Keep Your Blood Pressure Under Control Without Medication

High blood pressure can become a serious concern if left unchecked, but thankfully there are a number of options available for keeping it down. While the most common involves prescription medication, there are other steps you can take if you’re avoiding medicating your condition. Maintaining healthy blood pressure involves changes in your lifestyle, activity, and food choices. With diligence, you may be able to delay or reduce your need for medication. In some cases, you may be able to prevent the need for the medication entirely.

Steps You Can Take To Keep Your High Blood Pressure Under Control

As we gain weight, its common for our blood pressure to increase alongside it. Among the reasons for this is the increased risk of sleep apnea, a breathing condition that can cause our blood pressure to rise. Losing weight is a powerful tool in preventing our blood pressure from rising, with even small losses showing significant changes in blood pressure levels. On average losing, 2.2 pounds results in a drop of 1mm Hg in your blood pressure.

Regular Exercise Can Help

Along with losing weight, increasing how much exercise you get can have a profound impact on your blood pressure. Taking half an hour a day to exercise can show a reduction in your blood pressure of up to 8mm Hg if done consistently. Maintaining this exercise level will be essential to seeing lasting results, as your blood pressure can rise again if you stop. Walking, swimming, dancing, and jogging are all activities that can help.

Maintain A Healthy Diet

Given these last two tips, it should come as no surprise that diet fits right in with maintaining healthy blood pressure. Avoiding cholesterol and saturated fat, as well as consuming vegetables, fruits, grains, and low-fat dairy products, can see your blood pressure drop by up to 11mm Hg. If you want to learn more about the diet that helps with high blood pressure, check out the DASH diet. (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension).

Sodium Reduction

Some people who experience high blood pressure do so as the result of having sodium-sensitive hypertension. This means that they are given to developing high blood pressure if they consume high levels of salt. Patients who have this condition should reduce the amount of salt they consume below 2,300mg a day, though less than 1,500mg is ideal for most of us. You can help accomplish this goal by reading labels, reducing how many processed foods you eat, and not adding salt to your diet.

If you have high blood pressure and want to know more ways you can help prevent the need for medication to control it, call our offices today. Dr. Trang D Nguyen has been helping patients like you battle high blood pressure from their clinic in Conroe, TX. At Conroe Family Doctor, we’re proud to teach our patient family how to maintain their health and enjoy life to the fullest. Don’t let hypertension take control of your life, take steps to reduce it, and your dependence on medication to treat it. Call today!

Why Does My Back Hurt? Common Causes of Back Pain

Your spinal column has a lot of responsibility, serving as the primary support for the structure of your body. Not only does it have to be resilient enough to keep you standing tall, but it also needs to have the flexibility to allow your body to move freely. With all that’s asked of it back, pain is a common experience for people of every age. From sore muscles and herniated discs to fractured vertebrae, there’s a host of reasons your back may be experiencing pain. In most cases, those who experience back pain have developed it over time.

What Causes Back Pain To Develop?

Throughout our lives, we can develop back pain gradually, or it can come on quite suddenly due to trauma. The most frequent source of back pain include repetitive motion, poor posture, and utilizing poor body mechanics when moving heavy loads. Back pain occurs when the spinal cord, a connected system of 24 vertebrae, moves out of alignment, develops problems with discs, or is otherwise negatively impacted.

A common source of back pain is the result of muscle strain. The spine is supported by muscle bands that can experience pain when overextended. This can be the result of accidents, sports, falls, any activity where the muscle can become overworked or stretched too far. Pregnancy also puts a remarkable strain on the spine, and back pain is a common result.

How Is Back Pain Diagnosed?

When you’re experiencing back pain, the first step is going to be speaking to Dr. Trang D Nguyen about it. The method of reaching a diagnosis will depend on how you describe your pain and how you experience it. Diagnosis methods can include:

• X-Rays used to check bones for damage
• CT or MRI’s can be used to check for herniated discs or other soft-tissue damage
• Nerve and Muscle Damage is identified with EMG (Electromyogram)
• Blood and Urine tests can identify kidney stones, infections, and other causes

The results of these tests will help identify the origin of your pain and provide information about the appropriate treatment steps to follow. Another factor that will determine what tests are done is how many times you’ve experienced this pain.

How Will my Back Pain be Treated?

Mild back pain often responds well to ibuprofen, aspirin, naproxen, or other over the counter medications. Ice packs and heating pads can also be applied to help ease occasional back pain. Chronic back pain may call for a firmer or softer mattress. In more severe cases, physical therapy or surgery will be called for. Dr. Nguyen will help you determine the proper next steps.

If you’re experiencing ongoing back pain, it’s time to schedule an appointment with Conroe Family Doctor in Conroe, TX. We’re proud to be serving our community with routine medical care in a family-oriented environment. Don’t let your back pain impact your quality of life, call us today to start getting answers that can help eliminate back pain and let you get back to living!

Signs You May Have a Thyroid Disorder

Thyroid disorders come with a multitude of symptoms that can be hard to recognize from other illnesses. Thyroid disorders tend to be hard to diagnose for doctors and healthcare professionals because of their symptoms. However, once diagnosed, healthcare professionals have ways of treating the disorder.

What is Thyroid Disorder?

Thyroid disorder can be classified medically as hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism is when the thyroid gland isn’t able to produce enough crucial hormones to produce energy, control growth, and manage the metabolism. When the body doesn’t produce enough of these hormones, it will slow the metabolism, causing weight gain, weariness, develop skin conditions, and other underlying medical issues. Another form of a thyroid disorder, hyperthyroidism, produces the opposite reaction, where it produces too many hormones, causing symptoms similar to hypothyroidism, but with exceptions, such as a sped-up metabolism and nervous energy.

Symptoms of Thyroid Disorder

Hypothyroidism can vary in its symptoms, including:

Tiredness/ Weariness

One of the most common but inconspicuous symptoms associated with thyroid disorder is feeling tired. Those suffering from thyroid problems will often experience issues with maintaining energy, and will constantly feel fatigued no matter how much sleep they get. Those with a low thyroid function will feel confused, shaky, and nervous regularly due to the lack of hormones produced. If you find that you’re experiencing severe fatigue, then you may need to get your thyroid checked.

Weight Gain/Loss

Lower thyroid levels can cause changes in weight due to the impact it has on the metabolism. Weight gain, typically caused by a slower metabolism, can be difficult to remove when you have an inactive thyroid. Low thyroid levels cause weight loss to be a harder task to accomplish, even with regular exercise and a healthy diet. With an overactive thyroid, the body will burn calories at a higher rate than normal, which, while it may sound great on the surface, it can become fatal when combined with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.

Irregular Menstrual Cycles

Both forms of thyroidism can complicate a women’s menstrual cycle, causing intense and longer periods than normal. Periods that happen heavier and over a longer time, then it can potentially be an under-active thyroid causing the issue. For those who are producing too many hormones, periods can become lighter and more spaced apart. In these cases, thyroid function can cause problems with ovulation, which can affect pregnancies.

Thinning Hair

Thinning hair can be seen as one of the most obvious signs of a thyroid disorder because of its distinct effects on the body. Thinning hair, especially around the eyebrows, can indicate if you have a thyroid problem because the thyroid hormones control hair growth, and thus are more sensitive to thyroid issues. If you’ve been experiencing problems with hair loss, then consider speaking with your doctor about the issues you’re facing and ask about thyroidism as a potential cause.

If you have any of the symptoms above, and you believe you may be experiencing a hypothyroid or hyperthyroid disorder, then it’s time to schedule an appointment with Dr. Trang D Nguyen at the Conroe Family Doctor practice. Located in Conroe, TX, Dr. Nguyen will be able to help alleviate the symptoms you’re experiencing and help you get your life back on track.