact cardio to get the same benefits without risking getting a punch in the face!

Do you dream of becoming a person who wakes up at 6am, meditates then drinks a green smoothie before setting off on a run before work? What a way to start the day that would be. In reality, most of us wake up ten minutes late, run around like a headless chicken, down a large coffee and skip breakfast. We don’t live in a perfect world, having commitments like work or education, family, running a home and everything else it can be tricky to get the balance right. What this often means is our health can suffer. We go to bed late and don’t get enough sleep. We are tired, stressed, we don’t always make the best decisions when it comes to food. Some people find themselves reaching for vices like cigarettes, alcohol or drugs as an unhealthy coping mechanism.
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If you are especially interested in health, there are online nursing graduate programs which can allow you to advance your career and learn more while helping others. But even if you’re not, you should pay attention and at least take an interest in your own health. When you have been mistreating your body for a while, you can usually tell. You gain weight, your skin looks sallow and breaks out, and you generally feel sluggish and lethargic. However, if you’ve been doing this for a while these negative symptoms might not be as noticeable, it’s only when you feel better you realise how bad you felt. There are some other signs though which are hints that you need to start treating your body better. Are you experiencing any of these right now?

Hair Loss

Hair loss on the crown of the head is common in men, in fact by the age of thirty-five most will have some degree of hair loss. This is due to male pattern baldness, and unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about it. But there are other kinds of hair loss which are down to a lack of vitamins in the diet. Vitamin b7 also known as biotin isn’t stored in the body, so we need to get it from our food. It’s present in oily fish like salmon, avocados, mushrooms, cauliflower, nuts, raspberries, bananas, soybeans and eggs. You can also take biotin capsules too if this is a cause. If your hair is coming out in clumps, fixing up your diet could be helpful but speak to your GP or a trichologist too to make sure there are no other underlying problems.

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Tingling or Numbness in the Hands and Feet

When you lack in B vitamins such as folate, B6 and B12 it can cause problems related to the peripheral nerves which can cause tingling in the hands and feet. You can combat this problem by including foods like beans eggs, beets, shellfish poultry and spinach into your diet. However, it’s important to be aware that these symptoms can also be related to anxiety, depression, anaemia, fatigue and hormone imbalances. Some people also notice this a day after drinking alcohol but it’s usually short lived. Type two diabetes also can cause this sensation, so it’s important to get it checked out, especially if you’re at risk. Risk factors include being overweight, inactive, having a family history of diabetes and certain ethnicities have also been shown to be more prone to the illness.

Wounds That Won’t Heal

Whether it’s bruise, scratch or cut if you’re noticing that any wounds on your body aren’t healing the way they should then it could be a sign that something isn’t right internally. Since protein is the major macronutrient associated with cell building and repair, it makes sense to look at your protein levels first. If you’re a meat and fish eater, a small portion each day will do the trick (go for poultry instead of red meat as it’s lower in fat). If you’re vegetarian, vegan or looking for alternative protein sources, there are lots to choose from. Tofu, lentils, beans, milk made from nuts such as coconut and almond, even vegetable contain some protein. Again, wounds that won’t heal do also indicate diabetes too so have this checked out to be on the safe side. The problem with wounds taking a long time to heal, not only do they hint at something wrong in the body but open cuts put you at risk of infection.

Misshapen or Brittle Nails

Low iron levels can lead to whitened or ridged nails, and biotin deficiency can increase your risk of fungal infections which cause ridging and discolouration. If you have a vitamin B12 deficiency, this can make your nails take on a brownish colour. You can incorporate dark leafy green vegetables, seafood, beans and fortified foods into your diet to help combat this. If you’ve already had a nail or two taken over by fungal nail infections, then be sure to visit your GP or chemist for some treatment to clear this up. It’s very infectious and can spread to others, as well as other nails so don’t delay.

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Some of these might seem like subtle problems, but they can be a huge hint that things aren’t running well in your body. Often just switching up your diet, taking vitamins and doing some exercise can be enough to put things back on track. If you’ve ended up in a bit of a rut with your health, and damaging behaviours such as overeating, smoking and drinking then put a stop to this. You only get one body and one life, so it’s crucial you take care of it to the best of your ability. You don’t need to be perfect, just make better decisions and be aware of the damage a bad lifestyle can cause.

Have you experienced any of these issues? Have you fallen into bad habits when it comes to your health, if so how do you plan on getting out of your rut?

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We are all familiar with the stock character of the older individual who has trouble hearing. However, hearing issues can affect people of all ages, so it is absolutely essential that you have a thorough understanding of auditory health. This will allow you to identify the early warning signs of problems, recognise symptoms and be able to seek out help when you find difficulty in hearing or are experiencing abnormalities. Here are a few things to keep in mind at all times and a few different ways to keep on top of your hearing and the health of your ears in general.

Causes of Hearing Impairment

Hearing impairment can have a profound effect on your life. Afterall, most of us rely on our sense of sound to communicate with one another effectively and recognise danger. That’s not to mention enjoying music or sounds such as the pitter patter of rain against a window pane. So, it’s important that we are all well aware of the causes of hearing impairment, which can range from mild to moderate, severe and profound. Some causes of hearing loss are unpreventable: a baby may be deprived of oxygen at birth, or certain drugs or illnesses may have been present in the mother’s system during pregnancy. Sever jaundice in newborns can also have profound effects. Other causes can be acquired at any time in an individual’s life, for example, chronic ear infections, head or ear injury, the use of certain drugs or the aftereffects of certain illnesses (such as meningitis, mumps and rubella).

Hearing Products

If you or are loved one are experiencing hearing impairment, there are numerous hearing products on the market and in development that may be able to help reduce the severity of the effects of the condition. Hearing aids are perhaps the most common and recognisable of these. While they may not reinstate hearing, they do help to amplify sounds, allowing individuals who are hard of hearing to recognise sounds more clearly. A professional audiologist will be able to identify whether you require hearing aids and will also be able to fit them for you. Other options can include cochlear implants and assistive devices for day to day use.

Recognising the Early Signs

While you and your loved ones may not be in need of consultation or hearing products at this specific moment, you can train yourself to recognise the early signs of hearing loss. This will allow you to seek treatment of your own or on someone else’s behalf sooner rather than later. Indications of hearing loss include numerous requests for people to repeat what they’ve said, a lack of reaction when spoken to or faced with a sudden noise, speaking loudly and having the television or radio on too loudly for those who are fair of hearing.

So, there you have it! It’s absolutely essential that you monitor your hearing and the hearing of those you love in order to keep on top of bothersome symptoms or debilitating effects of hearing loss.