How Healthy Are You? How to Check Your Urine
There are quite a few causes of different urine color—including cancer. This is why you should regularly inspect your pee.
Guidelines for Checking Your Urine
Get in the habit of checking your urine. This does not mean you must obsess over it or become filled with anxiety whenever it’s time to relieve yourself.
Just make it a routine habit. The more you stick with the habit of checking your pee, the more in control you’ll be — and you’ll have less anxiety than if you were to go months between inspections.
Make a rule never to inspect your urine while using a public restroom. The lighting in public bathrooms is usually on the dim side.
The other reason is that the avoidance of checking (either on the toilet paper or in the bowl) in public bathrooms will help prevent becoming obsessive over this practice.
You urinate plenty of times throughout the day, so there’s plenty of opportunity to look at your urine. And this should be done in the controlled environment of your home.
It is best checked by voiding in a clear, clean plastic cup rather than trying to accurately view it as it enters the toilet bowl or while it billows out once in the toilet water.
There is so much more you can observe if it’s been collected in a clear and clean plastic cup.
However, this isn’t always practical (even at home). You need not collect your pee for every inspection.
But every day, for at least one voiding, the minimum inspection should consist of seeing what it looks like on the toilet paper, or as it streams out into the toilet bowl.
You’ll also want to view it in the toilet water. But make sure the toilet bowl is white and clean!
A dirty bowl, or one colored with cleaner or something else you may have dumped in there earlier, will hinder the accuracy of the inspection.
A good question is: How many times a day should you take a good look at your urine?
As many times as you feel at ease, but again, don’t become obsessive about it.
Daily checks are actually not even necessary, but checking in at least once a week can be easily maintained without leading to becoming overly attentive.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: ©Lorra Garrick
Twitching Muscles (Fasciculations): Your Headquarters for Answers
This site contains DOZENS of articles that answer questions about twitching muscles and benign fasciculations.
On this site you will find a WEALTH of information that addresses just about every conceivable question about twitching muscles, as well as perceived weakness, strength tests and the EMG test.
Below are links to some of these articles, but many more await you; just type into the search box (upper right of any page) what you’re seeking answers to, and see what comes up in the results!
Click on the body part that’s been twitching:
- Toes — whether it’s the pinky, big toe, several toes, etc.
- Stomach — lower, middle or upper abdomen or the entire stomach area.
- Thumb — sometimes the entire thumb moves, and this is hard to dismiss.
- Lip — it could be just the upper lip, or the lower or both, or the corner.
- All over — the twitching can be anywhere on the body and multiple areas going at the same time such as the back of the upper legs, the calves, the triceps, the eyelid, a finger … anywhere where there’s a muscle.
MORE Articles on Fasciculations Plus Other Related Concerns
It’s amazing how weak a person can feel when they start believing they have a fatal disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Suddenly, their leg or arm feels weak. There are ways for a medical professional to screen for true weakness (clinical) and that which only SEEMS real (perceived weakness).
ALS weakness compared to perceived weakness
There are so many ways to test the strength of your foot to “rule out” foot drop
But some strength tests for the foot are very ineffective, while others are slam-dunk effective.
Sometimes a person with health anxiety will try to do the wrong kind of strength test.
If you know the right kind to do — ones that are very telling — you will gain more insight and quite possibly LOADS of reassurance.
Strength tests you can do for foot drop
Shutterstock/MRAORAOR
Some men and women will focus on their tongue and no other body part.
And sometimes the tongue is part of a fear that involves other body parts such as the hand or leg.
One of the aspects of twitching muscles that freaks people out is when they are visible.
If it can be seen, it can surely be felt. But if the twitch can be felt, it’s not always visible.
What does visibility actually mean when it comes to a twitching muscle? It’s all here: All about visible fascics
Anxiety is a leading cause of benign fasciculations (muscle twitching with a harmless cause).
Are you stressing about bills lately? How about an impending major car repair?
What about stress in your marriage or relationships, or anxiety about issues at the workplace?
Whether the anxiety is acute or chronic, it can affect the body in many worrisome ways.
Exercise or vigorous physical activity, as well, can cause residual or lingering fasciculations.
For instance you may end up with a real “thumper” in your quad a few hours after going at it on your gym’s revolving staircase.
Several hours of hiking can easily bring it on — and not while you’re hiking, but after you get home and are relaxed in front of the TV or computer.
This is when your muscles will find it best to start worming or thumping around.
A combination of anxiety and exercise can create ripe conditions for lots of twitching that will get your attention.
Exercise, anxiety and the relation to twitching muscles.
Depositphotos.com
And speaking of the quads — the quadriceps muscles — this area of the body is a common hotspot for fasciculations.
Often, they can be felt while a person is sitting at their computer or watching TV.
Strength tests for this particular muscle group are almost endless, but there are several key movements that are excellent for testing strength and neuromuscular control.
Here are strength tests you can do at home.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/sdecoret
Tongue Problems: Twitching, Stiffness, Soreness
This muscle (yes, the tongue is a muscle) has caused unspeakable anxiety in many men and women —
— to the point where they’ll spend huge amounts of time every day examining their tongue in a mirror, and also “testing” its strength by pressing it against the insides of their mouth.
These “checks” can go on all day, beginning shortly after getting out of bed in the morning.
Before the face is washed, hair is combed, etc., the afflicted individual begins examining his or her tongue in a mirror.
After a certain number of checks, he’s convinced nothing is wrong. Then upon proceeding to do the next thing (brush hair, rinse face, shave, what-have-you), he’s suddenly reeled back to the mirror and just has to get in more tongue checks.
Can’t Get Enough Tongue Inspections
The tongue is not just a muscle — it’s an ugly muscle. There’s no such thing as an attractive tongue.
Its inherent unsightliness doesn’t help calm the nerves or those with health anxiety.
They’ll think it’s swollen, or maybe they’ll swear it’s atrophied.
They’ll begin seeing that one side is smaller than the other, or that there are “dents” in it that mean a deadly neurological disease — a killer disease that I won’t mention here, but you know what I’m referring to.
Sometimes the frequent tongue inspections involve how well a person can move it inside the mouth.
Other times it’s about how this muscle feels inside the mouth.
- Is it stiff?
- Is it rigid?
- Is it hard?
- Can it press harder on one side than the other?
- Can it curl?
Check out these very helpful tongue articles if you’re in desperate need of reassurance:
- Take control of your tongue twitching terror
- Is there a way at home to rule out Bulbar onset?
- Causes of a stiff tongue
- Causes of a sore tongue
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/Vladimir Gjorgiev
Muscle Weakness Strength Tests for Peace of Mind
What your panicky self really needs right now are some strength tests to see if your muscles are truly weak or to see if your problem is the so-called perceived weakness.
What is perceived weakness?
This term used to primarily refer to the observation of moral deficiency in another individual.
Times have really changed since the advent of Dr. Google.
Perceived weakness has come to be strongly associated with falsely believing that one has a new-onset weakened portion of a limb and even a single finger.
They may suddenly develop this perception during a workout when one arm is noticeably “weaker” than the other during a bench press, dumbbell press or some other lift involving two arms.
This can trigger going down a rabbit hole.
A trigger can also be the tasks of daily living. For example, something falls out of your hand like a notebook, a spoon, a pen, your child’s little stuffed animal, a bag of chips — anything that you might be carrying throughout a normal day in a hand.
This then sets off the idea that the hand has become weak — due to a motor neuron disease.
When one’s mind starts going in these directions, “strength tests” will invariably follow.
If you’re a gym rat, many of these tests will take place in the gym or wherever you do your workouts.
If you’re not into lifting weights, these inspections of strength in that “weak” part of your body will take place usually at home, but sometimes also on the job.
These can be any kind of physical exertion that you can possibly imagine.
For instance, if you believe your left arm is weak due to a new disease, you may find yourself trying to pick up the vacuum cleaner with one hand.
Or picking up your dog repeatedly, or repetitively picking up a box of books from the floor.
The strength tests that ensue, when one develops perceived weakness and a fear that this is the beginning of a neurodegenerative disease, can be quite elaborate and/or unrealistic.
Here are strength tests for various body parts:
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
.
Top image: Freepik
Stools & Poops: Shape, Color, Texture Can Reveal Disease
Stools – no, I don’t mean the high circular chairs in bars – but poops. How well do you know your poops?
If you’re reading this, chances are pretty good that you’ve examined your poops more than once.
Take it from me: Once you examine your stools, it won’t gross you out; it will become very tolerable.
Doctors realize that stools can be very telling of a person’s health, and strong indicators of all sorts of disease, including cancer.
Poops come in so many kinds of shapes, textures and colors.
They can be oily or greasy, hard, come out like pebbles or long ribbons, be soft, full of undigested food, laced with blood, very foul smelling, be floaters or sinkers…
Here are several BM articles featuring a gastroenterologist’s expert answers.
Causes of narrow stools other than colon cancer
Source: Vecteezy.com
Is there a way to tell the difference between stools from irritable bowel syndrome and colon cancer?
When stool color might mean cancer
Are stools that are thin and long common with IBS?
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Mouth Symptoms and What They Mean
Mouth symptoms can have tons of causes, and yes, some include cancer.
The mouth can experience a wide range of issues, some benign and others potentially life-threatening.
While many people worry about oral cancer, particularly linked to smoking and heavy drinking, it’s important to recognize that other conditions, like melanoma, can also affect the mouth.
Oral melanoma is extremely rare but shows that this often-deadly form of skin cancer can arise even in the darkets of places.
Melanoma in the mouth can present as unusual spots or lesions, often going unnoticed until they cause significant symptoms.
Dry Mouth
Shutterstock/Tyler Olson
Excessive mouth dryness, not linked to hydration levels, can be uncomfortable and misleading.
Even if someone feels the urge to drink water, they might not be genuinely thirsty, but rather, experiencing a sensation akin to having cotton wads between their teeth and inner cheeks.
This feeling can stem from various causes, including the side effects of certain medications, which can reduce saliva production and lead to a dry, cotton-like sensation.
Another possible cause is a yeast infection in the mouth, which can contribute to dryness and discomfort.
Addressing the underlying cause, whether by adjusting medication or treating an infection, is essential for relief.
If your dry mouth has come on suddenly, here’s information on that: sudden-onset dry mouth.
Metal Taste
Having a persistent taste of coins or nuts and bolts in one’s mouth is a lot more intolerable than the cottony dry feel.
A persistent taste of coins or nuts and bolts can be quite unbearable.
This awful metal taste can significantly impact quality of life, making eating and drinking less enjoyable.
A number of conditions can cause a metal taste in one’s mouth.
Salty Taste
When you eat salty foods, you should not continue to have a salty sensation on your tongue once the food is long-gone eaten.
Whether it’s pretzels, crackers, fries or vegetables that were heavily salted, there should not be a lingering salty taste on your tongue.
But if you’ve been experiencing this, there are causes and solutions.
Coughing
Shutterstock/Aaron Amat
You have no cold, no nasal drip, no flu, so why do you keep coughing — like every few minutes?
Well, ask yourself if you’ve been subjected to much more anxiety than usual. Why stress can cause constant coughing.
Unexplained symptoms involving the mouth or throat should never be dismissed.
These symptoms can indicate underlying health issues that require prompt attention.
Many people are reluctant to see their doctor about a “bad taste” in the mouth or a cotton-like sensation.
But if it’s enough to make you wonder; if it’s enough to distract you or impair the quality of your recreational time — then it’s certainly important enough to bring to your physician’s attention.
Depending on the underlying cause, the treatment could be fairly simple with quick results.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
Having Menstrual Problems? What Should You Do?
Sometimes, menstrual problems make women wish they were born a man. Can a baby ever really be worth all this trouble?
Well of course, for those whose maternal instincts are driving at them.
But it’s an undisputed fact: Periods Are a Pain!
Some women are literally disabled for two or three days, curled up in bed with a hot water bottle, dreading every time they must exit their bed and use the toilet.
Menstrual cramps can be so agonizing that a woman will forego eating and drinking water, no matter how hungry or thirsty, just to maintain her tight ball of a position with the heating pad.
Oh, of course, she’ll definitely get up to upchuck, but then promptly get back into her defensive position.
When period pain hits like this, you have no choice but to ride it out and let it run its course.
- Missed Periods and Mental Stress: The Connection
- Why is there blood in your cervical mucous after menstruation ends?
- Why You Have Menstrual Cramps Mid-Cycle
One of the problems that many women experience with their monthly cycle is the persistence of abdominal cramping after the end of their period.
A normal cycle does not cause its associated cramps to continue when the bleeding stops.
It could be a coincidence that the aching continues, being caused by something unrelated to the monthly cycle.
Another common issue is prolonged bleeding during menstration.
It may seem like your period is extra long, but what might be going on is another, unrelated cause of the prolonged vaginal bleeding.
If the bleeding (not residual spotting of old blood, but actual bright red bleeding) goes beyond seven days, you need to find out why this is happening.
Though this is not normal, this doesn’t mean the cause is a serious medical problem, either.
But a check by your doctor will determine what’s behind this sign so that the cause can be treated promptly.
Many women wonder about a somewhat reverse situation: spotting a week before their period starts.
Ideally, you’ll want to see a gynecologist who has a special focus on menstruation for any of your concerns and especially worries or new symptoms.
A gynecologist specializing in menstruation typically has deeper expertise in diagnosing and treating menstrual disorders, such as irregular cycles, heavy bleeding, painful periods (dysmenorrhea) or conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or endometriosis.
These specialists are more likely to stay up-to-date with the latest treatments and research specific to menstrual health.
In contrast, a general gynecologist provides broader care for a range of reproductive health issues, such as routine Pap smears, contraception and pregnancy-related care, but may not have the same level of expertise or experience in managing complex menstrual issues.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: ©Lorra Garrick
Fluttering and Thumping Heartbeat Scaring You?
What can be scarier than a heart that suddenly flutters or feels like its rapidly quivering?
This makes you feel like a heart attack is seconds away.
Not too many things are more frightening than a suddenly fluttering heartbeat.
Some people get so fixated on their heartbeat that they take frequent pulse checks throughout the day, documenting their resting heart rate, and trying to detect abnormal beats or rhythms.
This kind of obsession can cause continuous anxiety and sap joy from living.
However, the more you know about heartbeats, the more control you’ll feel; knowledge is power!
Here is a sampling of some of my heartbeat articles:
- When to worry about a fluttering heartbeat
- What causes a thumping heartbeat and how to solve this problem
- Do you get heart palpitations while strength training?
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: ©Lorra Garrick
When a Headache Means Serious Trouble vs. Benign
Pain in the head or a sudden bad headache or even a medium one that won’t go away is one of the most frightening symptoms.
That’s because the head contains the brain!
And anything involving the brain is not to be taken lightly.
But you should also know that not all headaches have their origins in the brain or head.
Some do originate from a so-called pinched nerve in the neck, or muscle tension in the neck area.
But others do mean that a serious problem is going on with the brain.
Headaches: Leading Reason People See Doctors
“Headaches are quite common and usually do not mean anything serious,” says Morton Tavel, MD, Clinical Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, and author of “Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks: A PHYSICIAN’S ADVICE.”
“They can be dull and throbbing, sharp and pinpointed, and can last for a few minutes or a few days,” continues Dr. Tavel.
“By far, the most common type headache is brought about by emotional tension, and these are called tension headaches.”
These originate in the neck and shoulder muscles, and sometimes the muscles of the head. The brain is not involved in these types of headaches.
“They can happen to anyone, at any time, any place,” says Dr. Tavel. “There is good news about headaches in general: They are very common and usually have a benign cause.
“A typical headache may last for only a few hours. Or even several minutes.”
Migraines: Trouble Coming, but Still Benign
The pain can be a level 10 on a 1 to 10 scale, but these are benign in that they aren’t life threatening.
“Migraine headaches are less common and usually follow a characteristic pattern,” says Dr. Tavel.
And that pattern often consists of a pulsing or throbbing pain, rather than steady. It’s often on one side of the head as well.
There may be a nauseous feeling with the pain that can lead to upchucking.
The patient may have considerable sensitivity to light and/or sound.
The pain may go on for days and incapacitate the sufferer.
In addition, the sufferer may have an “aura” or warning signal just before the onset of a migraine.
The warning sign may be in the form of a sudden blind spot in one’s vision, flashing lights or one-sided facial tingling.
Dr. Tavel points out that some medications may be helpful, but also that the sufferer should see a doctor about different migraine treatment options.
“The right medicines, combined with self-help remedies and lifestyle changes, may help.”
When Headaches Mean Serious Trouble
“But what if you are experiencing headaches that won’t go away and do not respond to typical treatment?” says Dr. Tavel.
Another consideration is the presence of concurrent symptoms like loss of appetite, slurred speech, being off balance or one-sided weakness.
Concurrent symptoms, depending on their nature, can signal that a headache’s cause is serious.
“A sudden headache of severe pain that occurs after a head trauma may be a symptom of a more serious medical condition,” says Dr. Tavel.
Namely, this would indicate bleeding in the brain: a subdural hematoma or a subarachnoid hemorrhage.
“Any time a head injury results in a headache [even mild], consult a physician as soon as you can.”
Seek Medical Attention ASAP for the Following Signs
Freepik.com
Stiff neck and fever. A harmless tension headache may come with neck discomfort.
These types come on gradually rather than with a bang.
So if the pain level is ultimately a 7, it didn’t start out as a 7.
The tension type typically begins subtlely, sometimes at a 0.5, then progressing to a 1, then 2, and gradually rising in pain level score.
Or, it can start as a 2. And it’s gradual from that point on as it gets worse.
The discomfort can be bad enough to keep a person in bed.
However…“a sudden, severe headache with a very stiff neck and a fever and/or sensitivity to light may mean a serious situation that requires prompt medical attention,” warns Dr. Tavel.
This could mean a migraine but it could also signal a rupturing brain aneurysm.
The hallmark descriptor for a rupturing brain aneurysm is SUDDEN AND SEVERE — like a clap of thunder.
Numbness or weakness. “Either of these symptoms with a headache, especially with another like problems walking, could indicate a serious condition; see a doctor right away,” says Dr. Tavel.
Brain tumor. Credit: James Heilman, MD
These symptoms could be caused by a brain tumor, either malignant or benign. A stroke could also cause these symptoms with head pain.
Other accompanying signs that are suspicious for a serious cause behind a headache are partial loss of or blurred vision, confusion, and very obviously, convulsions, seizures or loss of consciousness.
A headache that’s accompanied by any level of confusion, let alone loss of consciousness or seizures, likely means a serious disease or serious result of an injury.
The three most likely causes would be:
• Brain tumor
• Brain bleed
• Blood clot (ischemic stroke)
There are other origins of headaches not mentioned here, but one last origin deserves some attention: sinus.
The sinus headache can hurt as much as a tearing aneurysm.
Usually an infection is the cause, and compared to a brain tumor or aneurysm, this sounds pretty benign. But an infection needs to be promptly eradicated.
A much more serious sinus-related cause for a headache, however, is a tumor (cancerous or benign) in the nasal or surrounding cavities. These usually cause additional symptoms and are very rare.
Dr. Tavel’s medical research includes over 125 publications, editorials and book reviews in peer-reviewed national medical journals. He was formerly director of the cardiac rehabilitation program at St. Vincent Hospital in Indiana. mortontavel.com
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: ©Lorra Garrick
Causes of Diarrhea Include Cancer and Benign Conditions
Diarrhea has so many causes including parasitic worms living inside your intestines.
Ewwww! But that’s highly preferable to cancer, right?
Should you fear cancer every time you have diarrhea?
A Little Bit About Parasites in the Intestines
Intestinal parasites are relatively uncommon in the U.S. compared to developing countries, but millions are still affected.
The CDC reports that infections like pinworm, Giardia and tapeworms occur, with pinworm being the most frequent in kids.
Giardia causes about 1.2 million U.S. cases annually (CDC, 2023).
Adults in the U.S. may be at higher risk for intestinal parasites if they frequently travel internationally, consume undercooked meat or contaminated water, garden without gloves or neglect handwashing.
Close contact with infected kids, poor food hygiene and exposure to untreated recreational water also increase susceptibility to infection.
Causes of Diarrhea After Food Intake
Are you struggling with having to run to the loo with diarrhea after having something to eat? This is called post-prandial diarrhea.
Is diarrhea your only new symptom?
If diarrhea is the only problem you’ve been having — in other words, no stomach pain, no nausea, no fatigue, no unexplained weight loss — you might still be wondering if diarrhea can ever be the only symptom of colon cancer.
Whitney Jones, MD, a gastroenterologist, addresses that topic.
Orange Diarrhea?
The normal color of stools, even very loose ones, is some shade of brown.
It’s normal if they have a greenish appearance. This can reflect recent food intake.
It can also reflect swift transit through the colon. Again, this is normal.
What may be concering, though, is if diarrhea is orange.
Edward Paredez, MD, a gastroenterologist, discusses several serious causes.
