A round up of stuff I hope you find interesting, amusing, inspiring or helpful for you or your family in some way. Enjoy x
Hi everyone,
Sorry I’m a bit late this week. Still busy looking after the one-on-crutches! Also, dentist for yet more mouth pain this week – they found a shard of bone that had come out of nowhere, presumably from an old tooth extraction, and was stabbing me in my tongue right at the back. Honestly, I’d be fascinated by the things my body is capable of if it weren’t mine and painful!! Anyway, chomped on some proper food today instead of puree/smoothies, which made me feel like an adult rather than a baby!
Hope you treated yourself to the lovely Inlight Beauty stuff last week – Mother’s Day is not just for Mothers (or is that dogs not just for Christmas?). Either way, we deserve treats, mothers or not. And for those of you, like me, who are missing your Mums, I am sending big fat hugs, too xxx
Quick tip: to find all past newsletters just go to the archive tab :). All posts are searchable too. And catch up with all the Notes I write each week on the Notes tab.
Have a great week, and enjoy this issue…
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Noise Pollution
Did you see this really interesting article on the BBC about how noise is seriously damaging our health? As one of you who alerted me to it said: “It must be even worse for those of us with already overactive amygdalas and nervous systems!” Yep. Apparently, we should aim to be exposing ourselves no more than 53 decibels most of the time. Fat chance of that in most places, I’d say.
Picture: from the BBC article.
Noise really gets to me. Part of the reason we moved away from Warwick to Cornwall was so that I could get more peace. Don’t get me wrong: I love a live music gig and a noisy pub. Temporarily. I like the sound of the people enjoying themselves at the seaside. As long as they’re not screeching right outside my window. But if you are walking on the floor above my flat, talking really loudly at me or becoming more and more shrill with every drink (holiday makers next door take note), just know that you are causing me noise stress and I’ve probably had to move to a different room.
I grant you: it’s nothing compared to sirens wailing past, cars honking, people shouting or trains, planes and automobiles thundering past at all times. I truly would not be able to cope. White noise earphones, ear plugs etc – what do you use?
I think the most chilling message in the article was how we need to see noise as just as harmful to health as air pollution and toxic chemicals.
Dr Foraster argues the health impact of noise is “at the level of air pollution” but is much harder to comprehend.
“We are used to understanding that chemicals can affect health and they are toxic, but it’s not so straightforward to understand that a physical factor, like noise, affects our health beyond our hearing,” she says.
Amen to that. If you stick us MCAS and hypersensitivity sufferers in a noisy, smelly environment, I’ll guarantee we’re not going to be happy – or well.
So, solutions? V, who sent me the article, suffers badly herself and shared these tips for us all:
Construction ear defenders, with bluetooth/aux cable so that a person can still talk on the phone, listen to music, listen to audio books etc. Helps so much!
Ear plugs for concerts/clubs/noisy environments like some cafes and restaurants. There is a brand called Loop that make different soft silicone earplugs for different situations. I use them myself, handy for cinema! I also use the Sleep ones, and they are ok for side sleepers too.
One caveat though is not to wear ear covers or plugs all the time. Ears need to breathe to prevent infection. And no one likes an ear infection, so painful!
Hope that helps.
Update on Hibiscus Powders: One OK, One Not.
As per my previous newsletter on using Hibiscus tea for blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, mast cell calming etc, I have found that I do much better on the Aquasol make rather than the Aduna. I think I reacted MCAS-wise to the Aduna, which is odd, but when I thought about it, I realised I have reacted to every Aduna superfood I have tried so far – Moringa, Cacao and now Hibiscus. No idea why – seems perfectly ok, the packaging maybe or some different way of growing/grinding it? As MCASs, we rarely know. But I thought I’d pass that on in case. Maybe I should just get the hibiscus flowers and grind them myself – usually safer. Can you grow hibiscus in the UK??
Clinic News: Shop Test Links
Another quick reminder about the Regenerus test links being broken on the shop. I apologise. They now go to a generic page rather than to the test itself, rather helpfully. I wrote about it in a previous issue here.
Not sure what I am going to do about it quite yet as it is a LOT of work to correct them all. Am thinking….
Shameless Plug
I know quite a few of you like to read my sister’s funny fiction (funny as in humorous rather than weird). So, I thought I’d let you know that she has just released Home Bird, the sequel to Cuckoo In The Nest that everyone begged her for. It literally only launched on Thursday last week but is gaining fab reviews already, it seems. If you fancy a chuckle, but also a moving story, get yourself a copy. 99p on audio at the moment, I notice. Leave her a review if you like it and encourage her to keep writing about Jackie in novel number three!
Tissue Inflammation & Repair After Injury or Surgery, Part 2
I promised you more on healing after surgery, accidents or falls – and hope you never need it! Check archives for the previous newsletter with the first bit of this in. I’ve gathered this all together and added a section onto the A-Z for you here. Cos I’m nice like that 🙂
Here’s the next section…
Swelling and Oedema After Surgery or Injury
You’ll likely have some swelling and fluid build up (oedema) after any injury or operation. That’s normal, but we don’t want it to hang around and start pooling as it brings a higher risk of things like cellulitis etc.
Use gravity to help you by elevating the affected area if you can. And try compression bandages if advised.
Once assured it is OK, you can start to apply gentle massage to push any stagnant lymph towards the lymph nodes. You can have a specialist do this for you – especially if you have had cancer or a major illness – it’s a good idea to have one session and let them show you how to carry on with it yourself if appropriate.
Essential oils can really help with lymph and swelling. Try a couple of drops of grapefruit and geranium in some olive oil or any balm or cream that suits. Use St Johns Wort oil if you have nerve pain.
Tip: aromatherapy dosage – generally use 4 drops of essential oil to 10ml of base oil or cream. Max 20 drops in 50ml.
Wound and Scar Healing
Once the wound has closed, you may be advised to massage it to help break up adhesions or scar tissue. Use something that will nourish the skin really well. You could use the aloe as mentioned above and/or a scar tissue product like this.
Pure pomegranate, rosehip or borage oil would be great. Even better if you put in a couple of drops of frankincense essential oil.
Tip: To help promote healing if a wound is inflamed, you could mix some Traumeel from above in a base (with no essential oil) and combine it with arnica and aloe oil.
There is some research to suggest that proteolytic enzyme supplements can help to break down adhesions and excess scar tissue. I’ve not had any experience with that, but other practitioners said it really works when I asked them. The most common one used in the UK is Intenzyme Forte. But I’m told much of the original research was done on Wobenzyme, which is a US make and not that easy to get in the UK. Whichever make you choose, ask the manufacturer or your practitioner for advice on when best to start it and what dosage to use.
I think something like Inflammatone might be useful after you finish the Arthrosoothe as it contains plenty of anti-inflammatories and the correct proteolytic enzymes.
That’s it for this issue, folks.
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Issue 5, March 2025