Design Tech Tools And Plastics

High-Tech Health Tools

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  Find a New M.D.

  Instead of making a dozen calls to locate a doctor who takes your insurance and has an opening this month, log on to ZocDoc.com. Choose from scroll-down lists of specialties and insurance plans, enter your ZIP code and the free service will generate a list of in-network physicians in your area, complete with mini-bios and patient reviews. The site lists vacant appointment times for the next few months, so you can book one that fits your schedule. ZocDoc is available in Chicago, Dallas, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.; by 2012, it will be offered nationwide.

• Fend Off Anxiety

  When work gets crazy, avert a stress attack using DoAsOne.com's free Custom Breath Pacer, which helps you focus on relaxing your breathing. "Deep breathing for 5 to 10 minutes daily may lower your heart rate and blood pressure—two things that become elevated when stressed—because increased oxygen to the brain reduces feelings of anxiety," says Zindel Segal, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Set your pace at four, five or six breaths per minute (depending on your comfort level), choose a tranquil background color and get ready to decompress as a soothing voice leads you through the exercise. The peaceful breathing sounds reminded one tester of the ocean, helping her power through the next few hours at her busy office.

• Enjoy a Good Night's Sleep

  Stop counting sheep with SHUTi, a six-week online program created by researchers at the University of Virginia. After completing the program, 73 percent of participants in the study no longer had insomnia. The secret? SHUTi uses cognitive-behavioral therapy, which teaches you how to identify and then change angst-producing thoughts (If I don't fall asleep right now, I'll be useless tomorrow) or behaviors (watching TV until the wee hours) that may be preventing you from nodding off. Visit SHUTi.net to sign up to be one of the first people to try the program when it launches to the public this spring. Or access even more cutting-edge science by enrolling in the researchers' next sleep study, funded by the National Institutes of Health.

• Assess an Emergency

  Is your fever the flu or something more frightening? Find out by looking up your symptoms on the free iTriage app. The program can help nail down what's ailing you, pointing you toward the nearest doctor's office, urgent care center or emergency room for treatment. One note of caution: "We're not a replacement for calling 911," says the app's cocreator, emergency physician Peter Hudson, M.D.

• Avoid an Allergy Attack

  If you have food allergies, deciphering a hard-to-read label could be what stands between you and your EpiPen. Enter your allergies and let the ScanAvert app ($1.99 per month) do the work. Take your phone when grocery shopping and scan the bar code of a product you wish to buy; ScanAvert will warn you if the item contains an allergen. "Instead of relying on the package to tell me if a food is gluten-free, I scanned the label and, five seconds later, knew for sure," our pleased tester said.

• Clear Your Mind

  There are a lot of benefits to doing nothing: Meditation can improve your heart health, stave off premature aging and help you feel calmer and more focused, research shows. Yet for a lot of busy women, quieting the mind can be challenging. Instead of attempting a solo run, let the voice-guided Simply Being app (99 cents) talk you through a relaxing 5- to 20-minute meditation session. "Other apps offer pretty nature sounds but no instruction, which left me bored," a tester said. "With the voice guidance, five minutes of meditation flew by."

• Screen the Sun

  We know we should apply sunscreen every day, even if our plans don't include lounging poolside, but it's easy to forget. Only 20 percent of us use sunscreen daily, even though skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States. Make it a habit by signing up for text-message reminders from OhDontForget.com ($4.95 per month). (Daily text messages nearly doubled sunscreen use, according to a study in the Archives of Dermatology.) Set up a time to receive the text—first thing in the morning makes it a cinch to put on sunscreen as you're getting dressed—and enter a custom message like "Don't get burned today!"

• Remember your Rx

  Put an end to those "Blerg! did I take my pill today?" moments and sign up for the free Mobile Medication Manager at CareSpeak.com. Brilliant for birth control, which needs to be taken at the same moment every day to be most effective, this program will send an alert ("Tina, it's 8:30 A.M. Take your Tri-Cyclen") when it's time for your daily dose. "I also loved the prescription-refill alerts," a satisfied tester said. "That feature saved me from having to make my usual mad dash to the pharmacy."

• Recover From Assault

  It's an outrageous number: More than 17 million American women have been victims of sexual violence. Worse, many have such an aversion to talking about the experience that they never seek help. A call to the 24-hour National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-HOPE) is free and confidential; support comes from trained volunteers affiliated with the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, which operates more than 1,100 rape crisis centers nationwide. If even a phone call is daunting, log on to RAINN's Internet hotline (RAINN.org), where you'll be connected via secure instant message to trained volunteers.

• Sneak in a Workout

  Great for live-out-of-a-suitcase types, the All-in Yoga HD app ($3.99) requires zero equipment and only as much time as you've got. Choose from one of 25 videos, each available in beginner and expert versions. Or personalize your routine: The app uses an algorithm based on your goals, skill level and time constraints to design your perfect yoga workout. Not sure if you've got Crow pose down? Find out with instructional videos for more than 200 poses, complete with voice-guided instructions. "As a newbie, I'm not quite confident enough to take a yoga class. But this app let me progress at my own pace without worrying about looking stupid," a tester said.

• Manage Migraines

  To ward off headaches, ID what brings on the throbbing: It could be the weather, where you are in your menstrual cycle or even what you had for dinner. Keep track of your triggers and more—the number of headaches per month, the severity, how long the pain lasted and what medicine you took—with the iHeadache app ($9.99). Email the report to your doctor and go over it together at your next appointment. "A diary can be particularly useful in helping a physician zero in on specific behaviors such as skipping meals, which could be adjusted or avoided to help reduce the frequency of your headaches," says Linda Porter, Ph.D., program director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes in Bethesda, Maryland.

• Save a Life (Maybe Yours)

  Be the coolest head in a crisis with the Pocket First Aid & CPR app ($3.99) from the American Heart Association. It offers crucial step-by-step instructions for giving infant, child and adult CPR and provides articles and videos showing how to respond to scary situations such as an open wound or a broken bone. (It works: One American trapped in rubble for more than 60 hours in the aftermath of Haiti's 2010 earthquake pulled up this app on his phone and used it to stave off shock and stanch bleeding from a head wound—keeping himself alive until rescuers found him.) The program is updated as treatment recommendations change, and all videos, articles and illustrations are stored on your iPad for easy access in case there's no Internet or cell phone connection when bad luck strikes.

• Make and Keep Resolutions

  We could all use a little help ditching unhealthy habits. With Change Reaction on Facebook, pledge to do one new good-for-you activity per week, such as squeezing in another serving of vegetables. Invite your friends to do the same and then post every time you stick to your pledge. "You're more likely to hang in there if you know you're in this with other people and have to report your progress," says Nanette Stroebele, Ph.D., a researcher with the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado at Denver. One staffer—who vowed to skip the elevator and take the stairs—found that declaring her goal to the world, or at least to all 627 of her Facebook friends, inspired her to get in shape and others to come along with her.

• Get Help Healing

  Whether it's cancer or an eating disorder, illness can be isolating. If you're looking for support but finding it tough to get all the advice you need from friends and family, try logging on to DailyStrength.org. The comprehensive site brings together people from all over the world who are dealing with health conditions, including depression, fibromyalgia, diabetes, Crohn's disease and more. Members can use their profile pages to discuss treatment options with other users and keep an online journal. "I live in a remote community," a member says. "The support I've received from this site has made a tremendous difference in my not feeling alone."

• Connect With a Cause

  Now you can march on Washington without leaving the house. Follow @change on Twitter for daily updates on health causes, such as decreasing obesity or increasing reproductive rights, that you can support with a click of your mouse. Or spread awareness of an issue that's important to you by creating a petition at Change.org and then posting to your Facebook and Twitter accounts to persuade your friends to sign on.

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SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.

Design Tech Tools And Plastics

Source: https://www.self.com/gallery/high-tech-health-tools-slideshow

Posted by: calderaconere.blogspot.com

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