Bad Habits Can Cause Long-Term Harm

Bad Habits

Continued from our Retreat & Renew Daily Tip.

Melissa Wiliams, Freelance Writer | Co-Owner, Yoga Junction

You know the drill. You’re about to give a big presentation and suddenly your palms are sweaty and your mouth feels dry. Maybe you reach for a lozenge. Maybe you do a quick crack of your neck. Suddenly, life feels a bit more in control. Unfortunately, over time, these relatively routine benign habits can create a toll on your body.

1. Neck cracking should only happen spontaneously or by a chiropractor; over-cracking your neck can make the ligaments overly loose, leaving you more susceptible to neck injury. Same with your fingers, toes and wrists! Although cracking your knuckles doesn’t cause arthritis (as is sometimes claimed), it can lead to other problems such as joint swelling and loss of hand strength, or could even be a sign of more serious nervous disorders, depending on the severity and length of the habit.

Home Remedy: Put a rubber band around your wrist. When you notice you are about to crack your knuckles pull back on the rubber band and release, so it snaps back onto your skin. The slight sting you feel will help you to break your habit, as your subconscious will eventually come to associate your knuckle cracking with pain.

2. You pick at your face. I’m a sucker for this one. When I get nervous I tend to find minor blemishes and make them much more pronounced. Touching and picking at your face can damage the skin, create an infection, and even leave a scar. Not to mention it can very easily lead to acne with all that bacteria and oil residue on your fingers.

Home Remedy: Leave the picking to the professionals, get a facial instead! Or make your own DIY facial
at home.

3. You clench your teeth or worse, grind them. Oftentimes, we’re not aware that we grind or clench our teeth as it can happen at night, but the effects we’re well aware of chipped and cracked teeth, plus a tight and sore jaw.

Home Remedy: Try deep breathing exercises when you notice you’re clenching your jaw, and try a restorative yoga practice before bed as well. If you’re still having chronic problems, be sure to speak to your dentist as they might want you to wear a guard at night to protect your teeth.

4. You’re a sucker for lozenges. I have a relative who is chronically sucking on throat lozenges. Sucking on these candies bathes your teeth in sugar, creating a perfect environment for tooth decay.

Home Remedy: If you need something to suck on, make a DIY fruit popsicle which is a healthy and super tasty alternative!

4. You bite the inside of your mouth. Scientifically specified as Morsicatio buccarum (yep, there is a scientific term you cheek biters out there!), this bad habit leaves painful sores in your mouth. And we all know mouth sores are not only NOT FUN, but they are also very slow to heal given the moist and bacteria ridden environment in which they live.

Natural Remedy: Chew Sugarless Gum and rinse with hydrogen peroxide to clean out and heal up the existing sores.