Borges

Texas is one of many states with thousands, possibly millions, of its residents suffering from chronic pain. Overall, chronic pain will affect between 15% and 33% of the U.S. population every year, and cost the nation $70 billion in medical charges, lost working days, and workers' compensation -- more than cancer and heart disease combined.

Chronic pain can be induced by a variety of situations, including work-related injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, neurological disorders, joint disease, migraines, and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Most chronic pain is located in the back, hip, and/or shoulders. Particularly with the proper health insurance coverage, however, these conditions can be effectively treated and, if not cured, at least managed. Texas is filled with clinics and doctors specializing in pain management -- from Austin, to Dallas, to Houston.

While acute pain can be beneficial -- warning, or forcing, us to stop an activity before we injurey ourselves further -- it is quite different from chronic pain. Acute pain occurs on a temporary basis, such as when spraining an ankle, or even when breaking a bone. Pain is considered chronic when it has occurred either continually, or intermittently, over a period longer than six months.

One of the major frustrations with chronic pain is that so many in Texas, and across the United States, do not respond to treatment. Because many of the cases are work-related injuries, valuable workers in cities like Houston, Dallas, and Austin are being lost. Even the strongest medications don't always work, and physicians are still not sure why. According to Dr. Zena Quezado, chief of the Department of Anesthesia and Surgical Services at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, it could be due to genetic makeup. Different enzymes metabolize these medications, and not everyone has the same enzymes, nor do they work in the same way. Varying levels of pain are also reported after the exact same procedure or injury.

Such conditions of chronic, seemingly untreatable pain can lead to anxiety, fear, depression, lack of activity, and unemployment. Its management, then, is arguably one of the most pressing health issues today throughout Texas and the rest of the United States.

While treating the various aspects of pain, including the psychological aspects, are critical, the following will focus on the major holistic forms of physical (versus psychological) treatment for chronic pain. Many health insurance policies will even cover certain treatments with the right referrals. Much of the information has been adapted from Prescriptions for Natural Healing by James F. Balch, M.D., and Phyllis A Balch, C.N.C. As always, consult a qualified health practitioner before undergoing any treatment.

(1) Acupuncture

Most acupuncture treatments performed in the United States are on victims of chronic pain, many of them back pain sufferers. An ancient Chinese practice, acupuncture is based on the belief that energy (or chi) flows through the body along certain pathways called meridians. When the flow of that energy is disturbed, unbalanced, or otherwise obstructed, pain can result. The focus of acupuncture treatments for pain, then, is to return the normal flow of energy, thereby reducing, or eliminating pain. This treatment has no known side effects, is found to be quite relaxing for most patients, and is often accompanied by herbs based on formulas thousands of years old.

Most Westerners are not accustomed to believing in a medicine that bases its principles on the flow of unseen energy, but, whatever one's personal beliefs, acupuncture seems to work. Even the National Institutes of Health reported acupuncture as "beneficial" for chronic and acute pain. Further studies have indicated its effectiveness for carpal tunnel syndrome, and that it may increase immune response, as well as stimulate the production of endorphins, a natural pain killer produced by the body. In China, certain surgeries are performed with acupuncture as their primary form of anesthesia.

(2) Chiropractic Care

Spinal manipulation is considered a "proven treatment" for lower back pain by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Though chiropractic care is effective for many conditions, treating disorders of the back and spine are, by far, the most common reason for seeking out such a practitioner.

Chiropractors focus on the spinal cord itself, believing that, if the spinal cord is able to relay unadulterated signals to the brain and other organs, then healthy function can be maintained throughout the body. Through careful adjustment of misplaced vertebrae, the spinal cord can regain its usual impulse signaling. This enables the body to restore normal nerve function -- thereby reducing or eliminating pain, and heal itself of other ailments.

(3) Massage therapy

Massage is a specific type of body work, and focuses on the manipulation of muscles and soft body tissues. It works through the promotion of muscle relaxation, by increasing circulation in the lymphatic system (thus reducing inflammation), breaking up scar tissue and adhesions, promoting blood flow and, in the case of sinus problems or certain migraines, by promoting drainage of the sinuses. For back pain sufferers, massage therapy may be instrumental in managing pain without, or with fewer, medications. Strong anecdotal evidence, obtained from thousands of practitioners' experiences, suggests that massage therapy may also help to realign tissues, tendons, and vertebrae.

Deep tissue massage is designed to release chronic muscular tension, and is generally applied with a fair amount of pressure on the affected area. There are numerous forms of massage, however, and, with so many choices, it may be best to do some research first. Look up a reputable natural health site online, or visit your local library.

(4) Herbs

Herbs are often classified in a separate category from Western medicines, and for good reason. Herbs are plant-based remedies, with no artificial or laboratory ingredients. But herbs and Western medications operate on the same principle: that, through the ingestion or application of certain substances, a desired effect may be achieved. Some herbs are very strong, or should not be taken with certain conditions, such as high blood pressure or allergies. Certain herbs, though with promising research results, are also controversial, such as marijuana. Though believed by many in the medical community to be highly effective in managing pain, it is still illegal in most states. Therefore, treat herbs as medications and never use them without consulting a knowledgeable health practitioner first.

For muscle spasms and cramps, angelica, black haw, cramp bark, kava kava, rosemary and valerian root are excellent choices. Hops, kava kava, passion flower, valerian root, wild lettuce, and wood betony also have muscle relaxing properties.

Relieve tension and nerve pain with blue violet, catnip, chamomile, gotu kola, licorice, rosemary, white willow, or wood betony teas. Use chamomile and licorice on a short-term basis only.

Capsaicin, a primary ingredient in capsicum (or cayenne pepper) can relieve pain through limiting the production of the vaguely named neural pain transmitter "substance P." Capsaicin can be taken orally, or used topically when mixed with a carrier oil or cream. Studies with capsaicin have been used to treat pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia, diabetic neuropathy, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and cluster headaches.

Essential oils of jasmine, juniper, lavender, peppermint, rose, rosemary, and thyme can be used to relieve pain. Never ingest essential oils, and always apply topically with a carrier oil, such as jojoba or almond.

Chronic pain, though at times beyond frustrating, can be a manageable condition. With proper treatment, sound research, and good decision making, even most of the worst cases can at least be improved. If you suffer from chronic pain, be persistent about pursuing different types of treatment until you find one that helps. After all, you are the one experiencing the pain, and must therefore make the best decision regarding it.

How you take care of your body, and what conditions you effectively treat, will certainly affect your health as you age, and eventually your wallet as well. If youre a young individual who tries to keep informed and maintain a healthy condition and lifestyle, you should take a look at the revolutionary, comprehensive and highly-affordable individual health insurance solutions created by Precedent specifically for you. Visit our website, www.precedent.com, for more information. We offer a unique and innovative suite of individual health insurance solutions, including highly-competitive HSA-qualified plans, and an unparalleled "real time" application and acceptance process.

Precedent puts a new spin on health insurance. Learn more at http://www.precedent.com.

There are many myths behind masturbation and the advent of the web has helped allow many of these myths to spread and gain an unfounded following who believe them to be true. Here I list many of these folklores and can categorically state they have no basis in both medical and social science.

1. Only people who cannot find sexual partners; or who are socially inadequate masturbate.

This is completely untrue. Alfred Kinsey found in his 15 years study into human sexual behaviour that 95% of all males and 60% of females have masturbated. The National Health and Social Life Survey confirmed that 48-95% of people masturbate.

2. Masturbation leads to physical problems such as mental illness and growing hair on your palms.

Again unfounded and no scientific study done over the last 150 years has been able to prove otherwise. These folktales were originally perpetrated by religious faiths (e.g. The Roman Catholic Church) who wanted to control the population by fear.

3. Masturbation ruins a person for partner sex

The use of masturbation can in fact be used as part of partner sex and mutual masturbation is common practices by many people around the world. It maybe used as part of foreplay or another way to gratify a partner without the use of sexual intercourse.

4. Men will run out of semen or sperm if they masturbate too much.

There is a limited amount of sperm that the male can produce in one day. If a man was to masturbate several times in a short period them he may run dry. The average male will ejaculate 5ml (approx. 1 teaspoon) on his first orgasm. The male will always produce more sperm if given enough time.

5. Others, including medical doctors and sexual partners, will be able to tell if you masturbate.

The quick answer is they will not be able to tell. There isnt any physical sign on a person that show after masturbation even if they did why that should bother you. Masturbation is normal and should be encouraged. If you feel the urge to masturbate then there should be no reason not too.

John Helios has a website what is the average size of a penis that is a valuable female masturbation resource. John had a scare a year back and wanted to help others by creating an online resource with is website. John used the Andro Penis to help him in older life to get a bigger penis size.

One of the greatest tax gifts is the principle residence rules for capital gains on the sale of your home. So great is the principle residence tax exclusion that even married couples filing jointly are benefited to the same, if not greater, extent as single taxpayers. Now, some people may argue that there have been, are and will be greater gifts, but not much beats the simplicity of this rule. The basics of it are immensely easy to grasp: you own a house, you live in it for at least two years, you sell it and you dont pay any taxes on the gain. Gone are the days when the young homeowner (not wishing to sell and upgrade) had to save every receipt for every upgrade, every repair, every minor item bought at the hardware store. If you have lived in your own home for two years, you probably dont have to worry.

Of course, there are some technicalities associated with the general rule. They are pretty simple so first I will bullet-point the main ones:

If you are single your capital gains exclusion is limited to $250,000.00
If you are married your capital gains exclusion is limited to $500,000.00
You have to own the home and it has to be your primary residence for two of the previous five years

What is your primary residence? Basically, it is a home that you personally live in the majority of the year. If you have a house in Palm Beach and one in Lake Tahoe and you spend 8 months of the year at the Tahoe home than that is your primary residence. But, keep in mind the 2 out of 5 part of the rule. Lets say that the next year you spend 7 months at the Palm Beach house. Then the Palm Beach home is your primary that year. See where I am going with this? You can primary more than one home at once over a five year period so long as each is your main home for at least two years during that five year period. Temporary absences are also counted as periods of use even if you rent the property during those absences (but talk to your accountant about recapturing any rental depreciation).

Now dont let the five year requirement confuse you it only takes two years to achieve the tax exclusion. The five year part is a bonus, allowing you some freedom. You dont have to personally use the home as your primary residence for two consecutive years or for the two years immediately before you sell, you just have to use it is your primary residence for two of the previous five years. But, it is also a limitation, you cannot live in a house for two years and then rent it for four years and then get the exclusion. You could live in it for two years and then rent it for three years and then sell it (so long as it is sold within the five year mark from when you first lived in it as your primary residence).

Also, bear in mind that married couples do not have to live together. So long as one spouse lives in the primary residence for the two years than the couple can take advantage of the $500,000.00 exclusion. But, they cannot primary two homes at once and get the $500,000.00 exclusion on both. If they live apart during the two year period and each sell their primary then they are each limited to the single taxpayer exclusion of $250,000.00 for each house.

If you have a home office or rental as part of your primary residence or run a business out of a portion of your property, your ability to maximize your capital gains exclusion largely depends upon whether the home office, business or rental was part of your home (in the same dwelling unit) or a separate part of your property (a separate building or apartment). If the business use of your home was contained within your dwelling unit then upon sale you will need to recapture any depreciation taken for that part of the home. But you will not lose any of the allowable capital gains exclusion ($250,000.00 for single taxpayers and $500,000.00 for married filing jointly). If the business use of your home was not a part of your dwelling unit then you need to bifurcate the sale by allocating the basis of the property and the amount realized upon its sale between the business or rental part and the part used as a home.

Remember, only one home can be sold in any two year period unless you and your spouse live apart, and even then you can each only take the single payer exclusion of up to $250,000.00. But what if you need to sell a home that you have not lived in for the full two years? The IRS tells us that in special circumstances you can sell a home before you reach the two year mark and get a pro-rated exclusion. An example of a pro-rated exclusion is, for example, if you are a single taxpayer and have to sell your primary residence for a qualified reason after living in it only one year than you could exclude up to $125,000.00. In other words, you lived in the home 50% of the requisite time so you can take 50% of the allowable exclusion. The special circumstances that qualify you for this safe harbor and allow you to take the pro-rated exclusion have to do with health (yours and certain qualified individuals such as close relatives), change of employment or what the IRS calls unforeseen circumstances (examples include death, natural or man-made disasters, multiple births form the same pregnancy, divorce) These circumstances also have to cause you to sell your home. Factors used by the IRS to determine causation include:

Your sale and the circumstances causing it were close in time,
The circumstances causing your sale occurred during the time you owned and used the property as your main home,
The circumstances causing your sale were not reasonably foreseeable when you began using the property as your main home,
Your financial ability to maintain your home materially changed, and
The suitability of your property as a home materially changed.

1031 Exchanges and the Primary Residence Rule

What happens if you do a like kind tax deferred exchange (also known as a 1031 exchange) of rental property or other property held for investment and then later decide to live in the property that was purchased? It is crucial to your 1031 exchange that both the property sold and the property purchased are held for investment. The property purchased must undergo a holding period before it is resold or converted into non-investment property. That holding period should be a year and a day to avoid audit. After you have complied with the held for investment requirement by, for example, renting the property if it is rental property, then what? Well, you could sell the property and pay your taxes on that sale and all previous sales that were perhaps in a series of exchanges or exchange and defer the tax once again, OR you could live in the house as your primary residence. If you have a had a series of gains that you have deferred this is a way to extinguish your tax debt forever - all you have to do is move into your investment property once the holding period for it qualifying as an investment is over.

Gaining the primary residence exclusion for property that was 1031 property isnt as easy as the simpler primary residence rules talked about above, but it does allow you to take advantage of two loopholes at once! The main difference when primary residencing a 1031 exchanged property is that you actually have to hold the property for 5 years. The five year part here is a substantive rule, you cannot sell after only 2 years of ownership as you can if you were simply primary residencing a home that was not exchanged into. But that first year that you had to hold onto the home for investment goes towards the five year calculation. So, you rent it for two years and live in it for three, or vice-versa, so long as you kick the whole thing off with a one year rental period and live in it two of the remaining four years.

In this way, you can exclude up to a total of $500,000.00 worth of gain (if you are married filing jointly or $250,000.00 worth of gain if you are a single taxpayer) from the combined gains of the sale of the home you ended up living in as your primary residence, and any of the gains that you had previously 1031 exchanged. For example, say you purchased a duplex in May of 2000 for $150,000.00 and then in June of 2001 you 1031 exchanged the duplex (now worth $200,000.00) into a commercial building worth $200,000.00 (thus deferring $50,000.00 worth of gain). A few years later the commercial building is worth $300,000.00 and you do another exchange, this time into a nice single family home worth $350,000.00 (you have to put in an additional $50,000.00 to complete the purchase). You have now deferred a total of $150,000.00 worth of gain. Lets say you then choose to rent the home for the first two years that you own it and then you later decide to move into the home. You then live in the house for three years at which point it is now worth $700,000.00 and you sell it for this amount. You and your spouse have now effectively wiped out not only the $350,000.00 gain from the sale of your primary residence, but the previous $150,000.00 worth of gain as well.

People all over the world are fascinated with athletes and sports. No matter where you go, children can be congregating around a soccer ball, and will be kicking it amongst themselves. Teens may be gathered at the basketball court, engaged in friendly games while sweating their afternoon away. Even the elderly like to take up sports such as swimming and jogging in order to maintain their health.

Fun and body sculpting aside, sports also holds a certain enthrallment for those who love to watch athletes run, jump, dive, and score. The excitement is even greater if the athletes are playing for a city, club, province, or country, so that they seem to be fighting whole wars for their fans. In the United Kingdom, there are many such sports that have such popularity, they can breed obsession in their fans, not to mention hooligans and gang wars.

Autographed sports memorabilia are also available in the UK, and they can come from the countrys most popular, crowd-drawing, crowd-pleasing sports. If you are interested in memorabilia, you can avail of the following.

- Although Americans call it soccer, the rest of the world calls it football, and what a wonderful game it is. Football is a popular sport in the UK, where clubs fight it out for a chance to be the countrys best as well as the chance to join major tournaments such as the World Cup or the Euro Cup. As a result of this obsession, there are thousands of autographed football memorabilia available. You can have autographed jerseys, footballs, even shoes and socks from your favorite football players!

There are also autographed photographs and newspaper articles available for the UKs football clubs, although jerseys and other autographed sportswear are more prized. Whenever the World Cup comes along, most autographed football memorabilia can fetch high prices, especially for those who loyally follow Englands national team.

- Cricket is another popular English sport. This is the one game where sessions can last for days, and where players stop for afternoon tea. Because of its uniqueness, cricket has its own following, especially in the former British colonies of India and Bangladesh. There are likewise many autographed cricket memorabilia available, such as jerseys, paddles, and photos of major players.

- Rugby is popular in both the UK and Australia, and can be played any time, whether the sun is beating down, or the rain is pouring onto the pitch. This messy, fascinating game has its own sports memorabilia: there are many autographed jerseys available, as well as posters of major teams. The New Zealand rugby team even had its players donate their DNA to serve as part of a posters ink!

- From the land that invented golf comes signed sports memorabilia for all golf fans around the world. There are golf shirts, golf bags, caps, pictures, and even clubs signed by your favorite golfers, thanks to collectors from the UK.

- Many other popular UK sports have their own share of autographed memorabilia. Horse racing, rowing, snooker, and tennis have their own legions of fans, all of whom can be satisfied with the latest autographed photos, paddles, shirts, and tickets from their favorite players.

Although this list is by no means comprehensive, it should give you a fairly rough idea of what autographed sports memorabilia you can find in the UK. For more information, consult collectors shops and look for collections online, where you can truly satiate your desire for autographed sports memorabilia.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information about authentic autographed sports memorabilia and collectibles, visit http://www.sportscollectionz.com . Read articles from contributing writers in our blog site at http://sportscollectionz.wordpress.com