Medicrit – Medicare

Archive for May, 2009

Celebrate cerebral palsy and the small victories. No, it does not mean anyone is ever happy that he/she, or a loved one, has permanent brain damage. It simply means to be glad for every accomplishment toward independence, no matter how small.

For example, if you have a child with CP, he/she may never walk. However, learning to use the control on an electric wheelchair can provide some autonomy. It might be the not-so-simple act of buttoning a shirt. People without brain injury take so many things for granted. Yet, this seemingly small act should be considered a large victory.

No, it is not fair that you or someone you love has cerebral palsy. But, no one ever said life was fair. It does no good to grouse about all the things that cannot be done. However, it is quite a different matter to celebrate new accomplishments, regardless of how small.

Living Aids

As with any other child, a parent should have the goal to help a child reach his/her full potential in self-care, independence, and adaptive skills. Kids without special needs generally reach standardized benchmarks of growth and development in an expected period of time. The big difference between a child with cerebral palsy and a “normal kid” is the inability to achieve expected abilities at the appropriate time-if ever.

Thankfully, a plethora of living aids have been developed to help children and adults with cerebral palsy live as independently as possible, under the circumstances. If you or your child is mildly or moderately affected by CP, independence may not be an unreasonable expectation. For example, this short list of living aids may enable you or your loved one to eventually have a home and normal daily independence.

* Bathroom handrails
* Shower chair
* Bed rails
* Lifting chair
* Kitchen gadgets
* Wheelchair
* Crutches
* And the list goes on, and on, and on. . .

Have you ever heard the expression: “Necessity is the mother of invention?” In other words, if you cannot do a necessary activity to be more independent one way, figure out another, and use those aids.

For example, if you cannot reach the upper kitchen cupboards, you can find pieces of furniture that will store your dishes and food. A pie safe is great for food supplies. A movable island can hold dishes and provide a place to prepare meals for those who may be confined to a wheelchair. Likewise, dressing aids are available to help someone with cerebral palsy be able to get dressed independently.

So many aids are now available to help the disabled live independently, if at all possible. However, it is a lot easier to begin raising a child with special needs with the end goal of possible independent living. If you are always doing things for a child with special needs, or if you allow others to do things you can learn to do for yourself, neither is a favor. Even if it takes 10 times longer, at first, and is frustratingly difficult, the goal of achieving any independence is worth the effort. Then, you can celebrate cerebral palsy and the small victories.

With his partner Hulet, Mike started Rehabmart in 1998 while practicing as Occupational Therapists. As therapists, we discovered that our patients did not always have access to high quality medical products and equipment. We decided to do something about this and began to make products and valuable information available online.

Is joint pain getting the best of you? Is the quality of your life suffering because of arthritis? If so, the information in this article is exactly what you have been searching for.

For many, arthritis is the cause of frustration, anger and debilitating pain. You know the kind of pain I’m talking about, the kind that slows your movements and is just always present in your knees, hips, ankles, hands or back. It simply won’t go away. It won’t allow you to enjoy life on your terms and in your own way, no more! Once you finishing reading this information, you’ll be armed with a step-by-step system that has helped countless others to fight and win against arthritis pain naturally.

I’m sure you already know some of the basics of arthritis. So rather than going into a in-depth definition of arthritis and the causes of this painful enemy, I’ll skip right to the chase. Rather than taking up your time with a text book definition of arthritis, I’m going to give you real world remedies to allow you get back into the swing the life instantly. Best of all these remedies are all natural and you can use them immediately to stop arthritis pain in its tracks.

Drink Water: When you drink water, you are lubricating your joints and keeps your entire body well hydrated. Water also gives a youthful glow to your skin and helps to eliminate constipation.

Go Gluten-Free: Increase your intake of more polyunsaturated fats (fish, Omega 3′s), fruits and vegetables. Cut down on your intake of eggs, meat, sugar, dairy products. In addition, read all of the labels of the foods you consume. This will help you get into the habit of eliminating foods containing saturated fats.

Apply Some Heat: It has been a well known fact heat helps to fight arthritis pain. Take a moist towel and heat it up in the microwave for a few minutes. Put on some oven mitts and remove the warm towel and wrap it up in another towel. The second towel will help to prevent any burns that hot towel may cause. Place this warm wrap on the area of pain. In addition to a warm towel, rub warm castor oil on the affected area everyday.

Loss Weight: One common thread among arthritis suffers is being overweight. Excess weight places undue stress on the joints and can even make joint pain even worse. Also, by losing weight, you’ll have more energy to enjoy life the way you want to enjoy it.

Drink Tart Cherry Juice Concentrate: Tart cherry juice concentrate is known to have healing and anti-inflammatory properties. In fact, studies from Michigan State University show the naturally occurring antioxidants in tart cherries are natural Cox-1 and Cox-2 inhibitors. Tart cherry juice concentrate and tart cherry capsules are available from Traverse Bay Farms.

Relax and Stretch: Stretching, slow dancing, messaging to affected areas are all excellent ways to fight arthritis. These activities help to reduce stiffness in the joints and increase flexibility and mobility.

If you want to get more FREE information about tart cherries and arthritis or learn about cherry juice concentrate and tart cherry capsules that will help to significantly reduce your arthritis pain naturally and quickly visit Traverse Bay Farms.

If you have high blood pressure then you are probably aware how crucial it is take measure to bring it under control and reduce it too. While there are many options for doing the same, the best way is to opt for natural methods. In this article i will discuss some of the ways by which you can cure hypertension naturally.

One of the first things that people generally resort to for reducing the pressure levels is taking medication and other prescription drugs. While they are effective in bringing down the pressure they do not offer a permanent solution. In fact they are known to have side effects which make them less than desirable as a way of treating this condition.

But the fact also remains, that not doing anything for reducing this condition is just not advisable. Untreated hypertension is even more dangerous and it can lead to strokes and other heart problems.

So then you might be wondering which is the best way to treat this condition. The answer is simple. Try Natural Treatments and you will be amazed at the results.

Few natural treatments for reducing the pressure levels include making simple lifestyle and dietary changes like avoiding smoking, alcohol and eating a more balanced healthy food cutting out on junk, oily, spicy food etc.

You can increase the intake of potassium in your diet at the same time reduce your daily salt intake in your food. Also doing mild but regular exercising, losing some weight also help in easily controlling and reducing your high blood pressure.

But if you are looking for the best and quickest way to cure hypertension naturally, then you need a step by step systematic proven plan for this purpose.

Such a plan will show you exactly what you need to do and how you can easily control your high blood pressure in the fastest and safest way.

Asthma affects children between the ages of 5 and 12 but can start at infancy. Estimates differ, but between 10 percent and 20 percent of children below the age of 18 are believed to be asthmatic.

The disease is hard to diagnose in infancy. Generally the only symptoms are a persistent cough at night that may subside during the day. Alternatively, the cough may be intermittent throughout the 24 hours. Wheezing is also common with infants, but this does not necessarily point towards asthma. Usually wheezing is the result of a viral respiratory infection to which infants are particularly vulnerable. Another possible symptom might be difficult and rapid breathing. The baby should be closely observed to see if the symptoms follow any pattern.

The disease is more likely to develop in a baby with a family history of asthma and allergies.

It is a chronic lung disease that makes the airways swell up, tighten and produce an excess of mucus. As it is difficult to diagnose in an infant, many doctors prefer to err on the right side and treat a persistent respiratory condition as asthma. This is to preclude damage to the lungs that might result from uncontrolled and persistent asthma. The early use of anti-inflammatory medication generally prevents this.

Here are two simple tips to identify and treat infant asthma:

1. If a cough persists even after the cold subsides, suspect asthma. Observe the symptoms to see if there is a pattern when the cough is at its peak and whether there is any indication of heavy or labored breathing.

2. Follow the medication prescribed by the health care provider. Also ensure the infant is protected from dust, noxious odors, cigarette smoke, pets and anything else that might act as an irritant and trigger an asthmatic attack.