How much care are you taking of yourself?

‘Self-care’ has become synonymous with meditation and walks in nature, but a recent poll by a leading charity has found that even the basics are not being covered. The headline was – ‘Women ‘Risking Their Health by Putting Family First’:

The Daily Mail reported ‘growing numbers delay visiting a GP for health problems. Women will take 15 days to seek professional advice for a health complaint’. 

Women sort out their children’s concerns within five days and even their pets within seven.  Most of us gals think of men as the ones who ignore any health issues, but it seems women are just as bad probably due to busy-ness.

A poll was conducted by Ovarian Cancer Action and they found in this study that there is a worrying lack of awareness around ovarian cancer, which can affect around seven thousand women every year.  Most people don’t know the symptoms to look out for, and while they act on symptoms of breast cancer if they find a lump for example, most women wouldn’t realise that needing to go the loo frequently, extreme fatigue, bloating and stomach pain can be signs of ovarian cancer.

It can be difficult to walk a fine line between being aware of what our bodies are trying to tell us, and simply being exhausted and overwhelmed by the families’ needs. Many women are juggling work commitments, their children and their elderly parents, so if they feel ridiculously tired, or have a few tummy pains it would be understandable that they might just put it down to the stressful lifestyle.

So, what’s the answer?

Definitely don’t rely on Doctor Google, you’ll be worrying yourself into an early grave if you type any innocuous symptoms into the search engine, far better to have some kind of regular check-up, just as you would for your car… MOT tests are compulsory and while it’s really annoying to have to cough up and take the car to the garage every year, we usually find we either luck out and everything’s fine and it’s a pass, or there’s a minor (hopefully) issue that can be rectified.

The same is true with our health, we should be able to factor in time to do the stuff we need to do, take time out, exercise, walk in nature (or whatever it is for you that lifts your spirits), eat good food, see an integrated health practitioner that you trust whether that be a homeopath, kinesiologist, nutritionist, and at least once a year get some health checks done. If you don’t want to darken the door of the GP, then opt for a simple ‘at home’ service such as Medichecks. I was hugely impressed by their service, they have a wide range of tests, that are easy to use, no jargon and the results are clearly laid out, its state of the art laboratory blood testing but it’s available to everyone.

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It’s not just Ovarian Cancer that can be a hidden killer, a recent episode of ‘Trust Me I’m A Doctor’ highlighted that the diagnosis and treatment of underactive Thyroid for example, can be quite prescriptive in the UK and treatment options are limited.

Thyroid UK and Medichecks announced a partnership recently whereby Medichecks is one of the approved providers of tests for the Thyroid UK community. They test all the thyroid hormones plus thyroid antibodies.

I can absolutely see the benefit of these at home tests for peace of mind, I tried the Well Woman test and was really impressed, very pleased to discover that my Vitamin D levels were good! My hubby also did a test and is now also feeling relieved that all is well.

So, despite looking after your family, et al, take good care of yourself too, put a ‘self-care’ plan in place, make sure all your own needs are met first, then get tests done, because then you can chill out ….and enjoy the time you give yourself to ‘recharge your batteries’. I’m off for a walk, sadly can’t get to the sea this weekend…but soon!

See the wide range of tests available at www.medichecks.com