Sports

In the US, about two out of three adults are overweight or obese. There are a lot of weight loss options to address this issue, such as different types of diets, exercise programs, and even surgery. One such option are weight loss clinics. While many of them are credible and efficient at helping patients lose weight, doing your research is important if you are considering this option.

What are weight loss clinics?

The general aim of weight loss clinics or weight loss centers is to help you lose weight and teach you certain approaches and strategies for you to stay healthy.

Most clinics would do this by having you follow a low-calorie diet or a meal replacement plan under a doctor’s supervision, such that you will immediately lose weight upon starting the program. Others may take a step-by-step approach, like helping you lose a couple of pounds or so per week through gradual dietary changes and moderate exercises. Aside from presenting you with diet and exercise plans, they may also offer plans that involve dietary supplements.

Also known as a medical diet or MD diet clinic, an ideal weight loss center will have trained doctors, clinicians and medical staff to provide you with evidence-based approaches for your weight loss journey.

How do you choose a weight loss clinic?

Credible weight loss clinics would guide you through the weight loss process under the supervision of a trained medical professional. Before prescribing you anything, they must ask you for a comprehensive medical history or let you consult with a doctor for medical advice on how your plan should be. You might want to avoid places where they just allow you to quickly buy weight loss pills, as these places are usually unsafe and are not likely to lead you to a sustainable weight loss.

Instead, go for facilities that focus on behavioral treatment, and can give you the tools to make healthier food choices and how you can incorporate exercise into your schedule. They should also help you with stress and sleep management, tell you about the pros and cons of weight loss medications, and offer continuous support and supervision throughout the program.

Are weight loss clinics right for you?

If your BMI is greater than 30, a weight loss program from a clinic might be the right option for you. You may also opt for a medical weight loss program if you have a weight-related health condition, obesity-related cancer, or a family history of such conditions. Weight loss clinics can help you maintain or stabilize your weight during pregnancy or after a weight loss surgery as well.

However, it would be best to talk to your primary care doctor if you are considering such programs. Your doctor can refer you to qualified medical professionals who could prepare you an efficient weight loss plan.

Weight loss and maintenance is a gradual process that requires a lot of hard work. If you see a so-called weight loss clinic that is advertising a quick fix or something like a “lose 5-10 pounds every week” program, they are likely false claims that are not backed by research or medical evidence. The best clinics would help you understand all the work that goes into weight loss, and empower you to make the changes that would improve your overall wellness and health.

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A lot of adults today still remember the painful and humiliating time when they had to suffer from braces in middle school. But fast-forward several years later, they have their dentists – and their insistent parents – to thank for their bright smiles.

Today, plenty of kids and adolescents still need the help of braces to align their crooked teeth. Cases of crossbite, overbite, underbite, crowded teeth, and open bite are still prevalent today. But what causes teeth misalignment in the first place?

Heredity

Both environmental factors and heredity cause malocclusion or crooked teeth. Heredity doesn’t pass down misaligned teeth specifically, but it does determine bone structure. Occlusion largely depends on the shape and size of the jaws and teeth. Since craniofacial features can be passed down through generations of families, this means heredity can influence teeth alignment to an extent. When there’s a difference between the size of the upper and lower jaw, it may cause tooth overcrowding or abnormal bite patterns.

Birth defects, like cleft and lip palate, may also affect occlusion. Hereditary factors may influence clefting, although the exact causes are still unknown. Babies born with a cleft or lip palate may have a relative with a similar condition or an associated chromosomal condition.

The influence heredity on occlusion still depends on the nature of the case. Some population studies, especially on families and twins, show genetic factors have a significant impact on craniofacial development and teeth alignment. On the other hand, there are also studies on identical twins and siblings suggesting that occlusion is still dependent on external and behavioral factors.

Childhood Habits

Oral habits acquired during the early childhood stages may also influence teeth alignment. Mannerisms, such as thumb sucking, teeth grinding, jaw clenching, and thrusting the tongue against the teeth, may apply force to the dental structure, causing abnormal teeth formations. These habits, when done in an excessive duration, frequency, and intensity, may cause overbite, overjet, crossbite, or a long facial height.

Research also established the relationship between mouth breathing and abnormal facial bone structures. These suggest that mouth breathing caused by nasal impairment may lead to the development of a narrow palate, anterior open bite, increased overjet, and increased facial height.

Parents can easily avoid dental consequences caused by childhood habits. They can visit an experienced orthodontist or dentist early on to determine if the child has any abnormal habits that can be potentially damaging to his or her teeth structure. The doctor will assess the potential immediate and long-term effects of the mannerisms and come up with a solution to eliminate the habit.

Prolonged bottle feeding and frequent use of a pacifier or teether after the age of 3 can also influence malocclusion, so weaning children at an early age can help prevent malocclusion.

These are just two of the common factors that may cause crooked teeth. Other reasons include mouth or jaw tumors, poor dental care, and jaw injuries. Prevention is always better than remedy, but if parents failed to prevent malocclusion in their children, various corrective treatments are available today. Consult a dentist to know whether to go for the traditional braces or modern solutions, like invisible aligners.

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Sports are an essential part of life nowadays. You can after all not expect to live a fulfilled life without engaging in any activities. Injuries are however common in all types of sports though you might take measures to mitigate them or reduce their impact.

Fractured ankles are common injuries in most sports. Unfortunately, without optimal management, this fracture will spell the end of your professional sports career or limit the activities you will participate in. A sports medicine specialist in Suwanee, GA, rather than a regular doctor who handles fractures is your best management choice.

This option guarantees that the fracture can be efficiently healed to allow you to resume sporting activities within a short period.  One of the elements which will be part of your healing is rehabilitative exercises. These are designed to restore the range of motion of your ankle and hasten its healing.

The following are the elements of a rehabilitative exercise program for athletes.

Range-of-Motion Exercises

These are the first rehabilitative exercises you will engage in after the doctor gets your brace or cast after your ankle. Some simple exercises in range-of-motion exercises include for inversion and eversion and the ankle alphabet.

Although these might be a bit uncomfortable in the beginning, this will ease as your ankle heals and regains its range of motion.

Flexibility Exercises

These are the next step when your ankle can efficiently handle the range of motion exercises. Some flexibility exercises for ankles include towel calf stretches and standing runner stretches. Towel calf stretches will improve the flexibility of the muscles at the lower back of your leg.

Standing runner stretches will enhance the flexibility of your calf and stretch the muscles at the front of your leg. Other than flexibility, these exercises will strengthen your ankle.

Strengthening Exercises

With the stiffening of your ankle after prolonged immobilization with a brace, you will generally have a weak ankle. As such, you will need strengthening exercises after removing the cast.

The common strengthening exercises involve the wrapping of a band around your ankle and having your ankle in an inversion, eversion or dorsiflexion. Ankle strengthening exercises will also help you regain weight bearing in your ankle which is crucial for you to play sports again.

Return to Running and Walking

A return to walking and even running is not automatic after your fracture heals. You will need to start slowly to avert the risk of re-fracturing the healed ankle and causing grave damage to the surrounding structures.

You might first need to walk using an aid like a walking cane or crutches and slowly start making steps when your gait improves and changes.

In most cases, the above exercises follow a step-down fashion though in other cases the doctor might use them all together. They are however essential for the restoration of your ankle to its state before your fracture.

These exercises will be the crucial determinant of whether you will play again. Do not waste your time and money and put your ankle’s healing in the hands of an inexperienced physician who might cause more harm than good.

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Over one in four people in the world have suffered from a mental or neurological disorder in their lifetime, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Disorders like depression and anxiety cost the global economy 1 trillion dollars a year in lost productivity. While work can be useful for a person’s mental health, a toxic work environment can make them at risk of issues related to mental health, the organization added. It’s difficult to see a coworker crumble from the pressure of work or seeing them struggle with work because of personal problems.

Here are steps you can take if you want to help your colleague out with their mental health.

Know Your Place

If the coworker you’re concerned about is a close friend, it’s perfectly fine to ask them if they want to talk about what could be bothering them. It’s completely different, however, when that person is your boss or someone in the office you rarely interact with. Even if you mean well, your advice or offers for help won’t always be welcome. Know your boundaries and stick to them.

Offer to Lend an Ear

One of the best things you can do to help your colleague’s mental health is just listening to what they have to say. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) says that excellent communication needs active listening and empathy. Active listening means giving your best to interpret and understand what a person is saying to you without any judgment. Take everything into consideration, from stories about their childhood in their hometown of Utah to the denial of their disability claim.

The CCOHS states that you should be free of any distractions like smartphones and your computer when talking with your coworker. Focus on what they’re telling you, maintain eye contact, and don’t interrupt. Reply only when they’re done talking — or don’t. Sometimes people just need someone to vent to, so don’t feel useless if all you did was listen.

Give Mindful Replies

If your colleague is asking for help or advice about their mental health, think carefully about what you’re going to say before you say your piece. Remember that you’re not a professional so don’t downplay their emotions or jump to conclusions. Start your sentences with “I’m not an expert, but…” or just a simple “I think…” to make your replies sound sincere while acknowledging the fact that it’s just your opinion. This also makes you sound less preachy. Apart from this, you should also recommend seeing a psychiatrist or even your company’s human resources department if they want a professional assessment of their mental health.

Give Them Space

As much as you want to help your colleague, they may not appreciate incessant questions about how they feel every single day. So if they open up to you and you’ve given advice, let them know that you’re there if they need you. Give them all the space they need to process their thoughts and emotions.

Everyone can be affected by mental illness, and it’s a prevalent problem for workers around the world. Go through these steps if you think your colleague is having a hard time with their mental health. A little help can go a long way.

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Applying for social security disability is notorious for being a painful process. After all, this privilege can be a drain on Uncle Sam’s pocket when given generously. The evaluators follow strict guidelines to identify those who are truly worthy to receive payments. Get your social security disability benefits with as little stress as possible by avoiding the following mistakes usually committed by many applicants:

Not Seeking Legal Assistance Early

Start with an experienced social security disability lawyer in the state you live in. About 60% to 70% of applicants get rejected the first time usually because they do not know how to navigate the process properly.

Seeking legal advice as early as possible lets you know if you have a good case, to begin with. If it still needs work, a qualified social security disability attorney can provide instructions and assist you every step of the way to make sure the review team hears you. Having a good legal professional on your side can spare you from dealing with months of agony.

Not Making Every Doctor’s Appointment Count

Do not always assume that your doctor is taking notes about what goes on in your appointment. Without adequate information, your checkup may not seem useful on paper. Ask your physician to document everything to help your evaluator know what the appointment is all about.

Not Realizing That Everything is in the Details

When trying to convince strangers about your disability, you need to provide as many details about your illness and each of its symptoms as much as you can. Do not assume that everyone is familiar with what you’re going through, especially when you are suffering from a rare disease.

Produce all of the proof you can present to the review team, showing that your medical condition limits what you can do physically. What your evaluator only cares about is whether you are truly unable to work because of your illness. The best pieces of evidence are factual, verifiable, and provable.

Not Being Prepared for Close Scrutiny

Sometimes, a review team may show no empathy for your situation. This can be heartbreaking, especially when your illness has turned your life upside down. You need to be emotionally ready to handle criticisms, and you should exhibit patience when explaining your condition because not everyone has the imagination to put themselves in your shoes.

Not Establishing a Good Relationship With the Evaluator

You do not need to become best friends with the members of the review team, but you should at least stay in contact with some of them. Good communication with your evaluator allows you to discover the other documentation you need to produce to speed up your approval.

Not Appealing a Denial Immediately

Getting denied can be devastating, but do not wallow in self-pity or misery for too long. If the review team turns you down, focus on the next step in the process. Waste no time to file an appeal to avoid having to start from scratch.

A social security disability application is a hard-to-win battle. But with perseverance and strategy, you can expect positive results and receive the money you rightfully deserve.

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There comes a time when all the support from family and friends, as well as local programs, are no longer enough. At this point, people who require full-time help move to residential facilities that provide the type of care or services they need.

Some facilities will only offer you housing and housekeeping services, while others add medical services and personal care to the package. In addition, if you or your loved one in Massachusetts has any type of dementia, some nursing homes in Worcester County may offer special programs to suit your needs.

Here are various types of residential facilities for the sick:

Board and Care Homes

Also referred to as group homes or residential care homes, board and care homes are small private facilities consisting of 20 or fewer occupants. It can have private or shared rooms. The occupants get meals and personal care, and they have staff attending to them round the clock. Normally, medical care and nursing are not provided on site.

Assisted Living

This setting is suitable for anyone who needs daily personal care, but not as much care as the one provided in a nursing home. Assisted living facilities can accommodate between 25 and 150 residents, depending on the available facilities. They have various levels of care, meaning the more care you receive, the more you pay. Residents in this setting live in their private rooms or apartments while sharing common areas. They are open to services, such as laundry, housekeeping, medications, on-site staff, and recreational facilities.

Nursing Homes

Also referred to as skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes provide a wide range of personal care and health care services. However, their services are more medical care oriented than any other forms of assisted living facilities. They offer services, such as personal care, round the clock supervision, three meals a day, rehabilitation, speech therapy, and physical therapy.

Some patients spend a short time at the facility after leaving the hospital to get full recovery. However, other residents live in the facility permanently due to mental disorders or physical challenges, which require constant supervision and care.

Continuing Care Retirement Facility

These facilities offer different levels of services within the same location. Most of them provide private accommodation, skilled nursing care on site, and assisted living. Additionally, these facilities offer recreational programs and healthcare services as may be required.

Where you or your loved one will live will depend on the extent of assistance and services required. If you are no longer independent, you will be moved to an assisted living facility or receive care in their private living unit. If it is deemed necessary, you can be put under the continuing care retirement facility or nursing home.

Modern care facilities are a better reflection and improvement from the nursing homes perception in the past. The primary goal of these facilities is to help patients recover as soon as possible, so they can resume their normal lives. In the case of permanent patients, they ensure comfort and care to make the patients feel at home as much as possible. Do your research before deciding the best care facility for you or your loved one.

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Kickboxing has become a popular sport and fitness activity for a lot of health enthusiasts. Part of participating in this means having the right gear to keep you protected from any harm. One of these gears is the kickboxing mouthguard.

It is not only kickboxing that needs this kind of protective wear, but all contact sports like Mixed Martial Arts, Muay Thai, boxing, football and the like. Mouthguards were designed specifically for these activities, and it would be wise to wear them. Take it from the pros.

Experts also have confirmed that this small but useful gear should be in your bag, and here are the reasons why.

Mandatory requirement for sports

Even informal kickboxing, like other contact sports such as muay thai and boxing, requires proper gear for one to practice and spar. Oss Therapy stated that one of the gears needed in kickboxing is the mouthguard, and it’s mandatory to have it in one’s arsenal.

Just as one cannot properly spar without gloves and headgear or how the rules in the ring should be observed at all times, having a mouthguard is reassurance for trainers that their students will have an extra layer of protection even with light sparring.

And this is mandatory for a reason. Contact sports are just what they are: they involve extreme contact. When you are in danger of a concussion or a mouth injury, authorities usually prescribe protective gear like headgears and mouthguards. Without these, we could see athletes frequenting the hospital.

Protects from oral injuries

Control is necessary in any contact sport. Part of the practice is knowing how to control the self while polishing the techniques. But there are times when things can get out of hand. Thus, organizations like the ADA and the International Academy for Sports Dentistry recommend using mouthguards for most contact sports, Omics Online reported.

The kickboxing mouthguard is there to protect the teeth, thus lessening the degree of dental trauma that one could receive in the event of loss of control. Not only dental trauma, but you can also avoid other injuries to the mouth that can result from the force of the activities.

Absorbs shock for limit neck and jaw injuries

What’s amazing but also terrifying about kickboxing is that it involves both punching and kicking. Beginners may feel a little intimidated participating because of possible injuries they can sustain. The good thing about a kickboxing mouthguard is that it can absorb the shock, especially from a powerful kick.

According to Muay Thai Pros, this may lessen the impact between the colliding lower and upper jaws, which can be very painful, resulting in either a temporary or even permanent injury.

Playing it safe in contact sports is a necessity, especially for beginners. And one should not compromise health and safety for the love of the sport. People should be careful when engaging in contact sports. Whether it’s avoiding fractures and injuries or adhering to the rules, it’s best to get your own mouthguard as you get deeper into the practice of kickboxing.

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The musculoskeletal system is an important part of the body because the structures help with movement. Also, they help form the body’s shape. Bones, muscles, joints, ligaments, and tendons make up the system, and if there is one problem with any structure, the body can suffer from immobility, pain, and inflammation.

The most common problem is anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear. An ACL surgeon, such as Dr. Mitchell Larsen from Orem, can help treat this condition. Here is what you need to know:

What is an ACL rupture?

The ACL is a ligament that is important in making sure that the knee joint is stable. Made of strong fibrous material, it works by controlling too much knee motion through limiting joint mobility. An ACL rupture happens when the ligament is torn, which can cause serious pain, inflammation, and even immobility.

What causes an ACL tear?

This is an injury that happens when the ligament that supports the knee joint is torn. About 80 percent of sports-related ACL injuries are non-contact injuries. This means that ACL injuries often happen when the athletes suddenly change positions or lands from a jump.

Women are at a higher risk of suffering from ACL tears. The injury often occurs when a person lands flat-footed from a jump, changes direction suddenly or fast, overextends the knee joint, and changes speed while running.

What are the signs and symptoms of ACL injuries?

Just like any musculoskeletal problem or condition, ACL injury signs and symptoms include pain, swelling or inflammation, and difficulty of walking or running. If the injury is just mild, there can be no pain, but soreness is felt along the joint line of the knee. For more serious injuries, some people have problems with pressure on the affected leg and with standing.

In any muscular or bone injury, there is inflammation or swelling. It usually begins during the first 24 hours. Applying cold compress on the affected leg can help reduce swelling. Lastly, there is trouble walking, especially during the first day of the injury.

How is ACL treated?

ACL injuries can be extremely painful and may lead to being unsteady when doing activities such as sports. Depending on the person’s age and the severity of the condition, a ruptured ACL heals best with surgery and about a year of rehabilitation. Right after the injury, you can apply ice and elevate the leg to reduce swelling. Pain relievers can also help alleviate the pain. However, for more serious cases, surgery is the recommended treatment procedure.

Prevention is better than cure. Doing plyometric exercises can help make the bones and joints strong and stable, reducing the risk of ligament tears. Training and strengthening the joints can help reduce the risk of injuries.

An ACL injury can take a toll on one’s physical health and mobility. It is important to take precautions when doing sports activities, running, and even walking. Sudden movements can cause an ACL tear, so being careful is important, especially if you are an athlete.

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