Pain

Ouch. It hurts. There were times when I wondered why people put themselves through physical pain for the sake of looks. Now, I am guilty as charged.

I have been going to my aunt for acupuncture treatments for the past month or so. Every weekend I spend around twenty minutes looking like a hedgehog, with needles all over my face.

She had claimed that she knew of a treatment used for improving complexion and removing acne scars. She had a couple of successes with patients and would like to continue trying out the treatment. I gamely volunteered to be the guinea pig in her clinical trials.

Whoever said that acupuncture doesn't hurt, lied. It hurts. Especially on the face where flesh is scarce. Still I go to her almost every week to get myself poked at. It does work. So much so that my brother is doing it too. We are skeptical about the degree of her claims, but the improvement is undeniable.

Then, apparently, getting poked at is not enough for me. I now have braces fixed. I have been wanting to do it for a while and finally got down to it. I thought the worst was over when the dentist extracted four good, healthy teeth. But no, that was just the beginning.

Today I got the actual brackets and wire in. It was fine when it first went in. However, it got worse as the day went by. By dinner time, I couldn't eat. Minor biting actions were enough to send a dull but unmistakable pain through me.

Can someone please tell me why I am spending good money to put myself in pain? I cannot fathom it. Is it for the sake of looks? But I never thought I was bad-looking to begin with. Is there a certain notion of beauty and perfection in my head, that I feel I am not up to?

Heat-Injury

Yesterday I experienced for the first time clammy skin.

Throughout the courses that I went through, during NS, as a teacher, or whenever, I have heard about the clammy skin but can never quite understand it, until yesterday.

Yesterday was one of a series of hot days. I believe the temperature was well over 30 degrees. It was one of the weekly sessions of football. We started the day with eleven man, just enough to form one team without substitution. It was going to be a difficult day and we all knew it.

I had expected the sun to make things difficult but I didn't know it was going to be that difficult. By half-time I was gasping for air, breaking out in cold sweat and in a daze. I knew something was not right but wasn't sure what.

After a while, it got better. And I began to realise what it might be. I was severely dehydrated and also felt a bit nauseous. It dawned on me that these were familiar symptoms. Symptoms that I had heard of more than once; I could be getting heat-related injury. Not wanting to risk it, I sat out the beginning of the second half.

I'm glad that I did. Even though it might be a misdiagnosis. It was better safe than sorry. Heat-injury is potentially fatal. So I would like to share some information here about it:

Some common symptoms:
Cold sweat
Dizziness
Nausea
Clammy skin

Basic first-aid:
Hydration
Shade
Removal of clothing
Cooling using fan or water.

Prevention:
Adequate hydration
Adequate rest
Not engaging in outdoor activities during midday

These are some of the things I remember off-hand. They are not hundred percent accurate and not exhaustive. Please read up and take care everyone. Have fun, but do it safely.