EXERCISES IN DISCOMFORT FOR THE SELF-MANAGEMENT OF PAIN: MENTAL EXERCISES FOR THE RELIEF OF PAIN
April 29th, 2009 | Posted by admin | Category: Anti Depressants-Sleeping AidNo Comments
We proceed with the relaxing mental exercises in exactly the same way as. The only difference is that in the case of pain we have to go a little further, but the principles are just the same. For instance, in discussing phobic anxiety we saw the importance of gradually testing ourselves in the phobic situation. If our phobia concerned going into shops, we went into shops, little by little, easily and naturally, and all the time we concentrated on keeping our calm and relaxed state of mind. We follow the same procedure in dealing with pain.
In doing this there is one point which we must be clear about. The idea of testing out our reaction in the phobic situation by going into the shop seems to us a perfectly natural and common-sense thing to do. But when we come to testing ourselves with pain, we are likely to feel complicated about it. We would rather avoid it as something unnatural and not quite nice. We must not do this. It is just as natural and sensible to test ourselves with pain as it is with anxiety; and it is a very important step in overcoming our pain, just as it was with phobic anxiety.
We let our bodies relax; we feel the calm that goes with it; we feel it all through us, in our body, in our mind; we let ourselves go; we let go and we drift; we drift in the calm of it, the natural calm and ease that is all through us. We practise this until we can do it quite easily and naturally. Then we do it in increasingly uncomfortable situations. This is the beginning of our use of the relaxing mental exercises in the direct control of pain.
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TUMMY TROUBLES: PILES (HAEMORRHOIDS)
April 29th, 2009 | Posted by admin | Category: GastrointestinalNo Comments
Q. Are piles very common in this country?
A. They are. They are really dilated blood vessels, like varicose veins in the back passage. They swell up, largely if the person is constipated and must strain. They mainly remain inside the anal valve, although larger ones sometimes prolapse to the exterior. Others develop at the anal margin and often become painful as a clot forms and fills the vessel.
Q. Are there any symptoms?
A. Often there is bright red bleeding with a bowel action.
External ones may be painful, especially if they suddenly enlarge. There may be some irritation and itch.
Q. What about diagnosis and treatment?
A. Any bleeding from the bowel demands a proper examination by the doctor, especially in older persons aged 45 or more. Many cases of so-called piles have turned out to be a cancer of the rectum or colon. He will do a manual examination and look by direct vision with an instrument called a proctoscope, sigmoidoscope or maybe the colonoscope. Checking for cancer is essential every time.
Provided piles are the diagnosis, relieving constipation is essential. Daily use of unprocessed bran is good therapy. Add two tablespoonsful to your breakfast cereal or stewed fruit each morning. Most cases readily respond to this. Hot and cold sitz baths often give relief. The insertion of suppositories is also beneficial. Clotted external piles are treated surgically, with incision and clot removal. Persisting large bleeding piles are also removed surgically, either by surgical dissection or rubber band ligation and cryotherapy. Results are invariably satisfactory. Prevention of recurrences is best carried out with a high fibre diet.
Q. So we come to the end of our little volume.
A. I hope our readers have found it interesting and informative. Our last piece of advice is to take notice of symptoms. They are often the signals of internal disease. Ignoring them may be dangerous.
If there is any query, visit your doctor. He is there ready and willing to offer assistance. A proper medical history, plus examination with appropriate investigations is the best way to have internal disorders diagnosed. Treatment will follow. Today medical therapy has reached a high level of success. Treatment, whether it be via drugs, dietary advice, surgery or alternative methods, can bring relief to most conditions. Early diagnosis, even in serious diseases such as cancer, will lead to prompt treatment and in many cases a satisfactory outcome is possible. To delay is unwise.
Use this book as it is intended. To supplement what your doctor tells you, to help you seek early medical attention from the experts. We leave it up to you and wish you good health for many years ahead.
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MENSTRUAL PROBLEMS: HOW TO COPE-IN VARIOUS SITUATIONSC-AT SCHOOL:
April 29th, 2009 | Posted by admin | Category: Pain Relief-Muscle RelaxersNo Comments
TROUBLESOME MISERIES-MOODINESS
Adolescence is renowned for moods and boys are just as moody as girls. People always say, ‘Oh well, she’s an adolescent. She’s bound to be moody.’ Which is annoying if you are in a very good temper and on top of the world but often it’s true. Your teens are the most likely time when you’ll be sorting out what kind of a person you are, or want to be. Some lucky people know all along. They and their parents seem perfectly contented with things as they are and nobody urges them to change their ways or alter their character. Others have to think things out at length, and decide whether they’re going to be what they want to be or what somebody else wants them to be. This is often very tricky and can lead to a lot of heart-searching, misery and depression, particularly if you don’t really like the way you are and know what a battle it will be to change yourself.
If on top of that your moods change abruptly, simply because a period is on the way, then your life is even more complicated and you can often find yourself in the middle of a blazing row you hadn’t really intended, or with a broken romance, or in a pitched battle with a
teacher — all made worse by the feeling that you can’t cope with any of it.
For a start, it does help a little if you know it’s only temporary and that by tomorrow or next Wednesday or whenever you’ll be feeling and acting like a different person. It also helps if you can remember to relax, difficult as that is when you are in the thick of some emotional
battle — in fact, almost impossible. But if you can remember at least to unclench your fists, drop your shoulders or breathe in second gear for a bit, it could give you just the few seconds you need, either for a breathing space or even better, to call a halt. And if you try and fail, you’re no worse off.
It can sometimes be a help if your friends and allies know that this is all part of the miseries. But friends and allies should be warned! We are often very unreasonable indeed when we are actually in the middle of a mood. When we have finished a period and we are quite ourselves again it’s easy enough to admit that the mood was part of the miseries, but if they try telling us at the time, it could make things ten times worse. I have been told by girls who know that the very last thing they want to be reminded of is that they’re acting up because they’re female. As one girl said, ‘It’s so bloody patronizing! And of course it’s true —which makes it worse!’ So my advice to friends and allies would be to talk these problems over when everyone is calm and rational talk is possible.
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