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The golden years come with their advantages. There’s the newfound freedom, for example, and the chance to relax and revel in all that you have accomplished. But your retirement years also bring age-related challenges that can really put a damper on enjoying them. It’s important for seniors to place high priority on their health and well-being, but it can be difficult to know where to begin. Here are four ways that you can place yourself first.

Social Well-Being
Although retirement usually includes the benefit of having more free time, having extra time on your hands can also have its disadvantages, especially if you live alone. Too much idle or alone time can lead to boredom, unhealthy inactivity, and even depression. Here a couple of activities to consider if you’re feeling isolated or unstimulated.

Get a part-time job
Finding a part-time job in retirement has its advantages. Not only will you have a little extra cash coming in, but you’ll meet new people and feel a sense of responsibility that you may be missing from your working years.

Senior Citizen Groups and Clubs
Joining and participating in senior groups, clubs, and organizations is often free or inexpensive, and some will even provide transportation. You can find groups that are general interest as well as others that focus on specific activities and niches.

Ensure Home Safety
Making sure that your home is a safe place to be is important for anyone, but it’s perhaps especially vital for seniors who are more at risk of falling as well as those who live alone. Here are four simple ways to make your home a safer place.

Bathing
Installing grab bars is one way to provide added safety when bathing. You can also invest in hands-free toiletry dispensers that save you the hassle of slippery bar soap or handling bulky containers.

Air Quality
It’s impossible to know exactly what toxins may be lurking in your household air, but there are steps you can take to reduce them. You can protect your home’s air quality by replacing air filters regularly and having your HVAC system checked by a repairman.

Natural Cleaning Products
Because of the current social awareness of toxins found in many cleaning and hygiene products, it has become easier to find brands that make products using only natural ingredients. You can also easily mix your own natural cleaning products using things like vinegar or lemon juice.

Maintain a Balanced Diet
There are a number of things that can hinder seniors from getting proper nutrition. These include a lack of transportation, dwindling finances, and medications that cause nausea or reduce appetites. It’s important for you to make healthy food choices at all ages. Try eating foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, and fiber, as well as drinking plenty of water.

Gentle Exercise
As a senior, it’s more important than ever to exercise regularly, and the good news is that you don’t have to put out a lot of effort. Just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week will suffice. Walking, yoga, or swimming are gentle and effective forms of exercise for seniors. If you don’t have access to a pool at home and don’t have your own transportation, you may be able to find a senior swimming group similar to the ones discussed above that offers transportation. Then, your exercise regimen could include a social outlet as well.

Experiencing back, shoulder or neck pain? Your body may be speaking to you and you just don’t know it. Getting older doesn’t have to mean accepting regular aches and pains. Depending on your day to day activity, environment, and mobility, your back pain can be sending loud and clear messages like:

You’re not active enough: This might seem counter intuitive, especially to older adults who are avoiding activity so they don’t “further injure” themselves or cause more pain. The reality is, low-impact exercise and activity helps to alleviate pain and soreness by stretching out your muscles and spine, boosting blood circulation, and reducing inflammation in your muscles, joints, and tendons. Along with keeping off excess weight.

You’re not sleeping well: A bad night’s sleep can undo any number of steps you took towards relieving back pain during the day. Older mattresses that don’t support proper spine alignment while you sleep can result in the pull and strain of your muscles and tendons and lead to bad posture during the day. Optimize on the natural curve of your spine while you sleep by simply using a pillow – on your side in a fetal position, try sleeping with a pillow between your knees. If you sleep on your back, place a pillow underneath your knees.

You’re stressed: Feelings of stress, anxiety or depression can physically translate into tense muscles that lead to back pain and thoughtless behaviors like eating poorly or not exercising, which exacerbate existing conditions. Aging seniors with complex medical conditions or cognitive decline are more likely to experience stress and anxiety as well as feelings of frustration and anger.

You’re not practicing self-care: Incorporating daily care routines into your life can make a huge difference in both your experience of back pain as well as your personal outlook on life. Self-care can be as simple as eating a healthy diet, stretching and exercising to care for your body, meditating, decluttering your environment, and practicing self-soothing techniques like rubbing lotion on your hands and feet before bed. Relieving back pain starts with you and your own self-awareness of what you need and deserve to live your best life.

You’re sitting down too much: Countless aging seniors will spend hours each day sitting down – at meals, watching tv, reading, and at the computer. Sustained inactivity and sitting in one spot for an extended period of time puts significant pressure on the spine and promotes bad posture, all of which lead to back pain and discomfort. Experts recommend not going more than 30 or 45 minutes sitting in one place without getting up to stretch, walk around, and change positions.

Get this!

According to a recent report published by the American College of Physicians*, people who experience moderate to acute back pain are actually more likely to experience relief when they try exercise, yoga, acupuncture or massage instead of taking pain killers. The comprehensive study revealed that most types of back pain go away over time whether they are treated or not and that drugs should be a last resort for alleviating pain, after mindfulness-based practices, exercise, spinal manipulation, even heat wraps.

http://annals.org/aim/article/2603228/noninvasive-treatments-acute-subacute-chronic-low-back-pain-clinical-practice

Joe Fleming

Co-Founder, Vive Health

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Oral health is apparently one of the most important aspects of health that many people take for granted. A lot of people today think that as long as their teeth are white and they can give away a bright smile, it already means that there is no problem with their oral health. But little did they know that oral diseases are very subtle.

Oral diseases such as tooth decay and gum problems are very much apparent to many people in the recent years. In fact, nearly all adults experience having these problems in their day-to-day living. Although these are quite treatable, even preventable, still, a lot of people do not pay attention to their oral health.

As it happens, having healthy teeth, gums, and mouth requires effort and time. And one must really invest when it comes to achieving oral health in its optimal state. But while it is considered as an investment, healthy practices for your oral health is quite simple and easy to do. Also, not only that these practices are convenient to do, but they would not require you with many expenses. And in doing these practices on a daily basis, you would certainly achieve healthy teeth and gums.

Here are the 5 healthy practices that you may want to start now to prevent oral diseases:

1. Brush properly
It is already common knowledge that brushing your teeth is important. But keep in mind that the way you are brushing is equally essential as well. The truth is – when you do not brush properly, it’s almost the same thing as not brushing your teeth at all.

All people brush their teeth and gums in several ways. But the most recommendable way of brushing is by gently stroking the toothbrush in a circular motion towards the teeth. Through this way, the plaque will be removed from all sides and corners of the teeth.

Additionally, keep in mind that unremoved plaque will result in hardening which contains numerous bacteria that are not good for your oral health. And once it hardens, this will eventually lead to the calculus buildup and other oral health problems like early stages of gum diseases.

2. Treat flossing as important as brushing
Practicing teeth whitening at home is much more prevalent than flossing as a routine for many people. In fact, 8 out of 10 individuals are found to neglect flossing and this is as bad as not brushing at all. Apparently, dentists and specialists require everyone to floss at least once a day. And whether you do it in the morning or the evening, it does not matter just as long as you floss.

Originally, flossing is a very effective way of dealing with the left plaque and food in between your teeth that are not pretty reachable for all kinds of toothbrushes. And thanks to floss, you can easily remove them and prevent your teeth from having buildups.

But today, new studies and reports suggest that flossing is not only ideal for removing the left plaque and food. As it happens, flossing is also found a great way to stimulate the gums and reduce inflammation. And these benefits are really helpful if one wants to pay attention to their oral health. Hence, it is recommended to treat flossing as important and as necessary as brushing.

3. Quit smoking
Another reason to quit smoking permanently is due to the fact that smoking actually does a lot of damage to your teeth and gums. As you may know, smoking kills. And one of the first things that smoking do to you aside from weakening your immune system is its capability of damaging your oral health.

Since smoking weakens dramatically the immune system, your immunity will no longer be able to prevent several infections to your body including your mouth and gums. Also, when your gums became damaged, it will be difficult for your teeth and gums to recover and heal quickly as smoking can only worsen the conditions.

Also, smoking causes nicotine stains on your teeth. Not only that these stains are unpleasing to look at, but they are also quite difficult to remove, especially if the mouth is already subjected to smoking for quite a long time now. In addition, smoking causes your breath to smell really bad. Hence, smoking does not provide anything good for your overall oral and physical health. And you must quit it now before it worsens your state.

4. Limit sugary and acidic foods
Sugar is as bad as smoking. But while sugar is known to be everyone’s ultimate guilty pleasure, sugar erodes the enamel of your teeth. And this not good for your oral health.

Apparently, when you take high amounts of sugar and sugar-rich foods, these components convert into acid to your mouth. And once the conversion has been successful, it then promotes the production of plaque and bacteria in your mouth. So, not only that sugar can damage your teeth, but it can also lead to various oral health complications.

However, it is quite difficult for some to stop taking sugar-rich foods like fruits and coffee. And if this is the case, then you must try to be mindful instead. It won’t actually hurt you to regard and consider what you’ve been eating, especially if you are really firm to change your oral health practices.

5. Visit your dentist at least twice a year
These healthy practices will definitely help you achieve much healthier teeth and gums. But even so, your oral health is still prone to several risks and potential diseases. And even if you are the most diligent brusher and flosser, the risk of having oral diseases is still at large. So, the best way to complement your healthy practices is to visit your dentist at least twice a year.

Your dentists know what’s best for your teeth and gums. And they will also tell you the condition of your oral health.

All in all, your oral health is as important as your physical health. This is where your daily supplementation starts. So, you must really take good care of it. And through these 5 healthy practices, you will surely decrease the risks of various oral diseases and even prevent them from happening in the future.

Josh Elizetxe is the inventor and founder of Snow. He is an accomplished philanthropist and successful entrepreneur with several 8-figure exits. His latest focus is on disrupting the $65 billion oral care market with revolutionary, patented products supercharged by celebrity partnerships.