Tips to Take Good Care of Your Nails

Rubber Gloves Are Your Friends

Do not EVER do the dishes or clean your home without wearing rubber gloves. The chemicals you use for cleaning are very strong and can really damage your hands and your nails. Not only that they will make your nails weaker, they could also give you nasty burns. Always wear rubber gloves when cleaning.

 

Calcium Gels and Nail Hardeners

Calcium gels and nail hardeners can really make your nails stronger. However, you can’t expect results right away, you need to give it some time and use the product regularly. I used to have a very good nail hardener which I can’t find on the market anymore, so if you could recommend me the one you’re using, I’d be very grateful.

 

Nail Creams

Your regular hand cream is sometimes not enough. In order to take good care of your nails, you need to get special nail creams. They are usually not expensive, and there’s a bunch of them on the market. Try a couple until you find the one that suits you best.

How to Treat a Middle Ear Infection

 
Relieve pain. You will need an over the counter pain reliever like acetaminophen (eg.Tylenol) and possibly applying a warm facecloth or heating pad. If the pain is severe, your doctor might need to prescribe some special ear drops.

Clean the drainage from the ear (if any). The drainage should be thick, yellow, and foul smelling and is usually a sign that the eardrum has ruptured. The eardrum will heal in about 3 to 4 weeks on its own. Clean the outside part of the ear with a soft tipped cotton swab and remember to never stick a cotton swab deep inside an ear. 

why we exercise

benefits of regular physical activity

Want to feel better, have more energy and perhaps even live longer? Look no further than exercise. The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. And the benefits of exercise are yours for the taking, regardless of your age, sex or physical ability. Need more convincing to exercise ?

Exercise for a Healthy Heart

A sedentary (inactive) lifestyle is one of the top risk factors for heart disease. Fortunately, it's a risk factor that you can do something about. Regular exercise, especially aerobic exercise, has many benefits. It can:

• Strengthen your heart and cardiovascular system.
• Improve your circulation and help your body use oxygen better.
• Improve your heart failure symptoms.
• Increase energy levels so you can do more activities without becoming tired or short of breath.
• Increase endurance.
• Lower blood pressure.
• Improve muscle tone and strength.
• Improve balance and joint flexibility.
• Strengthen bones.
• Help reduce body fat and help you reach a healthy weight.
• Help reduce stress, tension, anxiety and depression.
• Boost self-image and self-esteem.
• Improve sleep.
• Make you feel more relaxed and rested.
• Make you look fit and feel healthy.

How Do I Get Started?

Before starting an exercise program, talk to your doctor about:

• Medication changes. New medications can greatly affect your response to exercise; your doctor can tell you if your normal exercise routine is still safe.
• Heavy lifting. Make sure that lifting or pushing heavy objects and chores such as raking, shoveling, mowing, or scrubbing aren't off limits. Chores around the house can be tiring for some people; make sure you only do what you are able to do without getting tired.
• Safe exercises. Get the doctor's approval before you lift weights, use a weight machine, jog, or swim.

What Type of Exercise Is Best?

Exercise can be divided into three basic types:

• Stretching: slow lengthening of the muscles. Stretching the arms and legs before and after exercising helps prepare the muscles for activity and helps prevent injury and muscle strain. Regular stretching also increases your range of motion and flexibility.
• Cardiovascular or aerobic: steady physical activity using large muscle groups. This type of exercise strengthens the heart and lungs and improves the body's ability to use oxygen. Aerobic exercise has the most benefits for your heart. Over time, aerobic exercise can help decrease your heart rate and blood pressure and improve your breathing.
• Strengthening: repeated muscle contractions (tightening) until the muscle becomes tired. For people with heart failure, many strengthening exercises are not recommended. (See below)

What Are Examples of Aerobic Exercises?

Aerobic exercises include: walking, jogging, jumping rope, bicycling (stationary or outdoor), cross-country skiing, skating, rowing and low-impact aerobics or water aerobics.

Maintain Your Brain

Make brain-healthy life choicesLike other parts of your body, your brain may lose some agility as you get older. It can deteriorate even more if you don’t take care of it. Science is unlocking many of the mysteries of the brain, but we don’t have all the answers yet. You can do everything “right” and still not prevent Alzheimer’s disease. What’s offered here is the best and most up-to-date information available about brain health so you can make your own decisions about your overall health.

Tips for Healthy Ears

Everyone has heard of swimmer's ear -- but there are other "ears" you don't want this summer, such as "music-lover's ear" and "unpressurized ear." Experts gave WebMD five tips for keeping your ears healthy -- over the summer and year-round.

Foods to Boost Your Eye Health

   

Are you eating the foods that are best for your eyes? There's more to eye nutrition than just carrots. Learn which foods boost your eye health and help protect against sight-threatening diseases.