Understanding

Understanding the Different Skin Cancer Types and How to Prevent Them

Cancer is a word that many of us fear. Hearing that you or a loved one have developed skin cancer can make your mind jump to conclusions out of shock and worry.

But just what types of skin cancers are dangerous, and how can you prevent yourself from getting skin cancer?

There are a few skin cancer types that vary in severity and can be prevented with different treatments. 

What is Skin Cancer?

Skin cancer is what happens when the cells that make up your skin begin to mutate into cancer cells that divide out of control. It is the most common type of cancer that occurs in the United States to this day. 

While skin cancer usually occurs on skin that is exposed to sunlight, it can also form in the lower layers of skin and be harder to detect. 

Skin Cancer Types and Treatment Options

While there are many different types of skin cancer, there are four common types that will be discussed. Here are the signs, symptoms, and treatments for each type of common skin cancer.

Basal Cell Carcinoma

Basal cell carcinoma is among the most common and least worrisome type of skin cancer. It often develops on areas of the skin that are the most exposed to sunlight, including the scalp, face, and neck area.

It shows itself as a mildly transparent bump on the skin, though it can take other forms as well. Some signs of this type of cancer can include:

• Pearly white bumps on the skin, or a bump of skin with a translucent outside; these often have visible blood vessels underneath and has a tendency to rupture or bleed
• Brown, black, or blue lesions with a raised, translucent border
• Scaly reddish patches on the back or chest
• Waxy white lesions without a visible border

While basal cell carcinoma is usually not dangerous, you should contact a doctor if you notice any sudden changes to an existing bump, or if a bump that was previously removed has resurfaced. 

If you should discover a bump on your skin, don’t worry—basal cell carcinoma can usually be removed with a simple skin biopsy, or removing the small piece of cancerous skin. Cases of basal cell carcinoma spreading or developing into other types of cancer are rare, but you should still talk with your doctor about it to be safe.

Dr. Johnny Gurgen specializes in the removal of skin cancers and can help you to make sure your skin is healthy again. 

Melanoma

Melanoma is a far more serious type of skin cancer that can develop anywhere on the body, though it primarily appears in areas of skin that are exposed to sunlight. The most at-risk individuals for developing melanoma are women under 40 years old, though anyone is capable of getting it. 

Melanomas often begin as changes to existing moles, such as growths or darkened skin. However, they can also appear suddenly on otherwise normal skin.

There are steps you can take to find out if your mole is normal and healthy. Check to see if it:

1. Has an irregular border or shape
2. Has changed in color noticeably
3. Has grown larger than 6 millimeters in diameter
4. Has changed in either look, size, or sensation, such as if it has grown itchy or painful over time

If any of the above circumstances are true, then you should go to get it checked by a doctor, as it may be a melanoma. It’s crucial to catch this type early so that it doesn’t go unchecked.

Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer

Nonmelanoma skin cancer is a broad term used to describe any cancer that isn’t melanoma. This encompasses any rarer type of skin cancer, and as such has a variety of treatment options depending on the type of cancer involved.

These types of cancers will often need to be removed through surgery; if you’ve noticed any odd changes to your skin that you can’t account for, talk with your doctor about nonmelanoma skin cancer today.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Skin

While not life-threatening, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin can be a particularly aggressive form of cancer that can cause serious damage if left untreated. This is because it tends to form in deeper layers of the skin. 

This type of cancer is also prone to spreading along the skin and through other parts of the body as well. If you notice any new, painful red sores on your skin or inside of your mouth that doesn’t go away on its own, you should talk with your doctor immediately.

How to Prevent Skin Cancer

Fortunately, there are many different ways that you can protect yourself from getting skin cancer. Certain lifestyle changes and protective measures can help to keep you safe from skin cancer, such as:

• Keeping away from direct sunlight, tanning beds, and other forms of UV light
• Wearing sunscreen year-round while outside
• Wearing protective clothing to prevent sun damage
• Examining your skin frequently for changes or variations in moles or bumps

By keeping these tips in mind and checking yourself regularly, you can help protect yourself from developing skin cancer. 

Keep Your Skin Healthy

Now that you know the different skin cancer types and how to prevent them, you’re ready to start living your new healthy life with proper precautions in place. Keep yourself healthy, happy, and cancer-free, and remember to check your skin frequently for any potential changes. 

What have you learned about skin cancer? Have you had experiences with any of the above skin cancers that you’d like to share?

We’d love to hear your thoughts! Be sure to leave a comment with your story down below, and any tips you have for protecting yourself against skin cancer.

How to Help an Addict: A Guide to Understanding Addiction

Understanding addiction can be difficult for those who have no first-hand experience of coping with it.

But when it comes to helping someone that you’re close to that is struggling with an addiction, it is essential that you develop empathy for their situation and try and understand what they are going through.

So, what can we do to try to understand what our loved ones are going through?

In this article, we’ll talk about addiction and all of the ways that you can help someone who is struggling with an addiction.

What Causes Addiction?

If you want to know how to understand addiction, you will first need to learn about addiction and what can cause it.

The word addiction comes from the Latin word for ‘enslaved by.’ If you have experienced addiction yourself, you will understand why this turn of phrase is used.

There are three elements to addiction. Firstly there is the craving for the object of the addiction; secondly, there is the loss of control over its use, and thirdly, there is the inability to stop even when it is having a detrimental effect on your life or health.

Many people associate addiction with drink and drugs; however, it is possible to get addicted to gambling, sex, the internet, video games, eating, shopping, and much more.

Addiction centers around the part of our brains that process enjoyment. When we do something or consume something we enjoy, our brains produce dopamine.

When the brain’s reward system gets flooded with dopamine, the hippocampus stores the memories of this rapid sense of satisfaction, and the amygdala creates a conditioned response to the stimuli.

Over time, and through repeated use, more and more dopamine will be required to reach the same levels. This means that a greater hit of the object of the addiction is required.

Understanding addiction means realizing that the way that these hormones interact with the different parts of the brain is the root cause of the problem.

How Can You Help Someone With an Addiction?

There are several ways that you can help someone with an addiction. With your help and support, they can overcome their addiction, and it can become more manageable.

Here are some steps you can take to support someone with an addiction.

Understanding Addiction

One of the most important things that you can do for someone with any form of addiction is to take the time to understand the addiction. Realize that they don’t just have poor willpower or an inability to make good life choices.

Addiction is powerful and cunning; if someone has developed an addiction to something, then it will take a lot of hard work and willpower to break that addiction.

Learn about how their addiction affects them. Over time, addicts learn to hide their addiction in shame and secrecy. By helping them break down the secrecy associated with the addiction, you’ll be able to start unpicking everything that is associated with it.

The more you can learn about their addiction, the better. Try and ask questions in a non-judgemental way and be supportive in your responses. Understand that it will be hard for them to open up to you about their addiction.

Talk to Your Loved One

If someone that you’re close to is going through a trying time with an addiction, they will need your support. They don’t need your judgment or your anger at them. Try your best to show them as much support as you possibly can.

Take the time to talk to them and be there for them when they need to talk to you. Opening up about addiction is hard; however, it will be very beneficial in their recovery to have the support of those that are close.

Research Options for Treatment and Support

When someone is in the throes of their addiction, they may not be able to see a way out for themselves. Help them out by researching the various different support options which may be available to them.

There are several options available. A rehab clinic may be a good first step, but this should be followed up with continued outpatient support, help from a therapist, or membership of a twelve-step program.

Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

An inpatient program for a drink or drug addiction will usually start with a period of detoxification. During this time, the addict will get rid of the drug from their system. This will help them to deal with the immediate physical cravings and withdrawals associated with their substance use.

Once the drugs or alcohol have left their system for enough time, it will be time to engage in rehabilitation. This will include group therapy, one-to-one counseling, and other activities such as meditation or yoga.

The idea of rehabilitation is that it will identify the problems in the addict’s life, which caused them to turn to their addiction in the first place.

Join a Twelve-Step Program

One of the most effective ways of dealing with addiction is to join a twelve-step program. There are programs available for many different forms of addiction. The most famous twelve-step program is Alcoholics Anonymous.

Participation in a twelve-step program will see the addict looking into various areas of their lives and reviewing how their addiction has made them behave. For many, there is a strong religious element to this format, although you don’t have to be religious to follow this path.

Helping an Addict

If you really want to help an addict through their addiction, spend some time learning about and understanding addiction. Once you know how their addiction affects them, help them further by suggesting programs of recovery and by being someone that they can speak to.

For more useful articles, be sure and explore the rest of the site.

Both automation and orchestration have the ability to make complex and repetitive business processes seamless, regardless of whether your data is stored in the cloud or an on-site server. However, many confuse orchestration and automation, but there is a big difference between the two. If you understand what each term means and how it can help your business, you will be more likely to make the right choice.

Understanding Automation

Automation is used for a single repetitive task that a bot completes without human intervention. Generally, automation is used for manual processes that are laborious and time-intensive. It helps to make the processes more efficient and reliable.

In the world of IT, automation can be used for a wide array of tasks and processes. Whether it is deploying or integrating an application, creating service tickets, or securing endpoints, automation can prove to be of great assistance. You can use automation for cloud and on-site tasks.

Understanding Orchestration

While automation is used for a single task or function, service orchestration software is used for the entire workflow. It can help you manage large-scale networks and the virtual environment. It is possible to use the software to integrate as well as schedule automated tasks between complicated and complex services and distributed networks. It enables you to simplify and streamline connected workflows, workloads, and processes that are repetitive.

With the help of orchestration, it is possible to automate the management, arrangement as well as the coordination of complex services, middleware, systems, and networks within the computing environment. It also aids in directing automated processes to support bigger and more complex workflows.

A majority of IT teams manage hundreds, if not thousands, of applications. Hence, it is not feasible to administer these applications manually. An RPA orchestrator is required to ensure you have access to available, performing, and dynamically scaling applications and systems so that the IT team is not weighed down by heavy burden.

The Difference Between Automation and Orchestration

Now that you know what is automation and orchestration, it is time to look at the difference between the two.

In simple and layman’s terms, automation is used for a single task while orchestration is used to automate multiple tasks within a workflow with the aim to streamline it and make it less laborious and time-consuming. In doing so, orchestration helps to optimize workflows.

A good example to explain orchestration is an app. When you use orchestration, it not only helps to deploy the app but also aids in connecting the application to the entire network so that it can communicate not just with the user but also apps in the network.

When you use orchestration for cloud computing, you can rest assured that the software will ensure automated spin-up activities, such as auto-scaling, occurs in the right order, and also follows the necessary security protocols and also makes certain that the permissions are in place.

Importance of Orchestration Software

In the modern IT landscape, automation plays an important role. It can handle repetitive workflows, deploy applications, and even manage the lifecycles of multiple applications. It works to facilitate enterprise-level security and also offers flexible monitoring as well as visualization.

In case you are wondering why organizations are embracing orchestration software, here are some of the benefits that you should know:

• It helps to minimize human error by automatically handling the setup as well as the execution of tasks that you automate
• Ensures users get the right permissions, thereby preventing unauthorized access to the automation system
• Minimizes virtually all human intervention for managing automatic tasks
• Makes the process of setting up data integration simpler by handling the governing policies related to the integration
• Provides a generalized infrastructure that takes away the need to build ad-hoc tools
• Offers wide-ranging diagnostics that enable you to debug and audit more quickly
• Integrates easily with existing data management systems

There you have it – the difference between automation and orchestration, and why companies are moving from manual orchestration to orchestration software. 

Understanding Neck Pain: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments

At any one time, 10 percent of the adult population is usually suffering from neck pain.

This condition usually occurs due to several reasons, including injury, degenerative disc disease, neck strain, and a herniated disc. If you’re experiencing the pain, there are ways you can prevent it from wrecking your life.

Simple changes in your lifestyle may be able to avoid the pain before it starts. It’s also important to know the signs that your pain is severe and it’s time to see a doctor or start therapy.

Here’s everything you ever wanted to know about understanding your neck pain.

How to Get Rid of Neck Pain

Apart from ibuprofen, there’s not really a magic pill that will get rid of your pain. The best way to get rid of your neck pain is to figure out what’s causing it and make some changes.

The most common cause of neck pain is bad posture. There are some things you might be doing every day that can be hurting your posture. Here are some simple changes and fixes to improve your posture and decrease your pain.

Fix Your Posture

Bad posture is one of the most significant factors that cause neck pain, and it’s likely caused by hunching over your computer or phone all day. Here are some other factors that can lead to bad posture and eventually neck pain that you might not even be aware of.

If you carry a heavy bag on one side of your body like a messenger bag, this is terrible for your alignment. This sends the alignment of your back out and causes one side of your body to overcompensate.

Being overweight is another cause of neck pain. Again, you are carrying extra weight to a different area of the body which messes up your posture. Carrying too much weight can pull your muscles in different directions which causes pain in areas like the neck.

If you’re always wearing high heels and tight clothes, this can really lead to bad posture, and this changes your center of gravity which screws up your position.

Be aware of how you walk. Often we walk a certain way because of habit. If you’re walking with slumped shoulders and your head down, you’re messing up your body’s alignment and posture which can lead to pain.

If you have past pain injuries, you might be carrying your body in an unnatural way to deal with that pain. This can lead to a habit of bad posture which is hurting your neck.

Watch Out for Text Neck

Text neck is what happens when you lean over your phone to text, leading to bad posture. Prevent this hunching over by bringing your phone’s screen up to your eye level; this will prevent your neck from tipping forward, but also make sure your screen isn’t too high.

Prevent yourself from placing your phone on a table or near your lap. If you’re using a tablet, make sure to prop it up, so it’s eye level, especially if you’re using it over a long period.

Don’t Slouch While Sitting

Be sure that when you’re sitting in a chair that you’re not slouching and your spine is up straight and fully supported. Your chair’s height is important, you should be able to rest your feet on the floor comfortably, and your knees should be level to your hips.

You want to make sure that your monitor is eye level when you sit up straight. If you sit for an extended period, make sure your walk around regularly. If you experience any pain or discomfort, that’s your body telling you it can’t deal, so make an adjustment.

Try The Soldier Sleeping Position

This exercise can help your pain. Just lie down with your head and neck resting on a pillow. Then push your head backward like you’re making a double chin, while you gently press your head back into the pillow.

Do this for 5 seconds for 10 to 15 times. It might feel like your throat is being blocked, but that’s actually completely normal. This exercise might also help you get better sleep.

Try a Sternocleidomastoid (SCM) Stretch

To do this stretch, sit in a chair or stand up straight and rotate your head to the right as you look up at the ceiling. When you do this, your chin should point up at a 45-degree angle.

Then place your left palm very lightly on the top of your head above your right ear. Next, ever so gently pull your head towards your left shoulder.

While doing this make sure you keep your chin pointing upward and try to hold this for 20 to 30 seconds. Try to do this exercise daily to stop any tension that built up during the day.

When To See A Doctor For Your Neck Pain

Be aware, there are some factors and symptoms of neck pain, which is your body telling you it’s time to see a doctor. Make sure you do your research to find the best neck pain specialist. Here are the symptoms you should not ignore.

Neck or Back Pain That Keeps You Up At Night

If your pain is keeping you up at night or getting worst when you try to sleep, while this is not life-threatening, it might be time to see a doctor.

It’s best to get this checked out, especially if you also have a fever. Back or neck pain and a fever could be a sign that you have an infection like meningitis.

The longer you wait to remedy an infection, the worse your infection can get.

You Have Had Cancer

If you have had cancer and are experiencing first-time neck or back pain, this could be a sign that something is wrong with your colon, rectum or ovary.

The American Cancer Society says that growing cancer can put pressure on organs, nerves or blood vessels that can lead to neck or back pain. Another issue is you might not even feel this pain until your tumor is large and cancer has already spread.

So if you have a history of cancer and are experiencing neck or back pain, see a professional as soon as you can.

You are Over 50

The more we age, the more likely we are to have neck or back pain. If you are over 50 years old and have back pain and have recently gained weight, see your doctor for a plan and treatment.

You Are Having Bowel or Bladder Problems, Or Your Legs Keep Getting Weaker

If you noticed that you are having a hard time controlling your blatter and your legs have gotten weaker, see a doctor as soon as possible. This could be a sign of cauda equina syndrome, which a serious condition that needs emergency back surgery.

You Have Had a Fall, Accident or Other Trauma

If you’ve been injured in a fall or accident and you have neck pain after, see a doctor immediately. Even if you can walk fine, new spine pain could be related to the impact.

Keep in mind if you live with osteoporosis, and have recently fallen, you have a higher chance of spine injury.

Pain Radiates Down One Leg or Arm

If you notice pain, numbness, weakness or electrical sensations down one leg, this is called sciatica. Sciatica symptoms can be from tight muscles due to pressure on a spinal nerve root called radiculopathy.

If you have sciatica, your doctor will find out by trying to elicit your symptoms by testing your dermatomes. Dermatomes are part of your skin that is served by spinal nerve roots. This test can help point out the precise spinal nerve root or roots that are irritated.

Bending or Flexing Your Low Back Makes Your Symptoms Worse

If bending or flexing makes your symptoms worse, you might be experiencing a disc problem, like bulging, herniated or degenerative disc disease. You should see a doctor as soon as possible to figure out what the next steps are.

Spinal Stenosis Symptoms

If you feel cramping, weakness, pain and or tingling in your legs, especially when you walk, you might have spinal stenosis. These symptoms are classified as neurogenic claudication, which is serious. You should see your doctor immediately to find out what’s wrong.

Your Pain Persists

If your pain has lasted for more than three weeks, then it could be chronic, and you should immediately seek medical attention.

Chronic pain can be caused by an injury and follows it’s own set of rules. But if you catch it sooner, you might be able to find treatments to help manage the pain and get on with your normal life. The sooner your pain is assessed, the sooner you can start feeling better with treatment.

Feel Better Today

Now that you know what’s causing your neck pain, start making changes today. These changes can be in the form of fixing your posture, wearing looser clothing, or doing exercises that can help your pain go away.

If your pain doesn’t go away in three weeks or if you have a history of cancer or have recently been in an accident, be sure to seek medical attention immediately. For more articles on health, check out our blog.