Tips to reduce your stress level
By Dr. Sonja Stiller, Center for Advanced Vein Care
For the health and safety of our staff and patients, we are currently limiting our in-office evaluations to those with urgent symptoms, including severe swelling, redness, or significant leg pain. For our other patients, we are finding great success with the modern telemedicine options available to us.
While we are diligently following the recommendations of our medical leadership, we anticipate a quick return to normal office hours as soon as the stay-at-home order is lifted. We very much look forward to seeing you in person as soon as we can!
In the meantime, let’s turn our attention to another major health issue: stress, which takes a huge toll on the body. Stress is a major player in many of the most common causes of death in America, including heart disease and cancer. It also contributes to complications with pneumonia and influenza. Stress does more than just cause muscle tension, headaches and a feeling of fear/dread or nervousness. It has an impact on hormones controlled or released from the brain.
Right now, we are living in a period of high stress, intensified by the current 24/7 media coverage of Covid-19. So we’re sending to our patients a daily email called “Daily Dose of Health,” which offers tips on how to improve your health, including reducing stress. Here are just two of the tips we’ve offered to our patients:
- Control the news cycle. Turn off your television. When I was young, TV news was available only three times a day for an hour. Think about how much news you really need during the day and stick to the minimum. Better yet, read the news, don’t watch it, and reduce the emotional tug our media has perfected over the last few decades.
- Get up and move. Exercise, including walking, is a great way to reduce stress. Plus, the increased blood flow to your brain is good for you in so many other ways. Moving even improves your leg health because a strong, healthy calf muscle does wonders for your entire venous system.
Dr. Sonja Stiller is a diplomat of both the American Board of Emergency Medicine and the American Board of Venous and Lymphatic Medicine. She is the founder of the Center for Advanced Vein Care, a Tier 1 provider with Lake Health Hospital System located at 7200 Mentor Avenue, in Mentor. For an appointment, call 440-710-1140. More information can be found at YourHealthyVeins.com.