Change Your Eating, Change a Whole Lot More

“When you change your eating, it’s not just your eating that will change,” says Cassandra Ohlsen, MD, author of the recently released book, Enlightened Eating: The Eightfold Path to Health.

“The United States is one of the fattest and least healthy populations nations in the world”, she says. “We want the pleasures of the foods we like, and then we want a quick fix -- a pill -- to counteract the harm we’ve done to ourselves by eating them.”

But nutrition science is confusing and the hefty advertising budgets of the food industry can derail people. The incredible number and range of studies and science about food and diet is sometimes contradictory. People eat for countless reasons, including stress relief, to relieve fatigue, to comfort themselves, to accompany the alcohol they drink, to please others, to be included in family gatherings and social situations, to celebrate their heritage...seldom is it simply for health.

“What we eat impacts everything: from how much we weigh, to how we feel, how much we sleep, and our bodies ability to switch on disease-preventing genes and switch off disease-causing genes.

“The bottom line however is simple - The best fix is to change how you eat and switch to a plant-based, whole foods diet,” she says.  “Instead of overeating high-calorie, fat-laden, prepared, processed, and unnatural foods, indulge yourself by eating nutrient-rich, calorie-sparse natural foods -- vegetables fruits, beads and whole grains.”

Dr. Ohlsen offers a guide is all about navigating this path and you don’t have to be a Buddhist to receive the benefits of their principles.

“You can change your health by changing what you eat”, she says, “as well as how to change how you think and act with regard to food. You can transform your relationship with food and change from the inside out.”

Here are a few of her recommendations.

• Thinking specifically about what you want--not what you don’t want. Getting to a new way of eating requires a new way of thinking. Since solutions always begin with thought, problems have to be solved first in our mind. Begin by doing the following:

• Name what you want to change. Perhaps there was a diagnosis of a serious medical problem and the issue is at least partly a result of the way you’ve been eating. Or maybe it’s simply time to improve or preserve your health, and to do that there needs to be a change in diet. Or maybe one might want to contribute to preserving the environment and stop contributing to the abuse of animals through factory farming. Name it.

• Reflect on how you got to this place. What created this problem? Was it due to mindlessly overeating? If you have high cholesterol is it because you're eating too much animal fat? Did you experience some kind of childhood trauma, or do you sometimes have bouts of depression? Only by knowing the reason behind the problem can you then actively change it.

• Visualize the new behavior in your mind before you practice it. Visualize yourself choosing more plant-based foods and enjoying the tastes and textures of the food. Do this in as much detail as possible. See the colors, hear the crunch or other sounds associated with eating delicious food. Feel the enjoyment and the satisfaction of eating nutritious foods, and the good feelings that come from treating your body well.

• Say positive statements aloud to yourself. This might include, “I see myself eating more healthfully each and every day. I am in the process choosing foods that are better for me and the environment. I see myself becoming healthier, thinner, and more fit. I love feeling good that I’m making positive choices, and not adding to the suffering of animals.”

• We become what we envision. Focus on the present moment and observe our thoughts and guide our minds. Do our thoughts work against our new way of eating, or do they encourage us in it? Do we tell ourselves we’re happy with our new eating, or tell ourselves we’re deprived? If the latter, we are much less likely to stick with it.

• Create the thoughts that will lead to that next action. Many of us want to change something but don’t know how. To change our eating habits (or any habits for that matter), identify the problem, look for the causes, eliminate them, and live with the solution through our plans, thoughts, actions, and daily awareness.

Once you begin to take control of your mind, it’s time to take control of your food.

How to transition to plant-based eating.

Tip: Think differently about what you already eat.

1. Consider fruits, vegetables, beans and grains as the main focus of a meal rather than side dishes. This not only helps with the transition, it also automatically increases the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat daily.

Fruit: It’s satisfying, contains no salt or fat, provides a lot of great nutrition.

What to do: Have it washed and cleaned and available at all times for snacks. Throw it in a backpack, lunch box, briefcase, desk drawer or in the car. Throw into smoothies. Make it easy to grab a piece of fruit, rather than a sugar-filled energy bar or candy bar.

Salads: Make them a more prominent part of your meal.

What to do: Throw in more veggies, make it larger, add more protein or fruit -- apples, berries, and dried fruits such as raisins, cranberries, and dates. Beans, nuts, hummus, edamame and tofu are good protein additions to salads. Experiment. You’ll surprise yourself at how good and satisfying salads can be.

Sandwiches: Create a salad between two pieces of bread.

What to do: Load it up with raw vegetables--lettuce, tomato, avocado, cucumber sprouts, or whatever veggies you love. Add a dip for extra flavor.

Snacks: When you’re hungry, go for something that will nourish you, not chips or candy or cheese.

What to do: Stuff raw vegetables with nut butter or soy cream cheese or hummus. Raw veggies can be used with many different types dips. Beans can be mashed or pureed and used as a dip with veggies, or as a sandwich spread or eaten with vegetables as a light meal.

2. The Square Meal Plan

Imagine a square divided into quarters. In one corner there are dark-green leafy and other vegetables. In another corner there are legumes such as nuts, beans peas, tofu, or peanut butter. Fresh fruits are in the third corner, and some kind of whole grains are in the forth. Eating this way, you’ll be sure to get all the vital nutrients you need, including protein.

A whole foods, plant-based diet, along with Buddhist psychology changes everything. It gives you a new way of reasoning, overcoming obstacles, and eliminating impulsive behaviors. It will help you to:

• Know when to stop eating
• Become aware of the space between thought and action, allowing you to make good decisions
• No longer consume anything mindlessly -- food, alcohol, TV or anything else
• Become aware of the now
• Accept responsibility for how you live
• Feel wonderful knowing you didn’t cause any other living being to suffer for your food
• Feel lucky to be able to eat in such a way that you no longer have to worry about weight
• Know that eating has become a very spiritual thing

“Let us eat in such a way that we keep our compassion alive, reduce the suffering of living beings, preserve our planet, and reverse the processes of global climate change”

--Thich Nhat Hanh

***

Enlightened Eating: The Eightfold Path to Health

Cassandra Ohlsen, M.D.

Paperback: 176 pages

Publisher: Cypress House; First edition (December 11, 2017)

ISBN-10: 187938499X   ISBN-13: 978-1879384996

About the author:

Cassandra Ohlsen, m.d., is a diplomate certified in Internal Medicine. She received her medical degree from Keck School of Medicine of USC and has been in practice for over twenty years. She has also practiced in Africa and India: In 1984, she worked with Mother Teresa at her Home for Dying Destitutes and her Children’s Home in Calcutta. Dr. Ohlsen also cared for the medically underserved at a Los Angeles clinic, helping to rebuild community health after the Watts riots; in Fresno, California, where she attended to migrant farm workers; and at the Monterey County Health Department, where she took care of indigent adults and children. Enlightened Eating is her first book. http://www.drcassandraohlsen.com/

What others are saying:

“Dr. Cassandra Ohlsen is one of those rare physicians whose goal is to help you understand that what and how you eat is foundational to your personal health, the health of others we share the Earth with, and the Earth itself. If you want more energy and vibrant health, her book, Enlightened Eating, will give you that and a lot, lot more.”

John Robbins, President of the Food Revolution Network; Author of Diet For A New America and The Food Revolution

“If you are looking to improve your eating habits, Enlightened Eating is the perfect place to start. This life-changing book translates complex nutrition information into simple, practical guidance and helps you take in hand the power of good nutrition.

Neal D. Barnard, MD, FACC, Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine

How Some Executives Give Their Brain Waves A Workout

Successful CEOs and entrepreneurs, as well as ambitious middle managers, often seek ways to keep their mental faculties sharp to stay ahead of their competition.

But training your brain to perform at peak levels isn’t easy.

And that’s why some executives are turning to neurofeedback sessions – a kind of biofeedback for the brain – to improve their mind’s executive function and performance.

“Improved health and mental focus can help you balance the stressors of daily living while keeping you headed toward your goals,” says Dr. Ed Carlton, founder of the Carlton Neurofeedback Center (www.carltonneurofeedbackcenter.com) and author of the book The Answer.

“For example, for people who are seeking a promotion or a career shift, or planning to start their own business, neurofeedback training can help improve their executive function and their performance.”

Inspirational speaker Tony Robbins is a fan of neurofeedback training. So is Olympic beach volleyball champion Kerri Walsh-Jennings.

Carlton refers to neurofeedback as “fitness training for the brain,” which is perhaps why it’s appealing even to Olympic athletes.

Here’s how it works: The process begins with a brain map, which locates the specific areas that need help to function more efficiently. Once these areas are identified, neurofeedback training can improve their function. The technology uses computers to monitor brain-wave patterns while the patient relaxes and watches a movie or video. The visual and audio inputs are varied, providing feedback based on the training goals from the brain map. The results are lasting and there are no side effects, Carlton says.

While neurofeedback can be used to improve executive function, it’s also used to treat ADD and ADHD, depression, autism, seizures, traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic-stress disorder.

Carlton says there are a few important facts business executives should know if they’re interested in the benefits of neurofeedback training:

• Why the brain’s executive function is important. Executive function refers to the complex neurological processes in the brain’s frontal lobe that help you plan, manage time and get organized. “This is where we learn to keep details in our head, come up with different ways to solve problems, and start and complete tasks,” Carlton says. This requires a complex set of skills such as being able to pay attention, self-monitor and regulate emotions.
• How neurofeedback training helps. Neurofeedback can help you regain your focus and reduce mental clutter that can impact memory and organization. “After patients start the training regimen, many of them tell us the first thing they notice right away is that their quality of sleep improves,” Carlton says. “As training continues, performance improvements follow.”
• Professional development as self-care. Neurofeedback training doesn’t alter your personality or change who you are, Carlton says. “It’s simply a training gym of sorts to help your brain make new connections that keep it in balance, which helps better regulate emotional states, improves attention and focus, and enhances working memory,” he says. “For anyone in business, all of these skills are keys to improving your performance edge, helping you break out of patterns or start new ones, and sharpening your cognitive performance over time.”

The weekly neurofeedback sessions take about half an hour and are painless and non-invasive, Carlton says. The results also last a long time.

“Once your brain learns new ways to respond,” he says, “it continues learning much the way we remember how to swim year after year.”

About Dr. Ed Carlton

Dr. Ed Carlton is founder of the Carlton Neurofeedback Center (www.carltonneurofeedbackcenter.com) and author of the book The Answer. He is a chiropractor, but prior to that worked for nine years as an engineer. Carlton’s interest in his current profession came about because of his own experience with bipolar disorder.  "My first degree is engineering. Neurofeedback is a cross between medicine and engineering, using the best of both to provide relief for my patients. The Answer explains how neurofeedback stopped my bipolar symptoms, and how it can help others do the same.”

CARPINTERIA, CA., MARCH 8, 2018 - The first Whole Foods Market wouldn’t open in Austin, Texas, for another two years. The first Sprouts wouldn’t make its debut in Arizona for another 24 years. Vegetarians were relegated to the shadows in most supermarket settings, and for much of the population, the term Vegan sounded like something out of “Star Trek.”

The year was 1978 and the health food revolution was in its infancy. But a young man named Joel Dee with a vision of what the industry could one day become saw the future. And it was delicious.

As a young man, Joel worked alongside his two brothers and their father, Edward, in the family’s iconic New Jersey-based business, Smarties Candy Company. But, as fate would have it, Joel’s interests extended well beyond the confection industry.

“I was responsible for export sales at the candy company and found it difficult to maintain a healthy, satisfying diet while on-the-road,” Joel recalls today. “Health food stores sold wholesome foods that required a kitchen and a long cooking time, both in short supply to a `road warrior’ such as myself. Conventional supermarkets sold convenience foods that were laced with preservatives and artificial ingredients, which I was determined to avoid. To make things even tougher, I had recently become vegetarian, so my restaurant menu options were often limited to salad and potatoes... not exactly a balanced diet.”

Adds Joel, “I was a traveling salesman who needed portable, nourishing, easy to prepare vegetarian food without artificial ingredients, but I couldn’t find it anywhere in 1976 America. I wondered: Could I be the only person who wants this? I hadn’t planned to start a new business, but I felt somewhat obliged to.  If I wouldn’t take on the job of creating wholesome, vegetarian convenience foods, it occurred to me that no one else would either.”

With that motivation in mind, Joel began a two year effort to develop Miso-Cup® instant soup mix and, with its launch in 1978, Edward & Sons Trading Company, Inc. was born.

A History of “Firsts”  

As it turned out, introducing instant Miso-Cup soup would be only the first of numerous company innovations that would continue for the next forty years. In 1979, for example, Edward & Sons introduced Baked Brown Rice Snaps® whole grain, gluten free crackers, decades before American shoppers would demand gluten free groceries on a massive scale. Numerous “first-to-market” vegan organic products followed, including canned coconut milk, hearts of palm, pineapple chunks and mandarin oranges, Worcestershire sauce, croutons, panko, ice cream cones and many more.

According to Joel, “We tend to do`firsts’ because that’s what we’re passionate about. We are driven to provide new options to our health-aware consumers, while creating markets for our ethical organic farmers and packers around the globe. We’re proud of our activities that protect native forests and support conversion from conventional to organic farming, which nourishes the environment while enhancing the well-being of everyone along the supply chain from farm to table”

Indeed, Joel and his team have successfully developed so many different products over these past 40 years that they’ve chosen to create subsidiary brands to market and distinguish them all, including the flagship Edward & Sons® brand as well as Native Forest®,  Let’s Do Organic®, Let’s Do Gluten-Free®, More Than Fair®, Nature Factor®, Road’s End Organics®, Premier Japan® and The Wizard's®.

Regardless of the brand name on the package, however, all products under the Edward & Sons umbrella are defined by the company’s longstanding commitment to excellent vegetarian food and to its enduring motto: Convenience Without Compromise.®

As Joel sums up, “We remain a vegetarian company that’s mission-driven to offer consumers delicious and nourishing convenience foods free of artificial ingredients. That’s how we’ve run the business for the past 40 years and it’s how I envision Edward & Sons to be run for the next 40 years - and beyond.”

How Eating Disorders Impact Your Mental Health

Many people aren’t educated on the effects of eating disorders on a person’s mental health. This may include friends and family. Since a person’s emotions are so complicated, it may even be difficult for some doctors to distinguish symptoms.

It’s extremely important for the affected person’s friends or family to understand the person’s feelings. Here are some ways an eating disorder may impact someone’s mental health.

Fearful Anxiety

It can be frightening to go without food for days at a time. This can lead to anxiety and a negative state of mind. It’s difficult to think without the proper sustenance.

Eating too much can also make a person feel anxious. This leads to more eating and gaining additional weight which makes the person’s thoughts rush even more. Being bullied or abused in any way may lead to eating disorders.

Delusional Thoughts

The person may start to blur the differences between imagination and reality. They may have delusional thoughts about their own spiritual or religious beliefs. Destroying random household objects for seemingly strange reasons can occur.

He/she may hear noises that aren’t there like the radio playing when it’s not on. This hypersensitivity may lead to believing animals or statues are speaking to them.

Strong Emotions

Traumatizing feelings and unwanted emotions may be out of control in the person’s mind. Deep emotions can make a person feel like doing impulsive things like screaming. Or they could just cry deeply and a person may not understand why.

He/she may feel unloved, unwanted and misunderstood. Try not to be alarmed at their shocking depth. Imagine how you would feel in similar circumstances and just be there for them.

Lonely Isolation

Isolation can be the worst thing for a person with an eating disorder to endure. It’s important to have a support system. They need unconditional love right now. One option if a loved one needs help is Center for Change. In extreme circumstances, it may be necessary to get the additional aid that they may need.

If you know someone who has an eating disorder one of the best things you can do for them is to try to understand their feelings. Don’t assume they’re crazy because they may never forgive you for it and they might assume you don’t care about them. Get them help if necessary and give them the empathy that they may never receive otherwise.

New standards help both health care professionals and patients manage opioid use

Prostate Cancer Foundation BC Announces the Raymond James Father's Day Walk Run June 17, 2018

Q and A: How Design Thinking Helped Stanford Engineer Create “Wise Exercise” Program, Ocinator

What is Ocinator?

Ocinator is the GPS of fitness; it shows you the quickest way to getting a toned, athletic, and healthy body. Ocinator is a unique exercise program for busy adults and their families. It’s philosophy is “exercise wisely”. Ocinator releases a 20 minute daily at-home workout video. Each day’s workout features simple and non-exhausting exercises. This allows users to exercise consistently in order to gain and maintain fitness results. Ocinator Members also have access to The Ocinator Eating Guide, which makes eating healthily simple. Ocinator was created using Design Thinking, which I learned at Stanford.

What is Design Thinking?

Design Thinking is a systematic approach to solving everyday problems. It involves user-centered research to find and address a need that people have. Design Thinking is the foundation of the Product Design Major, which I completed, at Stanford. The creator of Snapchat was actually a Product Design Major at Stanford. Design Thinking helped him create Snapchat. He found that people had a need to send pictures quickly. The rest is history.

How did you apply Design Thinking to create Ocinator?

At first, I knew that most people want a program that will help them stay fit, toned, and athletic always.

Based on the current fads in fitness at the time, I thought that high intensity workouts with maximum effort would help people see results more quickly. Then, these quick results would inspire people to continue the program and exercise consistently. Boy, was I wrong.

I tested the program with busy adults and Stanford students. However, exhausting high intensity exercises, including jumping, left users sore for days, even weeks. Several people quit after one or two sessions because they were so sore. Exercising consistently is one of the most important factors in gaining and maintaining fitness results. Clearly, I had to change the program.

I found that busy adults, to exercise consistently, needed an exercise program that minimized workout time and exhaustion. I then researched and tested exercise methods that could help users see results as quickly as possible while minimizing workout pain.

I was pleasantly surprised with the results. After more testing, I found that these non-exhausting exercises worked more efficiently. Users were able to see toned muscles more quickly with these new exercise methods. They were now able to focus on sculpting their muscles into shape. Before, they had been focusing their energy on merely getting through the program.

Design Thinking helped me arrive at a program different than what I initially intended to create. Instead of a high intensity program, I created a program with simple exercises that does not leave users exhausted. And, as a bonus, these new training methods helped me create the most efficient exercise program that we know of.

What is “exercising wisely”? Does this mean that Ocinator exercises are more efficient?

Yes, exercising wisely means that Ocinator gets results efficiently. Users minimize time and effort when exercising. At the same time, they perform exercises that earn them fitness results more quickly than high intensity programs.

It seems counter-intuitive that non-exhausting exercises get results more quickly than high intensity exercises. How do you explain this?

Yes, it is certainly counter-intuitive. I was surprised that non-exhausting exercises earned users results over a shorter time span. And I was also somewhat disappointed that I had wasted so much of my own time performing high intensity exercises, which felt like torture. I could have been earning better-looking results while putting in significantly less effort.

One aspect is that non-exhausting exercises allow you to focus on your muscle movements. With non-exhausting exercises, you can focus on combining your breathing and feeling yourself sculpt your muscle into shape and improve your overall health. On the other hand, high intensity exercises make you focus on merely getting through the exercise, wiping away profuse sweat, catching your breath, and perhaps not vomiting.

Another aspect is exercising consistently. Non-exhausting exercises help people exercise every day without dealing with undue soreness. This is especially helpful for busy adults. Exhausting exercise just is not appealing for many people before or after a long day of work. So, instead of quitting or exercising once every week, as high intensity exercises prompt, non-exhausting exercises help many people consistently sculpt their bodies with exercise.

Professional athletes perform high intensity exercise all the time. Many of these athletes have great bodies. Should we not be using the same training methods?

Here’s an analogy I like to use: If your goal is to arrive at Rome as soon as possible, you should find the wisest path: the quickest, easiest, and smartest way to get there. Rome is like the toned and healthy body many busy adults would like to achieve. Ocinator is the quickest and easiest way to achieve that body.

On the other hand, Rome, the main goal for athletes, is not a toned an athletic body. Rome for athletes is becoming the best athlete they can possibly be. A toned and athletic body often comes along with excellent athletic performance. But it is not the main goal.

As you can see, busy adults and athletes have different goals. It is wise to plan the quickest, easiest, and smartest way to achieve your specific goal. Ocinator is the wise way for busy adults to achieve a toned, athletic, and healthy body.

How difficult is the eating component of Ocinator?

The Ocinator Eating Guide, which is accessible to Ocinator Members, is very simple. As you know, it requires a lot of work and research to make something simple. A lot of research and design thinking went into creating the Ocinator eating guide to simplify and make eating an enjoyable part of our users’ life. It is not a diet plan that involves counting calories or limiting carbs or any food group, or complicated research. Instead, it involves eating quality, healthy food and eliminating junk food, including products with added sugar and refined grain. The Ocinator Eating Guide details what healthy food is, what junk food is, how to eat healthily at home, and even what to order at restaurants.

How can readers learn more about Ocinator?

You can visit Ocinator.com. Our About Us, FAQ, and Blog pages have more information. For specific questions, email press@ocinator.com

Is the Solution to Cancer Already in our Medicine Cabinets? The Cancer Research Society Launches UpCycle, a New Funding Program to Encourage Research in Drug Repurposing

SOURCE Cancer Research Society

Sandwich Generation: Growing Dilemma for American Women

It’s a Tuesday morning and you’re sitting at your desk. Your coffee is still hot, almost all of your emails from the previous day have been opened, and you’re prepping for your afternoon meeting. Then, in a matter of minutes, a call from the school nurse comes through. Your child is sick and needs to be picked up immediately. As you coordinate those plans, the doctor’s office calls to remind you of your mother’s 2:00 pacemaker appointment for later that day, one that may have slipped your mind. If this scenario, in any variation of it, sounds familiar, you are in what researchers call the “Sandwich Generation”.

The Sandwich Generation can be defined as individuals aged 40-59 to who are responsible for raising children while caring for the needs of their parents. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center shows that roughly one out of every eight Americans falls within this category. Mabel Yiu, licensed marriage and family therapist with Women’s Therapy Institute in Palo Alto, is all too familiar with helping individuals, particularly women, handle the day to day stresses of being a dual caregiver. As women stuck in the Sandwich Generation, the dueling lifestyles can create a number of psychological, emotional, and financial stresses.

According to Yiu:

• Though men can be in the Sandwich Generation,  families are more likely to adopt the “efficiency mentality”. This is the belief that since women are already taking care of children, taking care of aging parents may not seem as big a burden to add on. This mentality grossly underestimates the resources and time necessary to handle both responsibilities.

• One major factor that has played a role in the steady growth of the Sandwich Generation is that many couples are delaying the point at which they choose to start a family. This is in large part due to the ever-changing economic climate and student loan debt. Women are working to become more established in their careers and financially secure before opting to start a family.

• Single mothers are increasingly becoming the dominant demographic of the Sandwich Generation in comparison to married mothers.

•  Advances in the medical field have increased life expectancy, allowing aging parents the ability to live longer and healthier lives,  this means more resources is/are (need grammar help here) necessary to sustain living.Societal expectations of women caregivers in conjunction with the economy driving women to work have created emotionally and psychologically draining ‘round-the-clock lifestyles for women within the Sandwich Generation.

• It is very common for women in the Sandwich Generation to experience feelings of depression, anxiety, and other symptoms of emotional distress due to worries about outlook for the elderly parents, themselves and their own children (need grammar/syntax help here).

• The needs of the caregiver within the Sandwich Generation often go unaddressed, creating personal issues in areas such as health and finance.

• Despite the negatives, it is possible for the Sandwich Generation to meet the demands of child, parent, and self. This comes through support networks, communication, prioritization, and respite care.

• A positive that comes from Sandwich Generation is the familial bond created…strengthening the bond between elderly parent and adult children…grandchildren get to know their roots by being with their grandparents more.  (need grammar/syntax help).

• Planning, organization, and communication are three main skills that help those women within the Sandwich Generation to balance the constant needs of both children and parents.

How to Heal a Herniated Disc and Get Back to the Gym

Many people sustain injuries that result in a herniated disc. It can happen from lifting something heavy, or pushing or pulling something the wrong way. Fortunately, most herniated discs heal with time. However, it is best to consult a general medical doctor or a back specialist, who may want to have x-rays done to determine the extent of the damage. The following steps may lead to prompt healing.

Medical Exam

See your regular physician or a specialist for a thorough evaluation. In addition to the x-rays mentioned above, the doctor may restrict certain activities as well as recommend treatment like physical therapy or medication. It’s important to get the correct type of herniated disc treatment, if you find yourself in this position. Follow through with prescribed limits and treatments to ensure a speedy recovery.

Rest

Take it easy for several days to let the disc heal. This might include taking time off from work, depending on your job duties. The doctor will write you a note if needed. Avoid excessive walking or movement as well as any vigorous exercise. The doctor will advise you whether to sit or recline to provide maximum relief to the injured area, and may even suggest certain positions to use or avoid.

Medication

If medication is prescribed, take it as directed. Don’t take more than needed, as it may have adverse side effects or interact negatively with other medications you are taking. Over-the-counter medication may be adequate for treating pain and muscle soreness as needed. If physical therapy is prescribed, follow through with appointments to promote complete recovery.

Reduced Activities

Some people are eager to return to work instead of resting at home per the doctor’s recommendation. Others may miss their routine physical activities, like daily exercise, and decide they feel well enough to resume activities before healing is complete. The doctor can best advise you when to return to normal activities. Failing to follow his or her directives may slow the healing process of the herniated disc and possibly even compound the injury.

Drink Water

Water is helpful in lubricating the joints and promoting circulation throughout the body. Check with the doctor whether you should drink the usual amount of six to eight glasses of water per day, or if you should have less or more, depending on your overall health and other medications. Water is considered by some medical experts to be nearly a miracle substance in itself, so don’t neglect this important aspect of healing.

A back injury should be given serious attention, both medically and personally, to facilitate healing. Basic steps like these can help your herniated disc to heal quickly without complications. Be proactive for best results.