Health

Improving Your Overall Sense of Physical Wellbeing

By  | 

Thanks to scientific research and an increased understanding of our bodies, we are becoming increasingly aware of how our day to day lives can impact our overall sense of wellbeing. Now, there are, of course, plenty of mental and emotional factors that can affect how we are feeling in general. But for now, let’s focus on the physical side of things and determine what we can do to improve our overall sense of physical wellbeing!

Picture Source

Keeping Up With Routine Appointments

There are certain appointments that we should all fit into our schedule in order to maintain our physical health and improve our day to day lives. Here are just three that you should keep an eye on.

Dentist and Hygienist

Everyone should visit their dentist and hygienist separately at least once a year. If possible, and you can fit an extra check up into your schedule, you should attempt to see these professionals once every six months. A check up with your dentist will allow your dentist the opportunity to survey the overall health of your mouth, including your teeth, gums, tongue, and inner cheeks. As long as you maintain a good dental hygiene routine, you shouldn’t have any problems. However, sometimes, we will experience decay and require treatments such as fillings, root canals, or extractions. There are also problems that cannot be avoided that may arise, such as chips, teeth damaged through injury, or problematic wisdom teeth that should be observed too. During your hygienist appointment, excess plaque can be scaled away, your teeth can be professionally polished, and your hygienist can recommend specific products that will help to maintain a pearly smile.

Optician

It is recommended that you should visit your optician once every two years. This is slightly less regularly than your dentist and hygienist, so you have no excuse to miss this appointment. No matter how busy you may be, everyone will have half an hour or so spare at some point over the timespan of two years. Don’t hesitate to book more regular appointments if you notice changes in your vision too! Now, during your opticians appointment, a professional optometrist will be able to identify changes in your range of vision. If you are identified as short sighted or long sighted, you will be given a specific prescription for lenses for glasses or contact lenses that will help to improve your vision in general. However, this isn’t all that optometrists do. They can also survey the overall health of your eye, identifying warning signs of conditions such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, and even diabetes.

Your Doctor

The majority of us only visit our local doctor’s surgery if we are experiencing symptoms of illness. However, there are certain routine appointments that you should attend if you fit within a particular demographic. If you are female and aged between 25 and 49, you should attend cervical screening appointments once every three years. These can help to detect abnormalities or changes to your cervix. If you are female and aged between 50 and 64, these screenings should be attended once every five years. If you are male and aged over 50, you should book in for a routine prostate exam, which can identify abnormal changes to the prostate.

Photo Credit

Getting Sufficient Sleep

We should get an average of eight hours a night. But surprisingly few people actually get this much sleep. We are surrounded by so many distractions that we often get sidetracked, and before we know it we can only fit in five or six hours before our alarms will go off in the morning for work. But sleep is so important! It provides our bodies with the opportunity to repair themselves after a long day of physical activity. During sleep, we also give our minds a chance to process all of the information that we have taken in throughout the day, solidifying memories and filtering unnecessary information that won’t be of any use to us. If you find that you are struggling to sleep at all, or are getting minimal amounts of sleep a night, you should contact your doctor and request further investigation or treatment. If you can get to sleep but just find it hard to settle down, take a look at the list of sleep tips and tricks provided by Betterbed. This advice should help you to drop off into the land of nod in next to no time!

Photo Credit

Exercising Regularly

The average adult should carry out 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise every week, or 75 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise every week. This may sound like a lot, but it isn’t all too difficult to attain if you put the effort in. Now, there are various ways that you can incorporate this exercise into your lifestyle. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

The Gym

Perhaps the easiest way to incorporate exercise into your lifestyle is to sign up for a local gym membership. This can prove to be relatively affordable, and if your local gym has extended opening hours, it should be easily accessible around your work and other aspects of your personal routine. Your local gym will have all sorts of equipment on offer, allowing you to carry out cardiovascular exercise, weight training, and other activities. Many gyms also have classes on offer, such as spin classes, yoga, pilates, or legs, bums, and tums. Perhaps the best aspect of getting your exercise through the gym? You don’t depend on anyone else. You can go as and when you please and it doesn’t matter if nobody else turns up. You gain complete independence in your exercise routine!

Team Sports

If you are a more sociable person, you might want to get involved in team sports. Team sports are a great way to combine exercise with social interaction and a sense of team spirit. There are all sorts of sports out there, so no matter what you’re interested in, there’s bound to be a local team who are willing to welcome you in with open arms. While you might not make the team immediately, you can generally attend training sessions and get a taste for the given game at hand. Consider soccer, basketball, rugby, cricket, baseball, or even more extreme team sports like roller derby. Regardless of what you pick up, you can quickly familiarise yourself with rules and techniques, and will have something to look forward to attending on a regular basis.

Swimming

If you prefer to exercise in water than on land, swimming may be the best option for you. Swimming provides a great overall workout, exercising various parts of your body at once. You can do as many lengths as you feel comfortable with and then leave the pool when you feel worn out. What’s more? The resistance of the water can give you a harder workout, while also supporting your body and reducing tension on your joints. Look out for establishments that also have saunas and steam rooms, as these can provide you with an area to relax in at the same time as providing you with further health benefits.

While there are plenty of ways to improve your physical sense of wellbeing, keeping in touch with medical professionals, getting sufficient sleep, and incorporating exercise into our day to day routines can all help to achieve physical contentment and are great places to start!

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply