Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Prevention

So how bad is the swine flu??

gttommy — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:13:34 -0800

How blown-up out-of-proportion is the swine flu scare relative to other life-threatening infections/diseases? Is it alarming enough that I need a swine flu shot if I'm going to SE Asia in DEC09/JAN10? Time is running out, and I am confused as to whether I should get a shot before leaving for a 3 week trek in SE Asia through a handful of countries.

From what I have been reading, vaccinations are the ultra-safe path for short-term protection and definitely should be taken during a crisis (e.g. epidemic). On the other hand, if it is not a crisis it would overall not be beneficial for someone my age (26), as I am likely to recover from a swine flu infection... and something to do with antibodies, mutating-dormant-virus and the overall corruption of my immune system. My microbiology-graduate friend confirms the negative effects of inoculations are part of the process, but also says if its a 'crisis' it should be taken.

So how bad is the swine flu??

Thanks!

Please excise the back right side of my skull.

sickinthehead — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:20:56 -0800

What are your experiences with acupuncture for migraine? I'll try anything to reduce the frequency of my migraines, and I've reached the point of considering acupuncture. I have my first appointment on Monday. I want to know:

- have you tried acupuncture and what has it done for your headaches? Specifically, has it ever aborted a headache and has it done anything for prophylaxis?

- what exactly am I in for? Do I just show up, have my consult and then get stuck with needles? Do they stick them in your head? How long do they stay there and what do you do during that time? Basically, just any general information.

- how long did it take for you to notice the effects of the acupuncture on your headaches if it worked?

Also, feel free to throw anything out there that you've done to help yourself with this condition. I'll share my own recent epiphany in case it brings any aid to someone reading this: scalding hot epsom salts bath combined with an ice pack where it hurts. After about half an hour of this I can far more greatly tolerate my pain and I am damn amazed that it took me 29 years to figure out this little solution. Sadly I can't carry a bathtub and ice pack around with me.

Note: I suffer migraine with aura.

How do I prevent or pre-treat various pregnancy issues?

kthxbi — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:51:03 -0800

I'm-going-to-want-a-baby-someday-filter: My mother had a ridiculous number of issues getting pregnant (inside). I'd like to do my best to prevent these issues, but realize most are inevitably genetic. I'm looking for various pieces of advice ... To preface - I'm not planning to try for children for at least 5-7 years.

Here is my mother's story in her own words (for the tl;dr skip past the quote):

"Tried to get pregnant for a year. Sent to University hospital fertility clinic. Spent 4 years of taking my basal temperature every day. My periods were so painful I used to rock back in forth bed trying to get some relief. Endometriosis was burnt out 3 times via laparoscopy - on bladder, ovaries, uterus, and I can’t remember where else. I had 2-Hysterosalpingographies in 3 years. Took Danazol for 6 months (chemical menopause). Finally got pregnant with you 6 months later. Nursed you for a year with the hopes of keeping the endometriosis at bay. We hoped I could get pregnant easier. Ended up at University Hospital again, this time they decided to put me on a Clomid, a fertility drug. After 2 years of that nasty drug I gave up. Dr decided to burn out the endometriosis again. When he got in with the laparoscope he found a 5 week old ectopic pregnancy, almost ready to burst. I had no indications to that fact. He had to open me up, to clean out my fallopian tube, but saved it. Dr kept monitoring the endometriosis, and in 1997 I developed fibroids. In a little over 6 months one of the fibroids was the size of a 6-month pregnancy. Dr said it needed to come out, so I had a complete hysterectomy and ophrectomy. The fertility drug I had taken had been studied and found to cause ovarian cancer if taken longer than a year. Combined with the fact my Aunt died of ovarian cancer sealed the case for an ophrectomy."

My questions:

YANMD, but from personal experience, which of these issues am I going to have a possibility of having problems with? Looking for either scientific or anecdotal evidence here.

YANMD, but is there anything I can do now to make getting pregnant later easier? I was on Depo Provera for about 6 months almost a year ago and it completely screwed up my menstrual cycle (I was spotting daily for months, even after dropping off of all forms of bc). I'm now on Portia and things seem to be finally back to normal. I'm slightly overweight but in shape and active. I eat well.

Make our house a fortress.

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:39:30 -0800

Our house was broken into yesterday. I'd like to prevent this from happening again. Yesterday, sometime between the hours of 8 AM and 6 PM, our house was broken into. There is a small window on the front of the house that opens into the master bedroom. It's one of these windows with the hinges on the bottom and it folds inward, into the house. It's secured from the inside with only a shim (a piece of wood wedged between the window and the frame). The burglar moved the porch furniture away from the window and must have tried to push the window in, but because of the resistance from the shim, the window just completely shattered. This must have caused the burglar to flee, because nothing (as it appears) was taken. The sound of the breaking glass plus the whole broad daylight in a family neighborhood thing must have sent him running.

The whole thing has gotten me and my partner pretty shook up. It was, after all, the window right above our bed - and the glass destroyed one of our aloe plants (so sad). I know that if someone wants in bad enough, they can figure out a way in - but I'd like to thwart at least the feeble attempts.

What kinds of things can we do to secure our house? There are obvious things: we don't have latches or screens on our windows, as most of our windows are out of reach, so we are going to do that - but that won't stop someone from just breaking the window. We're not really well-off enough to afford a full-fledged alarm system, so we're trying to try all the other, sort of DIY, creative avenues first, if we can.

What sorts of things do you do to make your house safe and secure? What are some unconventional things we could do? Cacti in the windows? Motion detectors? Trip wires? Other resources you can direct us to?

If it makes any difference, we live in Northeast Portland, Oregon. We don't own the house - we rent it from someone who currently lives in Europe. It's possible he would pay for a comprehensive alarm system, but that won't happen anytime in the very near future.

Rust just isn't my colour.

saradarlin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:36:48 -0800

Rust Prevention? What do you do to prevent rust from forming on a 1-2 year old car? I am not a car person, live in a snow belt in Ontario, excessive road salt usage, cold weather etc, and I want to know what steps should I take to prevent rust from forming on the car. Black tar spray put on the bottom that apparently lasts for 10+ years, frequent car washes, oil sprays, some magic product called DuraShield? What should I do?

The car had half of a winter last year, sleeps in an insulated but unheated garage at night and is a medium sized SUV.

I tried google but I have no way to verify claims of performance and my bullshit-o-meter fails on all car related matters.

Metamess Prevention

magnoliasouth — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:04:25 -0800

What are some tips on preventing electric range messes? I'm not talking cleaning them, but preventing the messes in the first place.

You see, I am buying a new electric range and it is to be delivered tomorrow. I have 5 adults (three are young adults) in this house right now and it's a battle getting them to clean up after themselves, but that's for another post. The point is that I'm trying to come up with creative ways to keep my new stove nice looking and to prevent filth altogether.

I know there are a lot of seriously safety minded folks out there and while I'm not feckless I'm also not overly concerned with it, so ideas such as disposable drip pans, or oven liners, are fine by me.

Are there any other tips out there? Also I'm really looking for stove-top ideas since that appears to be the biggest problem.

How do I slow my bunion down?

ohio — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:11:17 -0800

Bunion filter: What can I do now to prevent my developing bunion from getting worse later? I am developing a bunion on my right foot (bony protrusion + big toe starting to slant toward the other toes). It hurts only occasionally and mostly mildly, so it isn't a huge concern yet. But I know that it can get much worse and much more painful, so I'd like to take whatever steps I can now to limit its progression. There is way too much out there on the internet for me to intelligently sort through, so:

What have you done/wished you'd done to make your bunions better or prevent them to begin with?

Things I'm already doing:
Wearing the proper size shoes (difficult since my feet are freakishly wide to begin with- I wear a size 7.5 EW (American)).
No high heels except at work, where I mostly sit, and then only 2 inch heels or less.
Stopping walking on it if it hurts a lot.
I go barefoot whenever I can get away with it.

Thanks!

What's the best advice you have regarding successful marriage/ divorce prevention?

Anonymous — Mon, 25 May 2009 07:30:12 -0800

What's your best advice for preventing divorce- starting before you even decide to get married? I am in my mid-20's, female, and for the first time dating someone I might actually consider marrying. But, like many others my age, I'm terrified of divorce . . . especially because it seems like even people who could not be more in love and happy, somehow end up having irreconcilable differences ten years down the road. What happens to these couples? I've read plenty of stats during my obsessive googling: people are less likely to get divorced if they are over 25, if they are highly educated, if their parents aren't divorced. But that isn't all there is to it. Searching 'divorce prevention' on askmefi finds nothing (sad!), but it breaks my heart to see that there are hundreds of posts from people asking for advice on getting through their own divorces. i don't want that to be me in 20 years.

So . . . whats a mid-20's-girl who believes in marriage to do in the face of such harsh reality? I'm asking anon simply because I want general advice- nothing specific to my own life. For those of you who are happily married, what do you think you have that your now-divorced peers lacked? For those that are divorced . . . (well, number one, I'm sorry. I really am.) But secondly, what could have been different- or do you think it was doomed from the start, and you just failed to recognize it? Do people just have an unrealistic concept of what marriage is? Are people just too selfish? Are people just getting married to the wrong people? Do spouses neglect each other once kids come into the picture? Essentially, what advice would you give a stranger to help her ensure that her first marriage is her only one? Or is it ultimately a crapshoot to marry someone you love now and maybe you won't both be completely different in 10 years?

The one small thing about me that I suppose is relevant is that I am not religious. I know that makes a difference for some people. Also, I know that not getting married is a popular option for many, but I'm not ready to write off marriage yet, so please don't tell me to do that (yet. If I change my mind I'll let ya know.) Please don't get snarky at me, I'm not asking you to solve my personal problems, I just want to start a real and hopefully productive conversation on a subject I'm very curious about (and I'm sure I'm not the only one.) If you'd like to share your advice anonymously, throwaway account is throwaway.not.divorcee@gmail.com .

Thanks, hivemind.

Preventing panic attacks on an airplane flight?

wastelands — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:39:32 -0800

What else can I do to help prevent a panic attack on an airplane? I'm flying next month for the first time in almost five years. I have flown four times before, and I never had a problem with panic. Hell, I enjoyed it. I love planes.

But in 2006 and 2007 I had panic attacks on trains and buses. It's not the mode of transportation that bothered me, it was being crowded into a confined space with lots of people, which would be the same on a plane.

The last couple months I've decreased my caffeine intake dramatically (which seemed to make the panic worse), been able to be in crowded situations (like meetings at work) without panic, and started meditating 10 minutes a day in the morning.

But I'll be going from the west coast to the east coast, so it's not a short hop. It'd really suck to have a freak out when I'm stuck on a plane for hours.

Anyway, does anyone here who flies regularly and deals with anxiety have any tips?

Two things I already did: 1) I requested an aisle seat, so I can get up easily and not feel "trapped"; 2) I have been watching videos on YouTube of planes landing and taking off, from the perspective of passengers.

Thanks!

Mom was robbed. Now what?

cuddles.mcsnuggy — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 13:31:02 -0800

My mother's car was robbed yesterday in Savannah, GA. Thieves made off with the originals of her Social Security card, the Social Security card of my recently deceased father, her bank debit/ATM card, her original driver's license, credit cards, documents with her address on it, business cards, and a lot of cash. She had the police involved & a report has been filed. She has canceled the credit cards and will be talking to her bank. Thankfully her checkbook wasn't taken. What else can she do, or can I help with, to prevent identity theft now that criminals have her SSN, my dad's SSN, and her drivers license and address? I'm worried sick for my poor mom. Not only did her husband/my dad pass away ten days ago, but now she's been hit with the blow of this robbery. In addition to all of the vital documents above, she lost $2,000 cash. Everything was in a small purse she had "hidden" in the car when she was doing some shopping. Thieves watched her get out of the car and waited till she walked away then broke the window.

She has started the ball rolling to get her affairs back in order; she called her credit card companies already (she had several cards but she's pretty sure she got them all) and the police faxed some kind of report to her bank. She'll be going to the bank first thing in the morning and the DMV for a new license tomorrow. The police also did a forensics sweep over her car for fingerprints and "evidence" but we're not expecting that to go anywhere. My biggest concern is -- how can she keep her (and my dead dad's) Social Security number, ID, and address from being used to open unauthorized loans, accounts, or credit cards? What's to prevent someone from using her data to run up gargantuan debts in her (or Dad's) name?

I have read through previous AskMeFi threads and I have seen these sites:
What to do when your purse is stolen
The FTC's site on ID theft
US Dept. of Justice

- Are there additional things she must do besides the tips in the above links? Better easy-to-understand sites to refer her to? She is NOT at all tech-savvy.
- None of these sites seem to specifically address Social Security card and driver's license theft: What specifically will she need to do about those? Does she need to talk to the Social Security office? What would they do to help prevent fraud?
- Have any of you gone through this and have personal suggestions?
- Is there any way at all she can recover some or all of the cash (ie: will car insurance cover anything like that)?
- She is a resident of South Carolina and the theft happened in Georgia. What additional things will she need to do, or be aware of, because of the two states involved?
- Are ID protection services like LifeLock or TrustedID worth it; or would doing that now be like shutting the barn door after the horse ran off?

Many thanks.

Staying healthy?

Funky Claude — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:33:54 -0800

Something is going around, how do I avoid it? I'm going to be spending a day in close contact with people who are, well, sick. Seems to be symptoms of really mild cold/virus type thing. Is there anything I could do now(before I get the chance to become infected myself) or after, so I could minimize the risk that I'll come down with something?

Staying away from previously mentioned sick people is not an option.

What does being a fraud prevention specialist actually entail?

Myles — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:25:18 -0800

Anyone here ever been a Fraud Prevention Specialist? What's the job actually like? I was doing some job searching and saw a posting for one, though it seems it's more geared towards online fraud and stuff. First here are the requirements:

Strong computer literacy and knowledge of computer software (MS Office).

Analytical abilities are required to perform investigations.

Ability to work independently and without direction, to take initiative, and to make decisions.

Must be able to prioritize and meet deadlines.

Fraud or investigations experience in a call center or fraud operations environment preferred.

Candidate must have an excellent understanding of Internet browsing, and experience shopping on the Internet.

Professional demeanor in dealing with internal and external customers via phone and email is essential.

Two year degree preferred or prior experience in law enforcement and/or investigations.

And then the formal job description:

The Ideal candidate would review reports for potentially fraudulent transactions and manage calls on fraud issues from operational departments, investigating leads from internal and external sources with proper follow-up and documentation.

You would complete information requests and fraud tasks for assigned cases and provide superior customer service to internal and external customers.

You would also be responsible for making recommendations on how processes can be improved and policies modified. Answer policy questions and act as a help resource for the other fraud analysts.

I know it says it all there, but I'd like to get some input on those who were actually one. It doesn't sound too much that they're asking for, as far as basic requirements. It sounds interesting, and I'd probably apply, but I'd like some feedback first. Thanks.

Looking for anti-drug messages in kids' games.

jackypaper — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:51:20 -0800

Where on the Web do I find anti-drug activities (word games, art, crafts, specifically addressing drug use) for kids ages 9-12? My Google-Fu seems to be failing me. Thanks!

Looking after a 1996 BMW 318is?

gttommy — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:38:51 -0800

Looking after a '96 BMW 318is? I just bought a 1.9L 1996 BMW 318i coupe (208 000 kms) and would like advice on maintaining this particular model. As this isn't a Toyota, I'm concerned about it breaking down, based on my general impression of non-Japanese cars.

I've already done some researching and thankfully it seems pre-1996 318 models had certain, model-specific problems. So perhaps advice on just maintenance and prevention tips for BMW cars would suffice.

Perks of having a health plan?

ism — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:42:00 -0800

How can I make the most of my new health-care plan? For the first time in my adult life, I have my own coverage, a PPO plan (through a major provider with a large network). What kind of care can I get that I might not think of ordinarily, since I'm used to not going to doctors except for emergencies? Any preventative, alternative or even holistic procedures can I ask for at a standard doctor's office? Or are there other sorts of practitioners that are sometimes under the PPO umbrella?

No More V1@grA

tmcw — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:45:15 -0800

PHPFilter: I'm about to write part of a web application that allows visitors to submit ratings and comments for events. How can I keep spam to a minimum? I've discovered, from past efforts, that essentially anything with a textbox will get spammed on the net. There isn't going to be user registration for this, and almost I will be monitoring for certain IPs, it will not be filtered.

So, the parts are CodeIgniter, PHP, MySQL. On a PHP4 server I have virtually no control over.

Any ideas? I'd like to avoid captcha if possible.

Thanks!

How do I keep books with a cracked spine from worsening?

JoshTeeters — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 18:11:04 -0800

I have quite a few books that I bought used that have cracked spines. They're not to the point where I need to rebind them, but I'd like to do everything I can do to keep them from reaching that point. Suggestions? Most of the books in question are softbacks, and are glue-bound. Besides being careful when using them (most of them are reference books, like foreign language stuff), is there anything I can do to prevent them from getting worse? Would putting a thin line of glue down into the crack (no sexual jokes, please ;) help matters, or would that be pointless? Taping the outside of the spine? Doing a book dance around the damaged books while praying to LibraryThing?

These aren't ultra-rare books or anything, but some of them were a real pain in the ass to get (been out of print for a while), so I'd really like to preseve them as best as I can.

I'm worried about getting a hernia from deadlifting

gttommy — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 12:42:46 -0800

I'm worried about getting a hernia from deadlifting. Are there any exercises to prevent or minimise a hernia? Are there any exercises to prevent or minimise a hernia? From my understanding lifting heavy strains weak, under-utilised muscles thus leading to a rupture, somehow.

So maybe there are some type of ab exercises that will strengthen these specific muscles to allow us to deadlift more?

Preparing to go to China

gttommy — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 05:08:19 -0800

I'm going to China next year to study for 12 months. I am concerned about getting sick over there, particularly, contracting Avian Influenza (bird flu). My question is, how concerned should I be? I will be staying mostly in Hang Zhou, an ubranised area, as that is where the host uni will be, however I intend to do some travelling and sightseeing especially to rural areas.

My doctor told me I should be the anti-virus Tamiflu after arrival since it would be much cheaper than purchasing it here in Australia. Doe you know if it is as accessible and of the same quality?

What could I do as "prevention"? Eat only from clean-looking restaurants, avoid all poultry...?

My Car is a Sitting Duck: How can I stop thieves from taking it?

BloodyWallet — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 12:26:48 -0800

My apartment was broken into last week and the thieves stole my car keys (among other things). Curiously, they didn't steal my car out of the driveway on their way out, but I'm worried they might come back. I've got the Club protecting the car as best it can for now, but what else do I have to worry about? My biggest worries:

1.) Would I be required by my car insurance company to re-key my car for coverage to remain intact? The re-keying operation is quite expensive (I have a '99 VW Jetta), and quite honestly I wouldn't mind getting a check from the insurance company to compensate a stolen car. But would they have a way out if I don't actively try to prevent the theft (by getting the car re-keyed)?

2.) The most annoying situation is that they come back and steal my (very basic) stereo, air bags, any other accessories from the car, or just vandalize/damage it. Any ideas on how to prevent that, given that the thieves have a set of keys?

My car is parked in a driveway behind my apartment building (out of view from the street), with 4 to 5 ft high fencing surrounding the parking area.

'Health is not valued till sickness comes.' - Thomas Fuller

anastasiav — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 20:54:36 -0800

I need to strengthen my immune system. Due to a chronic condition, I've always been prone to respiratory illness, and since I've become pregnant I've had at least three bouts of moderate-to-serious cold/flu/sniffle type things, with the latest being spending the last week in bed with what turns out to be viral bronchitis. This is not my first bout with bronchitis, but is, by far, the most serious and debilitating that I've had in several years.

I'm being treated for the bronchitis, that's not the issue. The issue is that my immune system seems to have taken a nose-dive while I'm pregnant (not unusal, everyone agrees), and I'm looking for thoughts on ways to beef it up now, and in general for the future.

Part of the problem is that while pregnant, I'm not able to dose up as high on Vitamin C and Zinc as I would normally do.

I've already gotten some suggestions from my midwife and my regular MD, but no two sources seem to agree on what really works, and I'm wondering what tips and tricks you swear by to ward off respratory illnesses and in general boost up your immune system.

How to Vanquish Bedbug-Borne Phobias?

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 14:35:56 -0800

I was heavily bitten by bedbugs over the summer of 2005, and although they're gone, I've grown very anxious about the thought of ever becoming reinfested. In August 2005, my doctor identified bites on my arms as bedbug bites. My landlord and I found my bed and boxspring had numerous bedbugs crawling along it. They had been biting me for about four months' time; I had chalked it up to mosquitos.

My landlady wanted to exterminate using an ineffective technique, but my research made clear that the method she suggested wouldn't work. I offered to split the cost of an exterminating service that has been around over a century. They performed two treatments, and after the second, I never saw a live bedbug in that apartment again. When I learned she was not going to inspect, let alone preventatively treat, the other apartments for bedbugs, I asked her if she would consent to letting me out of my lease early. She did, and I moved at the end of last October.

I've been at my new apartment for nearly five months with no bedbugs spotted. Although bedbugs can last without food for up to eighteen months, they're not going to voluntarily pass up food for that long. Thus, if I've not been bitten in the past five months, I hopefully most likely did not bring them with me to my new home. (Knock on wood.)

My perusal of blogs suggests to me it's not unusual for people who have dealt with bedbugs to have a good deal of residual anxiety even following the resolution of their infestations. My own anxieties no longer focus over the possibility that I've remained infested. I initially was casting a hard eye at every dark speck that happened to catch my eye. But the anxiety that remains from that experience focuses around the thought of reinfestation; of this occuring again.

It would help if I knew where my infestation originated. With no way of knowing for sure, I seem to subconsciously attribute it to one of two causes. Either I was infested while on public transit, which I ride daily; or I was infested when I stayed in a hotel in late February 2005. I don't remember noticing bites until late April 2005, and it would be odd for bedbugs to not feed for two months, but hotels are known to be the transmission vectors for bedbug infestations nowadays, and this hotel is even a regular home to crews for a particular international airline. And so I find myself checking subway seats before sitting down (not obsessively, but casting a hard eye at the cracks between the seats and the subway car side). And I am extremely anxious about the day in my future in which I will find myself needing to stay at a hotel overnight again. I'm honestly afraid that even if the experience doesn't cause reinfestation, it'll nevertheless turn me into a nervous wreck for the weeks preceding and following the experience.

So, you guys have the honest-to-God ability, through your answers, to make a substantial difference in my anxiety level, and I'm hoping you can offer advice in two arenas.

The first is from a practical perspective. (1) If one were to pay attention to the news media, you would think that every hotel and motel in America has a bedbug problem. I am wondering what the true likelihood of contracting a bedbug infestation from an overnight hotel stay is. One in five? One in a hundred? One in three thousand? In short, can anyone tell me what kind of odds I am running? The more the odds are in my favor, the more mental ammo I can provide myself. (Note that bedbugs infest both ritzy and poor hotels alike: they aren't attracted to filth, they're attracted to CO₂ and live off blood. Think tick-like, not roach-like.) (2) Can you recommend ways in which someone could determine prior to arrival whether a hotel has bedbugs? With million-dollar awards from juries for bedbug bites (seriously), hotels will now very happily lie through their teeth. (3) Once you arrive in your room, what things can you look for in that room to determine whether it suffers from infestation?

The second is from an emotional perspective. I imagine few, if any, of you have had to deal with bedbugs. But I'm sure some of you have had moments in your life that have caused you great anxiety and influenced your long-term behavior following the experience. What did you do to help yourself get over it? I have gotten better; I will continue to get better, hopefully. I am a strong man in many different ways, and I do not focus over this anxiety 24-7. I'm not, in short, an insane, tremoring basket case. But it is enough of a recurring and strong presence in my mind that I want to decrease its power over me. I am in therapy, but my therapist has recognized in the past the value of group input that Ask MeFi offers; I'm hoping you guys can dish up some life-changing advice for me this time around.

(A postscript: I realize this is nothing compared to the anxiety that an Iraq War veteran or a Hurricane Katrina survivor might have to deal with. My intellect understands that sense of scale. But that intellectual sense is not hooked up very well to the parts of me that are generating this anxiety.)

Smoke Headache. How Do I Cure It?

KevinSkomsvold — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 07:49:30 -0800

How do I prevent a non-drinking related "morning after" headache from occurring? It never fails; our band plays a show in an ungodly smokey bar. All is fine for the duration of the show. We tear down our gear, go home and the next morning I wake up with the worst headache ever. Everyone in our band has the same thing occur. They've tried different remedys to prevent them but to varying degrees of success. Our lead singer inhales salt water to clear out the nasal passages. I tried this and it didn't work. Aspirin before bed doesn't seem to have any effect. I'm sure others who work in smokey environs have had the same thing. Any ideas on how to prevent these smoke headaches?

Cold Sore Prevention

synecdoche — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 22:44:34 -0800

When the weather starts to get cold, I get cold sores on my lips. Have since I was little. Obviously, I don't like this much. I have some ointment/gel that gets rid of them fairly quickly (much quicker than if I let them run their course normally, I mean), but I was wondering if there is anything I can do that might prevent them in the future.

How to evict a chest cold before it finishes moving in.

Karmakaze — Sat, 09 Jul 2005 17:24:56 -0800

I love medical advice from strangers on the internet: favorite chest cold remedies. I've just 80% kicked a head cold only to wake up this morning hacking up phlegm bunnies (just tiny yellow flecks so far). I'm generally prone to bronchitis and this is a really bad sign. What do people generally do to head off a chest cold that's trying to set up residence? Mega doses of Vitamic C? Hot lemonade? Steam baths? Prayer? I've got the rest and fluids things down (which has made me have to cancel some weekend plans, darnit), but am wondering what works for other people.

(Disclaimer: yes, I realize the only reliable source of medical advice is an actual MD, and believe me, the second the phlem bunnies turn bright yellow or get larger, I've got my GP on speed-dial - I'm trying to head this thing off before it gets to that point.)