Especially if you’re predominantly a natural Vata body-mind, you’re likely sensitive to changing daily weather, body, and health conditions (and can have hypochondria or health worry tendencies).
To a sturdy, unaffected Kapha or a strong, enduring Pitta, your Vata body health thoughts could be seen somewhere between hypochondria thinking and healthy prevention.
We all have traces of each body type in us (air/space, water/fire, and earth/water in more eastern world dosha term descriptions), and at any time, any of us can get off-balance for a day, a season, or longer.
If you’re experiencing any natural body type imbalances these can start off as minor body annoyances, but that can gradually aggravate your quality of life as they grow and the season goes on–so it’s better to nip them in the bud and make the healthier lifestyle changes/choices now or asap.
Today I wanted to share how you can handle and next steps for any of your less-than feel-good (unhealthy) body symptoms (that we all will run into at some point in our lives).
If you’re a super sensitive person, seek healthy prevention ways, live a healthy, balanced lifestyle balance, or are even a slight germophobe, then you may have hypochondria tendencies that can be good and bad, and I wanted to delve deeper into how you can play up the good sides and get rid of the bad tendencies as a healthy lifestyle choice you make…
In some countries outside the U.S., like our sister countries, Italy and France, hypochondria ways of thinking are known to permeate the culture. So a French Vata person is more likely to be adaptive to healthy preventative ways and body health self-awareness. They can also get inside their minds a little too much, e.g. taking more than they need or before symptoms arise.
So let’s look at both sides.
The Good In Hypochondria
If you consider yourself a hypochondriac (or know of someone who is), you can help detect and prevent health issues with solid facts and knowledge, as you probably like to Google and research health symptoms and solutions, and read health articles to become aware of the latest trends and outbreaks.
You can replace old health beliefs with better ones as they evolve, a concept that’s never-ending.
You can be more in-tune with your body so that when you do have a health concern that needs to be addressed, you know which specialists to see over general help, as you’re been a researcher and live in and feel parts of your body.
You can also share helpful, health information with other people to bring awareness to better health ideas, such as OTC medicine knowledge and alternative medicine solution paths that you learn.
The Not-So-Good In Hypochondria
But then there’s the other side…
You can go down the wrong diagnosis rabbit-hole believing that something is causing your health issue that’s not based on all the facts.
You can falsely imagine your health scenarios worsening that cause anxious-worry energy, that further hurt your health or symptoms in our human bi-directional mind-body connections.
You can also become less productive and stressed as you believe yourself as a sick person or feeling less than 100%. Some of these thoughts can lead to chronic ailments or symptoms that last longer than a week.
So, the balance between healthy and unhealthy hypochondria thinking is doing and attempting the right things that don’t over or under-react to the symptoms you’re experiencing.
Observing your body, and gathering data from the opinions of others around you can be a good, first step sounding board. And of course, talking to a medical professional when it’s necessary.
Some people tend to go to the doctor for everything and anything, and then there are others who won’t tend to go unless they’re seriously ill and you have to convince them to go to the hospital. In general, you want to be somewhere in between these two extremes.
When you talk to friends and co-workers first, they will likely share their learned health journey experiences. They may advise seeing a doctor and that could be the next healthy step, but before that, here’s how you can handle almost any change in daily, health situation that comes up without a known cause and before you have a diagnosis.
And, before you consider seeing a doctor or reach for your medicine cabinet to treat symptoms with no known cause, you can ask yourself objectively:
On a scale of 1-10 — how severe (feelings, pain, and appearance) are your symptoms relative to your normal daily health?
If you generally answer with a number below 7 or 8, then put it to rest until the next day where you check in with your symptoms again. You want to put your thoughts to rest so you get a good night’s sleep for your body to do its daily body repair and restore. Drink enough water during the day and calming herbal tea a few hours before bed.
Too often we get in the habit to just pop a daily pill in hopes to eliminate symptoms and pain, that aren’t good for our bodies long-term. And if you take OTC medicine like cough syrup, then you can mask symptoms that need to be looked at by a professional.
So then, step 2, after you settle into your next day, ask yourself the same rating question you asked the day before and see what your 1-10 answer is. If it’s a lower number than the previous day, then forget about your symptom. If it’s higher, do a little research on what you could do for the symptoms and until you hit 7-8 or higher, you can wait and see (as remember, this is relative to you so you’re answering to your tolerance level).
But in general, a sore arm for a day where you can still move the arm gently without harm would be a 5 or less without other symptoms or without known cause and end. If you’ve been healthy most of your life, you may not know or have a good sense of what symptoms are and feel fine (vs. other times that need medical attention).
Again, for your 1-10 rating question, weigh what other rational people and health resources you ask, say about what your symptoms sound or look like, so you can better consider your next options to get to the root cause and cure faster. If you’re unsure of what health symptoms you’re experiencing, lean on their credible opinions and weigh with yours, increasing or decreasing your current 1-10 rating if you’re unsure.
Then again on day 3, ask the same question again (as you want to be methodical), and if the number is higher than the previous day, or moves to 7-8 or higher, then consider seeking medical solutions such as OTC medicines if your symptoms keep you up at night. You may want to make a doctor’s appointment at that point. That will help you sleep with peace that night as you’ve made progress advocating to find your health solutions.
But keep in mind (even if you’re busy) that these types of symptoms could be emergencies:
You’re not able to move around on your own like with a fall or from an accident, you’re not able to get a full, consistent breath, you blackout even for a few seconds, you have oozing pus, you have change in skin color and swelling, you have blood loss that doesn’t stop after being bandaged, or you see blood in your stool or cough… these are some signs that could be very serious and need your immediate attention.
You see, it can be too easy to get inside your head and over-rationalize that your symptoms aren’t severe after a few days of feeling the same symptoms, so then you want to pay attention in those first few critical days and take photos on your phone to see the progress if they are visible symptoms. You can delete the photos later.
If they’re not visible signs like a headache feeling below a 5, without other symptoms or reason for concern, then cautiously observe and record in notes when you feel the worst in the day.
For unhealthy hypochondria thinking, a headache can be seen as problematic when it could have gone away in a day with enough rest, no worrying (just recording notes), taking a relaxing shower, walking outside, drinking enough water, and maybe some V-8 juice that’s known to do wonders for mild headaches and hangovers.
If after a few days, your symptoms objectively get worse, then you could escalate to the next level. Be prepared but hope for the best! Sometimes worried thoughts are best put to rest with a test validation from a doctor’s examination.
Knowing the facts can provide a sense of peace, from knowing what to do (over uncertainty).
When to See a Trained Medical Specialist
So after a few days in non-emergencies, when you don’t have answers or you and others around you think your symptoms can be more serious, you’re smart to get a professional medical opinion.
Even if you’re a trained doctor, you may not be a specialist with the health issue you’re facing, so you could want a second opinion as a patient… just like hairstylists may trim, but don’t usually cut their own hairstyles and surgeons won’t operate on their close family members (and definitely not themselves!).
When You’re Healthy
I’m all for natural solutions when the body is running smoothly–the default we all aim for. Herbs, supplements, and natural solutions for daily prevention, joy, balance, and mild, common symptoms, but if your health situation and symptoms get too serious, eating anti-inflammatory spices like turmeric, applying anti-bacterial Manuka honey, and apple cider vinegar won’t likely fix your problems that need deeper repair.
They can help any time but are most useful during healthier, preventative days.
Mother Nature’s solutions (like healthy, organic foods) can help with long-term disease, infection prevention, short-term inflammation prevention, and lowering heartburn or acidity, and other mild symptoms. And that’s why healthy hypochondria, cardio exercise, and staying at your healthy weight are good to prevent inflammation and diseases like diabetes, which are known to be caused by lifestyle choices.
The idea is to find healthy choices that you like, so you choose and develop habits incorporating them in your life. For example, I like most healthy foods because of the health benefits that give me peace and satisfaction (reward), and over time, I’ve grown to love most of them (changed desires through changed habits).
I can always find these better-customized choices in pretty much anyone who wants to help themselves because that’s my belief and passion.
If you want to learn more about what your current, mild to moderate body symptoms are telling you, take the 2-minute body balance quiz to receive free personalized, healthy lifestyle tips you can start making today.