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The Process of Addiction

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Addiction is hard to come by, especially when you feel like you’re stuck dealing with it on your own. It’s natural to wonder if you can possibly become an addict if you were raised by a parent with alcohol or drug addiction symptoms that they couldn’t get over. Sometimes, they can have a huge substance abuse problem but don’t seek out the help they need to become healthy again. Genetic and environmental factors do play a factor on how individuals can develop a type of addiction, but rest assured that they can’t determine your entire fate. If your parent or someone who’s close to you is an addict, it’s wise that you become more thoughtful about their relationship to drugs and alcohol so you can learn from their experience firsthand. Being vigilant can ultimately prevent the vicious cycle of alcohol or drug addiction from being passed on by example to your future. The most important thing you must remember is that you can control your choices, actions, and future outcomes. The decisions that you make each and every day shape your life entirely, not your friend’s or parent’s decisions. So while children of individuals who are addicts are more likely to abuse substances themselves, there is no guarantee. As the daughter of a parent who struggled with an alcohol addiction, I took their experience as a lesson for myself to live a life that’s healthy, sustainable, and substance free.

Drug addiction signs include huge financial loss.
High Cost of Healthcare

Drug Addict Symptoms

Just about anyone can develop their own version of substance addiction. The same sensors that are triggered by pleasurable experiences in our brains cause individuals to become addicted by a variety of things. People who have higher risk to developing a drug addiction are often experiencing other mental health issues like anxiety or depression. For example, according to Brain Facts, many studies over the past few decades demonstrated a strong link between schizophrenia and addiction to nicotine. It’s been shown that nicotine can even temporarily lessen some of the symptoms of schizophreniawhich speaks to why people can become addicted to using it.

Addicts are also sometimes more adventurous and risk-taking than others, feel somewhat disconnected to others in their life, are obsessive, and have trouble self-regulating their decisions throughout the day. People who thrive in taking risks usually have little impulse control when it comes to taking part in dangerous activities like abusing highly addictive prescription drugs. I’ve seen so many students throughout my time in college take part in doing intense drugs to escape all the stress that school causes. Cocaine, marijuana, or Adderall are just the tip of the iceberg of drugs that help students escape their reality and feel somewhat closer to their peers. Over time, that social bond doesn’t outweigh the high price tag that drugs bring, the painful withdrawal symptoms, and possibly legal consequences that using illicit substances bring. Symptoms of a drug addict are also pretty obvious to your sober peers so you don’t want to risk losing your reputation. Make sure you’re aware of all the negative events that can happen in your life before spiraling down the road of drug addiction. It’s easy to fall into but extremely difficult to get out of unless you play your cards right.

Less Discussed Addictions

Drugs and alcohol don’t have to be the only addictions that people can fall into. Some other popular addictions are gambling or video games, especially in men. Gambling addiction, also called gambling disorder, refers to any and all types of gambling or choices that can seriously endanger a person’s life, professional career, or even family. It could mean going to the casino every night and playing poker with hope to win big, or staying up for all night for a luxurious game of sports betting. You’ll know you have this addiction if you’re placing bets more than usual, “chase” losses by betting even more, feel extremely angry when you can’t gamble, or are staying up for hours just thinking about a game.

Video game addiction comes into play when you’re stuck holding a controller for hours of your life. As games today are constantly getting better, more people than ever are playing the newest versions around the world. Communicating with headsets and shooting the enemy gives off a happy feeling that so many can’t shake off. Similarly, taking on the role of someone else in an alternate universe with no consequences can be alluring. Compared to a substance abuse addiction, video game addiction may sound harmless as we’ve all played a type of game at some point in our life. However, compulsive play interrupts a person’s social life, mental health, sleeping habits, work productivity, and physical health overall. Anyone who doesn’t get enough treatment could be isolating themselves from reality and lose their ability to function completely.

Get Help

If some symptoms resonated with you about dealing with either drug addiction symptoms or another process addiction, it’s not too late to get help. Contact your local rehab center to get more options about how to detox your body, form your own treatment plan with a specialist, and live a healthier lifestyle for the long term. Going to online forums or taking online addiction quizzes are also helpful for quicker feedback about your current addiction and what steps to take to conquer it. These are free and are easily done from the comfort of your own home, the bus, sitting in drive thru, or waiting for the next task during work. If you truly want to see results and get better you’ve got to your research on options that work best for you. One treatment plan certainly does not fit the lifestyles of everyone else so it’s best to look at your personal goals, health history, and daily schedule.

Overcome drug addict symptoms with online resources.

 

Holistic Health, Uncategorized, Women's Health

Treating Scar Tissue

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Scars can be the bane of your existence. They’re itchy, ugly, and leave a glorifying dark mark on your skin for what seems to feel like ages. Even the smallest facial zit or bump on your knee can leave a scar that never fails to go away. I’ve tried almost every product on the market to get rid of my acne scars, as they always leave a pesky mark on my face once they’re healed.

Acne scars take on many different forms on a variety of people. You might see tiny pockmarks, a swollen keloid, or a discolored area on the skin after your pimple wears away. And just like our bright and unique personalities, each scar needs its own custom treatment to effectively disappear. Your dermatologist may recommend that you use a combination of treatments including lasers or chemical peels, but what if you can’t afford the steep price tag that comes with it? I’m a college student and definitely want to save money as much as I can, even if I’m trying improve the look of my skin. Here’s some of the best methods that have helped me accomplish the scar removal process once and for all.

Scar tissue removal can be done with natural remedies.

Light Therapy

Using light therapy isn’t new knowledge to get rid of scars, but it hasn’t been on the market for customers to buy at the drugstore until a few years ago. My favorite product of all time is the Neutrogena Light Therapy mask for a couple reasons. One, it looks like a mask straight out of a science fiction movie because I look practically unrecognizable to my roommates when I put it on. Secondly, it is slightly on the pricey side but I have seen real results after using it every night for ten minutes at a time. The device is easy to use, free of chemicals and UV light, and ultimately harnesses the power of clinically proven technology to allow skin to heal itself. If you’re struggling with pesky acne scars like me, definitely give it a go before seeking out a more invasive option.

Natural Ointments

I’ll be honest and let you know straight off the bat that some of these natural ointments can smell funky at first. However, they work wonders for the scar healing process because they contain extremely high concentrations of vitamins that the skin needs to regenerate new cells. Some of my favorite ointments to use are tea tree oil and solely vitamin E oil on my scars when I wake up during the day. As I’m brushing my teeth or taking a shower, I leave it on for ten minutes at a time to let the ingredient soak into my skin. I’ve noticed that it’s helped calm down my inflammation and improve the harsh discoloration I usually have from newer scars. Vitamin E oil is also widely known to block free radicals from the body, which plays a large role in the aging process of our skin. If we can fight off free radicals from our environment, wrinkles can be reduced and the overall look of your skin can be kept youthful.

Additionally, honey is also a great ingredient from nature that heals your skin. I can remember as a little kid my mother was applying honey to her facial scars to help them fade. Honey is a natural moisturizer and perfect for scar removal, as it prevents the accumulation of dead skin cells stimulates growth just like vitamin E oil. Apply some honey on your scar and cover it with a bandage so it won’t transfer to other surfaces. Then, leave it on during the night as you sleep so it can work its magic. In the morning, wash it off with some water and go about your day as your skin as absorbed the calming antioxidants it provided.

Talk to A Professional

In most cases you will only have to provide copay if you visit your dermatologist. This is usually best when your scar is from a deep gash or puncture from a long time ago and won’t go away. They’re trained to look at the context of your health history and your current skin’s situation to form the best treatment method possible. A good dermatologist won’t immediately prescribe costly or harsh medications at first because they understand the delicate tolerance each person’s skin has. Better yet, experts who are part of compounding pharmacies can provide an even more customized treatment method for scar removal. Unlike other resources, they treat each patient on a case by case basis so no two treatments are exactly the same. If you can spare more time to figure out how to treat your scar, it’s definitely worth a shot.

Be Proactive

I know dealing with scars is pesky and talking to other people about them can be embarrassing. No one wants to shed light on their flaws, especially if they have to go bare faced to a doctor in town. The best way to go about scar removal is to treat it as soon as possible. Start with using natural ingredients that provide vitamins and antioxidants like the ones I mentioned above. They can be applied every day and provide some type of result over the course of a few weeks. Otherwise, don’t be afraid to try light therapy from the drugstore that can treat your skin with clinically proven technology. Again, consistency is key to make a change in the situation of your skin. If all else fails, consult an expert who can direct you to the next best treatment or discuss other alternatives that you might have overlooked. Nothing beats having peace of mind and closure for scar removal!

Do your research for the best scar tissue removal process.

Drug Addiction, Holistic Health, Mental Health

Dual Diagnosis Programs

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Have you ever wondered about how many people struggle with drug addiction or mental illness each year? How about both? Out of all the people I know, there’s at least a handful that I know who are having difficulty with one of those disorders and are seeking help as quick as possible.

Within the United States, the drug and mental illness epidemic is growing at an alarming rate. One of the most mentioned drugs in the news lately has been opioids, as thousands of drug overdose deaths are happening to people just like you. Driven mainly by addiction to prescription opioids and heroin, drug overdoses reportedly claimed around 64,000 lives within the year of 2016 alone. If you know your history, that’s more lives taken than the entire duration of the Vietnam War. If we look at America on the macro lense, around 27 million of all American adults are considered drug users. Out of that group, at least 8,000 people are trying drugs for the first time each day on average!

It’s no secret that spreading word about the dangers of drugs like opioids and its link to mental illness is crucial to help others. They might not speak about it, but many people who experience addiction are either having serious mental issues as a result or are using hard drugs to numb their emotions instead. Before you take the next dose to conquer the pain of your reality, please remember that you’re not alone. Your circumstances don’t define you and there’s always room to stop what you’re doing if you can take the following steps to make change.

Drug and alcohol self medication is rampant today.

Get Honest

I know that facing the facts aren’t fun, but the sooner you realize your situation, the better your recovery process will be. It’s not easy to suddenly drop whatever drug you’ve been taking to cope with life’s events. When there’s feelings of depression, anxiety, or paranoia in the mix, stopping yourself from self-medicating is especially difficult as it helps you forget about the controlling emotions. In other words, you might be using substances like drugs or alcohol to mask symptoms of a mental health issue you can’t get over. Stimulant drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, or Adderall are often used to combat feelings of depression and increase focus or energy levels that are lacking. On the other hand, maybe you’re using Xanax or prescription sleep aids like Lunesta to elevate your mood, escape reality, or to feel sociable again around other people. No matter what drug you’re using, the high it offers is short-lived and will only serve to make matters worse over the months. From oncoming health problems, weakened relationships, and to decreased discipline, you won’t live a sustainable lifestyle while using drugs as a crutch to function.

Stress Is Real

Are you stressed? Often a person can turn to using drugs after they feel stressed enough from an event, sight, smell, or even a person that triggers their feelings. You could have had a fight with your boss, suffered a divorce, got involved in accident, a bad grade on a test, lost your pet, or experienced anything that often leads to increased stress. To a person who is in such a vulnerable state, drugs can look like the knight in shining armor to save them from feeling like they’re in the pits of hell. It’s attractive, works quickly, and provides that insanely joyful moment some just can’t get enough of. Yet, paired with an already stressed out mind and body, people can experience dangerous spikes in their adrenaline and neurotransmitters. Over time, they’re likely to build up a tolerance which warrants doses that seem to grow larger by the week.

You Can Find Help

You can get the help you need if you’re willing to take action. Lots of people aspire to make a change, but it’s only the doers in our world who actually get the results they want. You’ll need discipline, time, and energy to turn to positive outlets instead of drugs. The journey will be tough, and you may feel that all the effort isn’t worth the blood and tears. Yet, after staying consistent and sticking to your goals to become an improved human being, the strength and health you’ll be left with will be so much more worth it. As a former drinker, I can speak from experience that it took months of tough commitment to staying sober and using exercise as an outlet for my stress and depression to improve my lifestyle. However, I feel so much better now about not only myself, but my relationships, work ethic, and the direction my career is going now.

Make Your Own Treatment

The first step to gaining help and recovering is finding an integrated treatment plan that can help you understand your triggers and form a plan to manage them. You can also look to support groups either online or in your area to communicate with other people going through the same experiences. If your experiencing a mental illness and addiction, seeking a dual diagnosis treatment center will also help you address both problems simultaneously. Many treatment centers offer highly customizable programs for patients to add to their already hectic lifestyle. They also offer services like individual counseling, meditation, or yoga, but it all comes down to what each person enjoys. You’ll benefit from their input, build lifelong relationships, and gain a sense of accountability to not turn back to your old ways. With a revitalized diet full of healthy foods, plenty of water, and staying active everyday, your body will feel naturally much more energetic. The world is at your hands to explore and you’re strong enough conquer it!

You can treat dual disorders with discipline and staying active.

 

 

 

 

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Anxiety Symptoms In Men

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Do your negative thoughts regularly race across your mind? Do you feel hopeless and anxious for no reason at times? If you can say yes to either, you’re definitely not alone. All of us stress out from time to time because life just isn’t as easy as the movies make it. To make things worse, certain situations will inevitably affect our level of anxiety well beyond our control. It could be from failing a test, a deadline coming up too quick, or your family member falling deathly sick. Either way, the experience isn’t a fun one for someone who is easily swayed by their feelings. If you want to regain control of your anxiety, there’s a variety of tips out there to not allow it to take over your life. Anxiety especially can bring on feelings of shame and guilt, but those emotions don’t have to remain permanent if you aim to be proactive.

  1. Avoid the shame. It’s true that if you’re male you’ve likely to have been raised to control your emotions, as anxiety is perceived as a sign of weakness. Many men with anxiety can easily beat themselves into thinking that they’re dangerously vulnerable and failing in life. This feeling in turn can completely prevent them from reaching out for help. With time, their sense of anxiety can get more severe if no intervention is taken.
  2. Don’t turn to addictive outlets. It’s estimated that around 30% of men with anxiety are tempted to turn to substances as a way to cope with their symptoms. As most men are naturally more impulsive than women, they can have a higher tolerance on drugs or alcohol to deal with their emotions. In comparison, women are usually seen turning to their friends to vent their frustrations than initially seeking strong drinks or drugs. Building a tolerance to higher levels of an addictive substance will only damage your mental and physical state over time.
  3. Reach out. It’s not unusual to feel hopeless, depression, or stressed when you can’t control your feelings of anxiety as a man.
    The best thing to do is to talk to a friend, family member, or spouse that you trust completely and voice your concerns. They will likely be concerned about your health and can encourage you to seek a doctor when you’re ready. You don’t need to commit to any treatment methods they advise just yet, but gaining more insight into your situation doesn’t hurt at all.
  4. Get more sleep. A lot of people find that their stress and anxiety levels greatly reduce when they get enough rest at night. Our bodies need ample time to recover and repair before starting a new day. Without it, our emotions can take a toll and we feel much more frazzled when things don’t go our way. Make sure you can schedule it well into your night and treat it as a top priority for your long term health. Some tips for sleeping better throughout the night is to eliminate any distractions nearby. Make sure your environment is clean, cool in temperature, and your phone is on “don’t disturb” mode to avoid annoying buzzing that could wake you up during the early morning. Another method for great sleep is to use essential oils in your room, be it chamomile or lavender that can signal your body to feel more relaxed and at ease.
  5. Move your body. Exercise at least for half an hour every day to get your body sweating and your blood pumping through your veins. Exercise encourages the release of serotonin that helps you feel extremely happy and satisfied as you complete a challenging workout. This doesn’t have to be time consuming as making small changes throughout the day instead of sitting or driving is good enough if you’re busy. Start walking to your destination more often, take the stairs, and even explore all the different desk exercises that are out there to start burning those extra calories. What helped me personally was to set small goals throughout the day and aim for consistency rather than doing things exactly perfect. For example, walking every day for at least thirty minutes is better than waiting all week to bust out a ten mile run. Frequency is everything when you’re trying to get your body and mind into better shape than before.
  6. Get involved. Starting a new project or even volunteering is a great way to become more active in your community. Doing so will help you create a strong support network and feel great about helping others who aren’t as fortunate. In my community, a lot of volunteers visit the local animal shelter, food pantry, or children’s after school programs to spend time with people and give back. They love the experience of being able to make another person’s day and that’s a memory that stays for life.

Final Thoughts

Overall, make sure you explore your options to deal with your anxiety and stress. The feeling doesn’t have to be there forever as you are the person in control of who you want to be in the future. My best advice to you is to start with being honest with yourself and think back to when your problems first began. Did you make any changes in your schedule, start to hang out with anyone new, or made any changes within your diet? You might find that certain changes in those areas could have sparked a pattern that negatively affected your life. Learn to also identify what triggers your anxiety, be it work, family, or school. Write your thoughts down in a journal or even text it to yourself when you’re feeling anxious. The change starts with you, so don’t hesitate!

 

 

 

 

Uncategorized

Mind Your Mindfulness

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Mind Your Mindfulness

What is mindfulness? When I first heard about practicing it, I felt like I was learning about the next popular buzzword like “selfie” or “swag” that was encouraging to say but had no real meaning otherwise. After digging a little deeper into learning about what it meant, I learned that there’s actually a wide variety of mindfulness exercises out there that bring huge benefits to the mind. From taking a quick breather to focusing on the outer world, it really only takes a few minutes during the day to practice it. You definitely don’t need a guided therapist, a complicated textbook, or a day-long seminar to learn exactly how to get its positive effects. Let’s break down the best and easiest ways that I’ve found to decrease my inner stress and do mindfulness exercises for anxiety.

  1. The first and easiest way I’ve found to practice mindfulness exercise is by starting with your breathing. Yes, it’s that simple. One thing you can do is by breathing in and out slowly when you wake up in the morning. Deeply inhale and exhale, allowing a full breath cycle to last from five to ten seconds. A good way to make this work is by breathing slowly through your nose and out with your mouth, releasing all the stress away as you do. Repeat this process for five to ten times, depending on how much time you want to spare. During this experience, let go of your thoughts and worries and focus on nothing but how your body is feeling. You’ll feel a much stronger awareness of your current emotions and calm your mind down from any stress built up from before.
  2. Label your thoughts. Think of it as categorizing your emotions throughout the day, placing a label on them in folder, and storing them in a box in your mind. This simple exercise is designed to help you cultivate a heightened sense of awareness and appreciate being alive in the moment. For example, each time you start to think a negative thought during the day, take a short moment to stop, recognize that the words running through your mind are changing, and label them as damaging. After doing so, imagine that you’re placing these dark thoughts in a box and locking it really tight so they don’t affect the rest of your body. This process sounds like a hoax, but I promise that visualizing it all really helps bring a sense of peace when you’re going through hours of the most stress.
  3. Music therapy can play a huge impact on influencing our mood for the better, which brings me to the third best way to practice mindfulness. Through music, we can process our thoughts and use honesty in recovery from any negative events that occur in our daily life. The next time that you feel extremely negative, turn on a relaxing track that has slower beats. And since much of what we feel listening to music can be influenced from a past event, like being reminded of a breakup, aim to listen to a new song you haven’t heard before from a neutral perspective.  Ignore any labels that you may have from the artist or producer and allow yourself to get lost in the journey of track for however long it lasts. Opening your mind to its dynamic melody and rhythm ultimately trains your mind to become less swayed and influenced from any new outside forces that come your way.
  4. The next best method to practice mindfulness meditation for anxiety is taking the time each day to list what you’re grateful for in life. This could take no longer than five minutes to be reflective of all the blessings that are present in your environment. The point of this exercise is to practice giving more thanks and appreciate the seemingly less important things in life. These people, events, or opportunities are the vehicles that support our life but often fade into the background of our minds. Giving them attention helps spark our inner fire to work toward bigger and better things to come. For starters, think of five things every day that you’re thankful but don’t always focus on. Once you have identified all those things, try to make it your priority to find out everything you can about how they support your purpose and work towards appreciating them even more than before. Gratitude brings happiness above all else as it helps you feel more encouraged and support to take on your day.
  5. Cleaning your space can be another great space for meditation. To bring more mindfulness into your life with cleaning, be sure to first think of it as a positive event rather than a boring chore. Then, select a space in your home that you want to focus on and think of only the benefits that making it neater, prettier, and less clogged will bring.  Concentrate on the broom in your hands as you sweep the floor or the squeaks that the glass cleaner makes when you wipe the windows. Feeling engulfed in the experience can help clear your mind and appreciate the hidden beauty your environment has once all the clutter and noise is cleared. The same thing goes for your mind, taking time to clear it and think about its foundation is essential to bring heightened spiritual in recovery from negativity.

Just Do It

I highly encourage you to just try one of these tips to start practicing mindfulness in your life. Start with something small and practice it over and over again until you feel comfortable to try another method. You’ll find that your concentration is much better than before, I know I did when I began trying yoga and meditation myself. Knowing about your personal habits and exactly how to improve them is essential to getting on the road to less stress and anxiety!

Compounding Pharmacy

Veterinary Compounding Pharmacy

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We all want what’s ultimately the best for our pets and companion animals. This can come in the form of buying all natural food, granting them the coziest bed, and even the seasonal sweater to keep them warm once the temperature drops low. What most people don’t know is thatpet medications can also be tailored too so your pet feels less discomfort than normal. Customizing your pet’s medicine is another way pet owners can go the extra mile for their furry companion.

A popular alternative to consuming traditional prescriptions is seeking a compounding pharmacy that’s licensed in your local state. These agencies help many dog, cat and other eager animal owners who are seeking help for custom alterations to their pet’s medication. The process is pretty simple if you find an experienced professional who can understand the problems your pet may have with a certain drug. Just like people, every animal is different and so is their physical tolerance to certain strong substances.  Breaking down the basics of how compounding pharmacies exactly work will guide you as a pet owner to make the best choice for your furry friend.

Make sure you explore compounding pharmacies for your pet.

Safety First

Before even considering compounding your pet’s medicine, make sure you are seeing actually licensed professionals in your state. Checking out the source of your pet’s medication is as important as the drug itself for you and your pet’s safety. Look for what’s local and what is most cost effective for your budget. It’ll be a total headache to not fact check your health care provider and proofread their policies before handing them the outcome of the health of your loved one. You can check any pharmacy’s legitimacy by visiting the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy website and check what businesses are reputable. Just like buying a product or service, look at their reviews and affiliates. If you have more than one pet that happens to have the same symptoms, make sure that they see vets who will not mix the same prescribed medicine for the both of them. This is a huge mistake and leads to potential health threats for your animal. Using one pet’s compounded medication for another could seriously harm their health, an outcome you definitely want to avoid!

Once your chosen veterinarian does recommend a certain prescription medication, don’t be shy about discussing your financial concerns and if any other substitutes are available. It’s better to be safe than sorry if you happen to rack up a huge bill that’s not covered by insurance or otherwise hard to open your wallet for.

Other popular pet medications, especially ones meant to treat symptoms for infections in most mammals may also not immediately call for a written prescription for use. However, you should still go to talk about all the ways to treat your pet with your vet before settling on a particular brand that is the most mainstream. As you balance your options between different pet medications, think about other helpful factors like the degree of ease in obtaining the medication, how it needs to be taken, and the time you will be spending to wait for it to arrive. Think of literally all the factors that will go into the comfort of using the product before you commit to giving it to your pet for a long period of time.

Compounding Concoctions

There’s no sketchy labs, witchcraft, or kitchen mixing when it comes to compounding your pet’s needed medication. The roots of the process trace back to the very reason why humans sometimes change the form of their medications too. Animals easily experience the same side effects from a drug like nausea, itchy skin, watery eyes, delusion, or drowsiness when they start taking high doses of a new drug. Acclimating to taking one, especially if it’s in a hard to chew tablet ,is definitely hard to stomach if you’re a dog or cat bred on the finest of food. Compounding veterinary pharmarcies relieve this issue by customizing the medication to each pet’s exact physical needs.

Compounding medicine changes a drug’s form by manipulating of any type of substance or chemical that extends beyond what is described on the drug bottle itself. As any owner knows from their pet’s barking and running around wild, treating animals with pills can be extremely difficult. They often are laced with odd odors and taste worse to your pet in most cases. Using the process of compounding, an owner can mix their pet’s drug with another easily digestible substance, making it much more appealing to consume. This allows each does to become less strong, better flavored, or even liquefied completed so it goes down quick.

Before compounding your pet’s drug, make sure to gain the permission of your chosen vet after making an appointment. Since every patient’s needs and tolerance levels are different, you’ll want their consultancy on what is the best method to take based off of your personal situation and timeline. If a pet is experiencing extreme pain for example, they’ll want to take a look at the dosage and potentially rapid release so the drug can work quicker than usual. After considering those important factors, experienced vets develop the solution on a case by case basis that is influenced by the severity of the pet’s problem. For example, if a cat or dog needs something that is only comes as a tablet, the owner can seek a veterinary compounding pharmacy to have the drug compounded into a flavored juice that is probably way tastier to take instead. There’s a myriad of opportunities when you reach for resources to fix your pet’s problem!

Protect Your Furry Friend

With today’s digital pharmaceutical services, finding the right type of medication and dosage for your pet is much easier and convenient than a couple years ago. If you’re not feeling like committing to a full-fledged prescription and don’t even know for sure if it’ll suit your pet, listen to what your vet has to say. Usually, they will know best about what direction to point your pet in, whether they need compounded medication or not. Ultimately you want the best for them, so helping them feel better is done by lowering their discomfort when taking medication each day. With the help of compounding and some extra planning, you’ll find an amazing solution for your pal!

Give your pet the medical options it deserves!

 

Drug Addiction, Mental Health

Alcohol Assessment For Recovery

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Causes of Alcoholism 

Ben Affleck, Demi Lovato, and Ed Sheeran are all household names thanks to their incredible talent and exposure from the mainstream media. Yet, they all share a past in drug and alcoholism that debilitated the journey to achieving their success. Many may wonder how can a handful of people so great at what they do fall victim to becoming dependent on the physical symptoms of alcoholism. The reality is that almost a quarter of the entire adult population in the U.S. will binge drink alcohol once a month.

From alcohol being offered in nearly every store, served at every popular function, to being encouraged by the mass media, it’s hard not to give into the dialogue to drink alcohol whenever possible.  No matter what your gender, social status, income, or industry background is, experiencing an intense physical reliance on the “high” that alcohol brings can quickly develop.

Some people are vocal about going through this struggle, while other battle the effects of withdrawal in silence. However, people who can recognize the root of the problem before they develop a full-blown addiction have a much greater chance to minimize the role alcohol plays in their life in the long run.

That’s where alcohol assessments come in; they’ll relieve the grey area of why you’re feeling down on otherwise normal days and point you in the right direction for seeking treatment.

Let’s Get Physical 

Physical symptoms of alcohol aren’t anything new, but the lasting effects it leaves may surprise some. We’ve all seen the hit movies like Project X, Grown Ups, or Bridesmaids that showcase the funny events that follow getting drunk at a house party, bar, or music festival. These can all be fun events if you can control yourself.

The symptoms that come with alcoholism though range from subtle to extreme depending on how much a person drinks. Experts break down these symptoms between ones that cause a short and long term effect on the body.

For example, say you’re going out on a Friday night with your girls and hit up the nearest campus bar.

During the pregame, you’ll most likely be downing a couple shots to feel buzzed enough to get through the usually long line and wallet busting cover that the bar brings. In this stage, the body’s motor skills become slightly slowed. You’ll feel like you’re having slurred speech, slightly decreased balance, a warmer temperature, and maybe even feeling more confident to take on the night.

As you arrive to the bar with your group, you’ll want to buy a few mixed drinks to stay drunk or maybe you’ll strike lucky with a stranger who will kindly offer you one. While someone responsible will know their limit and stop accepting drinks by this point, someone who starts to binge will indefinitely experience the more nasty physical symptoms of alcoholism. It’s not uncommon to start to see a person go through uncontrollable vomiting, complete loss of balance, and even passing out.

If a person chooses to continue having nights or even days like the situation described above, they’ll feel the long term effects of alcoholism within a few weeks to a few months. By frequently binging on alcohol with weekly Saturday block parties or Friday night bars, the body’s mental and physical state can be drastically altered.

Over time, significant memory loss and decreased concentration can affect your ability to complete any important tasks for work, school, or even just personal errands throughout the day. Long time alcohol abusers will also increase their risk of cancer in the colon, liver, throat, breast, etc., high blood pressure, and a damaged digestive system if they don’t seek an alternative quickly.

If you’re older, your career and family environment can take a hit as you struggle to get through the day and inevitably don’t feel like yourself anymore.

Physical symptoms of alcoholism come about in the short and long term.

Are You Treating Your Addiction or Just Getting By? 

Even if you can recognize you have a problem, the way you treat your physical signs of alcoholism is crucial to your health. Your friends or family may be telling you to lay off the drinks and perhaps get a new hobby, but you combat their concerns by confidently stating you’ll handle it on your own. That mantra in itself is a slippery slope towards tumbling into a full-fledged alcohol addiction.

If you find you have free time, are feeling low, or want to celebrate, do you turn to alcohol as a crutch? If the answer is yes, you may have a larger dependency on your hands that’s far more severe than the normal occasional trip to the club.

Another key sign is recognizing a pattern in which you consistently try to limit yourself to a certain number of drinks for the night, but manage to fail every time.  Keep in mind that having a “low risk” alcohol dependence still equal “no risk.”

No amount of delicious tequila sunrises will make you feel brighter about your health either. Make sure you can enjoy the substance in moderation before allowing it to take control of every other facet in your life.

Don’t wait to gain help on understanding the your own causes of alcoholism.

Get An Alcohol Assessment 

So you’re realizing that whether you like or not, you may be plagued with a dangerous but curable alcohol addiction. Even if you don’t feel comfortable or motivated enough to make major life improvements just yet, it’s imperative to seek online resources that will point you in the right direction. Also, getting help from a professional drug and alcohol treatment center in Florida may be helpful for you to understand your current state of health and learn why you keep going back to the crutch of alcohol. Experts also recommend taking an alcohol assessment to grow more reflective of how your thought process operates when alcohol is in the mix. From the comfort of your home computer or smartphone, you can take a free online assessment to get a proven recommendation on whether if it’s time to pursue treatment for your alcohol drinking. Don’t be afraid to reach for help and gain the huge benefits!

 

Search Engine Optimization, Website Design

Business Website Design

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Tips for Creating Successful Business Website Designs

Websites are critical for a business in any type of industry for creating strong brand reputation, online presence, and reach to customers who now spend most of their time online. A successful business website design must truly speak to and engage its target market.

Yet, several aspects of a website play a role into determining what content will immediately stand out and resonate in the thoughts of people, convincing them to choose your brand over the competition. Many designers tend to forget that a website needs to build a strong foundation before tailoring the more decorative details. This includes planning content carefully so it’s cohesive with your goal of the website, regularly asking for feedback from customers, and remaining patient throughout the entire process.

Any smart digital marketing specialist understands that their campaigns will lead to visits on their website, so taking the time and effort to perfect it will reap lasting rewards for brand reputation.

To set yourself apart, make sure that your website is showcasing high quality visuals, easy to read text, and a unique story that communicates a personal voice to your business. There’s many crucial pieces of advice to remember before and during the process of designing your business website, even if you just want to edit a check out page or update your social media reel.

Displaying your business in the best light is worth the time if you want to win the race and come out on top!

Man working with his business website design.

Content Creation

Studies within the field of psychology show that people can form an impression about another person within five seconds. The people who come across your website can either have a positive or negative impression within this time as well, so creating an aesthetically pleasing trail of content is important to build the relationship with them on a strong foundation.

Sometimes less is more, as the biggest and brightest designs can often offset the initial interest a customer may have when first visiting your business website. As you are beginning to build your brand’s online reputation and threading the words to communicate a strong brand message, your market’s preferences are always much more important than your personal favorite styles. Build your brand’s website with the consumer in mind, not yourself.

A website design must be to the point, interactive, and interesting enough to maintain a person’s attention. Many online customers reported that they enjoy cohesiveness in regards to business website design when they come across one on their desktop or mobile browser. This means using the same fonts, styles of image editing, and formatting throughout the website to remain cohesive.

Keeping consistency to simplify your information allows the customer to have a better experience and more easily relate to what your business may stand for.

Exciting Media

For a customer to desire to learn about your brand online, your business website must allow them to become fully engaged, taken care of, and feel excited to seek more.

A very strong business website design should include gorgeous media with professionally made pictures and videos that portray product demonstrations, customer insights, and awards from the industry.

Bringing in outside opinions on the business helps to strengthen its reputation and appear less biased as to why its goods or services work so well.

Cohesive visuals and complimentary colors will aid any consumer to start a relationship with your website.

Today, many website builders like Wix.com or Squarespace allow a designer to select a default theme depending on their type of business to streamline this process. Laying out a clear path of information helps your visitors to subconsciously follow the incentives you have left for them to pursuing your product.

From there, more minor details like sizing, pop up reminders, and additionally imagery can be added to reinforce your point. Remain mindful of what your customer will find value in and what type of information they will benefit to see most.

Mobile Markets

According to recent studies in consumer insight, nearly sixty percent of all customers seeking a product or service will look up information and prices using their mobile phones. Retailers need to up their mobile strategy game alongside their website development.

A strong aspect of effective business website design is auditing how all published content pages, related links, and recent media are being displayed on a smartphone.

The reality is that the majority of customers are accessing business advertisements and different marketing campaigns by scrolling through their social media news feeds, sponsored promotions, and/or searching for businesses spontaneously via search engines.

A savvy business should put themselves in the position of their digitally minded consumers and preview every aspect of their website design while it’s still being developed. This will prevent glitches that will harm the experience or inaccurate displayed information that will bring down the brand’s reputation.

Website building software today allows a user to look through different pages in both desktop and mobile mode. Make sure to proofread your headers, short term offer descriptions, related content, and test each social media link to guard your content. It’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to building the potential of success for your business’s website!

Mobile compatibility is crucial for business website design.

Search Engine Savvy

Once you have created a bulletproof business website design, you’ll need to ensure your customers can actually find it. Many business owners come to marketing consultants today with the problem of having great content, visuals, and a brand message, but no target market reach over the months to show for it.

This problem is rooted in having a poorly designed strategy for search engine optimization where their site could be perfectly designed and engaging, but not showing up within the top of search results list with several search engines. Even the AI embedded in many mobile and desktop devices now default to using search engines, so maintaining your place among competition is significant. Many businesses now are utilizing online tools to promote their company and products more effectively when their customers reach for Google or ask for Alexa to search for answers. Gaining substantial page visibility during these customer journeys are key to driving more revenue and fueling growth for your brand overall.

Your website’s frequently used keywords and internal page code must first be compatible with all popular search engines that your customers use. Any bugs in the text will be flagged by search engines and will prevent customers from seeing your page at all. Other aspects like inserting title tags with relevant keywords and linking to related content also boosts the “rating” of your website in the eyes of your search engine as it boasts more presence.

Make sure to also keep your formatting simple and minimize the loading speed of your web page so your content loads right away. Any lag will lead to impatience and frustration that detracts from the benefits your business actually provides.

In order to drastically improve your web page design and accessibility, one should consider the services of web design agencies that offer substantial consulting for establishing an online reputation to reach meaningful customers. Many in the industry today supplement this service with full-service marketing campaigns to promote your business and to improve your business website design.

When it comes to improving your business with aspects that seem challenging, it’s encouraged to seek someone in the field who knows how to execute it well. They understand the importance of having a strong cohesive, consistent, and engaging websites and are always pushing for the best way to make your webpage dream come true!

 

 

 

Holistic Health, Mental Health

Overcome Smartphone Addiction

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The Problem

Have you gone through an extended period without using your smartphone or having Internet? To most people, being completely disconnected from the rest of the world sounds like a nightmare. In our digital age, online addiction and smartphone addiction is a real issue as people are checking it constantly throughout the day, relying on notifications to stay entertained, and going into shock when they don’t feel it in their pockets. While hard to break, smartphone addiction can be helped with enough self-discipline and online addiction support groups who can help bring a community to detoxifying from the dependence. With practice and time, the physical and mental strains that come from a heavy dependency can wane so a healthier lifestyle can come to the forefront.

How Does Addiction Start?

Most people fail to realize the smartphone addiction is a real problem that is affecting millions of people around the world. It’s getting into the way of our daily activities, conversations, and intimate moments with the never ending buzzing. With the rising demand for mobile phones and the necessary use of it to keep up with the news, social media, and communicating with others, battling addiction with smartphones will be faced by many. Include the rapid advances that today’s smartphones have to access information at all time high speeds, and addiction is sure to develop. Approximately 72% of people in a recent study stated that they are rarely more than five feet away from their smartphones at any given time during the day! Experts call this issue by the name nomophobia, which describes the incredible fear that being away from your phone will cut you off from your friends, family, and the rest of the world. 

Smartphone and online addiction is also a problem that often stems from other underlying emotional and psychological issues. It can be a side effect of major mental disorders like depression or OCD, also known as obsessive-compulsive disorder! Using a smartphone too much – whether you are an adult or adolescent – can create a dependency. This addiction typically leads to high levels of stress, loss of focus, and even anxiety disorders.

Online Addiction Consequences

There’s no issue with using your phone at a healthy level. However, if you are spending more time talking to your Instagram followers than your actual friends, it might be the right time to take a step back and reflect on managing what could be an addiction. Smartphone addiction, especially among children, is completely changing the dynamic that we communicate with each other throughout the day. Face to face human interaction helps a young child and even teenagers to develop emotionally in a way that phones can’t match up to. Speaking, listening, and displaying gestures with a real human helps a child to see the other person’s emotional reaction and decide the appropriate response. Yet, texting, talking or browsing Facebook threads on a smartphone does none of this. Meanwhile, grown adults are no less likely to become addicted and end up feeling excessively tired on a daily basis from staring at a screen.

How To Fight Addiction

Battling a smartphone or online addiction is not easy in any sense. To be successful, you have to acknowledge you have an issue as the first step. This type of addiction, unlike being drawn to physical drugs or alcohol, is difficult to pinpoint as we all use our smartphones so often each day. However, watch out for a few key symptoms that characterize an addiction. One that many people may have experienced is phantom cellphone vibration, describing the feeling our body has become conditioned to anticipate when we carrying our smartphone around. Even if no new texts, emails, or calls are actually coming through, our minds begin to imagine the same sensation as a heavy dependence becomes established. The most basic step that some experts suggest for weaning time spent on your phone is literally setting alarms specifying how often you can check it. Start with 15 minutes and move up to eventually an hour. When your alarm sounds, spend one minute going through all your notifications and then reset the timer. This will build restrictions in your lifestyle and help reduce your habit of checking them so often. Another trick is to seek online addiction forums, who speak about keeping addiction apps like Facebook or Instagram in hideable folders on your phone. This way, you’ll be able to prevent getting distraction from endless videos, pictures, and focus on more important tasks.

Final Takeaway

Going through any kind of addiction is tough without implementing a supportive community base, enough discipline, and temptation preventions. When it comes to battling online addiction and smartphone dependency, the process takes the willingness to plug in more into the real world and interact with the humans who are actually physically around you. While it will feel painful at first to detach from the addicting buzzes and “like” notifications, your body, mind, and relationships will thank you as you begin to function more normally as a human being. You’ll also appear much more engaged, friendly, and open when you’re around others who are talking to you or desire to strike up a conversation!

 

Women's Health

What is A Cystoscopy?

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The Foundation

Cystoscopy sounds like a complicated process, but understanding the main principles of why it is used helps wrapping your mind around it. People who experience frequent pain or urination issues throughout the day are often recommended to getting a cystoscopy done to check their internal bladder health. This way, the doctor can check for any types of abnormalities less intrusively within the hospital. Thinking about getting a cystoscopy can be confusing at first, as many technical definitions are needed to describe how it interacts and measures health within our bodies. Luckily, simplifying all the complicated terms into content that is easier to process for people who are unfamiliar with how it works can hopefully help them decide on going through with it or not.

Cystoscopy Basics

Getting a cystoscopy done involves a doctor utilizing a cystoscope, or a thin plastic tube that has a camera and small illuminating light attached to its tail end. To initiate the process, a doctor will slowly draw the tube through the patient’s urethra (the part of our body that helps move urine out while we go to the bathroom) to reach the bladder. Then, the inside of the bladder is projected from the camera to a bright computer screen and magnified for fine details to be displayed so the interior can be projected onto a bright computer screen. The image is enlarged by hundreds of times so doctors can exactly pinpoint the problem. While a cystoscopy is relatively safe to get done, there is still some minor risk for physical infection, minor complications with any anesthesia needed to be given to the patient, and prolonged bleeding in the bladder that could occur. Before going through the process, be sure to do a significant amount research on how a cystoscopy should be prepared for and different risks that come with it depending on your demographic. A patient could also see some scar tissue that can develop afterwards that leads to a form of stricture in the urethra (which prevents any easy urination), some swelling within the bladder interior, and frequent inability to properly urinate like before.

Receiving Recovery

After getting a cystoscopy, the bladder and surrounding areas can recover relatively well. After doctors instruct you to clean up and empty your bladder at the hospital after the procedure, you can go home without having to worry that the anesthesia will stay in your body for a long time. In most cases, it wears off in a short amount of time and doesn’t cause any major health issues. After taking things easy for a day, people are safe to return to their normal daily activities like going to work, exercising outside or at the gym, or running daily errands. Some people might experience a stinging feeling after a cystoscopy when peeing, more frequent urination, and urine being tinted a more pink color for a short time. While these effects are uncomfortable at first, they all eventually disappear within a few days. A patient who reminds himself to drink more water after getting the procedure will also help pick up the pace of the recovery process as well. Additionally, taking over the counter painkillers such as paracetamol also helps to reduce any type of stinging tor inflammation that may come up.

Although there aren’t that many direct surgical alternatives to getting a cystoscopy, you could be guided by your doctor to get a less intensive X-ray or ultrasound screening instead. These can be done before going through with a cystoscopy, and are strong in showing any potential stones or tumors that could be growing in the area. However, they aren’t as accurate and can’t show active infections deep inside the body as well as a cystoscopy. So, seeing the inside situation as efficiently as possible can help your doctor accurately diagnose your case and recommend the best treatment.

Stress Less

While doctors don’t have many horror stories about cystoscopies, there are patients on the web who aim to share negative stories from fluke accidents that have occurred throughout their own personal history. Even if it sounds terrible to experience, don’t feel anxious because every person’s experience will be different. The factors that contributed to their issues could have stemmed from anything like weak preparation, an ill-advised doctor, a technical malfunction, or other personal health issues that came up. Many health forums are out there to help patients feel more mentally relaxed before beginning a cystoscopy.  The Internet can help you learn more about the process, from what to anticipate in the room, taking care after the procedure, and the best painkillers and food to ingest. Hospitals want you to feel completely ready before starting and ending the process. Remember, before signing up to go through any major medical procedure, set aside enough time in your busy schedule to do thorough searching about it, why you need it, and how to best prepare for it beforehand.