🤧 It's Hay Fever Season Again! 🤧

The sunshine has arrived - hooray! But for those of us with hay fever it can be bittersweet.

Hay fever is an allergic reaction to pollen and the symptoms occur or worsen in the Spring and Summer when pollen counts are higher. This can result in sneezing, coughing, a runny or blocked nose, itchy or watery eyes and an itchy throat.

 

We often get calls about hay fever at this time of year, but recent changes mean that most treatments for hay fever can now be purchased over the counter at your local pharmacy, meaning your pharmacist is often best placed to help.

 

The treatment of hay fever normally consists of antihistamine tablets, antihistamine eye drops and steroid nasal sprays. If required you can use a combination.

Anti-histamine tablets/syrup

There are several different types available from your pharmacy. If you try one which doesn’t help, then it is worth trying an alternative, unfortunately this often involves some degree of trial and error. Some anti-histamine’s such as Piriton (chlorphenamine maleate) can make you feel drowsy, so there are non-drowsy preparations available, such as cetirizine.

If, despite trying different anti-histamines, your symptoms persist then consider adding in eye drops, or a nasal steroid spray, or both.

Anti-histamine Eye Drops

These can be purchased from the pharmacy and work well where itchy and runny eyes are more problematic. The drug is called sodium cromoglicate.

Nasal Steroid Spray

These can work very effectively helping control your symptoms of hay fever and can be used in conjunction with the above treatments. Nasal steroid sprays can take days or weeks to reach their fullest effect so they are worth persevering with.

What Next?

If the above treatments, when used in combination, have failed to solve the problem, and you have given them a reasonable period of time to work, then please give us a call to discuss further.

Do you know how to examine your breasts?

Do you know how to examine your breasts? Really? In this article we aim to show you what to look for, where to feel, how to feel, and what cancer might feel like.

Breast cancer usually can’t be prevented, but by checking your breasts, you could help to detect it earlier.

Adults of all ages are encouraged to perform breast self-exams at least once a month, doing this regularly can help you familiarise with how your breasts look and feel, so you can alert your GP if there are any changes. So, how do you check them, properly? Dr Liz O’Riordan, consultant breast surgeon, helps us explain…

  1. Get topless in front of the mirror and look at yourself. If you have heavy breasts, lift them up so you can see underneath them. Turn to the side, and then the other side. When doing this, you are looking for lumps that you can see sticking through the surface of the skin. You are looking to see whether the nipple has been pulled in, and you are looking to see if there is a little puckering of the skin (see video for details).

  2. The next thing you do is put your hands above your head, and then you put your hands on your hips and push in, tensing the chest muscles, doing both of these things can show you a lump or a tethering that you wouldn’t otherwise see.

  3. The next step is to feel. The best way to examine your breasts is lying flat, at about 30 degrees e.g. lying down in bed with your head propped on a couple of pillows. This lifts a heavy breast onto the chest wall, if you have particularly large breasts that tend to flop to the side, you can roll your body towards the midline to lift your breast tissue up and onto the chest wall, making it much easier to feel if there is anything there.

  4. When feeling your breasts, you should use the undersurface of your fingers. Keeping your fingers flat, you bend them at the knuckles, and what you’re trying to do is to squish your breast tissue against your ribcage underneath. A lot of women, especially around their time of the month can have very lumpy breasts, it can feel like a mixture of sweetcorn and jelly and it’s completely normal. Usually, this lumpiness would occur on each breast. If there is a lump there, you will be able to squish the breast tissue all the way to the ribcage each size, but you will feel the lump and you won’t be able to push down as flat - this is the kind of lump you should tell your GP about.

  5. Think of your breasts like a teardrop, it doesn’t matter how you do it, but press quite firmly all over the breast until you get to the nipple, then press firmly on the nipple too. The final place to look is underneath your armpit, because you can get enlarged lymph nodes there. If you are slim, you may feel them normally, and they are about the size of a split pea or a lentil. Cancerous lymph nodes are bigger and firmer, like a marble or a boiled sweet. The trick is to relax your armpit, rest your hand on your opposite shoulder. With your other hand, try to squish the tissue and the fat of your armpit against your ribcage, get really high above the hairline and squish up there to see if you can feel any hard lumps beneath your fingers, and then do the other side.

If you have watched this video, examined your breasts and are concerned about a lump, contact us - it’s what we are here for!

April is Stress Awareness Month!

how often do you find yourself in a situation where your to-do list seems endless, deadlines are fast approaching and the stress is building faster than you can get things done? Yes, us too!

But what is stress really, and how does it affect us?

We all think of stress as a bad thing, but this isn’t entirely true - if we didn’t feel stress, humankind would not have survived. For example, our ancestors, the cavemen, used the onset of stress to be alerted to a potential danger - like a sabre-toothed tiger.

Primarily, stress is a physical response. When stressed, our bodies think they are under attack and switch to ‘fight or flight’ mode, releasing a complex combination of hormones and chemicals like adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine to prepare our bodies for physical action. This causes a few reactions, blood is diverted to muscles we may be about to need, and unnecessary bodily functions such as digestion are shut down, no one needs digestion to fight a tiger, right?

The release of these hormones would mean the caveman gained a rush of energy, which prepared him to fight (or run away from) the tiger. That heart-pounding, fast breathing sensation and a boost of energy is the adrenaline - it enables us to focus our attention so we can respond quickly to the situation.

Nowadays, the fight or flight instinct can still help us to survive dangerous situations, but they are more likely to make us react quickly and slam on the brakes to a person running out in front of our car than to help us fight a tiger!

Now the thing about stress, it doesn’t simply wait in the wings until we need it, it is very common for us to feel stress in inappropriate situations. When blood flow is only going to the most important muscles needed to run or fight, brain function is minimised. This leads to the inability to ‘think straight’ - which can hinder us enormously in both our work and home lives. Being in a state of stress for a long time can be detrimental to our health. Having elevated cortisol levels in our bodies for extended periods of time can increase our sugar and blood pressure levels, and decrease libido.

So what happens in ‘fight’ and flight’ modes?

  • FIGHT - The most aggressive reaction to stress - you may feel agitated and aggressive towards others, can be a helpful reaction to ward of predators, but in unnecessary situations it can negatively affect relationships and ruin reputations

  • FLIGHT - When you try to avoid your stressors, removing yourself from the situation instead of tackling it head on (fight).This can save your life if you find yourself in dangerous surroundings, however in day to day life this can lead to stressful situations escalating - in turn making things even more stressful as the stress builds up and up until you are forced to face it

  • FREEZE - Have you heard the phrase “deer in the headlights”? This is the least known mode that stress can cause. For some, becoming stressed sets the stage for ‘dysregulation'. The energy mobilised by the perceived threat gets ‘locked’ into the nervous system and you freeze, like a deer in the headlights! This response sometimes reveals itself when you breathe - holding your breath and/or shallow breathing are forms of freeze, the occasional deep sigh is the nervous system catching up on oxygen intake.

The bridge analogy for stress

Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person believes that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilise.

“Here at The Stress Management Society we use a bridge analogy to approach the topic of stress.

When a bridge is carrying too much weight, it will eventually collapse. It is possible to see the warning signs before this happens, the bridge would bow, buckle and creak.

The same principle can be applied to human beings, with excessive demands and challenges placed on our bridges. There may be early warning signs. However stress can creep up on some of us, resulting in an unexpected breakdown.”

The ‘bridge collapse’ in a person can take many forms:

  • Mental and emotional breakdown

  • Taking one’s own life

  • Serious health conditions such as:

    - Cardiovascular disease (the heart is the first organ in the body to experience stress. The number 1 killer on the planet today is heart disease - it’s no coincidence that as we live under higher and higher levels of stress, heart disease is on the rise also.

    - Stress has a profound impact on how our bodies function, Health experts are yet to officially prove that stress causes cancer, yet there is little doubt that stress makes our bodies more hospitable to cancer

    - Stress can cause a rise in blood pressure - the main cause of haemorrhagic stroke is high blood pressure, which can weaken the arteries in the brain and make them prone to split or rupture

10 step stress solution:

It’s clear that simply choosing to not be stressed is not an option, so what can we do to try and reduce our own stress levels?

  1. Prioritise your health - this can be so hard, life is busy and most people have lots to juggle with home and work life, but it’s vital to remember to leave time for yourself

  2. Get a good nights sleep - see our previous article on World Sleep Day

  3. Practice deep breathing - The following technique can be done anywhere and at almost any time. It is a simple technique with huge benefits.

    1. Sit or stand in a comfortable, relaxed position with your spine erect.

    2. Inhale slowly through your nose to the count of 5. Imagine a ball or balloon in your belly inflating

    3. Hold the breathe in the ball or balloon in your belly for 5-10 seconds.

    4. Count slowly to 8 as you exhale.

    5. Repeat this several times.

    TOP TIP – As you breathe, let your abdomen expand outward, rather than raising your shoulders. This is am ore relaxed, natural way to breathe and helps your lungs fill themselves more fully with fresh air.

  4. Stay hydrated - aim to drink 2 litres of water each day

  5. Eat for wellbeing - eat a balanced diet with lots of protein, fruits and vegetables

  6. Get moving to combat stress - your body is expecting some kind of physical activity when it is feeling stressed. One way to take control of stress is to give your body what is was anticipating - exercise

  7. Adopt a positive mindset - being in control of your thoughts increases your ability to find solutions to challenging situations and deal with stress more effectively

  8. Master your time - to become more efficient at time management and planning your time, it is important to get better at estimating the amount of time things will take, like exercise, the more you do this, the easier it will get

  9. Don’t be a slave to tech - did you know that on average a person checks their phone 150 times a day and receives 364 emails each week? Kind of scary when you think about it.

  10. Learn to say no - this will save you taking on too much, trying to cram too many activities into too little time and constantly rushing from one thing to another.

COVID Spring Booster Vaccination Campaign Update

At St Wulfstan Surgery we will be offering our patients the opportunity to have their COVID Spring vaccination with us at the surgery.

The Spring booster is being offered to the following patients:

  • people aged 75 years and over

  • those in care homes

  • those aged 5 years and over with a weakened immune system

It can be given at least 3 months after your last COVID vaccination.

We are currently working on our clinic dates but expect vaccinations to commence within the next 1-2 weeks. Patients will be invited for their vaccination by text message, so please expect to hear from us very soon if you are eligible.

For more details please visit the NHS.net website

We look forward to seeing our eligible patients soon!

Bank Holiday Opening Hours & Happy Easter!

At St Wulfstan Surgery we wish you all a Happy Easter!

We will close for the Bank Holiday weekend at 6 pm on Thursday 6th April and will re-open at 8:30 am on Tuesday 11th April

 

Service will still be provided by calling 111 or 999 in the case of a medical emergency.

Asda Pharmacy is open from 9 am to 6pm on Friday 7th April and Monday 10th April 2022.  They are closed on Sunday.  You can find them at: Asda store, Chesterton Drive, Leamington Spa, CV31 1YD (01926 459010).

Bowel Cancer Screening Kit Awareness Campaign

The bowel cancer screening kit can save your life!

Just one tiny sample detects signs of cancer before you notice anything wrong.

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK. Yet the latest data shows that almost one third of people who were sent an NHS bowel cancer screening kit in England last year did not go on to complete it. Early diagnosis is vital, as detecting bowel cancer at the earliest stage makes you up to 9 times more likely to be successfully treated.

Anyone aged between 56 and 74 is eligible for a bowel cancer screening kit, and this is how it works:

  1. A home test kit, called a faecal immunochemical test (FIT test for short) that will be sent to your address,

  2. You collect a small sample of poo on a small plastic stick and put it into the sample bottle and send it back to the lab for testing (there are instructions with the kit)

  3. The lab will test the poo sample for tiny amounts of blood.

  4. Your test result should be posted to you within 2 weeks of sending off your kit.

Your test results, explained

There are two types of result:

  1. No further tests needed
    This result means no blood was found in your poo sample, or only a tiny amount was found. You do not need to do anything at this time and you will be invited to do another screening test in 2 years (if you are still under 75 by then)
    This is not a guarantee that you don’t have bowel cancer, see your GP if you get symptoms, even if you have already done a kit. Around 98 in 100 people do not need further tests.

  2. Further tests needed
    This result means blood was found in your poo sample, you do not necessarily have bowel cancer (the blood could be a result of something like piles) but you’ll be offered an appointment to talk about having a test called a colonoscopy to look for the cause of the bleeding. A colonoscopy is where a thin tube with a camera inside is passed into your bottom to look for the signs of bowel cancer.

    Read a leaflet about the colonoscopy test on GOV.UK

Blood in your poo can be a sign of polyps or bowel cancer. Polyps are growths in the bowel. They are not cancer, but they may turn into cancer over time.

If the FIT test finds anything unusual, you might be asked to go to the hospital to have further tests to either confirm or rule out cancer.

The main symptoms of bowel cancer are:

  • Changes in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you

  • Needing to poo more or less often that usual for you

  • Blood in your poo, which may look red or black

  • Bleeding from your bottom

  • Often feeling like you need to poo, even if you’ve just been to the toilet

  • Tummy pain

  • Bloating

  • Losing weight without trying

  • Feeling very tired for no reason

Always see your GP if you have symptoms of bowel cancer at any age, even if you have recently completed an NHS bowel cancer screening test - do not wait to have a screening test.

How do you get a home test kit?

Everyone aged 60-74 years who is registered with a GP and lives in England with automatically get sent a bowel screening kit every 2 years.

The programme is expanding so that everyone aged 50-59 years will be eligible for screening, this has been happening gradually since April 2021, starting with 56 year olds. The programme has also started to include 58 year olds, so you may get a test before you turn 60.

If you’re 75+ you can ask for a kit every 2 years by calling the free bowel cancer screening helpline on

  • 0800 707 6060

If you’re sent a kit, put it by the loo. Don’t put if off!

Living Longer Better Conference!

While Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire’s population of older people continues to grow, the COVID-19 pandemic and cost-of-living crisis have and still are making health inequalities worse and increasing pressure on health and social care systems.

Did you know, inactivity costs our health system £1.6billion each year? Simple physical, cognitive and emotional activity can help reduce this problem and increase people’s health span.

Our Integrated Local Care Board (ICB) wants to shake things up and help get people moving later in life, so, together with Think Active and Age UK Coventry & Warwickshire they bring you the ‘Living Longer, Better’ Conference.

This event aims to bring together key partners, stakeholders and audience representatives to commit to improving systems, recommending and prescribing activity and changing our attitudes to ageing.

With high-profile speakers to inspire, inform, and discuss opportunities and challenges for supporting Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire’s ageing population to move more, don’t miss this chance to connect, share and explore conversations with other delegates.

The event will run from 10:00am to 3:30pm (with lunch included) on Wednesday 29th March, at the Radcliffe Conference Centre at the University of Warwick. Keynote speaker Sir Muir Gray, leading expert on healthy, active ageing has already been confirmed! You can book onto the conference here:

Do you know somebody who doesn’t have social media that this might apply to? Let them know about this wonderful service happening this week!

Hope Programme for Long Covid

Join the thousands of people who have benefitted from The Hope Programme!

The 8 session course covers topics such as:

  • Managing long COVID symptoms e.g. brain fog, fatigue and breathlessness

  • Pacing and focussing on what matters to you

  • Coping with stress, change and shifting your thinking

  • Getting better sleep and mindfulness

  • Communication and relationships

  • Eating well and moving better

  • Managing setbacks

  • Using your strengths to make you happier

“I’m definitely more independent, more confident now”

Karen, long Covid Programme participant

There is a limited number of one to one consultations available to people living with long Covid in Warwickshire.

  • lifestyle analysis

  • personalised advice and support

  • experienced long covid practicioners

  • 8 week follow-up

  • take steps to restore your fitness

The final course starts 13/04/2023

Meet others with long covid and try a range of activities including:

  • goal setting

  • gratitude

  • mood, activity symptom tracking

  • journalling

  • online forum

The course is available 24/7 on any device, sessions are released weekly and you can remain anonymous!

Find out more and sign up at https://www.hopecwr.h4c.org.uk/, you do not need to be referred by a Doctor.

World Sleep Day - Friday 17th March 2023

The World Sleep Society's annual World Sleep Day is being held on Friday 17 March. This year's theme is Sleep is Essential for Health

Sleep is as essential as diet and exercise - yet often it is under-valued! But, how much sleep to we actually need?

It’s well known that children need more sleep than adults, and as children grow up, the amount of sleep they need decreases. Here is a rough guide

  • Newborns (0-3 months) : 14-17 hours

  • Infants (4-11 months) : 12-15 hours

  • Toddlers (1-2 years) : 11-14 hours

  • Preschoolers (3-5 years) : 10-13 hours

  • School Children (6-13 years) : 9-11 hours

  • Teenagers (14-17 years) : 8-10 hours

  • Adults (18-64) : 7-9 hours

  • Older adults (65+) : 7-8 hours

It’s no secret that a lot of us struggle to get to sleep at night, but why?

It is very important to appreciate how important sleep is. Time in bed should be considered time well spent! While we sleep, our brains form memories and go through the day’s events - remember this, sleep is not a waste of time.

Good sleep habits, also know as good sleep hygiene, are things you can do before bed to improve your sleep quality. Following these good sleep habits may help you with your sleep.

Top 10 tips on getting a good nights sleep:

  1. Have a regular sleep pattern; try to go to sleep at the same time every night and get up at the same time every morning (we will let you off for the occasional lie in)

  2. Be in bed for the correct amount of time; the average number of hours an adult needs to sleep is 7-8

  3. Bed is for sleeping, not for hanging out; playing on your phone and/or watching tv can mess up your sleep. You really shouldn’t sleep with the TV or other devices on either - your mind needs to know that if you are in bed, you are there to sleep.

  4. Wind down and relax before bed; try to avoid using your phone or computer within an hour of bedtime, try not to worry about the day you’ve had or the day ahead. Find a relaxation technique that works for you, and use it!

  5. Have a comfortable bedroom; your bedroom should be dark and quiet, with comfortable bedding and good temperature control

  6. Avoid caffeine, alcohol and cigarettes; alcohol might help you drift off to sleep faster, but it will decrease the quality of your sleep throughout the night. Cigarettes, cups of tea/coffee and fizzy pop are stimulants that can keep you awake - so it makes no sense to have these before bed

  7. No napping in the day; if you sleep during the day, it will make it much harder to get to sleep at night. Don’t let yourself fall asleep in front of the TV - but if you absolutely have to nap, you shouldn’t nap for more than 20 minutes, and then you shouldn’t go to bed for at least 4 hours

  8. Don’t watch the clock; if you can’t sleep at night, watching the clock will just make you more anxious - turn the clock around if you can’t take it out of the room, and resist the temptation to look at the time on your phone.

  9. Avoid sleeping pills; unless in exceptional circumstances - sleeping pills do not fix the cause of your sleeping problem, and you don’t want to become dependant on them!

  10. Get professional help if you are still struggling after putting these tips to use; if lack of sleep is affecting your mood, if you have excessive daytime sleepiness, restlessness in bed, severe snoring, or not feeling refreshed after and adequate length of time asleep; contact us - we can offer the further support you may need!

Visit https://worldsleepday.org/ for more information on how important your sleep is!

Space for Sleep

And if you're struggling with your sleep, why not consider trying our online Sleep Course Space for Sleep. To access this online programme please visit the Silver Cloud website

This programme will teach you the skills for overcoming your sleep difficulties, allowing you to achieve better quality sleep and wake up feeling refreshed.

  • Understand the causes of poor sleep and how it can affect you.

  • Accurately assess how you are currently sleeping and track your progress.

  • Learn proven techniques for developing and maintaining a healthy sleep cycle.

Today is the day you could quit smoking!

Make No Smoking Day 2023 the day you quit for good - you’ve got what it takes!

No Smoking Day falls this year on Wednesday 8th March 2023!

Fun facts about quitting smoking:

  • Quitting smoking protects your brain health and reduces your chances of dementia

  • You’re 3 times as likely to successfully quit if you get support

  • Your GP and pharmacist can offer advice and tips on how to quit smoking

  • It’s never too late to quit - your health and wellbeing will improve as soon as you stop smoking, even if you’re already sick from it

  • Smokers spend roughly £47 a week on tobacco, that’s nearly £2500 a year saved once you quit

  • Quitting smoking can add ass much as 10 years onto your life expectancy

The links between smoking and dementia

Smokers have an increased risk of dementia, quitting can substantially reduce this risk. Up to 4 in 10 cases of dementia could be linked to health, lifestyle and environmental risk factors - quitting smoking ranks the 3rd most significant modifiable risk factor.

The World Health Organisation Knowledge (WHO) Summary on Tobacco and Dementia explains many of the reasons linking dementia with smoking. These include the fact that the two most common types of dementia - Alzheimer’s disease and Vascular dementia - have both been linked to problems with the vascular system (your heart and blood vessels).

Smoking increases the risk of vascular problems, including strokes or smaller bleeds in the brain, which are also risks for dementia. As well as this, toxins in cigarette smoke cause inflammation and stress to cells, which has been linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. The WHO estimates that 14% of Alzheimer’s cases around the world could be attributable to smoking.

Every time you quit, you’re closer to success!

It’s estimated that the average smoker quits smoking 30 times before they quit for good. Less that 40% of smokers try to quit every year, and around 1/4 of these will succeed. However, many more smokers are thinking about quitting or trying to cut down. Every attempt to quit should be seen as making progress. Never give up giving up!

It’s never too late to quit and feel the benefits of better health – that’s our message to smokers ahead of #NoSmokingDay. From reducing the risk of at least 16 cancers, stroke, COPD & dementia, a smoker's health improves from the moment of quitting. Visit www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/ #TodayIsTheDay

For more information on how to quit smoking and to find your local stop smoking service visit:

South Warwickshire's Heart to Heart Support Group ❤️

Have you or any of your family members experienced cardiac problems?

This could be:

  • Heart attack

  • Angina

  • Heart surgery

  • Heart failure

  • Pacemakers (including complex devices such as ICD & CRT’s)

If so, you are invited to go along and join South Warwickshire’s Heart to Heart Support Group’s information sessions. In theses sessions, they will share each others experiences, socialise, and have a general catch up!

Date: Every last Wednesday of the month (except August)

Location: Norton Lindsey Village Hall, Wolverton Road, Norton Lindsey, Warwick, CV35 8JL

Time: 6:30pm-8:00pm

Registration and drinks cost just £2.00!

Hosted by:

  • Kath Warwick - Group Leader

  • Donna McDonnell - Cardiac Nurse Specialist

For further information or enquiries contact the Cardiac Device office at Warwick Hospital, or email Donna.mcdonnell@swft.nhs.uk / Katherine.warwick@swft.nhs.uk

Eating Disorders Awareness Week

Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW) is back this week, 27th February - 5th March 2023. This year, the focus is on eating disorders in men.

Around 1 in 4 people with eating disorders are men, yet many struggle to ask for help, and their symptoms can be easily unnoticed by those around them. Men are often met with disbelief if they do ask for help, with their symptoms being overlooked as being a fussy eater, liking to work out or being too busy.

Eating disorders awareness week charity Beat want to bust the toxic stereotypes that prevent men from speaking up, they want to change the narrative! Beat will be using EDAW to shine a light on the different experiences men face, and how we can create a safe space for men to turn to for support towards recovery.

To get a better understanding of these complex mental illnesses, and break down gender stereotypes, Beat launched the UK’s biggest survey to date on men’s experience with eating disorders.

“Of those that took part, 1 in 5 had never spoken out about their struggles. 6 in 10 were disappointed with the help available to men. And 4 in 5 felt raising awareness would help more men get treatment sooner.”

This Eating Disorders Awareness Week, you can help set the record straight. You can start conversations and spread the word: yes - men get eating disorders! But let’s be honest, stranger things have happened… #HelpMenGetHelp

Watch and share this video for more information, you can also visit Eating disorders in men (beateatingdisorders.org.uk), and read some stories from some real men who have battled different eating disorders. You are not alone!