Nobody is going to call into question the severity of your broken arm. The disfigured shape, the swelling, the likely obvious way in which you sustained it, all this sets it up for maximum sympathy. How many times have you seen someone in a cast or a sling and felt that pang of empathy as you imagine yourself unable to participate in whatever your favourite activity is or imagine the long hours of physio that might be needed to get back to full capacity? This kind of physical injury is overt and the treatment is typically clear cut. Mental disorders on the other hand often suffer and as a resu ..read more

Language is important. The words we use carry weight and a very different meaning can be established with the words we choose. Words and their meaning shape the way we see the world. Research has been done on this topic, exploring whether or not the language we speak can even shape what we see. While there is general consensus that language doesn’t actively influence how you think, there is evidence to suggest that language can influence perception, through the vocabulary we possess. This becomes particularly important when discussing mental health. Let’s use the example of ‘worry’ and ‘anxiet ..read more

The mouth can be one of the most frustrating places to experience pain. After all, you need it to breathe, eat and talk. When you shut down the mouth, you really make the necessities of day to day living much more difficult. Today, we will track through some of the more common causes of pain in the mouth so that you can be fighting fit in no time. Ulcers. Ulcers are the name given to those small irritating sores that line your throat, tongue or inner lip.  Causes: You can pick up an ulcer from biting the area. This open wound can then develop into an ulcer. You can also develop ulcers f ..read more

Period pain is genuinely one of the least pleasant things a person can experience. 50% of the population should consider themselves lucky that this is something they will never have to experience. For the other 50%, it is important to find ways to soothe this pain which it flares up. Here are a few simple tips, some medicinal, some more homegrown. But all of them will work in some capacity or another. Naprogesic. Naprogesic is a non steroidal anti-inflammatory which goes a long way in relieving period pain. It works in a similar way to Ibuprofen: it works to suppress the production of a chem ..read more

Here is a little secret which is wildly underappreciated in 2023. Yes, you probably have anxiety at some point in your life. But that doesn’t mean you have a problem. It actually means that you are human. It is entirely normal and expected that things make us feel uncomfortable, to raise the heartbeat a little bit. And in many ways, it is actually a good thing. Anxiety is a little gift given to you from millions of years of evolution. It is the surge of nervous energy that you needed to escape a sabre toothed tiger in time immemorial. It is the jumpiness that helped you hunt down food to feed ..read more

There weren’t a whole lot of positives during the Covid years but one of the perks was a virtual disappearance of the cold and flu during that period. During 2021 the Doherty Institute compiled findings that suggested that one of the four main kinds of influenza viruses that cause seasonal flu epidemics may even have gone extinct. The lack of social mixing, alongside mask wearing and increased hand sanitation was so effective at lowering infection rates that not just Australia but around the world enjoyed a pleasant pause in regards to influenza. To really put it in perspective, in the 2020 in ..read more

We are beginning to head into cold and flu season again. The days are getting shorter, the mercury is dropping and all around the country, people are breaking out the old oil heater to help take the edge off the nights. Colds and the flu begin to rear their ugly heads around this time of year because the air gets colder and drier, the perfect conditions for the virus to thrive. Many people mistake the symptoms for the illness. In fact, the mucus, fever, and coughing are all your body’s attempts to expel this foreign invader. The average person will get a cold a couple of times a year, and they ..read more

Assuming that you’ve experienced a temperature at some point in your life is not a huge leap, but it is not an illness unto itself. So have you ever wondered what purpose it serves in the body? You have? Perfect…we’ll run you through it! First thing’s first: what causes a temperature? A fever is a symptom that occurs when the body’s temperature rises above its normal range of 37°C. While a fever is not usually harmful, it can indicate an underlying infection or other health condition that requires attention. It is a natural response to infection, inflammation, or other types of injury in the b ..read more

Like clockwork, April rolls around, and with the change of season, so too comes the blocked-up sinuses, the razor-sharp sore throat, and the endless coughs. So predictable. It feels like there are about as many head cold “cures” as grains of sand by the ocean, varying from classic over-the-counter medication to herbs and supplements. The truth is, there is no cure for a cold, but there are definitely ways that you can speed up the healing process! Most of them have merit, but does one remedy have more merit than another? Let’s go through a few, so that you can work out which course of action y ..read more

We’ve all heard the saying and have likely used it ourselves; “I’ve just got a gut feeling about it.” This saying reflects those moments when something just feels either spot on or really doesn’t sit right with us. It’s usually not based on any type of logic or reason, it’s just a feeling, more of an emotional response that sways our decisions. These feelings can be a flood of affirmation or sense of peace and calm that comes over you. On the other hand, it can be a real physical sense of unease and anxiety, a nagging doubt that you just can’t shake. These kinds of feelings often get labeled a ..read more