3 Physical Health Issues That Often Go Unnoticed | Wellness

Today, I want to talk about some different bodily issues that often go unnoticed. All of these problems are to do with your physical being, and they’re not things like heart disease, obesity, and other issues like that. 

Instead, it’s more about actual problems with physical parts of your body. If that sounds a bit vague and confusing, then don’t worry, you’ll see what I mean as we get deep into this! The main reason I want to talk about these things is that most of you reading this will have at least one of these physical problems without even knowing it. So, I want to help raise awareness by talking about some of the telltale signs, and what can be done about these issues. 

Without waffling on anymore, here are the problems with your body that often go unnoticed:

image source

Arthritis

Arthritis is a prevalent issue that loads of people have without even knowing it. This is because the main symptoms are things that most people experience every day anyway; pain and stiffness. If you have arthritis in one of your joints, then that joint tends to feel very stiff when you wake up, it can be sore, and this is aggravated under certain conditions. 

Truth is even I suffer from Arthritis, its been in our family for generations. It was worst for me in my teenage years. I have been able to maintain my pain to a bare minimum (almost none existent) for years now due to a healthier lifestyle.

A lot of people are walking around with arthritis, but they just attribute their symptoms to the general wear and tear of life. I find this is particularly common with people who have sore necks or knees. It feels like every other person you meet will have a sore neck these days, and a few of them probably have arthritis. It doesn’t matter how old you are, this health issue can creep up on you. Especially if you don't nip it in the bud. Taking better care and eating high calcium foods will provide comfort and lots of exercise.

The main problem with arthritis is that it gradually gets worse and worse. To the point where you struggle to do daily activities as you’re in so much pain. And sadly a lot of people turn to pain meds.

But if you have stiff joints that continually are causing you pain and feels inflamed, then see a doctor to get it checked up. You may or may not be diagnosed with arthritis, which if so, will mean that you may have to do some rehab work. Usually, this includes doing various strengthening and stretching exercises to target the muscles near this joint. It’ll help add more stability to the joint, get rid of muscle pains, and lead to better health!

A Weak Pelvic Floor

Symptoms of a weak pelvic floor are incredibly noticeable. The problem is, most people are unaware that these symptoms come from this issue. In fact, a lot of you are probably wondering what the heck a pelvic floor is, and how can it be weak?

Essentially, this is the name of a group of muscles that basically line the floor of your pelvis. The easiest way to describe them is that they’re the muscles you use to hold in pee when you’re desperate for a toilet but have to wait in line. As such, when these get weak, then you struggle to do just that! A key symptom of a weak pelvic floor is that a little bit of pee keeps leaking out, or that you struggle to hold it in. Like I said, this could easily be a symptom people are aware of but had no idea it relates to this problem. Especially after you've had kids.

Thankfully, you can pretty easily dealt with. Like all muscles, your pelvic floor can be strengthened. There are two things to focus on; actually strengthening the muscles themselves, and dealing with what could be causing them to weaken in the first place. 

With that second thing in mind, if you visit here for more info, you’ll see that being overweight can cause pelvic floor weakness. Therefore, exercising regularly and losing some body fat will help with this issue a lot. As for the muscles themselves, all you have to do is contract them. Right now, I want you to imagine holding in a pee. There. You felt that, right? You should’ve felt the muscles in that region tighten, this means they’re contracted. Do this for 10-15 repetitions, have a 30-second rest, then repeat for 5 sets in total. It can be done anytime, anywhere, and you can do it every day as well. Complete these exercises along with being fit & healthy, and this problem will go away. 

Having a weak bladder wall or bladder is different, you definitely want to consult with your physician on that, otherwise its a huge inconvenience when it comes to daily activities. I'll have to talk more about that in the near future.

Flat Feet

A common issue and one that my husband suffers from. 

This last issue of flat feet - seems pretty innocuous, right? What could possibly be bad about having flat feet, and what even is this? Basically, all feet have an arch on the bottom that provides support. When you have flat feet, this arch collapses and the soles of your feet are pretty much completely flat. You may think this isn’t a problem, but it can cause all sorts of issues in your feet - and upwards throughout your body. 

When you have flat feet, then you tend to have other problems such as persistent foot pain and cramping. Something as simple as walking for long periods will be uncomfortable. What’s more, because your arch has collapsed, this completely messes up your ankles and means they fall inwards as well. Therefore, you’re prone to ankle problems as well! From here, you pretty much start a chain reaction where your knees and hips can both be negatively affected. So much so that people who have hip pain can often be cured by fixing their flat feet. 

Bearing that in mind, how do you fix flat feet? I’ll link a video below this that shows you some exercises you can do to try and fix this issue. But, one of the best things you can do is get insoles for your footwear. These can be custom-made for your feet, and they essentially give you a fake arch. It’ll feel more comfortable when you’re walking around or running, and you help re-align everything when you wear them.

On that note, we’ve come to the end of today’s blog post. I hope you found it both informative and useful. Like I said, most people reading this will have at least one of these issues without even being aware of it! Hopefully, I’ve given you enough info here to show you how to identify all three problems and what you can do to fix them.