Shoulder Weakness And Stiffness: Early Signs Of Rotator Cuff Damage

 

On National Sports Day, as we celebrate the spirit of athletes and sports, it is equally important to highlight conditions that can limit the ability to stay active. Among athletes and fitness enthusiasts, shoulder pain and stiffness are often early signs of rotator cuff injuries, one of the most common causes of impaired mobility. The rotator cuff, a group of muscles and tendons, helps stabilize the shoulder joint and enables free movement. Damage here can affect not only sports performance but also daily activities. Dr. Gaurav Gupta, shares all you need to know:

Causes of Rotator Cuff Injuries in Athletes

*Overhead Sports: Repetitive overhead movements in tennis, swimming, volleyball, or cricket can strain and tear the tendons.

• High-Impact Trauma: Falls, tackles, or collisions in contact sports may lead to acute tears.

• Over-training & Poor Technique: Intense training without adequate rest or improper form during workouts increases the risk of shoulder injuries.

Early Symptoms of Rotator Cuff Damage

• Persistent Pain and Weakness: Pain during throwing, lifting, or weight training is an early warning sign. Weakness often follows, reducing power and endurance.

• Stiffness and Reduced Mobility: Difficulty rotating the shoulder or raising the arm overhead limits performance in sports like swimming, tennis, cricket, or basketball.

• Disturbed Sleep: Athletes often report shoulder discomfort at night, especially when lying on the affected side, which hinders recovery.

Types of Rotator Cuff Tears

• Partial Tear: Tendon damage without full detachment, often seen in early-stage sports injuries

• Complete Tear: Full separation of the tendon from the bone, resulting in significant weakness and reduced performance

• Massive Tear: Multiple tendons involved, severely restricting shoulder function if not treated promptly.

Treating the tear

• Non-invasive treatment: Physical therapy, medication, R.I.C.E therapy (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation), lifestyle changes such as certain exercises may be recommended as a first step to provide pain relief, reduce swelling and restore shoulder movement.

• Arthroscopic surgery: If non-surgical treatment does not bring relief, a minimally invasive surgical procedure could be suggested. During an arthroscopic shoulder surgery, the joint is accessed through 2-3 small incisions to insert a tiny camera and specialized surgical instruments to repair or treat the tear using either titanium or bioabsorbable anchors. The camera allows surgeon to see your joint and injury in real-time on a video monitor. This technique supports faster recovery and less pain due to its minimally invasive nature.

Post-surgery recovery regime includes immobilizing the joint with an arm sling for a few weeks, based on your condition, to aid healing followed by physiotherapy to help regain full range of motion.

 

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Be Aware of These Foods as They Can Cause Food Poisoning

 According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every single year, food poisoning affects around 76 million people all over the world. – about 5,000 of these people die. This means that your odds of succumbing to food poisoning are pretty slim, but you’re still going to have a pretty rough time. 

There are many different causes of food poisoning, such as bacteria, toxins, and chemicals. However, some foods have a higher possibility of making you sick than others. This is because these particular foods are more at risk of bacterial growth than others. Therefore, if they aren’t cooked to a certain temperature or aren’t handled or stored properly, there’s a good chance that they will make you sick. 

A food-borne illness can take days or weeks to develop, so it can be tricky to find the cause of the sickness. What can help though, is knowing which foods you should be extra careful with when handling, storing, and cooking. So, read on to learn which foods are more likely to give you food poisoning, along with some tips on how best to limit your risk.

Leafy Greens

 

Since leafy greens and vegetables are often eaten raw, any harmful contaminants on them won’t be killed in the cooking process. Bacteria such as E. coli can live in the soil that leafy greens grow in, and can easily contaminate them. Furthermore, wild animals can also transfer harmful substances to the food at any time during their growth. 

 

Washing leafy greens and vegetables not only reduces the risk of harmful bacteria being present, but also any chemical pesticides that might be on the food. Therefore, you should always make sure to wash leafy greens and vegetables before consuming them. 

 

Raw Milk 

Outside of a farm, you won’t encounter raw milk too often, but we strongly recommend you not to drink any if you’re offered. Raw milk is milk that hasn’t been pasteurized, meaning it hasn’t been heated to kill any harmful bacteria. The risk with drinking raw milk is that there’s a higher chance of the milk containing E. coli, listeria, or salmonella. If consumed, these dangerous bacteria can cause a range of food poisoning illness that can be life threatening.  

 

Eggs

Eggs are a convenient, versatile, and nutritious protein and are eaten by countless people all around the world. However, when it comes to food poisoning, they’re considered high-risk, especially when raw or under-cooked.

Bacteria can contaminate either the yolk, the white, or the egg shell. Often a contaminated egg will not look, taste, or smell any different, making it almost impossible to detect. Many popular meals contain lightly cooked (or even raw) eggs, so have a high risk of causing food-borne illness. It’s recommended that you thoroughly cook all foods that contain eggs, and avoid foods that contain undercooked eggs, such as salad dressings and mayonnaise. 

 

To enjoy eggs safely, it’s recommended that you buy clean, uncracked eggs. You should keep them refrigerated at under 5 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, when cracking the egg, make sure that the egg yolk or white doesn’t touch the outside of the shell before going in the dish. 

 

These recommendations are very important for vulnerable people such as young children, the elderly, pregnant women, and anyone suffering from an illness that weakens the immune system. 

 

 

Cheese

Staphylococcus aureus is a common bacterium that can be found on cheese. It is often transferred to the cheese when an infected person handles it. The bacteria have a high tolerance for salt, so cheese is an ideal breeding ground for it. Furthermore, Staphylococcus aureus is heat resistant, so cooking does not kill it. 

 

The best way to stop cheese from being contaminated with this dangerous bacteria is it store it at under 5 degrees Celsius, wash your hands before handling cheese, and make sure that all surfaces, utensils, and equipment that the cheese touches have been thoroughly sanitized. 

 

 

Sprouts

Sprouts grow in warm and wet environments which are perfect for rapid bacteria growth. This means that they are extremely difficult to keep clean. Since sprouts are usually eaten raw, they carry a really high risk of causing foodborne illness, especially from salmonella and E. coli. 

 

If contaminated, it’s very likely that the seeds of the sprouts are where the harmful bacteria will be found. Although there are different ways to reduce the risk of contamination, no treatment is guaranteed to kill all of the bacteria. 

 

Therefore, people who are vulnerable to effects of the potential bacteria – the elderly, pregnant women, children, and people with weakened immune systems – are instructed to stay away from sprouts. If you decide to eat them, it’s best to cook them first to reduce your risk of contamination.

Poultry 

Raw and undercooked poultry have an extremely high risk of causing food poisoning if it’s not handled properly. Campylobacter bacteria and salmonella are two common contaminants of poultry, and even small amounts can make people seriously ill. These bacteria often contaminate raw meat when it’s first processed, and can survive up until they are killed by high temperatures. 

 

Although these bacteria live on raw poultry, there are some ways to lower your risk of contracting them. You should always make sure that poultry is cooked all the way through before you eat it, as this will kill harmful bacteria. Furthermore. You should not wash raw chicken before cooking it as this will just spread the bacteria around your kitchen, make it easier to contaminate something else. When handling raw poultry, it’s very important to wash and sanitize anything that the raw meat touches – including clothes, chopping boards, utensils, and especially your hands. 

 

 

Deli Meats

Deli meats and cold-cut meats are often highly processed and include hot dogs, ham, bacon, and salami. The storage of deli meats is very important as they’re often not cooked before being consumed. 

 

Listeria and other dangerous bacteria can find its way into the processing factory and contaminate meats after they have been cooked and before they have been packaged. This is why it is really important to heat bacon and hot dogs to at least 75 degrees Celsius for at least 3 minutes before consuming. Furthermore, cold meats should always be stored below 5 degrees Celsius to reduce the risk of further bacterial growth. 

 

All meats carry a high-risk of causing food-related illnesses if they are not prepared and stored properly. Many people prefer their red meat not to be cooked thoroughly through, but this can mean that the number of bacteria is not brought down to a safe level. Those who are susceptible to illness are advised to ensure that all their meats are thoroughly cooked – this includes young children, pregnant women, and the elderly. 

 

 

Rice  

Rice, one of the most widely consumed foods on the planet, is a high-risk food when it comes to food poisoning. It can often be contaminated with bacillus cereus, which can infect and live in uncooked rice as spores. Rather than getting rid of the spores, cooking actually activates them, and moist cooked rice is the perfect breeding ground for harmful bacteria. Not storing cooked rice properly is one of the biggest culprits of food-borne illnesses in the world. 

 

 

Seafood 

When it comes down to food poisoning from seafood there are many different illnesses. It all depends on the type of seafood, whether it has been contaminated with a toxin, bacteria, or other harmful substances, and the conditions that the fish has been kept in.

Fish which has not been stored at the correct temperature has a very high-risk of being contaminated with histamine – a toxin that can cause Scombroid poisoning and cannot be destroyed by normal cooking temperatures. 

 

Shellfish can also cause food poisoning as the algae that the shellfish live on, produce toxins that can build up to dangerous levels. The more common foodborne illnesses that these toxins can cause include neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, paralytic shellfish poisoning, and amnestic shellfish poisoning. Cooking the shellfish will not reduce the toxicity to safe levels, so it is advised to avoid eating seafood in developing countries. 

 

Fruits 

Surprisingly, lots of raw fruits and berries have a high-risk of causing food poisoning. Listeria can grow on the skin of fruits and vegetables and can cause food poisoning if eaten. 

 

Melons also have a high-risk of causing food poisoning as they’re often not washed before being eaten. Harmful bacteria can easily be spread between fruit during the supply chain process. The environments that these foods grow is a major factor for their high-risk status. They’re often grown in warm, humid conditions, which are perfect for bacteria to breed. Thoroughly washing your fruit and vegetables and storing them at a proper temperature before consumption will decrease your risk.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement
https://GSiyers home remedies.blogspot.com   is the latest addition to my blogs

Microwavable Mitten Warmers

Step 1: Materials

These mitten warmers can be made quickly and easily. This instructable will show you several different methods so you have lots of options depending on your resources and abilities.

Here is a list of supplies you may choose to use:

Essential items:
- mittens (obviously)
- microwave oven
- dry, uncooked rice or lentils - but not popcorn, that's a bad choice.

Choice of cotton fabric:
- old dish towel
- old sock
- old T-shirt
- etc.

One or two of the following items:
- sewing machine
- needle and thread
- fusible webbing
- string
- rubber bands

Step 2: Option One

 

Use a sewing machine to sew a small bag out of some fabric. These ones I made measure about 8cm (3 inches) by 5cm (2 inches).

Begin with a piece of fabric a little wider than you want the finished bag to be, and a little more than twice as long. The extra width is your seam allowance. By the way, you needn't fuss about with a whole lot of cutting, just snip the edge and rip the fabric. Next fold the piece in half with the inside out, and run them through your sewing machine to sew the two sides together. Then turn them right side out, and fill with rice. Tuck the remaining raw edges inside and stitch the opening shut.

Done.

The final thing to do with all these options, is to microwave your finished mitten warmers for between 30 seconds to a minute. The rice will likely have a fair bit of moisture in it so for the first few heatings, so expect the warmers to come out of the microwave a bit damp. If you use basmati rice, like I did, also expect it to smell delicious! You can pop them into your mitts right out of the microwave and enjoy you toasty fingers!

Step 3: Option Two

 

 What? You say you don't have a sewing machine? Well it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out you can do pretty much the same thing as Option One, but do all the sewing by hand. I used a blanket stitch to close up the top seam on mine.

Step 4: Option Three

    

Now if you are like me, you're not a big fan of sewing. Well then, let's try to minimize the amount of sewing you need to do.

Find an old pair of socks that you've worn the heels through, but the toes are still in good shape... and make sure they're clean! Lob off the toes to make pockets with enough room to hold the rice. Fill rice into these pockets, and tuck in the raw edges, placing enough fusible webbing between to span the entire opening. Iron this seam together.

Since microwaving these bags will melt the fusible webbing, you need to stitch along the seam. Socks tend to be quite stretchy and the fusible webbing helps stabilize the fabric while you sew it, however you could do without it if you prefer.

Step 5: Option Four

   

  

What's that? You say you suffer from [http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/aichmophobia.html" aichmophobia] and don't want to sew anything at all? Try this: Either fill the toes of old socks with rice like the previous option, or make a satchel out of an old dishtowel or T-shirt.

One way to make a satchel is to take a square of fabric and push some of it down into one hand that you can fill with rice. Gather up the loose ends over top and tie off with some string. Try not to make the satchel too tight; keep it a little slack. Then just trim off the excess and use.

Step 6: Option Five

    

   

So you never quite managed to learn the whole tying-string-together thing, eh? Not to worry, use rubber bands instead of string. Wrap the rubber band as tightly as possible around the open end of the sock, or satchel.

Step 7: Option Six

 

Still too complicated for you? (sigh...) Okay then, just put some rice in a bowl, heat it up in the microwave, and then pour it into your mittens.

Sure the rice will be loose in your mitts and you'll probably loose some if you raise your hand to wave at a friend, but this is absolutely the fastest and easiest mitten warmer I can think of to keep your fingers from freezing when you are outside.

 

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement
https://GSiyers home remedies.blogspot.com   is the latest addition to my blogs

9 Foods You Are Washing Incorrectly

People who place a high value on their health know how important it is to wash their food thoroughly well. While the process is simple - turning on a faucet and rinsing your food, there are a few nuances that are essential for you to remember. Below are 9 products we wash incorrectly:

 

1. Frozen fruits and veggies

While frozen fruits and vegetables tend to save us more time in the kitchen - no chopping required - before freezing, vegetables are washed with water. However, most people do not wash frozen products before using them, which is fine if they are being cooked at a high temperature. But for al dente vegetables, they should be washed thoroughly to get rid of the dirt and bacteria. 

 

2. Rice 

Rice, particularly long grain rice, should be rinsed 3 to 4 times before cooking. The main danger lies not in the dust but in the starch covering rice. The starch is what causes the rice to clump together, making it look unappetizing. Other starchy grains like corn or wheat grains should be rinsed until the water runs clear.

3. Mussels and oysters

All seafood in shells, including mussels and oysters, should be thoroughly rinsed - even if you buy the frozen packet, as they are full of sand and grit.  

 

4. Milk and dairy products 

The packaging of milk, yogurt, and other liquids should all be washed before opening. Thousands of customers touch these items, pick them up and read the information on the labels. As soon as we open a bottle, the bacteria from people who have previously handled the container can easily be passed on. 

 

5. Fish

Unless you are going to eat fish raw, there is no need to wash it as high temperatures kill all bacteria. Furthermore, if you rinse raw fish, there is a risk of spreading the bacteria all around your kitchen. Bear in mind that after handling the fish, you should wash your hands, the cutting board and the knife. 

 

6. Cabbage 

Cabbage must be washed thoroughly no matter what type of cabbage it is. Cauliflower, which comes from the same family as the cabbage should be cleaned well, in all its nooks. To cook red or white cabbage, remove the upper two layers as they tend to hide dirt and dust. To get rid of bugs and bacteria put the cabbage in the sink and fill with water, adding some vinegar and leave for a couple of minutes. Then rinse with clean water.  

 

7. Canned beverages

Don't gulp a can of soda without washing it or wiping it down first. Cans travel in dusty trucks and are handled by many people. In fact, it's all the better if you pour the contents from the can into a glass. 

 

8. Lettuce 

Greens are extremely tasty and healthy. But when preparing lettuce, don't forget to rinse it first. To get rid of sand or dirt in the leaves, you need to tear the lettuce and leave it to soak in cold water for a couple of minutes. Once you take the lettuce out, place in a colander or on a clean kitchen towel and let it dry.

9. Apples

Apples, like most fruits, need to be thoroughly rinsed. Studies show that if you soak fruits in water and baking soda for 12 minutes, the majority of the chemicals will be washed away.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement