Health

How To Relieve Back Pain At Home

April 29, 2022April 29, 2022 JayneLeave a comment

As you may remember if you read my previous post, I’ve been dealing with a trapped nerve since the beginning of 2019. It took time to get the diagnosis and receive treatment which worked for me but I learned a lot about how to deal with neck and back pain. Pain in this area can be truly debilitating and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy! With this in mind, I thought I’d share with you some of the things I learned about coping with backache at home:

Continue reading →

Health

Five Ways to Help a Trapped Nerve in Your Neck

July 30, 2021 JayneLeave a comment

Some of you may know that I’ve had a trapped nerve in my neck since 2019 and the process of being diagnosed and treated took some time. I had to have an MRI to diagnose it and then it took some time to find the right pain medication to keep the pain at bay. In the meantime, Husband was an absolute rock and helped me make changes which helped with my healing process, and today I’m sharing some of the steps we took to reduce my pain and discomfort.

Physio

Obviously, one of the most important things to help my recovery was seeing a physio who taught me lots of stretches and exercises that I can use to reduce the inflammation and decompress the nerve and I had weekly appointments for a few months. My friend was lucky enough to find that a physio comes to you in London, but living in the countryside meant I had to go to them!

Change Your Pillows

When the pain was at it’s most acute, I could barely lay down at all and I couldn’t lay flat without a LOT of pain (which made the MRI into a form of torture…) but once I found a pillow that worked for me, it made a lot of difference. My ideal pillow was a thick memory foam one, but that’s going to be different for every person, so trial and error is probably what you need.

Assess Your Workstation

Something that was greatly contributing to my pain was the fact that I do a lot of my work on a laptop, which means that I’m looking downwards at the screen. It may not seem like much, but doing this for several hours a day is more than enough to exacerbate a trapped nerve. I switched to a desk where the screen was at eye level and this took a lot of pressure off of my neck.

Reduce Mobile Usage

I don’t know about you, but most evenings are spent in front of the telly, with my mobile phone in one hand and the remote in the other. Husband once took a photo of my sitting position when I’m looking at my phone and the angle of my neck was clearly something that contributed to my pain. These days, if I’m using my phone of an evening, I try to hold it at face height or use my iPad instead.

Look at Your Furniture

Are you one of those households where everyone has their own seat in the living room? We are and the way I was slouching against the arm of the sofa meant that my arm was lifted at an awkward angle and putting pressure on my neck. Take a look at your furniture and see if there’s a way you can sit which is more neutral and supportive to your neck and back.

Health

5 Health Benefits of CBD Oil

March 22, 2018November 9, 2021 Jayne6 Comments

Benefits of CBD oil When you suffer with several chronic illnesses, the constant daily stream of tablets can get really tiring, especially when a new symptom arises and with it, the possibility of needing more medication. Recently, I discovered CBD oil and the many health benefits of using it, and I use it daily to deal with several different things, so I thought I’d share with you a few of the health benefits of using CBD oil.

Pain Management

One of the conditions I have, endometriosis, can be really painful at times, and while there’s the option of taking strong painkillers, it’s not something I really want to do on a daily basis as it can damage other organs in the long run. Taking a daily dose of CBD seems to keep my pain to a minimum or at a manageable level even on bad days, and means that my painkiller intake has reduced by about 90%. You can also take it in the form of CBD pills, which a lot of people find easier and more palatable. The oils can have an earthy taste which some find unpleasant so pills are a good alternative.

Anxiety

I’ve suffered with anxiety on and off for years but refuse to take anti-anxiety medications because of the horrible list of side effects that can go with them, as well as not want to feel like a zombie on a daily basis. THC free CBD oil really quietens my anxiety down and on the odd day that I forget to take it, I can really feel the difference in my symptoms.

Skin Issues

As well as suffering with psoriasis, I also have issues with hormone-related spots because of my gynae problems, but since using CBD my skin has been SO much better. The anti-inflammatory properties of CBD work wonders on a whole load of skin conditions and using it via vape pen as an e-liquid means that you can take a metered does every day and avoid the slightly unpleasant taste that is associated with taking it other ways.

Nausea

Nausea is something that I deal with on a semi-regular basis because of some of the medications that I have to take, and I’ve found that vaping CBD is a massive relief when the nausea gets too bad.

Blood Sugar Levels

I take daily medication for my diabetes, and my blood sugar is usually well controlled, but since I’ve been using CBD on a daily basis, my blood sugars have been the best they’ve been in ages. Obviously I wouldn’t recommend using it as an alternative to regular diabetes medication, but supplementing with CBD certainly can’t hurt!

Do you use CBD oil? What do you use it for? Leave me a comment below.