Posts Tagged ‘inflammation’

Sinus Headaches – Causes and Treatments

Real sinus pain is rare and for most of us, when we believe we have a sinus headache, it’s usually a migraine or a headache brought on by stress. Normally you get a sinus headache only when your sinuses themselves are inflamed and the inflammation generally is accompanied by a fever. Inflammation can be caused by an allergy, a tumor, or an infection, all of which can be diagnosed and treated by your family doctor.

Many people mistakenly believe that sinuses are limited to nasal passages. However, sinuses are located in the forehead, on each cheekbone, and behind the bridge of your nose. Healthy sinuses are filled with air and their secretions drain freely into the nose. In addition to a sinus headache, when sinuses are blocked you have other symptoms like fever mentioned above and feelings of pressure around your eyes, cheeks and forehead.

Colds and other respiratory viruses leave sinuses vulnerable to infection. Bacteria causes your mucous membranes to swell which effectively blocks your sinuses, which in turn blocks normal drainage. Bending over or standing back up too quickly is excruciating. In addition, sinus infections can actually cause a feeling of toothache in some patients! In any event, because the causes of sinus headaches differ radically from the causes of other headaches, it’s best to consult a doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment – never try to diagnose your own medical problems. Read more…

Learn How to Stop Gout Pain and Inflammation

Have you ever woke up in the middle of the night, and felt as if your big toe was burning like it was on fire? It’s swollen, hot and has the feeling were its tender that even the weight of your blanket touching it seems uncontrollable and awful.

Alone in the United States over two million Americans are affected and suffer from attacks of Gout, it’s a terrible, painful condition. Gout is a type of arthritis condition. This is most common in men between the ages of 40 and 50, and in women, after menopause the occurrence increases. This condition is unlikely rare in children and young adults. It’s caused by too much uric acid in the blood. Sometimes, having too much uric acid is not always harmful. Some people that have high levels in their blood might never get gout. However, when your body can’t develop them correctly you’ll then have problems, when the levels get too high uric acid in the blood crystallizes of hard lumps and settles in the joint spaces, which is what causes swelling, inflammation, stiffness, and pain.

These crystals are uric acid, which is the breakdown process of purines thats a normal waste product from the food we eat. Uric acid is normally cleaned out of the body by the kidneys and is eliminated as urine. For some people with gout, the level of uric acid increases above average and crystals deposit in the ligaments and cartilage. An abnormality in the production or elimination of uric acid can cause attacks of gout arthritis, kidney stones, and even in extreme cases, the blockage of the kidney tubules with crystals, leading to kidney failure. The joint that’s most affected in gout is the big toe, although other joints could also be affected, which would be the knee, ankle, foot, hand, wrist and elbow. Read more…