Do you like to always avoid accidents and physical harm? You will learn plenty of ways to do this.

Be careful when lifting heavy objects. Before picking up a heavy object, squat with the upper part of your legs parallel to the ground and lift with your knees. If you feel too much strain while trying to lift the object, put it down and get someone to help you. Wear a weight belt while lifting heavy objects.

Use caution while doing dangerous tasks. If you use something such as an electric saw, do not wear loose items such as ties, watches or jewelry. Roll up your sleeves. If you weld, wear a mask and suit designed for welders. Wear thick rubber gloves while pulling weeds near thorny roses. Wear protective clothing when handling acids.

Wear eye protection while doing routine things. For example, you should wear safety goggles or safety glasses while mowing the lawn or hammering nails.

Protect your ears from loud noises. Wear ear mufflers or ear plugs while using a loud apparatus such as a lawn mower, gun or vacuum cleaner. Wear ear plugs at rock concerts.

Protect yourself while riding your bike. Wear elbow pads and knee pads. It is especially important to wear a helmet while bicycling to prevent receiving a serious head injury or death from an accident.

Always drive carefully. Drive the speed limit. Stop at all stop signs and red lights. Obey all traffic signs. Slow down in the presence of construction workers and bad weather conditions.

It is crucial to wear your seat belt in traffic because experts often say many of the people who have died or incurred a serious injury from a traffic accident would have stayed alive and walked away without much physical harm if they had worn their seat belts. The experts also say an air bag is mostly useful to cushion the blow from a side collision and that the air bag will not keep you from being thrown out of your vehicle.

Prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and repetitive motion stress injuries while using a computer keyboard. Press your lap with both hands for five seconds before typing. Avoid striking the keys too hard. Place the keyboard several inches away from the edge of the table so your hands will be stretched out. Avoid bending your wrists when possible. Sit with your feet flat and your thighs parallel to the floor. Take a break from typing occasionally.

Handle sharp objects with care. To prevent the risk of cutting yourself with a fork or sharp knife that is hard to see in dish water, keep forks and sharp knives on the counter while you run water in the sink. Do not run with sharp objects. Hold the sharp end of things such as scissors toward the floor as you carry them.

To prevent choking, do not take big bites when you eat. If you see someone choking, put your arms around his or her waist and make a pulling motion with your fists clenched until the food is dislodged from the other person’s throat. Perform this procedure on yourself if you start choking while you are alone.

Protect your feet. Wear gym shoes while lifting free weights or playing sports that require running.

Never look at the sun. When the sun is in your line of sight, wear sunglasses and cover the side of your face that is facing the sun with a hat or your hand with your fingers closed. Only watch eclipses with special eyewear designed for watching eclipses.

Drink plenty of water and sports drinks when it is hot. Do not exert yourself too much in hot weather.

To avoid frostbite in freezing weather, wear gloves or mittens. Cover your nose and mouth with a scarf. Wear a scarf or ear muffs on your ears.

Do not try to open an elevator while the doors are closing. Hold the handrail while riding an elevator or escalator.

Avoid trouble. Always mind your own business. Never start or accept a physical fight. Never try to physically break up a fight. Never attack or assault anyone. Do not do or say something that is likely to provoke someone to hurt you.

Avoid electrical shocks. Do not stick your fingers or metal objects into electrical outlets. Keep electrical appliances away from water.

Avoid fires. Keep flammable materials away from light bulbs and heat. Empty the lint filter before you operate a clothes dryer. Do not smoke indoors.

By:Todd Hicks 

What is the definition of a “toxic chemical”? According to online dictionaries, toxic chemicals are described as: Any chemical that can cause death or permanent harm to humans or animals. This includes all such chemicals, regardless of their origin or of their method of production, and regardless of whether they are produced in facilities, or elsewhere.

The fumes that come from air fresheners, household cleaners, and laundry detergents that make your home and laundry smell so fresh contain dozens of toxic chemicals, and “volatile organic compounds”. You can research that term later. They have the ability to harm your health, and your pet’s health as well. None of these toxic chemicals will be listed on product labels so don’t even bother to look for them. The federal government does not require companies to disclose ingredients that are considered fragrances.

I’m only talking about household scents here. I can write an article every day for a year and not cover all the toxic chemicals in our environment. Most of us know to stay clear of cleaners that look dangerous and include warnings on the label, like “do not breathe”, but we may not think about fragrances as toxic chemicals.

Of course, the health effects of toxic chemicals in the home are “unclear”. I don’t want to be part of an experiment, do you? It seems the American way is to put the product out there and if a few too many people die or are hospitalized, then maybe they’ll consider taking it off the shelf. If product complaints include reports of dizziness, headaches, seizures, and shortness of breath, and asthma attacks, that’s enough for me to give it up!

If you don’t think I’m being straight with you, do your own research to become informed and to be able to make the right decisions for you. I wanted to share with you an article from National Geographic where an employee willingly allowed himself to be tested for toxic chemicals in his body. It is an eye-opener, even if you think this is a bunch of nonsense put together by women who have nothing better to do than report the sky is falling.

Some of you may already be taking measures to protect your family, and I applaud you. Your awareness may have started with the problem of lead in toys, or maybe you are in Health and Wellness like me, and watch out for these things. I do not think our health is the main concern amongst big businesses today. You will have to take your health into your own hands, even when it comes to laundry products. Seems ridiculous, doesn’t it?

So, what exactly is the problem this time? Not much is considered safe these days. The problem of toxic chemicals and volatile organic compounds in scents goes along with the finding of hormone disruptors in plastics, toiletries and other man made products. You can research “hormone disruptors” as well, and learn all you need to know about how these chemicals affect your body, and it’s not pretty!

The latest studies by the University of Washington focused on commonly used products: dryer sheets (women love the way they smell), fabric softeners, laundry detergents, and different types of air fresheners. All the products gave off major volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.

Many volatile organic compounds like paint and gasoline are known to be harmful. Of course, the safety of the rest are “unclear”. VOCs are compounds that vaporize easily. You may have heard about volatile organic compounds from interior house paint ads, or from your city’s water quality report. They are in there!

All of the products that were tested emitted at least one harmful, toxic chemical; classified by the federal government, not by me. There were 3 toxic chemicals emitted that the EPA considers hazards with no safe exposure levels, that have been linked to organ damage. I’m sure the rest is “unclear”.

Although certain groups have spoken up to assure you that these toxic chemical fragrances have been tested for safety and be used with confidence, I am “confidently” not using them and haven’t been for a long time. Knowledge is power here. I only mean to inform, although I’m sure you pick up on where I stand on the matter.

Children are very sensitive to toxic chemical exposure and their little bodies should be protected. Because of their size the toxic chemicals can affect them even more. Even healthy males, during a recent study, reported the side effects listed above, when they were exposed to volatile organic compounds.

Naturally, the products tested will not be named, because you guessed it: big money is involved. Even though we deserve the right to know what is in the products we use daily, manufacturers are not required to tell us.

So, how do you avoid toxic chemicals and volatile organic compounds in the home? Look for natural, plant-based products with fragrances disclosed on the label. They are out there if you look, and they are not always more expensive. Stop using laundry products with a fragrance; look for unscented. Use a fan in the bathroom! Be an “informed consumer” and remember, “Knowledge is Power” to make a difference in your health, and in those you love.

By:Becky Joubert

Retirement is easy, right? You just stop working and everything else will be fine. I call this the “Homer Simpson Myth.” Doh! It just doesn’t work that way, Homer. With life spans extending 20 to 30+ years after traditional retirement age, and retirement representing one of the most difficult of life’s transitions, it makes sense to spend some time getting “fit” so that you can enjoy your new life ahead.

Retirement fitness has three components: (1) physical fitness, (2) psychological fitness, and (3) financial fitness.

Physical Fitness:

Sure, maybe you go to the gym on a regular basis, before or after work, or even during work if your company has workout facilities on-site. But just the act of getting up and going to work burns calories, so if you stop working, you may well have to increase the intensity and frequency of your workouts just to stay even.

And the unfortunate trend among retirees is just the opposite. For many, retirement can induce a sedentary lifestyle. Work provides a structure for your life: when to get up in the morning, where to go, how long to stay there, when to come home. This structure can be lost when we retire. According to a recent AARP study, only 26.4% of 65- to 74-year-olds are engaged in some type of physical activity, and this drops to 15.7% after age 70. And while many people say they want to spend their retirement traveling the world, many retirees travel to the couch and stay there.

Biologically, a sedentary lifestyle tells your body to start shutting down, which leads eventually to deterioration. Use it or lose it. Older adults now account for 1/3 of total health care costs in America, approaching 300 billion a year!

Of course, whether or not to stay fit is up to you, and it is a good idea to review when you have been at peak fitness earlier in life. Do you thrive in competitive sports? Does winning get your juices flowing? If so, you may want to search out activities which grant you that thrill. On the other hand, perhaps solitary activities put you in the zone. If so, weights, jogging and/or stretching may be better for you. The point is to explore what will keep you coming back to the activity, according to which aspects resonate with your personal makeup.

So see your fitness instructor and make a plan to “get physically fit” before and during your retirement that is consistent with your unique personality. If working with others motivates you, find a workout buddy or hire a professional trainer. Staying physically fit in retirement is very important. But that is not enough.

Psychological Fitness:

How do you prepare psychologically for retirement? You again begin by exploring what motivates you. Record your past experiences when you were in a state of “flow,” meaning when you were so involved in an activity that you lost all sense of time. What was the challenge, what were you doing to meet it, what was your style for accomplishing it (alone, working with one or more other people, giving directions or following directions of others, etc.), and what was the environment in which you were doing it? A personal record of your flow experiences can give you a treasure trove of information about what motivates you and keeps you feeling a zest for life.

Start with a record of when you have felt happiest or most productive. From that, select a snapshot of an event where you can record and analyze your senses. What did the moment feel like? In your analysis, record not only what you did but how and when you did it: alone or with others, morning or night, quickly or with slow intensity. Finally, analyze the motivation behind it: did you record a sense of personal triumph, or did you relish your part in a group’s accomplishment, or did you feel that you were a servant of a higher power? These observations form a core basis for developing a personal plan for yourself that will make you feel committed to your life, that will give you purpose and meaning, and that can translate into a desire to remain active and psychologically fit to serve that purpose.

I can’t overemphasize the importance of this last point. Many people are motivated by the idea of retirement as a perpetual vacation. I call this the “Carnival Cruise” myth. Vacations are great but as a counterbalance to a set routine and not as an end in themselves. Without paying attention to what really motivates you, you risk losing that “zest” for life which can lead to lack of purpose, focus and direction and potentially to depression and unhappiness. Many of us know people who are unhappy and even bitter in retirement.

Financial Fitness:

Now that you have the physical and psychological plan, you know what you want your retirement life to be like. So now you can go to your financial advisor, share this information with him/her, and develop a financial plan for sustaining yourself in your new lifestyle.

Of course, you should have been doing financial planning for retirement all along. Hopeful you have and have not missed the opportunity for all that wonderful growth and compounding. But if your retirement date is now just around the corner, and you have not saved enough, you do not have many options other than to play “catch-up” with additional retirement contributions allowed for those over 50 years of age. So it is what it is, and that is basically what you have to work with.

But don’t despair. If you have really given careful thought to the retirement lifestyle that will make you happy, you and your financial advisor can dissect that lifestyle and reduce or eliminate the more expensive aspects (and frankly, “traveling the world” can get old after a while, not to mention costly!).

One excellent way to stretch your resources is to continue to work part-time in your early retirement years. Not only do you continue to earn, you withdraw less from your retirement funds during that period, allowing your investments to continue to grow and help sustain a higher lifestyle later on.

Your best retirement will be one which meets both your physical and psychological needs in a lifestyle consistent with your financial resources.

By:John Trauth

Paronychia is a kind of infection that affects the nails. People who get this kind of infection are those who usually contact with water or handle food regularly as the food has the ability to accumulate yeast on hands. You can see swollen areas around the nails without cuticle on this kind of infection that leads to nail discoloration and commonly the cause of nail base removal. The paronychia is also termed as lateral onycholysis. Paronychia must be treated by the general surgeon for chronic candida paronychia.

There are two types of paronychia, the acute paronychia and chronic paronychia. The causes of acute paronychia are nail biting, aggressive manicuring, and placement of artificial nails. The symptoms of acute paronychia are inflamed surface of around the nail, discoloration of the nail and sometimes pus is present. Acute paronychia can be treated with antibiotics or 3 to 4 times warm water soaks. Chronic paronychia is just similar with acute paronychia but chorinic paronychia is more difficult to treat. Some symptoms of chronic paronychia are also similar to the symptom of acute paronychia. Some symptoms of (CP) are inflammation of the proximal nail fold, usually associated with deformities of the surface of the nail and loss of the cuticle, and thickened nail plates with brown discoloration. Chronic paronychia commonly occurs to women that frequently contact their hands in the water. Because of the periungual skin features of the individual that have this kind of disorder usually gets candida, many have think that candida is the cause of the disorder. Some of the symptom indicates that chronic paronychia is a type of eczema and that candida isolates are nonpathogenic colonizing organisms. Chroni paronychia can be treated topical steroid and antifungal agent. Patients with CP must avoid having their hands on the water, having manicure, and avoid from irritating substances. They also needed to be treated by the general surgeon for chronic candida paronychia.

There is an Italian study about the treatment for patients with chronic paronychia. The researches studied the treatments for 45 patients with chronic paronychia withoral itraconazole, oral terbinafine, or topical methylprednisolone for 3 weeks. Patient’s treated with oral medications received placebo cream, and those with topical methlprednisolone received placebo tablets. After 9 weeks, those treated with oral antifungal agents have improvement on the half of the nails than treated with topical corticosteroid treated on 85% of the nails. The 18 patient’s accumulated candida, but its eradication doesn’t associate with clinical improvement, which come up that there is continued presence of fungi in some patients. The study come up with the patients with chronic paronychia has improvement when treated with topical corticosteroid even candida is present. But it is advisable for the patient to contact general surgeon for chronic candida paronychia if the infection gets worse.

By:Clifford Young

Whenever you purchase a deodorant or any such product to be applied on your skin read its content before you get them. Usually the print is very small on the label. If you cannot read small print, ask the shop owner to read loudly for you. It’s a critical issue as whatever you apply on your skin possibly gets directly absorbed in bloodstream. Hence you can see that a product’s contents that are harmful to your blood can prove deadly.

Avoid following 7 ingredients in deodorant:

1). The skin absorbs aluminum and gets accumulated in the body. It has been proved that Alzheimer’s disease is associated with aluminum.

2). All kinds of Parabens are derived from a toxic petrochemical derivative called toluene. It is toxic if inhaled or swallowed and is harmful if comes in contact with the skin.

3). A skin irritant known as Triclosan causes contact dermatitis. It can kill both harmful and healthy bacteria. It can consist of contaminants that are carcinogenic. The FDA has classified it as a pesticide.

4). If Talc consists of asbestiform fibers it is carcinogen. The quantity of asbestiform fibers in talc of cosmetic grade is not regulated. If talc is one of the ingredients it is not possible to know if it contains asbestiform fibers.

5). Propylene glycol gets quickly absorbed through the skin. It causes allergic reactions. Propylene glycol may damage liver or kidney.

6). Silica, a skin irritant can contaminate with crystalline quartz - which is carcinogen.

7). Steareth-n (n stands for any numerical like 100), is derived from vegetable but with ethylene oxide is reactive which is a carcinogen to human.

Only select deodorants that contain natural preservatives like bioflavonoid and lichen, de-ionized water or distilled water, herbs or herbal extracts, green tea, Aloe -Vera, baking soda, essential oils and vegetable glycerin.

Caution: Plant extracts may contain propylene glycol, aluminum and parabens. Few herbs are free of aluminum and parabens or other synthetic preservatives unless extracted as vegetable glycerin. Always confirm that the deodorants you buy are free of chemicals that are harmful.

By:Michell Jolie