Learn How to Treat Injuries

DIY Injuries: Learn How to Treat Injuries

You don't always require a medical doctor: Learn these fast & easy fixes for your body aches & pains


They require pain relief & they require it now. But who sees a doctor for everyday irritations like sore necks & pinched toes or throbbing hangnails & burning eyes? They did. In fact, they stiffened our upper lip to find the best ways to treat those little pains that pack the huge hurt.

Hangnail

A hangnail starts when dry skin around your nail bed cracks & breaks. It ends when you gnaw it off. But the raw, red patch & throbbing that ensues is over a way to nauseate the people around you; it is a sign of a minor infection. After washing it, use an over-the-counter antibiotic ointment like Polysporin or Bacitracin, which don't contain neomycin (an ingredient that often causes allergic reactions), says D'anne Kleinsmith, M.D., a New york dermatologist. In three study, Polysporin also proved to be the best wound healer. Reduce the %&#! factor by bandaging it. "You have all those raw nerve endings kind of jangling out there in the open air," Dr. Kleinsmith says. "Putting on ointment & covering the sore soothes the nerve endings & gives the skin a better environment to mend."

Prevent It: Moisturize your skin to keep it from drying & cracking. Do it after you wash your hands to seal in moisture. Dr. Kleinsmith recommends Williams-Sonoma's hand cleanser & lotion sets ($40, Williams-Sonoma).

Sore Back & Neck

Because we are constantly slumping over keyboards, peering down at papers, & craning on the phone, our necks & backs are the first to tighten. To counteract the strain, you require to take the time to stretch your back & neck in the opposite direction of your typical position, says Annie O'Connor, a physical therapist at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. For your back pain, arch it so your tailbone lifts off the stool, slouch, & then sit up straight. Repeat 6 to 10 times in a row every hour or so. For neck pain, sit or stand up straight & tilt your head back so that your head moves directly over your neck?meaning your neck muscles won't must strain forward to support your noggin.

Prevent It: To ensure support at your table, sit so your butt makes contact with the back of the stool. Then place a rolled-up sweater or towel behind the little of your back, O'Connor says.

Pointy-toed shoes are the new corsets: Your toes may feel cramped & crushed, but damn, you look nice. Three time you have shed the shoes, add a few tablespoons of Epsom salts to a shallow tub of warm water. Soaking your feet for 20 minutes may increase circulation throughout cramped vessels & nerves & draw liquid out of swollen tissues, says Karen E. Schneider, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon in New York City. After elevating your feet to reduce swelling, lightly roll a tennis ball under the balls of your feet for a few minutes. The massage can help relieve soreness.

Cramped Feet

Soap in Your Eyes

Prevent It: Buy pointy-toed shoes a half size bigger & insert self-adhesive pads in to the shoe under where your toes would sit. Try Foot Petals' brand Tip Toes ($12.99, Target). "A toe pad takes up space, forcing your foot out of the pinching toe box & back toward the heel," says Vanessa Noel, a shoe designer in New York City.

Prevent It: Unless you have got a thing for those seventh-grade chemistry goggles, it is near impossible to prevent foreign objects from getting in to your peepers. When you are outside, you can opt for sports sunglasses with fuller frames & wider lenses. "I think wraparound lenses are great," Dr. Huang says. "Actually, like safety glasses, they often have side sections to them."


Little bubbles. Nice in a song, horrendous in your eyes. "You can get little micro scratches in the cornea from the chemical burn in shampoo," says Agnes Huang, M.D., a Seattle ophthalmologist. Whenever you get shampoo, dirt, or anything foreign in your eye, tilt your head back & flush your eye with saline solution for a few minutes. The salinity level in the solution matches that of your tears. Don't have it? Pour room-temperature water directly over the eye for a minute. Your eye should heal within 48 hours, but to speed the technique, use artificial tears like Bausch & Lomb Moisture Eyes ($11.99, Drugstore.com) to keep the eye damp when it feels scratchy.