Thursday, July 12, 2007

Importance of Journaling to Help Deal With Interstitial Cystitis

Interstitial Cystitis, or IC, is a condition in which a person experiences recurring pain or discomfort in the bladder and pelvic regions. It can be extremely painful and uncomfortable, and can have several different symptoms. The symptoms vary from person to person, and can differ from one day to the next in the same person. This is one reason it is important to keep a journal of your symptoms.

With IC, individuals can experience mild to extreme pain and tenderness. They may feel the need to urinate frequently, and may also experience a painful urgency to urinate. There also may be irritation or pain when urinating. You may even experience symptoms that aren't listed here.

Keeping a journal of your symptoms, whatever they may be, and when you experienced them can help your doctor come up with a treatment plan. Different symptoms can require different kinds of treatment. Showing a journal of symptoms to your doctor can ensure that you don't receive the same treatment as another person who has symptoms completely different from yours.

With IC, you may notice that different things you do can trigger pains or other symptoms. For example, different foods that you eat may trigger pain in the abdomen, or drinking something acidic can worsen the pain when you urinate. Having a journal of these things can help you and your doctor notice a pattern, which will help you avoid things that trigger symptoms.

Until recently, IC was considered to be a psychological problem, creating pain and confusion in all types of people. Some individuals probably started to wonder if they were imagining symptoms. Thankfully, IC is now considered a real and physical problem, and more is being done to treat patients with this condition.

The symptoms of IC can make it hard to diagnose. In fact, it is often misdiagnosed as urinary tract infection, bladder infections, or kidney problems. Some of the symptoms are the same as the symptoms of these other conditions. It can be extremely frustrating to be diagnosed with something else when you have IC, as the treatment for something else probably won't help your symptoms.

If you think you may have IC, keeping a journal of your symptoms will help your doctor to diagnose you properly, and treat you with something that will lessen or alleviate your symptoms. The wide range of symptoms will also help doctors to realize that you aren't experiencing just a type of infection, but that you may have IC.

There is no downfall in keeping a journal, and it can only help. Track your pain, bathroom visits, tenderness, frequency of urination, and triggers. In women, the symptoms with IC can be worse as it gets closer to your menstruation time. Be sure to log this into your journal as well. Doing this will help your doctor to help you, and if you have experienced the pain associated with IC, you know that you can use all the help you can get. Get started today, and get well!

If you’re currently experiencing Interstitital Cystitis or painful bladder syndrome then you are not alone. Many people, just like you, have found relief from painful interstitital cystitis symptoms and are currently living a healthier and happier lifestyle. If you want to join the revolution for better bladder health, please visit http://www.interstitial-cystitis.net today!

Botox Injection Treatments for Migraines

Migraines are serious medical conditions for many people and although there are a variety of treatments for migraine pain, few are considered desirable treatments by patients. Botox injections are a relatively new treatment available, and migraine sufferers are reporting positive results with less after effects than with more traditional treatments. The discovery of Botox as a headache pain reducer happened purely by accident, yet it is now one of the more promising techniques for dealing with migraines.

Migraine attacks are painful episodes where sufferers have debilitating discomfort in the head. The pain associated with migraines is very intense. Researchers have suggested that migraine conditions are associated with a predisposition to strokes. Dealing with migraines proactively rather than just living with them, as people have done in the past is very important. The quality of the migraine sufferer is often not even a consideration of many traditional therapies. They were focused on relieving the pain somehow. The patient was left to do what they could to deal with the personal consequences of these attacks which could last for long periods of time.

The source or cause of migraines isn’t understood well enough, however a variety of approaches are recommended by doctors and other health care professionals to deal with the disorder. The two main approaches to managing migraines are (a) preventive and (b) abortive. Abortive therapy for migraine attacks seeks to control the factors that lead to an attack.

Preventative treatments are used when a sufferer has few attacks. Doctors may prescribe drugs used to lower blood pressure, anti-depressants, anti-seizure medications, and anti-histamines. Here it the issue may be an inflammatory tissue problem that generates the pain.

Each individual patient may have different symptoms and underlying medical conditions that result in the migraines, so each will need a different treatment. Pain medications such as Advil, Aspirin and Tylenol are old reliables when it comes to treating headache pain, however migraines are not a typical form of headache. Many sufferers took pain medications for years only to find they wouldn’t work any longer. That’s lead to the search for new solutions and treatments for sufferers.

Some research has suggested muscle tension may be a causative factor. Certainly, as a migraine sufferer endures years of pain and is missing work and not enjoying their social and family life, they will begin to tense up. This is where blood pressure can rise and anxiety and depression can result. Muscle tension can occur in the patient’s scalp and head region.

Botox injections are treatments where a trained health professional injects small amounts of a substance called Botox into specific muscles in the individuals face and scalp areas. Botox is a trademarked substance manufactured exclusively by Allergan Inc. of Irvine California. Allergan distributes the product to a variety of doctors, clinics and qualified health care professionals for administering to patients who need them. Botox is well known as a beauty treatment, but through clinical use, it was discovered that it could be used in the treatment of headaches and even chronic sweating conditions.

Botox is made from a naturally occurring and common poison called Clostridium botulinum. In large doses it is toxic, but in small injectable doses, it can prevent muscle nerves from sending and receiving impulses. When injected into a muscle, the muscle relaxes. In beauty treatments, it causes unattractive facial wrinkles and skin folds to soften. The presence of deep lines and folds on skin gives you an idea of how prolonged muscle tension can affect bodily tissues. In the case of muscles on the scalp, the tension in them can put pressure on parts of the skull and create aches. With the inhibiting effect on neuroligical transmission, certain neurological pain transmitters are also inhibited. The collective result is the diminishment of headache.

Use of Botox injections for migraines doesn’t mean the underlying condition is resolved, however for many sufferers, relief from painful, debilitating migraines is all they want.

Pure Med Spa has trained professionals who administer Botox injections for migraines. Learn more about Botox for headaches at www.puremedspa.com.