Month: September 2019

38 Of Oprah’s All-Time Favorite Things You Never Knew You Needed Until Now, All Under $50

Post author By Katie Martin
Post date September 27, 2019

Thanksgiving is the unofficial beginning to the holiday season; between stuffing ourselves Joey Tribbiani–style and spending time with loved ones, it truly is a wonderful time of year. But one of the things we look forward to the most at Thanksgiving? Oprah’s annual list of her favorite products.
From the 1990s to the mid-2000s, you could find us, along with most of America, glued to our televisions at 4 p.m. during the week of Thanksgiving, waiting anxiously on Oprah to unveil her list of favorite things to a very lucky audience, who received all of the items on her list. Even after the show ended in 2011, Oprah has continued to publish her annual list of favorite products. It’s not quite the same as being in the studio audience as Oprah gleefully screams, “YOU GET A CAR,” but there are still some primo products on the list each year.

The 2018 list hasn’t yet been published, but here’s a look back at a few of Oprah’s all-time favorite things from years past. You’re going to want every single one, and at under $50 each, they won’t break the bank.

1. Never break your sunnies again with this travel case.

These padded zipper bags are a perfect way to give fragile items, like glasses and compacts, a little extra protection when traveling. In a punchy pink color with navy trim and a printed interior, this puffy, lined bag is machine-washable, super lightweight, and ultra durable.

Throw the CORROON Women’s Sungkay Puffy Kit into your suitcase when traveling, and you’ll never have to worry about airlines breaking your expensive bronzer or favorite sunglasses again.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075TF93NW”]CORROON Women’s Sungkay Puffy Kit, $35 on Amazon[/link-button]

2. You had me at Zendaya.

The Greatest Showman, featuring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, and our girl Zendaya, wasn’t a box office smash when it opened in theaters last year, but it’s quickly become a favorite among musical lovers, and for good reason. The catchy lyrics of tunes like “A Million Dreams” will stay in your head for days.

Get the original motion picture soundtrack on Amazon and relive the true story of P.T. Barnum, the man who invented show business, through song. After all, there’s no business like show business, especially when you’re belting out show tunes in the shower.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07629RLTC”]The Greatest Showman Soundtrack, $11.88 on Amazon[/link-button]

3. Look like a lumberjack with these cozy socks—no wood-chopping required.

Winter is coming, people! Cozy up in style with these Pudus Classic Slipper Socks that come in sizes for the whole family.

Lined with soft sherpa fleece and non-slip grippers on the sole, these socks are the perfect accessory for cold days spent in front of the fireplace with a good book and a mug of hot cocoa in hand. And, if you’re not into the lumberjack look, there are multiple style options from which to choose.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B541VIY”]Pudus Classic Slipper Socks, Lumberjack Red, from $10.99 on Amazon[/link-button]

4. Treat your pupper to some gourmet snacks this holiday season.

It’s no secret that Oprah loves her dog, Luke—just check out her Instagram feed. Oprah regularly treats her pupper to gourmet snacks and toys from Harry Barker, which has been a regular on her favorite things list for several years.

This Harry Barker Gift Set features a durable gingham rope chew toy and a box of country bacon dog treats, all in a cute-as-a-button decorative tin that can be used to store more treats in later.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075TS9T51″]Harry Barker Gift Set, $35 on Amazon[/link-button]

5. Relax like Oprah with this bath-time treat.

Okay, Oprah is probably not trying to take a bath in an apartment-sized tub, but you can still relax like a queen with this LoLLIA Dream Bubble Bath. Not only does it come in a gorgeous, totally display-worth bottle, but the white tea and honeysuckle scent is divine.

This bubble bath is best enjoyed with a good book (may we suggest Oprah’s own The Wisdom of Sundays: Life-Changing Insights From Super Soul Conversations?), scented candles, and a cup of hot tea to set the mood.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N5M2PRT”]LoLLIA Dream Bubble Bath, $43.33 on Amazon[/link-button]

6. Say bye-bye to chilly fingers with this tech-friendly product.

Every year, winter gloves seem to disappear to the same mysterious place where lost socks and hair ties end up, never to be heard from again. But with Verloop Trio gloves, you’ll never have to worry about finding a spare, because each set comes with a pair of gloves and a spare, just in case—pure genius.

Plus, each set of Verloop gloves is touchscreen capable, meaning no more chilly hands every time you need to check a text or hail a ride share.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Verloop-Touchscreen-Gloves-Texting-Knitted/dp/B01M0DV4R8″]Verloop Trio Touchscreen Gloves, $11.49 on Amazon[/link-button]

7. This handy gadget always knows where to find your keys, even if you don’t.

You hit snooze one too many times in the morning and barely have time to grab a cup of coffee before running out the door, much less take 20 minutes to find your keys, which you could have sworn were hanging on their special hook by the door. Never lose your keys again with the Orbit Bluetooth key tracker; simply attach the tracker to your keyring and download the app.

With just one tap, the Orbit tracker will play a loud tune until you locate your keys. If you’re not sure where you lost your keys, the app can also tell you the tracker’s last known GPS location. You’ll never be late because you were looking for your keys again. The only downside to the Orbit Bluetooth Key Finder? It can’t stop you from hitting snooze (again).

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Orbit-Bluetooth-Finder-Azure-Blue/dp/B01LKBK3U4/”]Orbit Bluetooth Key Finder, Azure Blue, $24.99 on Amazon[/link-button]

8. Oprah, how does your garden grow?

Eating veggies you grew yourself is extra delicious, but if you live in a city, garden spots are hard to come by. Featured on Oprah’s favorite hings in 2016, the Urban Agriculture Vegetable Garden Grow Kit has everything you need—a container, soil, and seeds—to grow your own lettuce year round.

For delicious salad greens all year long, all you need to provide is a sunny window and water to watch your garden grow.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Urban-Agriculture-Vegetable-Garden-Grow/dp/B01G96AWTM/”]Vegetable Garden Grow Kit – Lettuce, $18.99 on Amazon[/link-button]

9. Take selfies that rival Kylie Jenner’s.

Kylie might be the queen of selfies, but you don’t need your own specially lit selfie station to take glam photos; all you need is this Oprah-approved LuMee Selfie Case. Designed to fit most iPhones, this pretty rose gold case features warm LED lights that highlight your face for the perfect selfie every time.

Each case is durable, with shock-absorbing corners for when you inevitably drop your phone looking for the perfect angle. The lights have up to 30 minutes of battery life, and this product includes a charging cable for selfies on the go.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/LuMee-Selfie-Lighting-Variable-Absorption/dp/B01M04AV4H”]LuMee Phone Case with LED Lighting, $24.99 on Amazon[/link-button]

10. Faux furs for your dog? Why not?

Featured on Oprah’s Favorite Things in 2015, this totally adorable, totally over-the-top faux fur jacket is just what your pup needs for cold-weather outings.

Sized to fit even the smallest of pooches, this eye-catching faux-mink garment will ensure you have the best-dressed dog on the block, even though you may still be schlepping around in the snow in your trusty old puffer coat.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Frontgate-Faux-Jacket-Channeled-Large/dp/B016DVNVP0/”]FRONTGATE Faux Fur Pet Jacket, $33 on Amazon[/link-button]

11. You’ll want to stock up on these ultra-soft baby basics.

Organic baby clothes are good for the environment, and these come in oh-so-sweet colors and sizes for little ones. Burt’s Bees organic clothing has been a favorite of Oprah’s for years, and way back in 2013, she featured the Bee Essentials Bibs as must-haves for every mom.

They’re snap- and velcro-free, and they slide gently over baby’s head for no-fuss drool protection. We also love the terry cloth backing, which can easily be swiped over baby’s mouth and hands for post-meal cleanup.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Burts-Bees-Baby-Essentials-Shoulder/dp/B00N4PMNH6″]Burt’s Bees Baby Shoulder Bibs, $19.95 on Amazon[/link-button]

12. This stuff is better than butter.

You know, $25 seems like a lot to spend on butter—but this is no ordinary breakfast spread. Back in 2012, Oprah raved about Urbani Truffle Butter, saying, “How do I love truffle butter? Let me count the ways. On a baked potato, on grilled steak, on a sourdough baguette.”

According to Amazon reviewers, the trick to using Urbani White Truffle Butter is adding a small sliver of the butter to dishes right before serving to ensure the rich, velvety truffle flavor comes through.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Urbani-White-Truffle-Butter-8oz/dp/B00A4FQE38″]Urbani White Truffle Butter, 8 ounces, $25.99 on Amazon[/link-button]

13. Sip on a cup of chai, just like Oprah.

Oprah loves chai tea so much that Teavana and Starbucks teamed up to name a special blend of chai after her. Masala chai makes Oprah’s list of favorite things year after year.

With milk, this sweetened, spicy tea is delicious to enjoy on cool fall mornings, or really any time you need a quick pick-me-up. Use this loose leaf blend with your favorite diffuser, or learn how to make masala chai the Oprah way.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Rishi-Masala-Tea-Organic-Loose/dp/B007PY1BM0″]Rishi Masala Chai Tea, Loose Leaf Black Tea Blend, $29.93 on Amazon[/link-button]

14. La petite cocotte, s’il vous plaît.

Oprah loves to serve mashed potatoes and other casserole-type dishes in mini cast iron cocottes so much that she listed them as one of her favorite things in 2011, 2014, and 2017.

While she favors Le Creuset and Staub for her cocottes, those brands aren’t so budget-friendly. Instead, serve individual casseroles just like Oprah with these affordable Nordic Ware Mini Cocottes. Made of cast aluminum with a nonstick surface inside, these cocottes ensure even cooking and easy cleanup, making them an ideal choice for your next dinner party.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Traditions-Cocottes-Cranberry/dp/B008XGXWKI”]Nordic Ware Mini Cocottes, Set of 2, $34.34 on Amazon[/link-button]

15. We hate to tell you this, but 2004 called, and it wants its boots back.

If there’s one thing Oprah absolutely loves, it’s Josh Groban Christmas albums—but Ugg boots are a close second. Both have been featured on her lists throughout the years, proving that they’re perennial favorites.

Love them or hate them, you can’t deny that Ugg boots are warm, cozy, and downright comfortable. Whether you’re lounging around the house or glamming it up at a ski resort in Tahoe, you’ll be right at home in the Alida Slouch Boot, an Ugg classic that comes in either black or chestnut with Ugg’s trademarked Treadlite outsole for cushiony comfort all day long.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/UGG-Womens-Alida-Slouch-Chestnut/dp/B01MZ9AVW2″]Ugg Women’s Alida Slouch Boot, select styles from $49 on Amazon[/link-button]

16. Yes, this is the best facial moisturizer of all time.

Put down the coconut oil you were about to dab all over your face, and back away slowly. Instead of a product that’s sure to leave you disappointed (and covered in zits), try Oprah’s (and our) favorite facial moisturizer, Philosophy’s Hope in a Jar.

Beloved for years, this lightweight, award-winning moisturizer delivers on its promise to hydrate and improve overall skin texture. And, as an added bonus, it smells absolutely heavenly.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-1-qty-Hope-Moisturizer/dp/B000Z5Y2XQ”]Philosophy Hope in a Jar Moisturizer, $32.57 on Amazon[/link-button]

17. Here’s the secret to making the best brownies ever.

Everyone knows that the best brownies are the corner pieces; warm and gooey, with crispy, delicious edges on two sides. With a regular brownie pan, you really have to duke it out over who gets the coveted four corners. But with the Baker’s Edge Brownie Pan, everyone gets an edge piece.

This unique pan features a design that guarantees every piece has two crispy edges. It’s the perfect size for convenient box brownie mixes, and features one continuous chamber for easier filling.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Bakers-Edge-Nonstick-Brownie-Pan/dp/B000MMK448″]Baker’s Edge Nonstick Edge Brownie Pan, $35.95 on Amazon[/link-button]

18. It’s a triple word score for the win!

Okay, so technically Oprah’s favorite thing is Hasbro’s Scrabble Premier Wood Edition, which is, with its wooden cabinet, rotating game board, and brass toned tile racks, pretty amazing. Not so amazing? The hefty $199 price tag. Yikes.

If you love the tactile dynamic of playing Scrabble with your friends rather than cheating on Words with Friends (you know you do), then pick up a regular version of Oprah’s favorite game instead. The board may not rotate, but the game is still just as fun.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-A8166-Scrabble-Crossword-Game/dp/B00IL5XY9K”]Hasbro Scrabble Crossword Game, $15.78 on Amazon[/link-button]

19. This is so much better than your average holiday popcorn tin.

After filming her show in Chicago for 25 years, it makes sense that Oprah would include Chicago’s own world-famous Garrett Popcorn on her list of favorite things. And she’s absolutely right; Garrett’s special blend of cheddar and caramel popcorn is delicious, and tastes freshly made right out of the tin.

If, for some reason, you don’t love the cheddar and caramel blend, Garrett’s has several other tasty options from which to choose, including Almond and Pecan Caramel Crisp.

[link-button href=”https://www.garrettpopcorn.com/Catalog/Recipes/cheddar-and-caramel-popcorn”]Garrett Popcorn Shops, Garrett Mix, $33 from Garrett Popcorn[/link-button]

20. Guests will love every variety of this scented soap.

Step it up a notch in your spare bathroom—offer guests the luxurious experience of using LAFCO House and Home Bar Soap in scents like Sea and Dune, Sage and Walnut, and Redwood.

Each creamy soap is handmade in Italy and features an ultra-moisturizing blend of olive oil, almond oil, and rice protein. Not just for washing hands, this soap can also be used as a shaving bar and is suitable for sensitive skin.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/LAFCO-House-Home-Soap-Dune/dp/B00NPIXJHK”]LAFCO House and Home Bar Soap, $11 on Amazon[/link-button]

21. Come on baby, light my fire (with these scented lovelies).

The holidays are just around the corner, and there’s no better way to get into a festive mood than with a fire crackling on a chilly night. Not exactly a Boy Scout? No need to worry, because these scented fire starters make starting a blaze easy.

Simply place a fire starter beneath the logs in your fireplace or grate and light the wick. In a few moments, you’ll have a merry, crackling fire going with a pleasant pine scent. They’re also perfect for getting charcoal grills started and outdoor firepits. Technically these don’t meet our $50 limit, but they’re close enough, so we’re including them.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Christophe-Pourny-Studio-Fire-Starters/dp/B01JH3DNFE/”]Christophe Pourney Studio Scented Fire Starters, $50.58 on Amazon[/link-button]

22. Just roll with it.

There are few things as maddening as painstakingly wrapping your power cords for travel, only to have them unravel and become a tangled mess in your carry-on.

Brouk and Co. solves this problem brilliantly with their travel cord roll, designed to keep up to eight cords firmly in place. Each roll is made of vegan leather and features interior button closures to secure cords and an outer strap to keep the roll tightly closed.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Brouk-Co-Travel-Cord-Roll/dp/B01M1A0CMB”]Brouk & Co. Travel Cord Roll, from $16 on Amazon[/link-button]

23. Take care of your hair with this must-have brush.

These gorgeous green brushes made Oprah’s list of favorite things back in 2016. This versatile detangling brush can be used on wet or dry hair, and works for almost every hair type. (Read this if you’re not sure what type of hair you have.)

The soft bristles ensure damage-free detangling, and the ball tip at the end of each bristle gives your scalp an invigorating massage with each brush stroke. It’s like a trip to the salon every time you use this brush.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Josh174-Tools-Detangling-Brush/dp/B07CLDGZJ4″]Harry Josh Detangling Hair Brush, $42.99 on Amazon[/link-button]

24. This little crossbody is perfect for on-the-go.

Finally! K.Carroll Accessories has created a functional, stylish, and perfectly sized crossbody bag, just big enough to fit most iPhones and a couple of credit cards. With its gray and black design, this little crossbody can be worn anywhere you need to be hands-free, from your neighborhood block party or the airport to a grocery store run with the kiddos.

Plus, you can feel secure knowing your important credit card information is safe with the bag’s RFID-blocking technology.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/K-Carroll-Secure-Protective-Shimmer/dp/B071DNL3TB”]K.Carroll Crossbody, $39.99 on Amazon[/link-button]

25. Spaghetti night just got so much easier.

Oprah raved about the Bialetti Pasta Pot on her 2016 list, saying, “I took a look at this aluminum cookware with a lock-on lid and built-in strainer and had just one question: Where have you been all my life?” And we have to say, we agree with her.

This pasta pot is a must-have for any home chef who’s been dangerously close to hot steam while straining pasta in a regular colander. The Bialetti comes in a variety of colors, and features stay-cool handles and a locking lid to safely drain pasta every time.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Bialetti-07265-Quart-Strainer-Charcoal/dp/B005PPP7MQ”]Bialetti Oval 5 Quart Pasta Pot with Strainer Lid, $29.99 on Amazon[/link-button]

26. Get a load of those peepers!

Swipe on some red lipstick, throw on these shades, and channel your inner Elizabeth Taylor. Peepers’ sunnies and reading glasses have made the list of Oprah’s Favorite Things for the past four years.

We love that the retro, oversized style is flattering on any face, and is perfect for days when your concealer just isn’t cutting it. While Peepers look like expensive designer sunglasses, the price point makes them affordable in almost any budget.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Peepers-Womens-Bifocal-Sunglasses-Tortoise/dp/B078RQJPCF”]Peepers Center Stage Sunglasses, select styles from $22 on Amazon[/link-button]

27. Keep the tissues handy.

The Letters to Open series has the perfect gift for every occasion. We love this edition because it can be gifted to anyone: a parent, a child, or your bestie. Write a letter for a range of emotions the recipient might be feeling, tuck it into the corresponding envelope in the book, and seal it up.

When your loved one is feeling blue, there’s a letter for that. If they’re celebrating a milestone, there’s a letter for that too. When you can’t be there for life’s big moments, the Letters to Open series is the next best thing to show someone how much you care.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Open-When-Treasure-Forever/dp/1452148724/”]Letters to Open When…, Letters to Open Series, $11.77 on Amazon[/link-button]

28. Stay positive with this sweet gift.

Whether you use this journal to write down your own daily affirmations or simply to jot out a grocery list, you’ll love reading the inspirational quote at the top of each page. They’re designed to inspire, encourage, and uplift, no matter what your notes and doodles entail.

This neat journal features 365 bound, lined pages with a flexible spine for easy opening, and comes in pretty colors, like seafoam, ombre, and marble for a chic addition to any desk.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014QY6VDK”]Eccolo World Traveler A Thought A Day Notepad, $15.99 on Amazon[/link-button]

29. Get a precise measurement in the kitchen every time.

Anyone who’s ever seen a Weight Watchers commercial knows it’s no secret that Oprah is very precise about her food, which is why the Taylor Digital Kitchen Scale made the 2017 favorite things list.

If you’re trying to eat healthy, but you’re not sure what a four-ounce serving of chicken really looks like, then you’ll love the digital scale. The bowl can be removed from the scale for easier weighing, and its compact size means it won’t take up a ton of valuable counter space.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075HNYBMQ”]Taylor Digital Kitchen Scale, $49.99 on Amazon[/link-button]

30. No need to have a green thumb with these indoor herbs.

Technically, this Modern Sprout herb kit comes in a little over our $50 limit, but it’s just so cute and functional, we had to include it. Featuring mint, parsley, and basil, this kitchen grow kit comes with everything you need to grow your own fresh herbs in your windowsill—no garden required.

If your track record of keeping plants alive isn’t great, you’ll love that the containers are self-watering, so herbs will thrive, even if you forget to water them before you go on vacay. Plus, the kit contains reusable containers as well as instructions for replanting so you can enjoy fresh herbs for years to come!

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Herb-Kit-Self-watering-Planters/dp/B016IX1736″]Modern Sprout Kitchen Herb Kit, $54 on Amazon[/link-button]

31. This luxe hand cream is perfect as a gift…or to keep for yourself.

Keep a stash of these four-ounce luxury hand creams on hand for when you need a last-minute, inexpensive gift for Teacher Appreciation Day or your coworker’s birthday.

With a light citrus scent and ultra-moisturizing shea extracts, this hand cream will leave hands silky-soft all day long without feeling greasy. This size is perfect for throwing into a purse or leaving in a desk drawer for easy access.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DD32X6K”]TOCCA Bianca Crema de Mano Luxe, from $20 on Amazon[/link-button]

32. Keep drinks cold as ice, literally.

Oprah loves the Corkcicle Stemless Glass, and we do too. With triple-insulated stainless steel technology, the Corkcicle keeps cold beverages cold for up to nine hours, and hot beverages warm up to three.

A silicone bottom and non-slip sides ensure that you’ll be able to easily keep your glass in your grasp no matter where you’re sipping. In fun color schemes like sparkle pixie dust, the Corkcicle Stemless Glass is the ultimate accessory for gameday tailgates, poolside parties, or just lounging at home.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075RFZBB8″]Corkcicle Stemless Glass, $24.95 on Amazon[/link-button]

33. Stay golden with these cute studs.

Apparently, Oprah didn’t get her ears pierced until she was 51 years old! Now that her ears are pierced, she loves earrings, and this affordable gift set of gold-plated studs was featured in last year’s favorite things gift guide.

These dainty studs come in a velvet pouch for safekeeping and easy storage. With crystal and faux pearl, these feminine earrings are the perfect way to add a little sparkle to an otherwise ho-hum weekday outfit.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0764LLF9F”]Violet & Brooks Sparkling Earring Quint Gift Set, $23.99 on Amazon[/link-button]

34. Two scoops, please.

Not sure what you get your bestie for her upcoming baby shower? Look no further than these oh-so-cute baby bodysuits from Rock Scissor Paper.

Made of super-soft cotton in bright, confection-inspired colors, these little bodysuits come packaged in pint-sized ice cream cartons! Simply add a ribbon on top for a finishing touch—no wrapping required. Pair with a box of diapers for a gift that’s both darling and functional.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0764HK7ZM”]Rock Scissor Paper Pint-Sized Cuties Baby Bodysuit, $25 on Amazon[/link-button]

35. Add something special to your breakfast rotation.

Hands down, the best thing about Amazon is being able to order gourmet food items and have them delivered fresh right to your door.

Featuring 12 hand-griddled English muffins in original and organic spelt, and tied with a jaunty ribbon that’s perfect for gifting (or keeping all to yourself), you can have a Model Bakery English Muffin with your morning chai, just like Oprah.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075TL9LM3″]The Model Bakery English Muffin Set, $35 on Amazon[/link-button]

36. Who’s the fairest of them all?

These little mirrors in bold, punchy colors will have you daydreaming of Havana nights! While you may not have time for a Cuban vacation, a folding mirror is a must-have item to keep stashed in your desk drawer or purse for post-lunch makeup touch-ups or checking to see if you have food in your teeth before a big meeting.

This mirror props upright when needed, but folds flat for easy, on-the-go storage, and the shimmery exterior adds a pop of glam wherever you go.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VWPDZ5D”]Stephanie Johnson Havana Folding Mirror, $28.71 on Amazon[/link-button]

37. Maple syrup is one of the four food groups.

Most people go gaga over pumpkin spice in the fall, but we’ll follow Oprah’s lead and indulge in the goodness that is pure Vermont maple syrup. Shipped directly from a farm in Vermont to your table, Mount Mansfield syrup is the perfect topping for pancakes, waffles, and as the secret ingredient in this maple walnut muffin recipe.

We recommend purchasing one for yourself and one to gift, because maple syrup this yummy should be shared.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Mount-Mansfield-Maple-Products-Old-Fashioned/dp/B075RFBMGM”]Mount Mansfield Organic Pure Vermont Maple Syrup, $35.99 on Amazon[/link-button]

38. Treat your feet with this gift set.

If you don’t have time for weekly spa treatments, treat yourself and your guests to this Footnanny gift set in a heavenly fresh linen scent instead. Featuring a hand soap, shower gel, and body lotion, this unisex set is perfect for adding a little luxury to your guest room.

As an added bonus, Footnanny products are paraben and cruelty-free, so you can feel extra-good about pampering yourself and your guests with this gift set.

[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075TL8MQJ”]Footnanny Gift Set in Fresh Linen, $50 on Amazon[/link-button]

Tags 9/27/18, Commerce, Publishupdate, social

Motherhood

4 Things I Wish I'd Known Before Having A Baby

Post author By Katie Martin
Post date September 18, 2019

While I was pregnant, I found out that women love to recount their birth experiences. It didn’t matter if it was a new mom I ran into at my doctor’s office or the grandmotherly cashier at the grocery store: Everyone had a birth story to share. I’d politely listen and promptly roll my eyes as soon as I got to the car.

“I’m not going to be that person,” I thought smugly to myself.
Fast forward to about five weeks ago, when I went into labor with my son, who incidentally, is the most precious, perfect little gumdrop of a baby.
We’re smitten. But it also turns out that I’m totally, unapologetically that person.
I’ll tell my birth story to anyone who will listen.
How did I become one of them?

Two reasons:
One, I’m really proud of myself. Do you know how hard it is to push something the size of a large football through a hole the size of a baseball?
Two, I want to share my experience with other pregnant women so that they know what to expect during the whole birth process, because I had no idea what to expect.
I really thought I was prepared. I took the baby class; I practiced my breathing exercises; I watched about a billion YouTube videos.

Then I went into labor for real.
And all that preparation went right out the window.
So, if you’re expecting a baby, thinking about having a baby, or just curious about what having a baby is really like, here are the four things I wish someone had told me before it was time to bring my gumdrop into the world.

1. What Contractions Really Feel Like

If I had a nickel for every time someone told me, “Oh, you’ll know when you have a real contraction,” I’d have enough nickels to put in a sock and hit those people.

I wanted to know exactly how contractions felt so I’d know exactly when I was in labor.
It turns out, all those women are right.
I had false contractions pretty regularly during my third trimester. These false contractions, called Braxton Hicks contractions, are usually painless. Your abdomen tightens until it’s hard as a brick, and then the contraction is over in about a minute.

When real contractions began, it felt like the worst menstrual cramping of my life. Just when the pain started to take my breath away, the contraction would end, and I’d have a brief respite until the next one began.
My experience is pretty standard, according to doula Judith Nowlin, CEO and co-founder of the iBirth app.

#ibirth #theibirthapp #topdownloadedpregnancyapp #pregnancy #doulainyourpocket #dailyinspirations #musthave #fivestars #invaluableinfo

A post shared by iBirth™App (@ibirthapp) on May 21, 2014 at 4:31pm PDT

“Women can use so many different words to describe the way contractions feel. Here are a few that are top of mind: pressure, hug, squeeze, radiating warmth, ‘like a migraine in my midsection.’ …Drawing the comparison to a menstrual cramp during a woman’s monthly cycle is the most common way to describe what a contraction feels like.”

2. Nothing can prepare you for the pain of labor…

I chose to give birth naturally because the thought of an epidural needle frightened me more than labor. I had a couple of friends who gave birth naturally. How hard could it be?
Insert the eye roll emoji here.
Some women, like those interviewed in renowned midwife Ina May Gaskin’s book Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, describe childbirth as a pleasurable experience.
That may be true for some women. For me, the pain of childbirth was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
Nowlin explains, “As labor progresses, when the contractions will be doing their most powerful work the dull menstrual cramp sensation can build ten-fold and transform into an all-encompassing full body experience that calls the mother’s complete attention.”

Boy, that is an understatement.
I will keep the details of my own labor between myself, my doctor, and the 42 nurses in the delivery room. However, I will tell you that after my water broke, I begged for an epidural.

After about five minutes of those contractions, I even used the code word that my husband and I agreed would only be used if I seriously couldn’t tolerate the pain.
Ultimately, I didn’t have an epidural because there wasn’t time. Doula Becks Armstrong gets it right when she says, “Nothing can prepare you properly for what it will actually feel like on the day as it can be very different [from your] expectation.”

But Armstrong does recommend some tips and techniques to help prepare for the intensity of labor pain:

Doing yoga to learn both breathing and movement can be amazingly helpful. Even just understanding how to be in an uncomfortable position, looking forward to a spot on the wall, and breathing for 30 seconds can be really beneficial. Learning about mindfulness and how to allow your thoughts to come in and out of your head while you focus your attention on different parts of your body and breathing slowly and deeply is also great training.

3. …or the post-delivery pain.

Again, I will spare you the details of my labor, but I will tell you that I had a pretty standard stage two tear. I was all amped up on adrenaline following the birth, so I thought I felt great. I was up and walking around about 40 minutes after my son was born.
The next morning? Not so much.

Things were very sore. I walked like a cowboy who’d ridden his horse for two weeks straight. Luckily, your nurses will take care of you. They’ll provide cold compresses, pain medication, and a shoulder to (literally) cry on as they help you to the bathroom.
I met one veteran mom in my OB-GYN’s office who told me to stick some pads soaked with witch hazel and aloe in the freezer and use those for pain relief when I got home from the hospital.
I didn’t catch this woman’s name, but she is a genius and a saint. Those homemade compresses felt great. The witch hazel and aloe helped soothe incision pain and sped up the healing process.

A post shared by Gina Cooper (@ginapaige4) on Jun 6, 2017 at 3:07pm PDT

The good news is that postpartum pain shouldn’t last too long. After about a week, I was able to take a short walk around the block without pain. My stitches completely dissolved at week three postpartum.
Recovering from a cesarean section is a little bit different and typically takes much longer than recovering from a vaginal birth.
New mom Dora Smith-Cook, who recently gave birth via C-section, says that “recovering from an unexpected (for me) surgery just added to stress and frustration to life. Taking things slow and allowing myself to heal took a lot of effort, when all I wanted to do was focus completely on my baby.”

After she was home, Smith-Cook focused on healing. “I had to hold off on physical activity, make myself rest for at least one of baby’s naps, and hand off the household chores to my husband.”’

4. How Much Anxiety I’d Have About Caring for an Infant

After delivery, mom and baby get totally pampered. Nurses lavish you with attention, and friends and family drop by with presents and well wishes. And then a mere 48 hours later, you’re shuttled out of the hospital and expected to drive an impossibly small baby home, where you are responsible for keeping him or her alive.
Forever.
It’s pretty anxiety-inducing.

Armstrong tells me I’m not alone:

I think women are bombarded with so much information on what they should and shouldn’t be doing that it can get overwhelming—leading to anxiety. There are a number of things that they can do to help if they are feeling anxious (or finding it difficult to sleep, overwhelmingly tired or teary or their muscles are becoming really tight) … Anxiety often manifests in the inability to breathe deeply (and can lead to panic attacks) so finding even 5 minutes to stop and do some deep breathing can really help with your anxiety. Talking with friends, going for a walk in trees and even watching a funny movie can help with anxiety and [its] effects.

I was afraid to leave my baby alone for five minutes, even with my husband or mother, but Armstrong says, “Having a little time away from your baby can sometimes help, though it needs to be with someone they trust as otherwise it can increase the anxiety.”

I thought I’d just be able to wing it when I went into labor. I mean, who needs to learn how to breathe, am I right?
But Armstrong says, “Understanding what happens in [labor] is important so doing classes at the hospital to really understand what the different interventions are and when they may be used is important, but actually talking about the bad birth stories (all pregnant women hear them) and finding out what they could do to prevent them from happening to them I think is almost more useful. Instead of worrying that something bad will happen they can focus on prevention.”

Tags 50035351, 9/18/2017, hemingway, parenting, Publishupdate

Trending

Stories Of When Small Symptoms Pointed To Life-Changing Diagnoses

Post author By Jamie Wiles
Post date September 18, 2019

According to a survey by Bankrate, one in four Americans avoid going to the doctor due to the high cost of medical care. Sometimes, though, money isn’t the issue; we simply don’t believe that we’re that sick. Why spend a few hundred bucks at the doctor’s office when you’ve only got a slight sniffle?
Unfortunately, we don’t have the necessary training to diagnose our own illnesses, and while some symptoms might seem relatively minor, they can be indicative of fairly serious issues. In a recent Reddit thread, users shared their stories of small problems that had big implications.

We collected the best of these stories, edited them slightly for readability, and share them here as cautionary tales.
If you’re thinking about putting off that next routine checkup, these stories might change your mind.

1. Even when one doctor gives you a clean bill of health, you might need a second opinion.

“When I was deployed to Afghanistan as a medic, a medevac pilot came in because he had a small abnormality on his flight physical electrocardiogram (EKG),” Reddit user Absolute906 wrote. “Apparently, this was something he had been getting waivers for years for.”
In other words, the pilot was familiar with the problem, but as far as he knew, it wasn’t really a problem—or at least, it wasn’t anything that would stop him from working.

“I had just finished an [anatomy and physiology] class and had learned about something called Brugada syndrome, which is basically an arrhythmia that causes sudden cardiac death in the patient. I jokingly mentioned how his EKG reminded me of the abnormality I saw in my textbook, thinking there was no way he actually had it. It had to be [an] artifact from the EKG.”

“The doctor’s eyes widened and he sprinted out of the office,” they continued. “The pilot had it. He was immediately relieved of flight duty, sent home, and had a defibrillator put into his heart before being medically retired.”

“I accidentally diagnosed a man with certain death.”
That’s the pessimistic perspective; looking at it another way, Absolute906 had almost certainly saved the pilot from certain death. Brugada syndrome typically causes sudden death around age 40, and because it’s so rare—it’s thought to affect 5 out of every 10,000 people—it’s often missed or ignored until it’s too late.

2. Bad headaches can certainly indicate a serious issue.

We’ve covered this before: headaches can be a serious symptom when they’re frequent or excessively painful. When you can describe a headache as “the worst I’ve ever had,” it’s certainly time to head to your family physician’s office.
“When I was 12, I had a crazy bad headache that wouldn’t go away,” wrote user muffinlova. “My dad brought me to the doctor, and I didn’t even make it to the exam room before they turned me back and sent us to the hospital.”

“It turns out my headache was from a burst sinus cavity…as in, all the bones around my eye broke, and the liquid leaked back onto my brain, giving me brain meningitis. My eye was bulging out to the point where I looked like an alien, and they told my parents I was not going to make it.”
“Obviously, I pulled through, but I was hospitalized for two weeks and missed two months of school. I was, at the time, only the third known case of this happening, and they had flown in doctors from all over the US and from the UK. Crazy stuff.”

3. Even if you feel perfectly healthy, trust your physician.

Reddit user ThePicklest’s father used to be a powerlifter. The key word there is “used to.” One day, he felt some unusual pain, so he went to the doctor’s office.
“A nurse comes in to the room, looks down at her chart, looks back up and says, ‘Mr. Pickle, you are having a heart attack.’ He got up on the bed and flexed, saying, ‘Does this look like a man that’s having a heart attack to you?'”
“She looked back down at her chart, up again, and says ‘Yes.’”

Cardiac arrest can have a variety of symptoms, including fatigue, sweating, nausea, and cold or clammy skin (we’ve got a more detailed list of symptoms here). Mr. Pickle—and yes, we love saying that—made a classic mistake by assuming that heart attacks can only affect people who appear obviously unhealthy. Heart attacks don’t always look like they do in the movies; more often than not, they’re surprisingly subtle.
Fortunately, he lived through the episode, although he’s since passed away due to unrelated issues. ThePicklest notes that his father quit powerlifting a short time later and became “way more laid back.”
“He started running more than lifting, and learned to appreciate food a lot more. This was his favorite story to tell.”

4. Any sudden numbness certainly deserves medical attention.

“My mother woke up one day and her arm was numb,” user Stylophonics wrote. “After about 45 minutes, it will still pretty numb. She thought she had pinched a nerve in it sleeping, but went to the ER just in case.”
“She had had a stroke, which actually was caused by a blood clot, which moved up from her heart and exited a hole in her heart—a congenital defect she was unaware she had.”

“She ended up fine and the feeling in her arm came back,” Stylophonics continued, “but she was incredibly lucky that it did.”
Strokes are the leading preventable cause of disability, and by one estimate, 33 percent of Americans have had “mini-strokes” without realizing it. Each year, about 800,000 Americans have strokes. We’re really not trying to scare you—we’re just hoping that some cold, hard numbers help to show the reality.
The good news: Early diagnosis and treatment can greatly reduce the risk of long-term effects. The bad news: You’ve got to actually head to the doctor in order to receive said treatment.

5. Occasionally, physicians miss key symptoms for years…or decades.

“I was in a fender bender car accident—I was at fault—and my lower back would not stop aching,” wrote one Reddit user. “I went into the ER, figuring I had sprained the muscles in my back and that I would be prescribed muscle relaxers and maybe some pain pills.”
Of course, that wasn’t the case. The doctors seemed keenly interested in the patient’s bizarre results.

“Six hours, several x-rays, a CT scan, and four doctors later, I found out my spine was broken and—get this—healed. The best theory any of them could come up with was that my spine had broken during birth, and since we never knew, it just healed itself, filling in with cartilage.”
“One of the doctors told me that, had we known my spine broke at birth, I would have likely never walked. I would have been treated as handicapped my whole life. I didn’t find out until I was 20, and I already had a child. My mom cried because she always thought I was just a really colicky baby, when in fact I was probably in a lot of pain.”

6. When your doctor’s exam procedures seem extreme, go along with them.

“I have male pattern baldness and needed a prescription for some hair growth medication from a dermatologist,” wrote Redditor mattigus. “The doctor said he would give me a prescription, but first wanted to do a full skin check-up, which he does for every new patient. I got annoyed by the fact that I had to strip … in front of this guy just for my hair medicine.”

Hey, there’s a reason that the most effective medicines require a prescription—the physician has to check to make sure that you don’t have any other underlying health conditions that will affect the medication. In this case, that underlying condition was extremely serious.
“A few weeks later, I get a call,” he explained. “There was melanoma cancer on my back. They caught it early enough that it hadn’t spread. That checkup saved my life.”

7. Remember, serious symptoms aren’t always painful.

Reddit user so_illogical said that he might have bit the big one (pun intended) if he hadn’t checked up on some weird symptoms after a routine dental procedure.
“I was taking antibiotics for dental work and noticed these weird blisters showing up everywhere,” they wrote. “Weird, but whatever. 48 hours later, they started opening up, leaving holes in my skin—no blood, I just lost most of the skin in that area. Again, weird, but I was working, so whatever.”

“Then they started appearing in my throat so I got to the hospital ASAP and was diagnosed immediately with Steven-Johnson syndrome. Any longer, and the layers of my skin would have literally peeled away from each other and I would have died. That was a sobering day.”
And people wonder why we hate the dentist.

8. When your physician recommends a CT scan, go for it.

“I had gallstones for three years or so before I finally got my gallbladder ripped out last year,” Redditor dude_icus wrote, using some unnecessarily violent verbiage. “At its worst, I was getting an attack maybe once a month or so, so I figured it couldn’t be that bad.”

“I went to the surgeon for my post-op check-up,” he explained. “He told me that my gallbladder was filled with hundreds of stones of varying sizes, and that it was precancerous. Apparently, people don’t typically get gallbladder cancer until they are in their 80s or 90s. It is often very serious because people don’t catch it right away. I’m in my 20s, and like I said, I had been sitting on this problem for three years for I finally toughened up enough to get it checked out.”
The moral of the story: If you notice a new medical problem, don’t wait to head to the doctor—even if you’re fairly confident that you know what’s happening. You’ve got nothing to lose but your health.

9. Some of these stories are pretty heartbreaking.

“My girlfriend is in her final rotations for radiology,” wrote Facerless. “A while back, a young girl came in after winning a basketball championship. She had some shooting shin pain, but wasn’t in a [tremendous amount] of pain, still glowing from the win and talking excitedly about a scholarship offer.”

“When her scan came back, about 60 percent of the marrow in her tibia was one big sarcoma (meaning cancer). Surgery and therapy essentially ended her shot at a full ride.”
Still, it saved her life. While losing a scholarship certainly hurts, we’re guessing that she gladly made the trade.

10. Some rare conditions can prompt a “mock pregnancy.”

“A few years ago, I took a positive pregnancy test,” Doctor_Dalek wrote (she’s not an actual doctor, despite her Whovian username).
“I went to the doctor to confirm, just thinking I would be getting some blood work done and maybe an ultrasound. They did the ultrasound, but couldn’t find a baby in my uterus, so they told me it was ectopic—implanted in a Fallopian tube—and I needed to have surgery to remove the baby.”
“I went into surgery and woke up a few hours later. The first thing I remember is seeing my parents and my fiancé crying. Turns out I was never pregnant; I actually had a tumor the size of my fist on my ovary, and my body was reacting to it like a baby. I had an HCG hormone and everything. I’m 4.5 years in remission.”

Unfortunately, that’s not the only deeply disturbing pregnancy story on this list. Reddit user rockabillynurse is a nurse (hence the username) who was working in postpartum care when a patient came into the hospital in labor with her first child.
“She ended up requiring a C-section. In the operating room, they opened her up and found her belly full of cancerous growths. They immediately paged an oncologist at a neighboring hospital—we were just a women’s and children’s hospital—to come immediately while she was still open. It wound up being terminal. She wouldn’t even have known if she hadn’t needed that C-section.”
“Can you imagine going to the hospital to have your first baby and leaving with a diagnosis of terminal cancer? I think about her all the time.”

11. Any unusual long-term symptom certainly deserves medical attention.

“About four months after I had my son, I started to notice the vision in one of my eyes was really off,” wrote user tranquileyesme. “Blurry, spotty, etc. I didn’t really think about it much, because my eye didn’t hurt and wasn’t itchy, and I had a new baby to take care of.”
“Anyway, it lasted for months. Finally, my mom and sister convinced me I had to go to the eye doctor for it to see what was going on. I took my baby with, because I thought, ‘Hey, quick appointment. Maybe 20-30 minutes, and I’ll probably leave with some eye drops or something.'”
“Honestly, one of the worst days of my life. They put me through test after test. I was there for hours. I ended up calling my mom to come get the baby. They weren’t telling me anything. They scheduled an MRI for the next morning, because by this time, my 11 a.m. appointment had dragged out until 5:30 p.m., and the clinic was closed. We were the only people there. Still no answers. I am freaking out.”

“[I] go back the next day and get the MRI done,” she continued. “They send me to the neurologist this time—no eye doctors today. When I walk in, he has all the results from my tests the day before and the MRI I had just taken a while before. I was told I had multiple sclerosis. It was very scary.”
She says she’s doing well, thanks to a supportive family and a firm commitment to her therapy.
“The first years were the hardest, with [having] a toddler and learning to adjust. Now he’s 10 and more self-sufficient. We decided not to have more children, which was really hard, but overall the best decision for our family.”

So, how do you know whether you really need to see your physician?

When in doubt, go ahead and set up an appointment. No one’s going to accuse you of being a hypochondriac just because you checked out some unusual symptoms, and as these stories demonstrate, you’re better safe than sorry.
“As a physician: listen to your bodies,” user Doctorpayne wrote. “You guys know yourselves much better than we will even after talking to you in an emergency room for 5-10 minutes. If something is going on that is far outside the usual, please come in to the ER. I would much rather see you and tell you you’re fine [rather than] than sick beyond the point of repair.”
With that said, don’t overreact if you’ve experienced any of the symptoms in this article. These stories are notable because they’re the exception; chances are good that you’ll be perfectly fine. Still, it never hurts to stay on top of your health.

Tags 9/18/19, Publishupdate, social

Trending

Delivery Room Workers Explain What Happens When A Baby Clearly Isn't The Father's

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date September 13, 2019

By some estimates, as many as 9 percent of children have misattributed paternity. That means that their biological father isn’t the man who raised them—and the children are never made aware of that (quite crucial) information.

Of course, paternity statistics are difficult to accurately assess, since you can’t easily perform a genuinely random sample. If a mother knows that her baby’s daddy isn’t, ahem, the baby’s daddy, she might reasonably refuse to take part in a survey, skewing the results.

Still, we know that it happens—and sometimes, the would-be father discovers the deception in the delivery room. Over several different threads, Reddit users shared their stories of parentage gone awry. For the most part, the stories come from doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals who saw families react when they realized that their new baby obviously wasn’t the father’s biological child.

Needless to say, some of these stories are fairly…uncomfortable. We sorted out a few of the best, then edited them for grammar and readability. Strap in, because these get pretty rough.

1. Sometimes, you’ve got to make the best out of a bad situation.

Hey, infidelity happens; when you realize that you’ve only got a 50 percent chance of being a father, you might as well see it through before making any irrational decisions.

Reddit user Racheltower’s father is an obstetrician. She tells how a woman recently visited his office with her husband…and her boyfriend.

“They don’t know who the father is, and they can’t find out until the baby is born,” she explained, “so both men want to be there during doctor appointments and the birth.”

That seems like an incredibly awkward situation, but to their credit, both of the potential fathers stepped up to the plate.

“The two men were surprisingly cordial with each other,” she said, “but I’m betting they’ll run a paternity test before the umbilical cord is even cut.”

For what it’s worth, obstetricians can actually determine paternity prior to birth, but the current method involves a sampling procedure that could potentially endanger the fetus.

2. In this story, the parentage isn’t really up for debate.

User Idkjill is a nurse, and she shared one of the more baffling experiences she’s encountered on the job.

“Once, we had a couple come in—just them,” she wrote. “The father was black, and the mother was white. The father was so involved and so ecstatic about becoming a father for the second time with this women.”

“Nothing really seemed off until she started pushing. The baby girl came out completely white, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Usually, black babies come out a little pale, but this was just straight-out white.”

“We had to escort the father out for fear of him becoming violent, but he just sat outside the room, on the ground with his face in his hands. That was one of the saddest moments I think I’ve ever seen.”

The bad news: It gets much, much worse.

“Odd thing afterwards, though, the mom didn’t want the baby and wanted nothing to do with the ‘father,’ probably out of guilt,” she wrote, “so she left the responsibility of this baby and their other 2-year-old boy to this man—who didn’t even question taking on this child.”

While that’s heartbreaking, it’s good to know that those kids have at least one great parent. We hope he was able to move on quickly without her.

3. This story doesn’t reflect well on anyone involved.

Sometimes, these stories are so off-the-wall that we doubt they’re real—but for some reason, that doesn’t make them any less entertaining.

“My cousin was an obstetrics nurse in a central European country,” wrote Reddit user Thunder_bird.

Two pregnant women entered the nurse’s maternity ward, but unfortunately, one of the mothers lost her child during delivery. Naturally, she was grief-stricken; she told the nurse that she’d been trying for a baby for many years.

“She and her husband were overjoyed to carry a baby to term,” Thunder_bird wrote. “The husband was not present in the ward that day, but the lady said he would be devastated.”

The other lady delivered a healthy baby, but she was also upset; she already had four children and was unable to financially support a fifth.

“She did not want to look after yet another baby,” they wrote. “Her husband was very upset she was pregnant again—not that he was blameless, but that’s a different story. He was at work and was not at the hospital that day.”

“My cousin talked to the other nurses. No paperwork had been completed, so the staff put both women in the same room with the one healthy baby and suggested they may want to talk.”

“Forty minutes later, the lady without a child was holding the healthy baby. Both women looked happy and relieved. Few words were spoken, but the paperwork was written up by the staff to reverse the records of the two births … They were of the same ethnic background and had similar features, so the swap probably went undetected.”

Obviously, that story has huge ethical issues, and we doubt it’d be possible in American hospitals. Still, it sort of has a happy ending…right?

4. Sometimes, the baby’s appearance isn’t what indicates their parentage.

Reddit user Fuzzus628’s mother worked at a medical laboratory “many decades ago.”

“One day, another woman who worked in the building was visiting the lab,” he wrote. “During the conversation, she mentioned that she was blood type X, her husband was type Y, and their child was type Z. I don’t remember the specific types.”

Well, it’s good that those aren’t the actual blood types, since we’re pretty sure that type Z makes you a zombie.

“One of the younger lab techs blurted out, ‘That’s impossible,’ and the doctor in the lab just stared daggers at him. Luckily, the visitor either didn’t notice or didn’t care, and moved along shortly after. My mom still remembers it as one of the most awkward moments she’d ever been privy to.”

That person probably should have realized the issue while doing Punnett squares in high school biology class.

5. Then again, sometimes appearance is a dead giveaway.

“My brother was doing his OBGYN rotation,” wrote user inkseep1. “In the first birth he assisted, the woman had her husband leave the room. That seems odd these days, but nevertheless, my brother had the husband step out for the comfort of the patient.

If you’re paying attention at all, you know where this was going. The color of the baby’s skin “wasn’t even close” to the skin tone of the father.

“There were lily-white parents and a very black baby,” inkseep1 wrote. “She wanted my brother to stay to talk to her husband, who is about to come back, and he bails on the whole situation. She was playing the odds all the way to the end.”

User CompanionQuandary has a similar story, but she actually stayed in the room to walk the parents through the uncomfortable moment.

“I am a nurse working in labor and delivery,” she wrote. “Most of the time, if the mom thinks the baby may not belong to her boyfriend or husband, she will just have their friend/sister/mom with them there for the delivery, then have the dad come to the hospital room after seeing the baby.”

“There are no guarantees because babies can change a lot over a couple weeks. Many African American babies have very light skin when they are born, which gets darker over time.”

“I have had a patient’s husband get upset about the baby being too light—they were both black—until his mom smacked him and told him that’s what he looked like when he was born.”

“Recently, I had something interesting happen. A girl comes in, in labor, with her boyfriend, sister, and a friend. The boyfriend doesn’t seem too engaged during the process, but that’s not uncommon. The baby is born and is fine, and the sister sends Dad to get some stuff.”

It’s important to note that all of the people involved only speak Spanish, and while CompanionQuandary speaks some medical Spanish to assist with procedures like deliveries, she’s certainly not fluent.

“As soon as the dad leaves, the sister is like, ‘I have a question for you,’ and then proceeds to say something I can’t understand at all. I try to clarify, but I’m just not getting it, so I offer to go get the translator.”

“She’s like, ‘No, I don’t want it to be official.’ She whips out her phone, and through Google translate asks, ‘How can we get a paternity test in the hospital?’”

“I then have to explain that we really don’t do that, but she can get one at CVS. They tell me that the baby doesn’t look like the mom’s other child with this guy, and it might be someone else’s, but they want to check before telling him. So I just apologize and tell them how they can get a DNA test at CVS, and that they cost about $50.”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked about paternity testing, but I just had no idea how you say it in Spanish.”

Some commenters felt that this mother was being unethical here, but CompanionQuandary warns against rushing to judgment.

“You don’t know anyone else’s life circumstances, so it is best to reserve judgment about the choices they have made or you think they may have made,” she explains. “Not every situation is cut-and-dry. Plenty of biological fathers leave and do not support their children, and women are not all lying villains. Life is very gray—just treat people with respect and compassion.”

That’s good advice to keep in mind during these next few stories.

6. This one will make your blood boil.

“I’m a nurse in a level 4 neonatal ICU,” wrote user RavenousButterfly. “We service the sickest of the sick from our state and the surrounding states, so we see it all.”

A baby came into the ICU with life-threatening sepsis caused by herpes. In most cases, RavenousButterfly wrote, doctors try to treat herpes while the mother is pregnant, which greatly reduces the risk of serious complications.

“In this case, the mom didn’t even know she was a carrier,” they wrote. “So where did it come from? This is the awkward and sickening moment when everyone in the room realized where the herpes came from. Turns out, the father had an affair and contracted the virus from his lover.”

“So, yeah, while this woman’s baby is on the verge of death, she finds out her husband has been cheating on her and his cheating a** is the reason their baby is sick.”

That’s not quite a case of misplaced parentage, but it’s infuriating enough to make the list.

7. Sometimes, biology isn’t the most important part of the story.

“My fiance’s father is almost certainly not his biological dad,” wrote user Bagzilla. “His mom was just a genuinely terrible human being who didn’t even try to hide the fact she was cheating.”

“But his dad loved him from the second he was born, and when the mom decided four years later that she just didn’t want the kid anymore, she just gave him to his dad and rode off.”

We don’t know their situation, but it sounds like the kid was better off without his mother in the picture.

“His dad ended up getting married, and he tried for kids before finding out his sperm count was too low to ever father children,” Bagzilla continues. “They ended up adopting many years later.”

“He sat my fiance down when my fiance was 13 and told him the truth, and said that if my friend wanted to test, they would, but it was up to him. My friend cried, and told his father that he just wanted him to be his dad, and that was the end of that.”

Ultimately, the blood test wouldn’t have proved anything; regardless of biological parentage, the kid certainly grew up with his “real” father.

8. Blood typing is complicated…except when it isn’t.

“I’m a NICU nurse that was floating to the nursery,” user Mimimullen wrote. “A baby was born with a genetic abnormality, but was otherwise doing fine. The pediatrician was in the parents’ room discussing the follow-up type stuff for the baby—appointments with a geneticist, an orthopedic surgeon, etc.”

“At some point in the conversation, the mother asked what the baby’s blood type was, to which the pediatrician responded ‘A+.’ The father of the baby insisted that was impossible, as he and his wife were both O-. This was their third baby.”

“The pediatrician got totally flustered and came back to the nursery to verify the lab results. The baby really was A+. We even went so far as to redraw the baby’s blood and retest it. Nope, A+.”

“There is absolutely no chance that the baby belonged to that man. The husband left the hospital soon afterwards and didn’t show up again until it was time to pick up the mom and baby to bring them home. The mom spent the rest of the hospital stay lying alone, in the dark, mostly hiding under the covers.”

We should note that genetic mutations can actually cause these types of issues; two O- parents could potentially have a child with a different blood type. Those types of genetic mutations are extremely rare, but hopefully, this was one of those cases.

9. If you’re feeling disappointed in the human race, this story should provide some relief.

“My aunt is a nurse in the maternity ward,” wrote Beachy5313. “She had a couple come in; they were both very black. The lady has the baby, and it is [extremely] white, like, totally pale, with no trace of any pigment.”

You probably think that you know where this one is going, but think again.

“They put the baby on her mom and the mom starts yelling about how this isn’t her baby, and how they stole her baby,” Beachy5313 continued. “In all fairness, you can be very confused during and after delivery, so it wasn’t stupidity. [She was] just sobbing and freaking out, and the father is just sitting there and looks very confused because he’s realizing that even if she did cheat, there is no way the baby would be that white. The doctor and nurses are trying to assure her that this is her baby, and that the skin usually darkens later.”

“Come to find out, when the father called his mom, she pointed out that they have a second cousin who is albino, and maybe baby got that gene. Turns out, that’s what happened; the baby was albino.”

That’s pretty much the best-case scenario for that unusual situation. Albinism, by the way, affects people of all races, and while it’s rare, one out of every 17,000 people has some form of albinism. While it’s a lifelong condition with several health implications, it usually doesn’t affect lifespan.

It can, however, make for awkward conversations in the delivery room.

10. Several of the stories came from children with complicated histories.

“Oh boy, I’m the illegitimate baby in this one!” wrote RikaBaF27. “Apparently, my mom and ‘dad’ were on a break, so she had a one-night-stand with a dude she just met at a party. Later, she tells my ‘dad’ that she’s pregnant with his kid, so they get back together so he can support her.”
“I was born pretty dark because my biological dad was very, very Native American. The nurses made comments about me being a dark baby, but I guess ‘dad’ attributed it to the bit of Native in my mom, even though she’s very pale skinned.”
“Anyway, this being Oklahoma, of course my ‘dad’ marries her to do the right thing. I was adopted by him after the wedding at about 10 months old. A month later, my brother was born—definitely my dad’s kid—and not long after that, they had a fight, and she drops the revelation on him that I wasn’t his.”

“No idea why it wasn’t more obvious, or [maybe] was he in denial. Both my ‘brothers’ are redheaded, light eyed, and pale skinned with freckles. I popped out the womb with dark hair, dark skin, dark eyes, and no freckles. Even the nurses were like, ‘What a cute Indian (Native American) baby!’”
“But during the divorce (after he had known the truth for a few years), he fought for me along with my brothers and eventually got custody of all of us. He planned on never telling me, but eventually my mom’s loud-mouthed, complete piece of [trash] sister decided to let me know during an argument.
“That was probably the first time I really saw my dad cry. He’s had periods of not being the best dad, but overall, I ended up getting all my most defining traits from him: his commitment to [making decisions], his maniac work ethic—which was how he showed love—and his strength to keep moving forward despite constantly getting [screwed] by any woman he trusts. I think he’s done looking for love. It makes me sad because he really deserves it. Maybe if my mom had been a better person, he would have had a chance at that.”

11. Unfortunately, some situations aren’t as easy to resolve.

“I know a girl who was pregnant with her boyfriend’s best friend’s baby,” wrote one Reddit user. “He found out there was a possibility about a week before she gave birth. I went up to see her once he was born, and [the baby] looked just like the friend. There was no question. I broke the news to her boyfriend, and he was absolutely devastated.”
“His parents were heartbroken and super pissed. They had bought the girl everything she needed, including a $500 car seat/stroller set. She refused to give anything back. She started up a relationship with the friend immediately after having their child, and they’re still together a decade later. But the kicker for me has always been that the boyfriend and best friend were next-door neighbors.”

“She moved into his house after coming home from the hospital. So her ex-boyfriend and his family had to see them basically every day, raising this child that they had believed to be his for the entire pregnancy. I can’t even imagine.”
In a later comment, the Reddit user clarified that the parents did a DNA test shortly after the baby was born, so there wasn’t any question as to whether the “best friend” was the father.

**12. In some cases, the baby realizes what’s wrong before the doctors.**

So, we cheated. This one doesn’t happen in the delivery room—nor the same decade as the birth.
“I’m a [surgical] nurse,” wrote andybent25. “I had an older male patient who was in for anemia with critically low hemoglobin levels, receiving a few units of blood.”
“I’d been taking care of him the last couple of days, and his daughter was visiting at the time with the patient’s wife and him. We had to do our two-nurse identification process for the blood, where we go over the name, ID numbers, and blood type for confirmation before hanging it on the patient.”
If you’re paying attention to the other stories in this article, you know where this is headed.
“When we were going through it, the daughter stops us and asks us what blood type we’d just said. I didn’t really understand why at the time, but I told her again, and she got really concerned we may be hanging the wrong blood.”

“She said that couldn’t be right, because she was an anatomy professor, and there was no way the crossmatch could be right. She was AB, and she knew her mom had blood type A, so her dad couldn’t possibly be A.”
“I didn’t think much of it and went back to the doctor to ask him for another crossmatch. He was like, ‘Oh, yeah, she might not be his daughter, then.’ We ordered another crossmatch, and sure enough, it came back as an A blood type.”
“She just sat in the corner really quiet [for] the rest of the day with a really sad look on her face. Her mom and dad didn’t really get what was going on, but I know [the mother] had some idea.”

13. When the story involves teenagers, you know it’s going to be rough.

“My (ex) girlfriend delivered a baby while I was in the delivery room, and turns out it wasn’t mine,” wrote Nope_Thats_Not_Me.
“She was 16, I was 15. All along, I was under the impression that this kid was mine, and [it was] time to be an adult. I took all the classes, read the books, worked every night [and] weekend to save whatever money I could as a 15-year-old.”
“I finally get the call she is in labor, so I have somebody rush me to the ER. Luckily for her, it wasn’t a long labor—only about six hours—but there was a complication: The baby came out with the umbilical cord wrapped around its neck. The doctor assured us it was going to be okay, but the nurses were prepping for things to go south.”
“The baby comes out, it’s a light shade of purple, and the nurses immediately take the baby and put on the smallest mask you have ever seen (to help it get oxygen, I guess). I was too panicked to ask a lot of questions. They [say] they need to keep the baby on watch overnight, so I stay in the room with the ex.”
“The next evening, baby is back in the room with us, and all seems well. The ex is asleep, and the same nurse from the night before comes into the room and beckons me out.”

“She states that, at risk of her losing her job, she has to break some harsh news to me; that kid is not mine.”
“She said that while it wasn’t obvious at this stage, over the next few weeks, it would become clear this kid was mixed [race]. Since both of us were white, it was a high probability that it wasn’t mine.”
“Queue a mixed bag of emotions. [I promptly woke] the ex to get a little clarification. Come to find out, she knew the chances, and was just hoping it was mine because it worked better for her.”
“Apparently, her father was old-school racist, and she didn’t want to have to deal with that. I left the hospital to collect my thoughts, and a few weeks later, I was served with child support papers. One DNA test and about six weeks later, I am 0.0 percent that kid’s father.”
“Wherever that nurse is now, I hope your life is amazing. I understand that you were not supposed to get involved in the personal side of things and keep it professional, but you saved me a lot of additional headache.”

14. Sometimes, these stories actually turn out alright.

“A friend of mine has a good one,” wrote notmebutmyroommate—we’re guessing this is about her roommate, but we can’t be sure.
“[The] dad passed out during the delivery, and when he came to, the nurse handed him a baby girl that was several shades darker than him or his wife. The baby was also apparently conceived under such circumstances that he knew he was the father.”
“So this guy was walking around delivery trying to figure out who’s baby he had. He was popping his head into random rooms, asking if anyone had misplaced a baby. This continues until he ran into his great grandma, who proclaimed that baby girl is the spitting image of her late husband.”
“No one has ever told him that his [great] grandpa was black.”

While a baby’s complexion often matches that of one or both of their parents, this isn’t always the case. As The Daily Mail notes, “it is possible, though fairly infrequent, that dark-skinned parents give birth to a pale-skinned child, or vice versa, if their own parents or grandparents [have a different skin color].”
In other words—and we probably don’t have to say this—don’t assume that skin color is a telltale sign of an infant’s parentage.

Tags 9/13/18, Publishupdate, social

Lifestyle

These Are The Shower Habits That You Need To Ditch

Post author By Megan Senseney
Post date September 9, 2019

Showering is—and should be—a daily habit for most of us, and everyone has their own routine. Some people can’t live without washing their hair each day while others chose to skip a day or two, and the differences continue on from there.
However, did you know that some of the most common shower habits might not actually be that healthy? Believe it or not, some of the things you do every day while taking a shower could be affecting you in ways you’ve never thought of.
Check out this list to see if your shower habits are doing you more harm than good.

1. Washing Your Face

Without a doubt, it’s easier and less messy to wash your face when you’re already in the shower. However, despite the convenience, it’s actually not good for your face. The water that you shower in will typically be much hotter than what you’d wash with at the sink, and the high temperature can make your skin dry out very quickly.

Those with skin conditions such as acne or rosacea may also find that washing their face with hot water can cause excessive redness and irritation—it could even burst a blood vessel in your face if you wash too aggressively. Use a gentle cleanser and avoid washing your face in the shower, particularly if you have acne-prone skin or rosacea.

2. Not Washing Your Feet

You might be thinking that your feet make contact with plenty of water while you’re in the shower, so there’s no real reason to actually bend down and give them a proper wash. You’d be wrong, though.
Even if you’re not prone to smelly feet, think about how sweaty your feet can get throughout the day. Not only that, but if you’re known to walk around the house or outdoors without socks or shoes, you never know what you might be picking up along the way.

There’s no excuse for just letting the soap suds run down to your toes anymore—imagine what you’re bringing into your bed every night without giving those feet a good wash.

3. Not Washing or Replacing Your Loofah Regularly

Be honest, how long has the same loofah been hanging in your shower? Months? YEARS? As it turns out, that can be terrible for your health. This video demonstrates why:

Consider treating yourself to a new sponge or loofah the next time you’re out, or create a cute and convenient place to hang the one you have for air drying.

4. Using a Soap Dish

Yes, that built-in soap dish is there forever, but using it for its intended purpose actually isn’t that good of an idea. The majority of people don’t use bars of soap these days but, for those who do, be aware that leaving a bar of soap in one spot could be encouraging bacteria to grow on it—bacteria that you’re then going to spread over your entire body the next time you lather up.
Gross.

If you have reasons for resisting the switch to liquid body wash, try finding a wire soap dish or one that has holes in the bottom so any remaining water can drain away once you’re out of the shower.

5. Using Scented Soaps

Yes, those soaps that make your bathroom smell like a tropical rainforest or a freshly-made vanilla cupcake do transport you to a place of olfactory luxury while sudsing up, but those very fragrances could be doing a number on your skin at the same time.

Anyone who notices their skin seems particularly irritated after a shower should look to their soap as the first culprit. Fragrances can irritate sensitive skin very easily, so it’s best to use something unscented to keep your skin in the best shape. Plus, you won’t have to worry about the scent of your soap mixing with the scent of your perfume to create “questionable” smells.

6. Showering in Hard Water

Some people may not even know how to tell if their water is considered hard, but figuring it out and taking steps to adjust it could save your hair and skin from a lot of damage.

When you're used to soft water in Scotland, and go for your first shower down in Essex with hard water: pic.twitter.com/bxdgFLv5ft

— Sarah Mackie (@lumi_1984) April 8, 2018

Hard water is defined by its high concentration of minerals like magnesium and calcium, which can end up making your skin break out or cause a layer of buildup on your hair. Those with dyed hair may even find that hard water strips the color out of their strands, or at least causes their tint to fade a little quicker.

If you’re unable to add a water softener to your shower, try incorporating a clarifying shampoo into your routine to remove any buildup caused by those pesky minerals.

7. Avoiding Cold Showers

Most people wouldn’t even dream of standing in cold water for more than a second, let alone taking an entire shower in water that’s anything less than steaming hot.
Still, cold water showers can actually be really beneficial for your skin and hair, and you only need 30 seconds under a cold stream to see a difference. A quick blast of cold water is said to improve your immune function, [linkbuilder id=”3967″ text=”increase your metabolism”], and increase the amount of stress you can tolerate.

In addition to speeding up your metabolism, a study done in 2009 suggests that regularly taking a cold shower could even help you lose weight over time.

8. Using Old Razors

For most of us, old razors aren’t something we thoughtfully replace on a regular basis. Instead, they just sit in the shower until we finally cave and get a new one. Razors, whether you’re buying replacement heads or the kind that are entirely disposable, are surprisingly expensive—so why throw one out after a certain period of time if it still seems to work?

Well, just because a razor is shaving off your unwanted hairs doesn’t mean it’s doing so effectively. If you notice that your skin gets red and inflamed after you shave, it’s because the blades are dull and it’s time for a replacement.

9. Leaving Your Razor in the Shower

Remember how leaving your wet bar of soap in your dingy old soap dish makes it a breeding ground for bacteria? The same thing goes for your razor. There are plenty of nooks and crannies in your razor that make perfect spots for bacteria to hide, and the problem will only get worse when the razor is sitting in a warm, wet environment.

If you don’t actually want to store your razor outside of the shower, at least make sure that you hang it up when you’re done using it so it can air dry.

10. Over Exfoliating

Giving your skin a gentle scrub every now and then is a good idea, but doing so every day could actually be causing damage. For anyone who doesn’t know, your skin actually exfoliates itself by renewing every 27 days or so.

Anyone who chooses to exfoliate their skin every day is aggressively going after fresh skin cells, which can make your skin red and irritated as a result. It’s best to let some dead cells build up on the surface of your skin before reaching for your favorite scrub so that, you know, there’s actually something there worth exfoliating.

11. Washing Your Hair Daily

If you notice that your hair always looks damaged and feels dry no matter what you do, it’s likely that your shower water is too hot and you’re washing your hair way too often. Unless you’re someone who likes to work out every single day, you really only need to wash your hair a few times a week at most—and those with curly or extremely coarse hair should try to cut that down to once a week.

For anyone who says that their hair is too oily to go without a daily wash, it could be the daily washing that’s causing that greasy sheen. Washing too often dries out your scalp, which makes it produce more oil to compensate. If you want to start shampooing less often, try using dry shampoo on your roots every other day. One of our favorites is Living Proof Dry Shampoo.

12. Skipping Your Shower Post-Workout

If you like to work out late at night or in the morning before you head off to work, you may decide that you’re too tired or pressed for time to squeeze a shower in. However, working up a sweat can leave bacteria on your skin that will get trapped against you if you choose not to rinse it off afterwards.
https://twitter.com/MichaelaW1111/status/997914381294952453
This could lead to a skin infection or, at the very least, some minor irritation or redness. Not to mention that you’d be going to bed or heading to work a sweaty, stinky mess.

Remember, just because you can’t smell you doesn’t mean others can’t smell you. At very least, take some time to wipe that sweat off with a clean washcloth or hand towel, or, better yet, just change your clothes. Throw some body wipes in your gym bag for a quick refresh on-the-go.

13. Reusing Dirty Towels

The logic seems solid: If you only use your towel when your body’s clean, how could your towel possibly get dirty?
This isn’t exactly the case, though. Yes, it’s alright to use your towel two to three times before you finally give it a wash, but that’s only if you hang it up to air dry after every single use. Just like your loofah, dead skin cells can cling to your towel and, when you don’t let it dry properly, there’s a big risk for bacterial growth.

Using the same towel for a week or more at a time could mean putting yourself at risk for bacterial skin infections—plus, they can eventually start to smell pretty bad.

14. Rubbing Towels on Your Skin and Hair

We can guess with relative confidence that you reach for your towel right after getting done with your shower, but there are a couple of different ways that people towel off.
Some choose to just wrap their towel around themselves and wait to air dry while doing other things—putting in contacts, applying moisturizer, brushing their teeth—while others immediately start to wipe that water away.

As it turns out, rubbing a towel against your skin isn’t the best thing for it, and dermatologists actually recommend that you use a patting motion to dry your skin. For anyone with long hair who likes to wrap their towel around their head like a cocoon, know that doing so could be damaging your locks, as well. Instead, use a microfiber hair turban and a wet brush to protect your hair from damage.

15. Skipping the Moisturizer

It can be pretty tempting to go lounge around after you’ve gotten out of the shower, and it’s easy to get sucked into things like reading a book or watching television before you finally start to get ready. However, you’re doing your skin a disservice if you don’t apply some moisturizer right when you get out of the shower.

Moisturizer is absorbed just a little bit better when your skin is nice and warm, and you’ll also want to replenish any moisture your skin lost from being in that hot water. Also, just like you shouldn’t be rubbing a towel on your body, don’t scour your face when drying it, either.

16. Bathing in a Dirty Tub

Alright, so a bath definitely isn’t the same as a shower, but we have a reminder for those of you out there that take them.
Clean your bathtub every once in a while!
It’s a chore that few like doing, but it’s an important one. If you’re going to be sitting in a tub full of water for any period of time, you want to make sure that there’s nothing mixing in with your soak that you haven’t added intentionally.

This is especially true if you share a bathroom with other people—you might like your roommates, but you don’t really know what they could’ve tracked into the tub.

Tags 12/9/16, 50006579, Commerce, HD, hemingway, Publishupdate

Lifestyle Wellbeing

Don't Butter Your Burns (And 7 Other Medical Misconceptions)

Post author By Mark Kosin
Post date September 1, 2019

In the practice of bloodletting, doctors drained patients’ blood in hopes that it would help them stave off illness. It was a dubious practice that was used to treat everyone from medieval peasants to George Washington, and suffice it to say, usually did little to help affected patients.
Thankfully, bloodletting has gone out of style, and most doctors and citizens are as well-informed about proper medical care as they’ve been at any point in history.
However, a number of misconceptions about what to do in medical emergencies or first aid situations still swirl around in the American consciousness. Put grease on a burn? Peroxide on an open cut? If someone has a seizure, should you be reaching for your wallet?
HealthyWay spoke to some experts who specialize in training professionals and average citizens in first aid and emergency medical services (EMS). They offered up some advice on what to do, what not to do, and a few hard and fast rules about facing medical emergencies.

1. Butter is for bread. Toothpaste is for teeth. Neither are for burns.

Robb Rehberg is the director of first aid training and program development at the National Safety Council (NSC), an organization that eliminates preventable death through education and advocacy. He meets with a wide range of Americans to train them about proper emergency medical procedures and is very familiar with the inaccurate treatments that are still rattling around out there.

Rehberg asserts that one of the most common misconceptions he’s encountered involve treatment of burns. Over time, some folks have believed that a bit of butter can help sooth a burn, but that’s just not true. Explains Rehberg on treating burned skin with some Land O’ Lakes: “We’re not trying to cook people. Not quite sure where butter came from, but I’ve heard it before. We certainly don’t want to put butter on a burn.”
The truth is this: Not only is butter not an effective burn treatment, but it can actually make the situation worse.
The first thing that must happen after a burn is cooling of the skin, but Rehberg says butter—or other home treatments—will not be helpful: “The skin has been burned and it needs to cool itself. Butter or any ointment is clogging up pores where heat dissipation occurs. We are hindering the body’s ability to cool itself.”
[pullquote align=”center”]“Most minor burns will heal on their own and can [be] treated by running cool water over them.”
—Andrew Berger[/pullquote]
First aid expert Andrew Berger, who is the owner and training site coordinator at Healthline First Aid, also warns against butter or other believed fixes for a burn, saying that it “can actually make the burn worse by slowing the release of heat from the skin.” Indeed, if butter is a no-go, why do some think that burns need to be treated like a piece of toast?
Berger calls butter an “old folk remedy.” An Australian medical report makes mention of an 18th century document from the Prussian Surgeon General that reads more like a recipe than an emergency procedure, saying that burns should be “painted over with grease or butter, or powdered with flour, starch or powdered charcoal to alleviate the pain.”
Rehberg also says that toothpaste is a common household burn remedy, mostly because it usually feels cool to the skin, but that the “cooling” is just a chemical reaction that is actually irritating the skin, the last thing you want to do to a sensitive burn area.
The best burn fix? A simple running of cool water for about 20 minutes. Berger explains: “Keeping in mind that there are several types of burns and several degrees of burns. Most minor burns will heal on their own and can [be] treated by running cool water over them.”

According to Rehberg, you could also treat the affected area with a burn-specific ointment or aloe vera gel. These substances will actually help cool the burn rather than gunk it up like a stack of pancakes at IHOP.

2. If you’re cleaning a wound, keep the peroxide away.

Another common misconception Rehberg hears from students he teaches at the NSC is the use of peroxide on a wound.

“Every medicine cabinet has peroxide. It’s not the best thing for an open wound,” states Rehberg about the all-too-familiar brown bottle of searing pain. While it may help sterilize a cut, the age-old favorite of teachers and moms could do plenty of damage as well. “You might be killing bacteria, but you’re also killing healthy skin cells,” explains Rehberg. Such an act could hamper the wound’s ability to heal or leave a more noticeable scar.
The best remedy for cuts and wounds of a manageable size is a simple one: soap and water. Berger claims you don’t need to get too complicated when treating a wound: “People always think you need ointments … for cuts and scrapes. Just wash it with antibacterial soap, it’s the best thing to clean a wound.” A deliberate wash in the sink followed by an appropriately-sized bandage will be more than enough medical attention to allow your body to do what it does best: heal itself.

This is all assuming, of course, that the cut is of a manageable size and won’t need stitches. In every true medical emergency, you should dial 911 for assistance. Or, if your injury isn’t quite so perilous, call your primary care physician for tips on how to handle a less severe medical situation

3. Don’t tip your head back for a bloody nose.

Nosebleeds are one of the most common minor injuries. Sometimes, they are a side effect of another injury, and other times, they just spontaneously show up. Because they happen frequently, nearly everyone seems to know the treatment. However, as you will see in the video below, the traditional nosebleed remedy is also one of the most common medical misconceptions.

4. The truth about frostbite and hot water.

There’s a belief that if any skin or limbs fall victim to frostbite, the affected area should be heated up as quickly as possible with hot water. However, this isn’t exactly what medical professionals recommend.
[pullquote align=”center”]“You may actually be causing more damage.”
—Robb Rehberg[/pullquote]
First of all, cold limbs don’t necessarily mean frostbite. Berger reveals that the term “is often used too broadly for skin exposed to cold. The first stage of frostbite is frostnip, which doesn’t cause permanent skin damage and should not be treated with hot water.”
There’s no need to get the tea kettle whistling for a case of frostnip. Instead, says Berger, “it can be treated by gently rewarming the area with mild to warm water.”

When it comes to true frostbite, Rehberg says there is no better treatment than contacting the professionals: “If we’re in a situation where we have frostbite and we are close to medical help, we just want to make sure we activate the EMS system.” In certain frostbite cases, a form of reheating the body will include the use of very warm water—“about 110 degrees”—but that this practice is reserved for those with proper training to avoid further injury.
One of the dangers of treating frostbite on your own in the wild is the risk of the affected parts refreezing if subjected to the elements again: “You may actually be causing more damage,” warns Rehberg. For emergencies, there is a practice called wet-rapid rewarming that Rehberg states is “reserved for controlled environments like in a medical facility or advanced courses like wilderness first aid.”

5. Don’t heat up that sprained ankle.

Sprains and small fractures can run the gamut from inconvenience to serious hinderance. How they are treated can have a major influence on how quickly they heal.

One misconception is to add heat to a sprained area. That’s the wrong move, according to Rehberg, who gives an easy rhyme for sprain treatment: “Ice is nice, hot is not.”
Also, patients should follow the proper protocol when it comes to icing: just about 10 minutes at a time. Rehberg advises that people with a sprain should “not ice continuously,” adding that folks should avoid the inclination to “go big or go home.” When it comes to ice on a sprain, more is not always better.

RICE—rest, ice, compression, elevation—is usually the go-to guideline for muscle soreness and injury. However, the doctor that coined RICE, Gabe Mirkin, actually rescinded this acronym, writing that after years of recommendation by coaches, “now it appears that both Ice and complete Rest may delay healing, instead of helping.”
Mirkin, as well as a few studies, realized that while ice does keep inflammation down and numbs a bit of the pain, it also prevents that inflammation from fulfilling its original intent: healing. Long-term icing can be detrimental to the healing process by limiting the amount of muscle repairing cells that can access the site of the injury. Mirkin recommends something similar to Rehberg’s suggestion: It’s okay to ice an injury for 10 minutes once or twice with a waiting period between applications. However, icing should be avoided after this. Mirkin points out that there’s no benefit to applying ice six hours after the injury occurs.

6. If you witness someone faint or have a seizure, don’t worry about their tongue.

There’s an old belief that someone could “swallow their tongue” while passed out. Even Rehberg is familiar with this unique concern, saying he remembers being a kid and hearing rumors of someone passing away because they swallowed their tongue.

“That’s not what happens” asserts Rehberg, “what happens is that the soft tissue in our airway can close off if we’re not responsive.” In the event of an unresponsive individual, Rehberg says the first thing he teaches his students is “how to open the airway very easily by tilting their head and lifting their chin.” By positioning the head in this way, you can prevent the threat of suffocation.
Similarly, it was a long-held belief that someone experiencing a seizure could bite their tongue off, so people were advised to give those in a seizure state a wooden spoon or even a wallet to bite down on.

You might see where this is going: Rehberg advice is to “never put anything in the mouth of someone having a seizure.” The best protocol is to let the seizure pass, then assist with any injuries—putting your hands near the mouth of a seizure victim could be harmful to them, or as Berger says, “it’s a really good way to lose a finger.”

7. Don’t throw up poison until you’ve talked to the pros.

The swallowing of poison is an absolute emergency situation. And though many think that inducing vomiting will expunge the poison from the body, there are certain situations where that might not be the right move.

Bergen states: “Inducing vomiting is not recommended for certain substances which can cause more damage on the way back up. The most important steps to take are call 911 and contact the Poison Control Center.”
Rehberg points out that poison control—which is a hotline that can be reached 24/7 at 1-800-222-1222—may advise you to take other action depending on what kind of substance was swallowed. In the case of acidic toxins, explains Rehberg, “it may better to ingest something like milk to absorb some of it,” though he mentions that isn’t the only remedy that Poison Control recommends. Contacting Poison Control is critical in these situations because every substance could involve dramatically different symptoms and treatments.

8. “Grandpa’s Cough Medicine” has little application in emergency situations.

Over the course of human history, there have been a number of remedies or medical treatments that include drinking beverages that today are only found behind the bar.
A Johnson’s First Aid Manual from 1909 suggests that a sip of brandy could help “encourage circulation” in the case of a victim who has recently recovered from artificial respiration. It was long believed that such substances were stimulants, and, as a result, were recommended for a variety of medical professionals for use in certain situations.

Such usage has declined significantly over time.
Berger says he’s heard of stories of a little brandy to ease various pains, but in general it’s “not something I could recommend to anyone.” He says many people have the image of a dashing doctor taking a bottle of hooch from the bar to clean a wound, but dismisses such things as “very Hollywood.”

The biggest takeaway is that when it comes to any medical situation, you should first and foremost defer to the professionals.

That means, say, your primary care doctor or poison control—and 911 in emergency situations.
It is also extremely useful to get trained by professionals: CPR and first aid training classes are available in big cities and small towns from coast to coast. Large organizations like the NSC will often offer classes; you can find classes at local offices like Healthline First Aid, too. Berger stresses that while knowing what do with burns and sprains is beneficial, “learning proper CPR and how to use an AED [automated external defibrillator] is even more important, considering most cardiac emergencies happen at home.”

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Wellbeing

Symptoms Of Vitamin D Deficiency That Most People Ignore

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date September 1, 2019

What does vitamin D deficiency look like? In its most extreme form, prolonged and severe vitamin D deficiency during childhood, known as rickets, can delay growth and lead to visible skeletal deformities.
Today, rickets is relatively rare, but that doesn’t mean that vitamin D deficiency is—more than 40 percent of Americans are deficient. The potential health consequences of this epidemic are serious, as vitamin D deficiency is linked to osteoporosis, heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, high blood pressure, and poor pregnancy outcomes.

D-ficient? Odds are you don’t know.

According to the Vitamin D Council, symptoms of vitamin D deficiency can be subtle—or even nonexistent—in the early stages. You might experience some tiredness and general aches and pains, but these symptoms are easy to dismiss because there are many things that cause them.
Aches and pains? You can easily chalk them up to the aftereffects of your last workout—or simply not being 20 anymore. Tiredness? That could be because you aren’t getting enough quality sleep.

Lindsay Obermeyer, MS, RDN, CLT, a Portland, Oregon–based registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Your Time Nutrition, said she personally experienced chronic joint pain, had labs done, and discovered that her vitamin D was 29 ng/dL (nanograms per deciliter), which is considered deficient by some standards. She started taking a daily dose of vitamin D3, and her joint pain was gone within a week.
[pullquote align=”center”]I had two different clients with the same symptoms, had them tested for vitamin D, both were less than 30, both had relief from joint pain after supplementing. It’s a very common problem up here in the Northwest.[/pullquote]
It can sometimes be hard to tell when you’re in need of more vitamin D. Here are 15 signs that will help you know if you’re vitamin D deficient.

1. Muscle Weakness

You should be aware that muscle weakness can present as generalized body fatigue. If you’re experiencing a more general fatigue around your body, muscle weakness issues in specific areas may stay hidden and go unnoticed for months.

As vitamin D deficiency worsens, symptoms become stronger and harder to ignore. General aches and pains may become muscle and bone (musculoskeletal) pain, and tiredness may progress to muscle weakness. Still, it’s easy to search for answers in the wrong direction.

2. Bone Pain

In a study of 150 patients referred to a clinic in Minnesota for persistent, general musculoskeletal pain, 93 percent had vitamin D levels equal to or below 20 ng/mL, a level considered deficient by most experts.
As an adult, your bones are no longer growing, but new bone tissue constantly replaces the old. Severe vitamin D deficiency interferes with that replacement, leading to the softening of bones known as osteomalacia (or “adult rickets”), which causes pain and increases of osteoporosis.

Shunning the sun and avoiding dairy can leave you with a vitamin D deficiency that might lead to bone pain. This can be difficult to distinguish from muscle or joint pain, but it generally manifests itself as a deep, aching pain that isn’t isolated in an exact area.

My bones had been so hurty. So much pain and stiffness and I was miserable.

Remembered to take vitamin d three days ago and suddenly the bone pain has eased. My hands work again! My knees feel only like normal arthritis pain! It's like magic.

— Veronica Foale (@VeronicaFoale) March 25, 2018

There are some indicators that can help differentiate bone pain from muscle pain. Muscle pain is usually centralized to one point and is exaggerated by movement or physical activity. Bone pain, on the other hand, is broader and deeper.

3. Constant Respiratory Problems

Studies show that vitamin D may help defend against respiratory illness, and this is especially true in children. If your child has severe asthma, you may want to increase their vitamin D intake.
Constant respiratory problems may present in different ways. Someone suffering from these issues may feel easily winded after a task they’d normally be fine handling. Or it may be as seemingly obvious as struggling to catch a breath for an extended period.

Breathing issues need to be addressed by a medical professional quickly because they can lead to other issues. Often, a person suffering constant respiratory problems will also suffer from an anxiety disorder, like panic attacks. The inability to take a full breath may quickly spiral into a panic that your life is in immediate danger.

4. Sweaty Head

Years ago, doctors used to ask new mothers if their newborns’ heads were sweating more than normal. This can be a very early sign that a baby is vitamin D deficient. If you’re breastfeeding, it may be helpful to consume more foods that are rich in vitamin D or include some vitamin D drops in your regimen to make sure your baby is getting a sufficient amount.
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Foods that contain higher concentrations of vitamin D include fatty fish (such as tuna), orange juice, soy milk, and some cereals. You’ll also want to stock up on dairy products, such as cheese, that are enriched with vitamin D.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that head sweating from a lack of vitamin D only affects infants. If you find sweat pouring from your forehead in situations that wouldn’t normally cause you to perspire, then you may want to talk to a healthcare professional.

5. Depression

As it turns out, the sun is vital to keeping a smile on your face. Vitamin D is often referred to as the sunshine vitamin because it is activated in your skin by sunlight. If you live in a place that sees less sunlight than global averages, the lack of light could literally kill your mood.
https://twitter.com/HazelmuttART/status/992413305946943488
According to the Vitamin D Council, this essential nutrient helps your brain’s neurotransmitters produce serotonin, which affects our feelings of happiness. Studies have linked low levels of vitamin D with episodes of depression.
In Alaska and other locales with significantly less sunlight for months out of the year, depression due to lack of sun exposure is treated as a very serious medical issue. Residents are encouraged to purchase light boxes—devices that emit therapeutic light that will help them maintain vitamin D levels during dark winter months.

It’s important that light therapy be used to deal with depression caused by vitamin D deficiencies because the two can become seriously intertwined.
There are many different types of light boxes that can improve your health. The Sperti Vitamin D Light Box is “the only recognized ultraviolet light box for vitamin D production,” and the NatureBright SunTouch Plus Light and Ion Therapy Lamp, a bestseller on Amazon, “balances your [linkbuilder id=”6517″ text=”body clock”], leaving you feeling rested, refreshed, and nourished all over.” Each type has the potential to improve your health, but if you’re in need of light therapy, choose one based on what you hope to get out of it.

6. Infertility

Research suggests that vitamin D deficiency may play a role in the development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a leading cause of female infertility. One common symptom of PCOS is acanthosis nigricans, which results in dark, velvety skin patches.

“In the fertility world in the Northwest we like to get a baseline on all of our patients and we see many who are deficient,” said Seattle-area registered dietitian nutritionist Judy Simon MS, RDN, CD, CHES, of Mind Body Nutrition.
“One young woman in her early twenties had visible acanthosis nigricans around her neck and on her chest. She had PCOS and pre-diabetes. After six weeks of Vitamin D supplementation the acanthosis was practically gone and she was feeling much less fatigued.”

7. Chronic Infections

Vitamin D is known to have an effect on over 2,000 genes in the [linkbuilder id=”6518″ text=”human body”], so it’s no surprise that the strength of your body’s immune system is also tied to how much vitamin D you are taking in.
When there’s a healthy amount of vitamin D being processed by your body, your immune system is resilient and able to fight off infections and disease. However, a lack of vitamin D can be devastating to your overall health and leave you vulnerable to constant attacks and health problems or scares.

Vitamin D supplements are sold everywhere, but make sure your doctor helps you select the best option for you based on your health needs.

8. Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular diseases are heart conditions that may include damaged blood vessels or frequent blood clotting, among other issues. Articles published by the National Institutes of Health have shown that deficiencies in vitamin D can lead to congestive heart failure.
Some cardiovascular disease-related symptoms that are easier to spot are dizziness, heavy bloating (particularly in the legs), respiratory issues, and chest pain. If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, you should contact your doctor immediately.

If you want to make sure you’re on the right path, home tests are available to check for a lack of vitamin D. These tests will screen your blood and possibly show you if you need to make some changes in your supplementation routine.

9. Psoriasis

Psoriasis may present itself as a scaly rash on your scalp or other parts of your body. Often it can be agitated by stress (unfortunately, finding out you have psoriasis tends to cause stress too). Although psoriasis is not always connected to a lack of vitamin D, the vitamin is sometimes used during treatment. The Mayo Clinic claims that if you have a lack of vitamin D, it will be harder for your body to defend itself against psoriasis.
There is no cure for psoriasis, but it is controllable with treatment. Besides reducing stress and getting your vitamin D, there are other methods for dealing with troubles caused by psoriasis.

For example, specially medicated shampoos can be prescribed to keep your scaly rashes at bay. Depending on the severity of your condition, there are also ointments, oils, and other treatments that could help reduce your psoriasis-related discomfort.

10. Chronic Pain

If you experience chronic, widespread pain throughout your body, it could be due in part to a lack of vitamin D. This connection was only recently discovered. In 2010, researchers began looking into the link between chronic pain and a lack of vitamin D.
Studies have now shown that low vitamin D levels increase a person’s chances of having chronic pain; supplements can sometimes help relieve it. So, if you’re in pain, talk to your physician about the best way to boost your vitamin D intake.

If you want to try a preliminary test for determining if what you’re experiencing is the same thing as chronic pain, doctors have a recommendation: Press against the area of your chest known as your breastbone (also called your sternum). If you feel a sharp pain when you press down on that area, it’s likely that you’re experiencing chronic pain related to vitamin D deficiency.

11. Tiredness

Vitamin D is one of the vitamins your body needs to create energy, and without it, you can end up feeling tired most of the day. This will make it hard for you to get around or even get to work. Without much energy, you may start changing your daily behavior in negative ways, which in turn may impair your overall health.

Continued tiredness can contribute to other symptoms caused by low amounts of vitamin D in the body. If you’re tired, you’re less likely to exercise or go outside. Avoiding activity or sunshine can amplify the effects of a vitamin D deficiency. If you fall into a routine that involves avoiding strenuous activity or sunlight, you’re much more susceptible to issues like depression or mood swings.
Listen to what your body is telling you. Something might be seriously off if you notice that you just don’t have the drive to stay active anymore. You should consult your doctor if you have constant feelings of tiredness that last longer than a few days.

12. Hypertension

Harvard University conducted review of health studies across numerous cohorts that associated increased risk of multiple health outcomes including cardiovascular disease and hypertension (abnormally high blood pressure) with vitamin D deficiency.
Another study, published in Circulation in 2015, considered the viability of vitamin D supplementation as a treatment for patients with hypertension and prehypertension.

It’s important to note that high blood pressure can significantly increase your risks for serious health issues such as heart attacks and strokes.
But don’t panic if you think or know you’re suffering from hypertension. It’s a common health issue that affects more than 3 million people in the U.S. every year. It can be identified without any blood or medical tests but will require an official diagnosis from your doctor, at which point appropriate treatment can be prescribed.
If you do suffer from anxiety, you may want to consider purchasing vitamin D supplements and adding them to your daily routine for that reason. Vitamin D has been proven to have positive effects similar to antidepressants and may reduce your overall blood pressure.

13. Crankiness

As we mentioned in relation to depression, vitamin D affects the levels of serotonin in your brain, which is what affects your mood. If you’re feeling cranky, it might be because you’re not producing enough serotonin. Vitamin D will help your moods stay balanced by ensuring your brain is working with the materials it needs to stay energized and focused.

If you notice mood swings that seem out of the ordinary, visit your doctor for a simple blood test. They will be able to identify what’s going on, and if a lack of vitamin D is the issue, they’ll help you make a plan to get better.
The solution may be as simple as getting out in sunlight more often or eating foods that are rich in vitamin D. For people who can’t handle too much direct exposure to the sun, supplements are readily available, so consider reaching for some before going off on anyone or getting too frustrated with yourself!

14. Chronic Kidney Disease

Kidneys help remove waste from your blood. When they’re not functioning correctly, your bloodstream can fill up with waste, seriously damaging your health. Doctors have recently connected kidney health to cardiovascular disease. They’ve also discovered how important vitamin D can be to your kidneys’ health.

As you get older your kidneys are not as efficient at processing vitamin D. Be sure to eat some vitamin D–rich foods or take a supplement. If you do take a supplement, also consider taking vitamin K2 to activate the right proteins in the digestion process. Ensuring that your kidneys are working properly to process vitamin D is just as important as getting your proper nutrients.

15. Reduced Endurance

If you’re an athlete and you’re seeing your endurance decrease for no apparent reason, it might be because you have low vitamin D levels. Experts in athletic circles now realize that vitamin D is crucial to energy levels, especially when it comes to endurance. Even active people who get outside every day can experience these issues, despite getting more than the recommended amount of sunlight per day (20 to 30 minutes).

Fortunately, if vitamin D deficiency is causing your issues, your endurance should return to normal when you get your vitamin D levels back to normal. Remember: You don’t always need to opt for pills to get your proper dose of vitamin D. Try a supplement in powder or liquid form to mix with your smoothies or protein shakes.

A Side Effect of Modern Life?

For many of us, work means days spent at a desk and leisure means binge-watching the latest Netflix series or catching up on social media. That’s a lot of indoor time, but even when we are outdoors we’re likely to double down on sun protection to prevent premature aging and skin cancer.

Dairy products are fortified with vitamin D, but milk sales are in decline, as more people avoid dairy due to restrictive diets, milk allergies, or lactose intolerance.

What’s your risk?

Although 4 in 10 Americans may be deficient in vitamin D, some people have a higher risk. As mentioned, if you spend a lot of time indoors and protect your skin with clothing or sunscreen when you are outdoors (as you should), your risk increases. Living in northern climates—where winters are longer, colder and darker—amplifies this risk. But a few other risk factors might surprise you:

1. Dark skin. The darker your skin, the more sun it takes to make vitamin D.

2. Body mass index (BMI) over 30. Vitamin D can become “sequestered” in excess body fat instead of making its way to the bloodstream.

3. Past gastric bypass surgery.

Why It Matters

Linke says that bringing vitamin D levels back to the normal range has been a “game changer” for many of her clients who have autoimmune conditions. She cites another client—a woman in her late twenties—whose vitamin D was a 4.

Her rheumatoid arthritis was very bad, she couldn’t walk down stairs unassisted, couldn’t walk without holding on to walls, couldn’t fit into her shoes so she wore flip flops.

Within 10 days of starting vitamin D, along with magnesium (magnesium deficiency can interfere with vitamin D metabolism) and dietary changes, she was able to wear regular shoes and walk without assistance.
As with all health-related issues, talk with your doctor or another medical professional if you are seeing any signs or symptoms that concern you. Deficiency is simple to test for and simple to treat. If in doubt, talk to your healthcare provider.

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