Even if you truly love working out, I'm going to bet that you don't love the muscle soreness that comes afterward. I mean, there's something kind of rewarding about a little soreness the next day, but the kind of pain that makes it hard to walk like a normal person? I'll pass on that, thanks.

I recently read about a product called The Stick on one of the running blogs I follow. It promises to "prevent and predict muscle injuries, dramatically improve strength, flexibility and endurance, rapidly prepare muscles for physical activity, disperse the effects of lactic acid following activity, and accelerate muscle recovery." I don't know about you, but those are all things I could use some help with.

Lots of professional sports teams use it, including the New York Knicks, Miami Dolphins, and Baltimore Orioles, but it can also be used by non-athletes who are just looking for the best way to massage and warm up muscles.

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I have been sleeping in ecstasy for the past few weeks. Yes. I have a Sleep Number Bed. Not only do I have a Sleep Number Bed, but I have the new kind with Memory Foam on top. Mmmmmm. It's amazing. In fact, I didn't realize how poorly I was sleeping until I got this bed.

I value sleep. I'm a fitness trainer, fitness enthusiast, mother of two and writer of far too many things. I need to sleep, and I need to sleep well in order to accomplish the ridiculous amount of tasks that fill my days. Are you familiar with this insane style of living? I bet many of you are.

Sleep is such a powerful tool. In fact, it's a requirement for professionals and parents and growing children too. Think of it this way. Exhausted people don't work out. Those running on fumes struggle to achieve the bare minimums of each day and then toss and turn at night, unable to get to sleep quickly. Sleepless people tend to eat poorly and gain weight as a result as well. The bottom line? Quality sleep is a crucial component for vitality, fitness and success.

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I was watching the Olympics the other day and saw a piece where a reporter went and received acupuncture treatments. It was interesting to hear about this particular practitioner who was influential in acupuncture's acceptance into Western culture. After the piece, the reporter mentioned that Nastia Liukin, gold medalist in the women's all-around gymnastics competition, has weekly acupuncture treatments.

She's not alone. Acupuncture is widely used as a method to aid and speed healing from sports-related injuries. Though the thought of multiple metal needles being inserted into your body is daunting, to say the least, proponents of the traditional form of medicine sing its praises. In addition to aiding in healing, acupuncture is said to help athletes by boosting energy, improving circulation, and ensuring the body gets the most out of nutrients. In addition, acupuncture is said to help improve the quality of sleep and boost immunity.

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It was scary last year when the study came out revealing that tea tree essential oil could act like estrogen in our bodies, and may even cause enlarged breasts in young boys. That's been debunked; the possibility is that other ingredients in the products are more likely to blame. With all of the toxic chemicals in our body care products, it seems the more likely culprit.

That said, it really is OK to use tea tree oil is a safe way: properly diluted in a carrier oil, never internally, and always moderately. In fact, it is one of the essential oils you should keep in the house, as it has many healthy uses:

• heals cold sores and warts
• calms coughs
• helps clear up breakouts
• combats nail fungus
• disinfects your house when added to cleaning products

There are more uses for tea tree oil in the original DIY Life post, so don't fear the natural goodness of tea tree oil and use it safely and wisely.

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If you've read some of my other posts, you know I'm a fan of gardening and the resulting goodness: flowers, food, herbs, etc. I'm also a big fan of house plants, which, I believe, are supposed to evoke a sense of bringing the outside in and, thus, a sense of calmness and freshness. An aura that's anything but stressful.

But I find that sometimes keeping up with watering and caring for house plants can actually be a bit stressful, and therefore can cancel out a bit of their peaceful properties. This is not true if you choose succulents. I've had succulents I didn't water for an entire season that are still flourishing in their respective containers, so you don't have to worry about keeping up with a regular watering schedule. They don't get those unsightly brown, and dare I say, stressed, leaves. They require very little care and give big payback, in my opinion. One of the more well-known in this plant family, aloe, can even heal wounds as well as protect and beautify skin.

Beyond that, various types of these delightful little living things are perfect for adorning your windowsills, bathroom vanities, and other nooks and crannies throughout your home. And sometimes they can please the eye just enough to take the edge off of an otherwise frazzled day.

Everyone knows a good bath can do wonders to relax and rejuvenate the body and spirit. Adding scented bath salts helps, too.

Did you know that you can easily make your own healing bath to combat whatever issues you may be having? DIY Life has posted about how to create a blissful bath, using herbs and essential oils targeted at fixing what ails you.

DIY Life links to a Third Age article which lists recipes and blends for muscle pain, colds and flu, insomnia and more. There are also good reasons to use Epsom salts in your bath, such as detoxification and replenishing your magnesium levels.

So learn how to make the perfect bath for you and begin healing.

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Join me as I search my soul for direction regarding my latest pursuit: A tummy tuck. Will I go through with it? Will I "Tuck It In?" Keep reading. Keep coming back. And you'll find out.

March 15, 2008

An internet acquaintance of mine led me in the direction of the Web site Make Me Heal. She just had a tummy tuck herself and found this resource a few days post-surgery after becoming a little depressed about what she'd done to her body, what she'd done with her money, and what she'd done to her husband and little girl whose lives were altered by this serious surgery. Make Me Heal helped her. It's helping me too.

Make Me Heal, operated out of Los Angeles, is the world's largest online portal for plastic surgery, anti-aging, and beauty products, services, and information. I'm using it solely for its message boards and blogs and have found handfuls of women who have survived tummy tucks and are thriving because of them. Chock full of personal stories, before and after photos, and priceless words of wisdom, Make Me Heal is offering me a sneak peek into what I may encounter myself. There are some sobering thoughts -- a few women are distraught about swelling; others some loose skin was left behind. There are many more hopeful messages -- nearly all of the women are amazed by their results, can't believe how good they look and feel, and share photographs of six-pack abs that are simply beautiful.

This tummy tuck business has my head a bit jumbled. Make Me Heal is making me feel better.

NOTE: Abdominoplasty is recommended for those whose skin and muscle cannot recover on their own as a result of significant weight loss, pregnancy, aging, heredity, or prior surgery. It is not a substitute for weight loss or an appropriate exercise program. For more information about this surgery, click here.

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FitSpirit explores the mind-body connection and the intangible benefits we gain from our efforts to stay physically fit.

I once read this inspiring story by Dr. Bernie Siegel in his book Love, Medicine, and Miracles. It was about a group of people who were told they were receiving chemotherapy. Some got the treatment; some did not. Of those who didn't, some lost their hair. They believed they would And they did. What powerful minds they had.

If thoughts are powerful enough to make people sick -- or cause spontaneous hair loss -- then they surely can make us well. That's the whole basis of Siegel's book, that cancer patients with positive thoughts can outlive even the lowest of expectations.

Yep, thoughts can heal.

"The body responds to mental input as if it were physically real," explains Larry Dossey, a physician and advocate for mind-body study since the 1980s. Under clinical hypnosis, for example, someone who is told he is being touched by a red-hot object will often get a burn blister, even though the object was no warmer than room temperature.

What we imagine in our minds really can affect outcomes. You may know this phenomenon as the "placebo effect." When a patient believes something will relieve pain, the body actually releases endorphins that relieve pain. Medical research suggests that 30 to 70 percent of successful treatments may be a result of the patient's belief that the treatment will work.

Now that we've established that good thoughts and feelings can mend our broken parts, here's a few ideas for getting into the right frame of mind.

Take a deep breath. Hold it, exhale, then repeat for 10 minutes. Take a walk, preferably in nature. Breathe in the fresh air.

Laugh. You'll pump more oxygen into your lungs, improve blood flow, and boost your immune system.

Keep a journal. Writing about emotionally charged events helps us deal with them mentally and physically.

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Well, it depends on the kind of anger we're talking about here. A new study links the healing process with anger. Apparently hotheads who fly off the handle are less likely to heal faster than those people who at least express their anger without getting rowdy.

You can blame cortisol -- this stress hormone makes us more liable to get sick. But depending on how we deal with anger, cortisol can interfere with how our bodies recover. One hundred volunteers were given blisters on their forearm (blame the researchers). By screening their behavior, scientists were able to measure the healing speed based on whether or not they lost their temper or simply expressed their anger in a controlled way.

People who were "hotheads" took longer to heal the blister -- more than 4 days actually. The study suggests that if you want to get well faster, then it is best to chill out and not lose your temper.

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If you can, imagine a hot needle going into a sore muscle that's been damaged by athletic stress. Hippocrates used this procedure to treat shoulder pain of discus athletes in the fifth century; it's called prolotherapy. Today, the idea is the same but the methods are slightly different.

Prolotherapy is controversial because modern doctors use needles to inject a sugar solution into damaged muscles. This causes inflammation, much like you'd expect. However, that's exactly its purpose: the body's response to this irritation is to send nutrients to the spot of pain as fast as possible. This literally causes scarring to the already pained muscles and ligaments.

But wait, isn't scarring a bad thing? Not in this case. The scarring causes the body to repair the muscle by laying down new tissue. This procedure theoretically fixes the problem and the pain. But not everyone is convinced. Prolotherapy is still up in the air because not all research backs its effectiveness. You'd think that if the Father of Modern Medicine endorsed it, other practitioners would too! It is, after all, a natural response and healing process -- but hopefully they'll come up with a solid verdict that everyone can agree on.

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After more than ten years in the making, professor Thomas Kosten has finished a vaccine that has the potential to cure addiction. The way it accomplishes this is nothing short of amazing. The drug literally prevents the body from getting high!

Right now, the vaccine addresses the effects of cocaine most effectively. However, he says they are working on translating this wonder medicine to other applications such as methamphetamine and heroin. Imagine if they could address the same addiction that cigarette smokers deal with?

Another incredible aspect of this vaccine is that even thought the process takes a while, there are no withdrawals. So patients trying to kick the addiction to a substance don't have to go through all the painful side-effects! So how did they do it? Well, doctors inject an altered version of the drug, in this case the cocaine molecule, which tells the body to start making antibodies against it. When the real cocaine is used, it ends up getting urinated out before it ever reaches the brain. Science can do some truly amazing things -- let's see if they can come up with more variations of this vaccine!

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Who doesn't love a tried and true home remedy? I know I for love knowing little quick cures that don't involve trips to the drug store and expensive purchases. eDiets has put together a list of household items that you can use on problem skin. Here are some tips:

• Apple cider vinegar will help take the skin out of a sunburn
• A mixture of buttermilk, vinegar and salt will help heal a poison ivy rash
• It's thought echinachea can help with eczema
• To fight acne and blackhead, break a vitamin E capsule on your face before going to bed. Then, in the morning, do the same thing with a vitamin A capsule.
  
• Use tea tree oil to nip a cold sore in the bud.
  

I have my doubts about these remedies, but I'm eager to try them. What about you?

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On pretty much every TV show about hospitals there's always a hot-shot surgeon or sexy intern who seem to care more about their image than consoling patients. They use overly-complicated medical jargon, rush through a diagnosis and give patients little emotional care -- they help heal the patient but they don't really make them feel better.

Does this sort of thing just exist on TV? It looks like no according to a study done at the University of McGill in Montreal. The study examined results of a clinical skills exam taken by over 3000 doctors in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The physicians who scored low on the test also had more patient complaints lodged against them, and the majority of these grievances were communication issues. Doctors who, just like the hot-shots on shows like ER and Grey's Anatomy, were judgmental, condescending and ignored what patients had to say.

So while being a good communicator doesn't necessarily make one a better doctor, the best doctors definitely know how to communicate.

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If this sounds like something out of Star Wars or science fiction, hear it out. An organization called Intercytex Group has found a breakthrough in regenerative treatments. Enter the artificial skin. Okay by itself this is not new. However, the group has developed a novel lab-made living skin that lasts longer and even heals wounds!

Anyone who has gone through extensive surgery or needed a skin graft knows what makes this so innovative. Currently the best option for these treatments involves transplanting skin from one part of the patient's own body to another part. This can leave even more wounds. But imagine if there was a chance to use artificial skin which would heal naturally without painful skin grafts.

Maybe someday we can expect spray-on skin? Perhaps, but not any time soon. The company still has to move the product through clinical trials before they can even begin to consider marketing it. If that time gap means building a quality solution to take care of serious wounds, then I'm sure the world will wait.

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In today's fast paced world, getting hurt or injured can put a serious kink in your plans. Whether it's something major like a broken bone, or minor like a paper cut, I'm sure most of us would agree that the faster it heals the better.

So, what if you do break your arm? Believe it or not, there is something you can do to help that cast or sling come off faster than it would with usual methods: ask your doctor about ultrasound therapy. Ultrasonic waves stimulate cell growth in the broken bone, and can save you as much as one third the time, or 2 months, of invalid status.

Other remedies for speedy recovery? Put antiperspirant on a nick from shaving, have steak and cranberry juice for dinner to cure a urinary tract infection, and moisturize moisturize moisturize a skin scrape. Click here for other creative healing ideas for things like headaches, blisters, and side stitches.

I'm seriously curious now if any of these really work?

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