Headaches problem

A headache can happen on one or both sides of your head, or in the front or back of your head. The pain can start in one place and move to another. Headaches can be triggered or aggravated by many things, including lack of fresh air, lack of food, eye strain, stress, too much alcohol, high blood pressure and caffeine withdrawal.
 
Tension headache is the most common type of headache. It is usually a mild, aching pain on both sides of your head that tends to worsen during the day, or if you are stressed. It can feel like a tight band across your forehead, or a weight pressing on your head.

Other types of headaches include sinusitis and medication overuse headaches. Sinusitis usually starts as a dull pain on one side of your head, and can spread to both sides. Bending, coughing or sneezing can make it worse. Blocked sinuses are usually what cause the pain, so it is important to seek treatment.

Medication overuse headache (previously called rebound headache) can develop from taking pain relief medicines (analgesics) for long periods, such as those containing codeine or caffeine. These headaches are worse in the morning, feel like a tension headache and require increasingly more pain relief to treat them. You should consult a doctor for treatment of medication overuse headaches.

Treatment Tips

• you can sometimes prevent headaches if you recognise the triggers and avoid them; keeping a headache diary may help you spot triggers
• pain relief medicines may be effective but rest is also helpful
• drink plenty of water and eat a healthy diet
• sinus headaches may require special medicines; check with your pharmacist
• if your headache is part of a cold and you take multiple medicines containing paracetamol, be careful not to exceed the safe daily dose of paracetamol
• have your eyes checked if you do a lot of computer work
• check your posture if you have a desk job, especially if you have shoulder aches and pains

Treatment Options

• it is important to know what type of headache you have and if you need to see a doctor
• some pain relievers are not suitable for everyone; check with your pharmacist

Oral pain relief medicines (analgesics)

[GENERAL SALE]
e.g. paracetamol, packets of 24 or fewer (Panadol range); aspirin (Aspro range, Disprin range); ibuprofen, packets of 24 or fewer (Advil, Nurofen range)
[PHARMACY ONLY]
e.g. paracetamol, ibuprofen: larger pack sizes; paracetamol liquid preparations (Panadol (Children) Liquid Formulations, Dymadon Suspension 1 Month to 2 Years, Dymadon Suspension 2 to 12 Years); ibuprofen liquid preparations (Nurofen for Children, Dimetapp Children's Ibuprofen Pain & Fever Relief Suspension, Dimetapp Infant's Pain & Fever Relief Ibuprofen Colour Free Suspension); diclofenac (Voltaren Rapid 12.5); naproxen (Naprogesic)

[PHARMACIST ONLY]
paracetamol, aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (which include ibuprofen, diclofenac and naproxen) relieve pain and reduce fever

• paracetamol is a safe choice for most people but it is important not to take more than recommended. It is an ingredient in many cold and flu remedies so be careful not to double dose
• the maximum daily dose of paracetamol for an adult is 4 g (4000 mg), and no more than 1 g (1000 mg) every four hours
• Aspirin and NSAIDs are not suitable for everyone. Children under 12 years old must not take aspirin because it can cause Reye’s syndrome, a serious condition. It should also be avoided by adolescents under 16 years old who have a viral illness
• check with your pharmacist before taking aspirin or NSAIDs if you:
• have a history of stomach problems, such as ulcers or indigestion
• have asthma; some people with asthma find their condition is made worse by these types of medicines
• have kidney problems or a heart condition
• take other medications
• have an allergy to aspirin or NSAIDs
• are pregnant or breastfeeding
• are elderly; you may be at more risk of side effects
• are dehydrated
• Sometimes aspirin and NSAIDs can cause side effects. If you develop indigestion, or unusual or increased bleeding or bruising, stop taking them and talk to your pharmacist

Hiatus Hernia Symptoms

A hernia is when part of the body bulges or protrudes into another part of the body that would not normally contain it. In the case of a hiatus hernia, a part of the stomach, normally in the abdomen, slides or protrudes into the chest cavity.

Normal anatomy

The chest and abdomen are normally separated by the diaphragm, a thin sheet of muscle that aids in breathing. The oesophagus (the tube that food passes down from the mouth to the stomach) goes down through the chest, passing through a small opening (called a hiatus) in the diaphragm and entering the abdominal cavity to join the stomach.

Hiatus hernia

When a hiatus hernia occurs, a portion of the stomach is able to slide upwards through the opening in the diaphragm, beside the oesophagus, into the chest.

There are 2 main types of hiatus hernia.

• Sliding hiatus hernia: this is the most common type of hiatus hernia, accounting for about 90 per cent of cases. It occurs when the junction between the oesophagus and the upper part of the stomach protrude up through the oesophageal opening in the diaphragm into the chest cavity. The herniated portion of the stomach can slide back and forth, into and out of the chest.
• Rolling hiatus hernia: this is sometimes called a para-oesophageal hiatus hernia. In this case, the junction of the oesophagus and stomach stays down within the abdomen, and the top part of the stomach (the fundus) bulges up into the chest cavity. This type of hernia normally remains in one place, sitting next to the oesophagus, and does not move in or out when you swallow.

Common symptoms

The most common symptoms of hiatus hernia are those arising from gastro-oesophageal reflux, which can occur as a result of the hernia.

These symptoms include:

• heartburn, which is a painful burning sensation felt in the lower front chest area behind the breastbone and upper abdomen, often after eating or when lying down; and
• regurgitation of sour or bitter-tasting acid fluid into the mouth, particularly at night, which occurs with more severe reflux.

These symptoms are often worse when you bend over, lie down or strain to lift heavy objects.

Depending on the type of hiatus hernia, other symptoms can include:

• belching or burping;
• difficulty in swallowing; and
• pain on swallowing (especially hot drinks).

Difficulty breathing

Sometimes with large hiatus hernias there is so much of the stomach protruding up through the oesophageal gap in the diaphragm that it presses on your lungs and can make breathing more difficult. See your doctor if you are having difficulty breathing.

The outlook

In most cases, symptoms from a hiatus hernia can be kept under control with medicines and lifestyle and dietary changes to treat gastro-oesophageal reflux — your doctor can help you with these.

Other treatment, such as surgery, is normally only required if your symptoms become worse and more constant. Rolling, or para-oesophageal, hernias are more likely to require surgery than sliding hiatus hernias.

Common Cold Problems

The common cold is an infection, mainly of the nose and throat, which is caused by a virus. It usually lasts about a week and should not cause serious illness in otherwise healthy people.

How do you get a cold?

A number of different viruses cause the common cold, but the rhinovirus is the most common cause. The virus, which is very infectious, can be spread from person to person by the fine spray shot from the nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze. It can also be spread by close contact (e.g. shaking hands) with someone who has a cold.

The virus can survive on indoor surfaces (such as door handles, light switches and taps) for days and can infect someone when they rub their eyes or nose after touching a contaminated surface.

Symptoms

Cold symptoms usually appear 1-3 days after exposure to the virus and include:

·          nasal congestion (blocked nose);

·          nasal discharge (runny nose);

·          sneezing;

·          sore throat;

·          coughing;

·          mild fever;

·          headache; and

·          red, watery eyes.

Relief for cold symptoms

There is no cure for the common cold, but treatments can relieve some of the unpleasant symptoms.

Antibiotics do not work against viruses and there are currently no antivirals available to treat colds. Antibiotics may occasionally be used to treat some bacterial infections that develop following a cold.

The following tips may help you to relieve some common cold symptoms.

·          Drink plenty of fluids. This replenishes the moisture lost during mucus production and makes mucus looser and easier to expel. Warm soup or warm water with lemon may also help soothe a sore throat and relieve congestion.

·          Adults and children older than 12 months of age can try honey to relieve a cough, especially at night time.

·          Rest is recommended to help your body fight off the cold. Staying at home will also limit the spread of your cold to other people.

·          Saline (salt water) nasal sprays or washes can help unblock the nose and clear the back of the throat. Nasal drops may be needed if a baby has a blocked nose and can't suck or feed. Your doctor or pharmacist will tell you what's best and how to use it.

·          Salt water gargle. Dissolve some salt in a glass of water and gargle to relieve a sore throat.

·          Sucking on ice can help relieve the pain of a sore throat. Adults and children older than 6 years may also want to try sore throat lozenges or sprays.

·          Vapour rubs may help a blocked or runny nose.

·          Antihistamines may improve runny noses and sneezing.

·          Decongestants, available as tablets and nasal sprays, may be helpful for some adults. Decongestants can provide short-term relief of congestion (blocked nose), but don’t use decongestants for more than a few days, otherwise you may suffer from rebound congestion (return of the symptoms). Children younger than 6 years should not use decongestants at any time, and those aged under 12 should take these medicines only if advised by a doctor or pharmacist. Decongestants should not be used if you have certain conditions (such as heart problems) - again, check with your doctor or pharmacist.

·          Painkillers, including paracetamol and NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as ibuprofen, can relieve aches and pains and reduce fever. Aspirin should not be given to children or teenagers. Paracetamol is included in many cold and flu preparations, so be careful to read labels and keep track of how much paracetamol you are taking.

·          Cough suppressants are not usually recommended, as coughing is the body's way of getting rid of mucus. Some mixtures may help in the short term if your cough is dry and annoying, but they are not recommended at all for young children. Follow directions carefully.

·          Use soft tissues for blowing the nose as the area around the nose tends to become sore and irritated. Barrier cream may help protect the skin around the nose.

·          Vitamin C may help reduce the duration of a cold when taken before symptoms start. So taking vitamin C might be a good idea if you are frequently exposed to cold germs.

·          Zinc lozenges, when taken at the onset of cold symptoms, may reduce the length and severity of colds. Zinc can be associated with potentially harmful side effects, so check with your doctor before taking it.

·          Echinacea is of unknown effectiveness. Further studies are needed to work out if it helps relieve or prevent colds.

Stop the spread of germs

Take some time off and stay at home to rest when you have a cold. It will help you feel better and help stop the cold virus infecting others.

When you are around others, sneeze and cough into a tissue. If you don’t have a tissue, cover your mouth with your upper sleeve or inner part of your elbow rather than your hands. This can help stop the spread of germs from your hands to doorknobs and other surfaces.

Remember to throw any used tissues straight into the bin and to wash your hands frequently when you have a cold.

Teeth Grinding Habit in Kids

Teeth pounding are alluded to as bruxism in clinical terms. It is a typical rate in kids and in addition in grown-ups. There have been various investigations in deciding the correct reason behind this condition. Yet, there has been no logical proof so far that could be connected to a specific reason or factor with bruxism. Or maybe, there are wide varieties of variables that supplement each other in bringing about this condition. Also, this condition is found to increment amid the night

Aside from being a behavioral issue, this state of bruxsim can make genuine harm the teeth and gums of the child. So once you see side effects of crushing teeth in your child, it is fitting to counsel a doctor promptly with the goal that you enable the kid to leave this propensity and shield his teeth from additionally rot later on separated from warding off a deep rooted dangerous propensity

Side effects of Teeth Grinding Habit

You can spot whether the child is building up this propensity for pounding teeth, if see any of the accompanying side effects:

•                     There is a crushing clamor when the tyke is sleeping.

•                     The edges of the teeth seem smoothed, chipped off or exhausted.

•                     There are indications of spaces on his tongue.

•                     Even if the youngster does not make a clamor around evening time, that is, he may granulate his teeth while alert and you have neglected to see the same. Check if the kid gripes of tight jaw muscles or just grumbles of agony in his jaws, gums, teeth or basically in his cheeks.

•                     If there is visit torment in the ears.

•                     If the tyke has excessively touchy teeth, that is, he responds pointedly and demonstrates distress to warm or chilly nourishment things.

Reasons for Teeth Grinding Habit (Bruxism)

As said before, there are no immediate makes found be capable behind this condition. In any case, considers show that there can be a grouping of components that can lead or go about as trigger to this condition, as:

Smothered Discontentment or Anger It has been discovered that if the child isn't content with something and is holding resentment against anything, he is more inclined to build up this condition. Stress and uneasiness, misery and disappointment are another trigger viewpoints. It is the development of pressure that outcomes in bruxsim.

Disgraceful Alignment of Teeth If the teeth of your child are not appropriately adjusted, it is watched that the propensity to pound teeth grows promptly in those children. They fundamentally endeavor to adjust their teeth unknowingly while sleeping as the sporadic arrangement causes an inconvenience.

Response to Medication If the kid is endorsed with specific solutions under the class of antidepressants, he is very liable to articulate manifestations of bruxism.

Hyperactivity There are kids who have large amounts of vitality. Hyperactive children are additionally found to crush their teeth while snoozing; this is to a greater degree a sign of arrival of additional vitality.

At long last, how would you manage this condition? Since there is no specific factor that can be distinguished as a reason behind bruxism, there isn't a foreordained stipulated cure also. In most youngsters, it is seen that the propensity for granulating teeth blurs away with age. Essentially, on the off chance that it has been activated by an enthusiastic factor, the propensity leaves, when the child finds a sense of contentment with himself, or when the reason is expelled. In this manner, it is more essential for guardians to observe the enthusiastic condition that they are accommodating their children.

Allergic Rhinitis - Hay Fever

Rhinitis implies aggravation of the covering of the nose. Unfavourably susceptible rhinitis implies that this aggravation is caused by sensitivity as opposed to a contamination.

Unfavorably susceptible rhinitis can be sorted into 2 gatherings:

•               seasonal unfavorably susceptible rhinitis - where indications happen at specific circumstances of the year: and

•               perennial unfavorably susceptible rhinitis - where side effects happen whenever of the year.

The regular name for hypersensitive rhinitis is feed fever. At the point when individuals say they have feed fever, they by and large mean they have occasional unfavorably susceptible rhinitis.

Manifestations

•               Sneezing sessions.

•               Itchy nose, eyes, sense of taste and ears.

•               Runny nose: heaps of watery liquid spilling from the nose.

•               Watery, red, puffy eyes — regularly bothersome.

•               A blocked nose, and once in a while blocked ears also.

•               A sore throat, tickly hack and imposing voice.

•               Bad breath.

On the off chance that your unfavorably susceptible rhinitis is extreme and untreated, you may rest ineffectively around evening time, and wind up tired amid the day. You might be more inclined to sinus contaminations and eye diseases. On the off chance that you have asthma, unfavorably susceptible rhinitis can make your asthma indications more hard to control.

Causes

Substances that reason unfavorably susceptible rhinitis are available noticeable all around and are inhaled into the nose. They include:

•               grass, weed and tree dusts;

•               house clean vermin defecation ('tidy parasite allergen');

•               mould spores;

•               animal dander (hair and skin pieces) particularly from felines; and less generally

•               cockroach droppings ('cockroach allergen').

Wind-borne dusts are the reason for occasional unfavorably susceptible rhinitis, which for the most part happens in spring and summer. The length of the dust season relies upon where you live and the plant species included. Clean parasite allergen is the most widely recognized reason for perpetual unfavorably susceptible rhinitis.

Tests and determination

The manifestations of unfavorably susceptible rhinitis can be like different conditions that may influence your nose, for example, colds or nasal polyps. See your specialist to affirm whether your manifestations are because of unfavorably susceptible rhinitis or some other condition.

It might be evident from your history which substance ('allergen') is causing your rhinitis, or your specialist may need to arrange sensitivity blood tests or skin-prick tests to discover what you are adversely affected by. This is a vital advance in treating hypersensitive rhinitis, on the grounds that once you know which allergen is setting off your manifestations, you might have the capacity to maintain a strategic distance from it.

Treatment for unfavorably susceptible rhinitis

Allergen shirking

•               An allergen, for example, dust can be hard to dodge, yet you should seriously mull over doing essentially indoor interests amid the dust season, and staying inside on blustery days or soon after an electrical storm.

•               Avoid cutting the yard, and shower after any exercises that have presented you to a considerable measure of dust.

•               If you are hypersensitive to pet dander, keep your pet outside.

•               Allergy evidence your home by limiting house tidy bugs by keeping your home all around ventilated, maintaining a strategic distance from a development of clammy air inside the house, choosing furniture and floor covers that don't empower tidy, covering sleeping pads and cushions with tidy parasite covers, utilizing a vacuum cleaner with a fitting air channel, and utilizing soggy tidying procedures when house keeping.

•               Soft toys are a typical resting place for house clean parasites, so wash them consistently in heated water, and abstain from keeping toys on the bed.

Medicines

Meds to treat and help keep unfavorably susceptible rhinitis are accessible from your specialist or over-the-counter at your drug store. These can be exceptionally compelling in lessening your indications. Continuously keep on avoiding allergens at whatever point conceivable, notwithstanding when taking prescriptions.

These solutions are either taken by mouth (for the most part as a tablet) or as a nasal shower, and include:

•               antihistamines (request the non-calming compose for daytime utilize);

•               corticosteroid nasal shower;

•               decongestants (for here and now utilize — under 5 days); and

•               combination items that join these medications, for example, a tablet containing an antihistamine and a decongestant.