Cellulitis is a painful and debilitating condition to have to live with, and many people may not be aware of its signs and complications. So, in this post, we will cover everything you need to know about cellulitis, the signs to look out for, and treatments that are currently available for it. Keep reading if you would like to find out more.

What Is Cellulitis?

Cellulitis infection occurs when there is a skin infection below the top layer of skin known as the epidermis. It is usually caused when bacteria are allowed to enter the skin through a graze, cut, or dry and cracked skin.

The sit of the infection then develops the symptoms of cellulitis. Although the initial infection is not immediately serious and can be easily treated, it can become more dangerous if left untreated.

What Are The Signs Of Cellulitis? 

Signs of cellulitis include hot, red, swollen, and painful skin. Although it can occur anywhere on the body, it commonly occurs on the hands, legs, and feet. However, it can also occur more seriously in the eye, turning the white area of the eye surrounding the iris to become red and swollen.

There may also be blisters that occur on the skin surrounding the infected areas, and your glands may become swollen due to your body attempting to fight off the infection. You may also develop a temperature and feel generally unwell.

Who Is Most At Risk Of Developing Cellulitis?

A few factors can make people become more at risk of developing cellulitis. For example, those that already have a weakened immune system that may struggle to fight off infections on their own. Those that have open wounds from accidents, surgery, or drug-taking. If you have already experienced cellulitis, then you may also be at higher risk of it occurring again. Those who suffer from conditions such as lymphedema are also more likely to develop cellulitis. If you have poor mobility or you have poor circulation anywhere in your body, this can also be a risk factor.

What Treatments Are Available For Cellulitis?

The treatments for cellulitis include a course of antibiotics to fight off the infection. The type of antibiotics and how they will be administered will depend on the severity of the infection and the stage at which you seek treatment. Antibiotics are usually to be taken for a week but may be extended if the infection has not completely cleared at the end of the initial course. Antibiotics may also be given to you to take in a lower dose over a longer period of time to prevent the infection from returning. In more severe cases, you may be sent to the hospital for stronger and more urgent treatment to prevent the infection from causing further danger and damage.

Are There Steps You Can Take To Help Cope With Cellulitis?

Aside from receiving medical treatment for cellulitis, there are also some other methods you can use yourself to help make it more comfortable and ease symptoms. For example, simple at-home painkillers such as paracetamol and ibuprofen can help ease the pain and raise the affected body part such as an arm or leg, which will help reduce the likelihood of painful swelling. It’s important to make sure you stay hydrated to help your body to fight the infection and speed up the healing time. Getting plenty of rest is also important to help your body save energy for fighting off the infection.

How Can You Prevent Cellulitis?

There are ways to help prevent the likelihood of developing cellulitis in the first place by reducing the risk of infection through hygiene. For example, reducing the opportunity for bacteria to enter the skin by keeping wounds and cracks in the skin clean. Keeping the skin moisturised and hydrated reduces the chance of skin breaking and allowing infections to enter the body. If you do have cuts on your body, then be sure to regularly wash them out and apply antiseptic cream. Covering cuts with plasters and the right protective clothing such as gloves or waterproof shoes also helps to stop bacteria from entering wounds.

Can Cellulitis Cause Serious Complications?

As cellulitis is an infection, if it does not receive the correct treatment soon enough, it can spread to other areas of the body, which can cause more serious complications. If the infection is allowed to reach the blood, bones, organs, or muscles, it can make you very seriously unwell. If you develop symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, dizziness and confusion, fainting, fever, or rapid heart rate, you need to seek emergency medical attention and ring 999 or go to A&E for emergency treatment. 

Diabetes is a disease that is usually chronic and will force people to make changes to their lifestyles and routine. The lucky ones will only have to do some light monitoring, take some medication, and watch what they eat. But other people might have to change the activities they can partake in, do things they hate doing every day and rearrange whole parts of their lives.

For these people, living with diabetes could feel like hell sometimes, but there are things that anyone can do to make diabetes slightly easier to deal with. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Switch to a Continuous Glucose Monitoring System

One of the most annoying and painful parts of being a diabetic is having to test your blood sugar every day through finger-pricking. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetics have to prick their fingers, but things are much tougher for people suffering from type 1 diabetes.

While doctors will recommend that type 2 diabetics test their blood glucose levels at least once a day, this number can go as high as 10 times per day for a type 1 diabetic.

If you’ve just been diagnosed and don’t feel like pricking yourself or have been pricking yourself for a while and it’s getting tough, we suggest you start looking at continuous glucose monitoring, or CGM systems.

If you’re never heard of them, you can learn everything you need to know about them on the Making Diabetes Easier website. It is a great resource for all things related to diabetes and you’ll learn exactly what continuous glucose monitoring systems are. You’ll also learn the pros and cons of the technology, how it works, and who it would be better for. 

Use an Insulin Pump

The other inconvenient part of living with diabetes is injecting insulin. Only people who have type 1 diabetes have to deal with this, however. If that’s your case, then know that you also don’t have to use a syringe to get the insulin you need. You can always use an insulin pump instead. There are insulin pumps that will provide a low, or “basal” dose of insulin throughout the day and deliver what is called a “bolus” dose when you need extra insulin around mealtimes. The pump can use information from a self-administered test to determine how much insulin should be released or get a reading from a glucose monitor wirelessly. Doing this will eliminate the need for needles completely. 

Start Cooking at Home

You will need to pay very special attention to what you eat, and if you have just been diagnosed and are used to eating out a lot, you might want to consider switching to home-cooked food. This is because restaurant food is full of sugar and bad fats which are all bad news for a diabetic. Cooking from home will allow you to have control over your ingredients and the way they are prepared.

If you don’t feel like you have the time to cook, then maybe you should try meal prepping. This way you’ll only have to cook once or twice a day and have ready-made meals whenever you need them. We also suggest that you put your grill to good use if you have one since grills have large cooking surfaces and grilling is one of the best cooking methods for diabetics.

As you can see, there are plenty of things that you can do to make diabetes at least manageable. We suggest that you also try building a circle with other people who are in the same situation as you.

There is a lot to love about the winter season. Christmas is only around the corner and there is always the possibility of snow. Unfortunately, the shorter days and dreary weather can also make it harder to achieve a positive mood.

It is perfectly normal to feel low during the colder months, but there are ways to counteract these moods. If you struggle to maintain a positive attitude during the wintertime, read on to find out what you can do.

Get Plenty Of Exercise

Going out for a run or to the park to train is a lot more enticing when the sun is out and is going to stick around well into the evening. Exercise releases endorphins and these chemicals are necessary when it comes to all-around happiness.

Therefore, it is important that you keep active during the winter, even when the world outside looks bleak.

If you find yourself struggling to find the motivation to hit the gym or do some other indoor exercises, then perhaps you should consider trying an energy-boosting formula like Boost Optimum.

These protein shakes can get your blood moving so your muscles are prepared for a rigorous workout, no matter what the weather looks like outside.

Expose Yourself To Light

One of the main reasons why you feel low during the winter is because of the lack of light. The sun doesn’t rise until at least nine am, and most workers have started their commute long before this occurs.

Natural light has a strange effect on the human psyche. Humans are hard-wired to associate light with warmth and positivity, which means your mood is likely to improve if you receive enough light during your day. As such, you may find it beneficial to invest in light therapy lamps to give you the boost of positivity you need even when it is dark and grim outside.

Engage In Practical Tasks

It is common for most families to curl up on the sofa when the weather turns cold. You can’t go outside, so a night in front of the T.V seems like your only option. Unfortunately, too much inactivity can lead to you feeling lethargic. This lethargy can keep your mod low, especially if you aren’t eating healthily during this time. Therefore, it is important to break out of this routine whenever possible. Spend a few evenings doing puzzles or playing games with the family. Anything to keep your mind active and alert.

Smile At Others

If you aren’t quite feeling like your positive self during the winter, then the chances are that those around you are feeling the same. You are likely to pick up on these negative emotions, which are only going to make you feel worse. 

That is why you may find it necessary to be a force of positivity. Try smiling and acting positively toward others and it should raise the general mood. Even a single smile could be enough to turn someone’s day around, and that positivity can easily find its way back to you by the end of the day.

Self-care is important. If you do not start taking better care of yourself, you will begin to struggle physically and mentally with all of the trials and tribulations life can throw at you. Here are some handy self-care tips that can help anyone to ease their stress levels and make the changes in their life that they have always wanted to.

Manage Your Vices

We all do things that are not good for us. Whether it is overindulging in snacks or our favourite treats or spending more time on the couch in front of the latest streaming series, we all have our vices. We enjoy them in the short term, but then comes the long term effects that they can have on our bodies, and on our minds. Treating yourself is important, but it should be the exception and not the rule. We need to manage our vices and control them, or they will control us. 

Try to make some positive changes that will reduce your reliance on your vices, whether they are sugary snacks, mid-afternoon naps, or smoking. With the help of vape pens, you can drop your cigarette habit quickly. You can learn more here, thanks to Grey Haze. Their guide can help you get started and make the switch to a vape pen. If only there was an alternative to crisps, chocolate bars, and caffeine. 

Exercise The Body, Relax The Mind

Stress is incredibly bad for you. It can be difficult to manage stress and put your stress triggers in their place. Whether it is workplace stress, social life problems, or issues in your love life, you can manage your stress levels with regular exercise. You do not have to push your body too far to put your stress in perspective and get a better handle on whatever is causing problems. Exercise clears the mind and gives you time to organise your thoughts and come up with a plan.

Walking, jogging, running, cycling, and swimming are all top stress-busting pursuits. If weight-lifting reps are your thing, that works too. Exercise focuses the mind on the task in front of it. The rest of the world drifts away as you start to push yourself forward against the ‘burn’ in your muscles. Whatever exercise you are doing, after just a few minutes, your mind will feel clear, and you will have the opportunity to reassess the things that are bothering you. 

Calm The Mind, Calm The Soul

Too few people take some time out of their busy days to relax and calm their minds. Physical exercise is just the first step in this direction, you need to use it as a foundation to build upon. There are many different practices you can use to bring some peace to your mind and nourish your soul. Yoga and meditation are two of the most popular, and these practices are closely related.

Yoga is a great way to exercise and tone your body and can be used as both a warm-up and a cool-down to a set of weight-lifting reps or a jog around town. Start working some yoga routines into your workout routine. You will feel a lot better. With some regular yoga introduced to your self-care regime, find out more about meditation and how you can use it to rest your mind and literally give yourself a break. This can change your mood completely, give you new insights into yourself, and a clarity of mind that will give you advantages in your work life. Do not underestimate the power of these two practices to change your outlook and calm your mind.

Tidy Home, Tidy Mind

Feeling stressed or stretched by the demands of life can feel chaotic. This can be compounded by living in chaos. If you are struggling to keep your grip on things in your life, and in need of some self-care and relaxation, it is time to clean house. You will find it difficult to control the things in your life that are causing you stress or strife without having a tidy and ordered sanctuary to rely on. Roll up your sleeves and bring order to the chaos of your home.

Start with your bedroom. If you are sleeping in an untidy space, then you are barely sleeping at all. The environment we rest in should be restful, ordered, and clean. If you struggle to get a good night of sleep, then this may be why. With your bedroom organised, move to your living space. Make sure you have things tidied away with a place for everything and everything in its place. This leaves the kitchen and bathroom. These rooms require a deeper level of cleaning but do not let that put you off, you are on a roll and will feel a great sense of self-satisfying achievement once the job is done and your whole home is clean, tidy, and organised.

Skincare Is Self-Care

This simple tip can change your life. Skin is like a sponge, and it absorbs dirt, grease, and even airborne pollution as you go about your daily life. Cleansing your pores releases all these contaminants and leaves you feeling fresher. It may seem simple, but giving yourself and your skin a deep clean can change the way you feel about yourself, your life, and the world around you. Set yourself up for some skincare, follow a pre-set regimen, and enjoy some cleansing, exfoliating, and relaxation.

There are three basic steps to skincare: cleanse, exfoliate, and moisturise. Follow these simple steps however you would like with your favourite skincare products, but for an extra treat add some extra steps. Masking between the exfoliation and moisturisation stages can bring out dirt and contaminants that you may have been carrying around for months, or even longer. Face mask treatments will leave you feeling fresher than you have felt since before your teenage years, and boost your confidence too.

Make sure you are making time for some self-care. Looking after yourself and investing in your well-being can bring many benefits to your personal and professional life. Use these tips to take better care of yourself.