USA
Medical Professionals Are Revealing The Wildly Important Things Everyone Should Do For Their Health But Don’t, And It’s Eye-Opening
Reddit recently you/bishinishii He asked medical experts in the Reddit community to: to share health-related things everyone should be doing but aren’t doing, and some of these answers may be a wake-up call. Here are the recommendations that those in the medical field are begging everyone to consider taking:
1. “Increase your fiber intake, especially the sticky types like oatmeal, chia, okra, etc. It helps lower cholesterol in a variety of ways, plus you’ll shit easier.”
2. “Have advanced instruction and encourage your older relatives to get one, too. If you saw us performing CPR on your 90-year-old grandmother, far fewer people would want to be full code.”
3. “Schedule preventative health exams and screening procedures as soon as you are eligible (mammogram, colonoscopy, etc.) and always stretch.”
4. “Brush your teeth!”
5. “Wash your hands. In most cases, hand sanitizer doesn’t count. Norovirus will hit very hard, and alcohol-based sanitizer won’t kill it. Use soap and water for at least 20 seconds.”
6. “I’m in the billing business, but a lot of people don’t realize you can apply for financial assistance for medical bills, especially from big hospitals. They make most of their money from insurance companies, so most hospitals have funds set aside for ‘charity’ — they just don’t really tell you. I had a free hysterectomy at Vanderbilt. Once you get a bill, you can call the billing department and ask how to apply for financial assistance. I had to file some tax returns to prove it, but it’s easy if you qualify.” “If you have a hospital bill, call the hospital when you can.”
Relating to: Women Share the Dumbest Things Men Have Said About Their Bodies, Now I Need a Drink
7. “Breathe. Take a few deep, meaningful breaths here and there. Pause for a second. Breathe from your belly (to engage the diaphragm). As long as you’re breathing, you’re alive. Living is good.”
8. “Flossing.”
“I expect it. Dental health is very important for overall health.”
9. “DO NOT SMOK. Don’t drink anything. Just don’t. Your lungs, heart, blood vessels, and everything else in your body will be in much better shape.”
10. “People should be involved in some type of exercise program that they can tolerate and participate in. Make it fun, like walking while listening to your favorite podcast. You don’t need to break records, just move your body. I always tell people: If exercise was a pill, everyone would do it.”
Relating to: How Scientifically Confident Are You?
11. “Magnesium supplementation. I’m an emergency medicine pharmacist, and even if labs are normal, most people are magnesium deficient because that lab represents circulating magnesium, not the cells (where magnesium is needed most). I take magnesium glycinate (highest absorption) and threonate. Watch for this if you have kidney failure. Hypermagnesemia is rare, but be careful.”
12. “As someone who works in an ambulance, know your damn medical conditions and medications. It’s amazing how many times I’ve brought in people with a Ziploc full of mixed pills or ailments they couldn’t remember. A very real conversation I had this month started with me asking the question: ‘Do you have any medical conditions?’ They said ‘No’. ‘Are you taking any medication?’ I asked. ‘Yes, insulin,’ they replied. CREATE TOGETHER!”
13. “Clean the wound you got! Even if it’s just a paper cut, please go wash it.”
14. “Start actually going to the doctor starting in your 20s. Catching things up early is priceless, even if a single visit could cost you as much as $500 a year. Second, start planning seriously for retirement. A moderate rainy day fund for old age means you can go home and get good care. It doesn’t take a fortune, but people need to know they’ll need more money once they get to 60 versus 30.”
15. “Every person should know how to get adequate nutrition. Almost everything people are taught about this is wrong.”
Relating to: If You’ve Been Called an Introvert, This Test Will Reveal Which of Four Types You Really Are
16. “People have to deal with colds on their own. You don’t get a sinus infection at the same time every year; you don’t need antibiotics because they don’t help the virus. Stop asking for antibiotics because ‘you know your body.'” You To do You know your body, but you probably don’t know how bacteria and viruses work, how medications work, etc. you don’t understand You don’t need antibiotics! American medicine’s obsession with antibiotics is insane. “Patients think you’re waiting for a hidden gem of medicine.”
17. Finally: “Everyone should fight for reform and Medicare for all.”
Good Brigade / Getty Images
BRB, she’s making a doctor’s appointment as we speak. If you are a medical professional, what is something everyone should do but isn’t doing? Let us know in the comments, or you can submit your recommendation anonymously using the form below!
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
Also on Goodful: ‘NEVER Explain This’: Women Share ‘Emergency’ Safety Tips Other Women Taught Them & They’re Crucial to Know
Also on Goodful: I’m Not Saying You Hate Christmas, But If You Can’t Fill In The Blanks With Even 75% Of These Christmas Song Lyrics… It Doesn’t Look Very Good
