By admin
There are few things as irritating as having to deal with pain at night when you are trying to sleep. The frustrations of trying to relax combined with not disturbing your partner or others who may hear you go to the medicine cabinet can make for an unpleasant night and morning as well.
In general, having night or “bed” pain is a serious issue. Most of us will generally experience less pain at night because the body shuts down many of the sensory inputs to allow us to sleep. Even those with arthritis generally feel less discomfort and even sudden bursts of pain that awaken them will soon go away, these periods of being awake for a very short time does not have a serious effect on getting enough sleep. It is common for many of us to believe we are sleep deprived and to a certain extent perhaps we are, but the body usually finds a way to make up for lost sleep at some point.
However, for those who suffer from pain strong enough to keep them awake, the complications can become serious. Insomnia can lead to another host of issues which can build upon each other and create a potentially serious situation if not treated quickly.
If your bed pain is cause by leg cramps, you can take calcium supplements, take a warm bath before bedtime and /or emphasize a walking exercise program during the day which can stretch out the muscles and actually relive the cramping, but you need to avoid exercising within two hours of going to bed.
If you do not suffer from leg cramps, but repeated bouts of bed pain from a known cause, there are methods beyond just taking pain medication that can help you fall asleep faster and wake up feeling less pain.
Get a Comfortable Bed: Seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? But getting a good night’s sleep is helped by getting a bed that’s firm enough to hold your body evenly while being soft enough to not create any painful pressure points. Using the right kind of pillows to help support your head and neck is also helpful. Although you don’t want to place a pillow under the knees as this can create stiffness in your hips or legs when you awaken in the morning.
Avoid Caffeinated Beverages: Another obvious tip, but you do want to avoid eating or drinking anything that might prevent you from falling asleep when your body is ready.
Go to Bed when you are Tired: Many of us might try to go to bed too early, thinking we’ll get more sleep. But it generally doesn’t work out that way. Our body will tell us when it’s ready for sleep. You just have to be aware of the signs, one of which will be your pain decreasing as your body shuts down the sensory inputs.
Avoid Drugs if you can: Sleeping pills and sedatives deliver the wrong type of sleep, are habit forming, and can cause depression. Taking pain medications at night interfere with the body’s ability to tell you something is seriously wrong. If you suffer from pain due to arthritis or another known cause, your body will adapt.
If you do not know what is causing bed pain at night, you need to see your doctor as soon as possible, as this might be a symptom of a more serious issue.
Guest Ranter: Tom Taome
Technorati Tags: health, pain
By admin
Nobody likes to owe money to anyone else. Living in debt can sometimes feel like you are being smothered to death by interest rates and payments. There are more and more issues with people finding themselves in an extreme amount of debt and not feeling like they are able to break the debt cycle.
The way that the debt system works pretty much has you owing an obscene amount of money before you even get your first job, house, or car thanks to student loans. Other people may find themselves paying off credit cards that they got on a whim and maxed out before they really thought about the consequences. Being in debt is not something that you have to live with any longer. With a little discipline and planning you can find out how to become a part of the debt free-living population.
One of the first steps to becoming debt free is to really know what you owe. Start by gathering up all your bills and debts and calculating the entire amount you will owe. Be honest with yourself because that is the only way you are going to be able to dig your way out of the debt that you have created. If you share your finances with someone else you will need to get together and figure out all of the debts you owe combined.
After you have a realistic idea of your debt it is time to start paying off those credit cards. Credit cards are a good thing when you use them responsibly, but the interest can eat you alive if you don’t watch it. Figure out which credit cards have the highest interest rates and begin paying off on those as much as possible. Nobody on earth needs more than three credit cards so decide on two or three that have low interest and high benefits. Once you have paid it off cut it up and begin only spending what you can pay back in full at the end of the month.
If you are having problems with debt it may be time to access your car situation. While a new car is great it is not something that you can’t live without. Try to find an affordable used car that you can pay cash for or have a very low payment plan. Buying a new car can be a huge waste of money, since they lose thousands of dollars during the first five miles you drive them. Think smart instead of trying to show off to the neighbors.
One of the most important steps in debt-free living is to start budgeting your income. Budgeting is an art form and people who do it well can save a ton of money. The key to budgeting is to not spend more than you make. Cutting expenses is the key to getting out of debt. You can’t live above your means and be out of debt ever. When budgeting, try cutting out unnecessary wants like excessive shopping, eating out, or other wasteful forms of entertainment. Instead of buying a new book, go get a free library card and enjoy books, movies, and CDs for free. Taking your kids to the park instead of spending money is a great way to have fun and enjoy the outdoors.
Once you have become debt-free you will have to work to stay that way. Lots of people go into debt in the face of an emergency but if you learn how to budget correctly and save your money you will not have to worry about the “what ifs” that life can throw your way. When you are retired you will be grateful for every penny that you have saved.
Guest Ranter: Mia Miah
Technorati Tags: credit counseling, debt-free, pesonal finance
By admin
Have you ever seen an advertised special in a store that seemed like a great price, only to find out that the advertised price was effective only after you received a mail-in rebate? How did you feel about that? If you are anything like most people, it didn’t phase you much. You probably thought, Well bottom line is if I get some money back in the mail which makes the item only cost that much, then that’s the price I can buy it for. But there is still that little asterisk in your brain about the discounted price, isn’t there? Somehow you know this isn’t quite like buying it at that advertised price.
After all you still do have to fork over all the money now and wait for a rebate to arrive, and there is at least a tinge of doubt in your mind that you will actually receive it. And for good reason! Retailers are getting worse and worse about honoring these rebate offers. They are looking for any excuse not to honor them and some of them go to ridiculous lengths to weasel out of their obligation. They make you dot a hundred i’s and cross and hundred t’s on three or four forms, send in a critical part of the packaging plus a printed receipt, and if you slip up on some minor point you blew it – no rebate.
Now, understand that just because you missed something on the form or sent the wrong part of the packaging in, the company doesn’t really doubt that you purchased the item. They can see just from the receipt alone that you are a legitimate customer. There is pretty much no chance that somebody is trying to scam them out of an unearned rebate. They know this. They are just trying to find a loophole – any loophole – to dishonor the price they advertised the item for. Electronics companies are especially notorious for doing this nowadays.
If you do somehow clear the obstacle course, you are likely to receive a prepaid visa debit card which you must spend at retail establishments in order to redeem. What’s more, if you don’t do it pretty quick the thing will expire and you will lose the rebate. It’s not cash. It’s not a check you can deposit in your bank account. It can’t go into your savings account, cannot go into your kid’s college fund, cannot practically be given to your favorite charity. You have to use it at a store or a restaurant in order to redeem it. And you won’t get it for many weeks, possibly months after you mail in the required forms.
This still all might seem OK to you. After all, you live in this society and so you are out spending money in stores quite often, and even the grocery store will accept that prepaid debit card. But let me tell you a considerable percentage of those cards expire without being used. They go into a purse pocket or a drawer and you find them in 8 months expired and worthless. You didn’t get the advertised price. As a matter of fact there is a good chance that as you are reading this some Christmas present you purchased a couple months ago cost you more than you planned on. Because right now, that rebate card is lost somewhere, if you even remembered to sit down for 30 minutes and figure out the claiming process in the first place.
What this all adds up to is terribly misleading marketing, if not blatant false advertising. It’s amazing that it is still legal. When Mama Riah and I purchased new cell phones recently the girl at the store told us to make sure we didn’t put the rebate claim forms in the same envelope or we would only get one of them. Now isn’t that utterly ridiculous, even perhaps borderline criminal? We should all get together as a society and just say no to any product advertised with a mail-in rebate price. Either that or start a massive class-action lawsuit.
Papa Riah
Technorati Tags: advertising, rebates, scam
There are few things as irritating as having to deal with pain at night when you are trying to sleep. The frustrations of trying to relax combined with not disturbing your partner or others who may hear you go to the medicine cabinet can make for an unpleasant night and morning as well.
