Last weekend, I was involved in a three-car collision. I was rear-ended and pushed into the car in front of me. Due to the unexpected impact, my first response was to close my eyes and press hard on the breaks. Throughout this experience, I’ve learned that a car accident should not be your wake-up call.

Avoid Using Cellular Devices When Driving

The first step to practicing safe driving is to avoid distractions; in other words, don’t use your cell phone. I get it; it’s tempting not to check your messages or scroll on Instagram. With today’s technological advancements, vehicles have many features that make avoiding cell phones difficult. A great tip would be to place your phone in silent mode or turn off your notifications.

If you need to use your phone as a GPS, try placing it on a mount. This can assist you in keeping your eyes on the road. If there is anything urgent that you need to take care of, try pulling over to the side of the road instead of trying to multitask.

Avoid Speeding

This is the trickiest rule, not because it’s tempting but because it’s easy to do. Remember, speeding puts you at risk and endangers other drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists on the road. By driving at a safe and appropriate speed, you can help keep everyone around you safe. Here are tips to slow down your speed:

1. Plan ahead: Make sure you leave enough time to get to your destination to feel free of rush or temptation to speed.
2. Leave early: If you know that you tend to speed when running late, try to leave a little earlier to give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination without feeling rushed.
3. Be mindful of your surroundings: Pay attention to the traffic flow and adjust your speed accordingly. If you’re in a congested area, slow down to avoid collisions.

Always Wear Your Seatbelt

Wearing your seatbelt is one of the essential safety measures when driving. In a crash, a seatbelt can prevent you from being ejected from the vehicle, which is among the leading cause of death. Seatbelts distribute the impact force and reduce the risk of injury or death.

A seatbelt can also help to distribute the force of the impact across your body, reducing the risk of injury or death. This is because the seatbelt spreads the force of the impact across your chest and hips, which are some of the most vital parts of your body.

In addition, wearing a seatbelt can prevent you from colliding with the steering wheel, dashboard, or windshield, which can cause severe injuries to your head, face, and neck. It prevents you from being thrown out of the car in the event of a collision, one of the leading causes of fatalities in accidents.

Practice Makes Perfect

Practicing safe and defensive driving is essential for the safety of yourself, your passengers, and other road users. It only takes a split second of distraction, speeding, or not wearing a seatbelt to cause a serious accident. Safe driving should always be a top priority, and by practicing safe driving measures consistently, we can make our roads safer for everyone.

Remember, arriving at your destination safely is always more important than getting there quickly.

The post Don’t Let A Car Accident Be Your Wakeup Call appeared first on Medika Life.

In part one of this exciting journey, I shared the fight I endured while battling the pain of my impacted wisdom teeth. Now, there’s no longer a fight to be won because I am the ultimate winner. As I said before, I’m not big on fighting. However, I was determined to regain victory over my wisdom teeth.

A few weeks ago, I made the scariest and maybe the best decision of my life – I finally underwent oral surgery and got my wisdom teeth removed. Let me be the first to say my nerves danced in fear up to seconds before the actual surgery. However, I knew I could no longer bear the pain from something so small yet powerful – my wisdom teeth.

My Friendship With Sleep

Honestly, I was thrilled that I would be placed under anesthesia. I saw this as the secret weapon that would allow me to finally get magical sleep. Magically enough, I was right – post surgery, I slept like a baby. However, I was rudely awakened with immense pain once the “magical sleepy potion” wore off. I quickly shouted, “hooray, no more pain,” but I forgot that there would be even more pain to endure after the procedure.

I immediately thought to myself, “ugh, more pain!” Luckily, a little voice reminded me that the pain was only temporary this time.  

My Friendship With Food

For the first time, I can definitely say that I was transformed back to my “baby stage.” I ate baby food, mashed potatoes, smoothies, Ensure, spaghetti, and rinsed with a ton of salt water. It hurt to my core watching everyone around me eat tacos, burgers, pizza and pasta while I stuck to all the “soft food.” On top of this mini breakup with food, I was in pain 24/7. Sleeping was no longer magical because it was hard to find a comfortable position and I woke up several times throughout the night. Although sleeping was hard, it was the only thing I could do besides making salt & water my best friend and eating baby food.  With this, I got lots of rest. On the contrary, I was miserable all the time.

My Friendship With Medication

It all makes sense now; I understand why Oxycodone is so addictive.

My oral surgeon prescribed Penicillin for protection against infections, multiple doses of Tylenol and Motrin but the real bad boy was the Oxycodone. This was my first time using Oxycodone. My doctor specifically instructed me to “only take this medication as needed because there’s a limited amount of 8 pills only with NO refills.” While under anesthesia, those words barely made it into one ear. However, when the “post-surgery pain beast” was ready to attack, I quickly found the bottle of Oxy. Once again, while reading the bottle’s instructions, I was reminded there were NO REFILLS.

After taking my first dose of Oxycodone, the gates of heaven immediately opened and boom – the magical sleep potion had come over me again and the pain had vanished like it was never there. After waking up, I immediately said to myself “boy – oh – boy, this stuff is GOLDEN!”  Yes, I used ice packs and heating pads but there was nothing like the Oxy.

I slowly watched as the eight prescribed pills lessened and the amount got smaller. If there’s one thing I know for sure, that Oxy worked every single time.

Defeat At Last

As I attempted to make the best out of my situation, I continued to tell myself that “all of this is necessary for a lifetime free of wisdom teeth battles.” Days felt like months, and I became a “certified Googler” because I spent 90% of my time awake searching post-surgery best practices on Google. By day 6, all the Oxycodone was gone – as you should imagine. Thankfully, the pain had also gotten better, and I was able to talk a bit more. Throughout my entire post–surgery journey, I became acclimated to communicating through text and written messages. It was a relief to have the ability to say a few words here and there.

Before I knew it, I was throwing the apple sauce and baby food in the garbage and eating sandwiches and more solid food. I no longer had Oxy, but at least I had food.

Tips and Tricks

Throughout this entire post-surgery journey, there were a few things that made the process easier:

Salt & Water: Yes, rising with this four times a day was the most annoying thing ever, but it made my healing process 10x faster.

Getting rest: Sleeping and utilizing this time to get rest is the best thing you can do to place less stress on the body.

Having a support system: Whether physical or virtual, having people around to assist in caring for you will make recovery smoother.

Utilizing Medication: Let me just come out and say it – Oxycodone “saved” my life. Nonetheless, having some sort of pain reliever is important to assist with pain and discomfort.

Be patient: This is the HARDEST rule of them all because each day seems so long; trust me – the pain will go away, and you’ll be like me – looking back and smiling because I finally overcame my wisdom teeth.

Choosing the right surgeon: This plays a big role in every step of the procedure. You want to choose someone who you’re comfortable with and will be sure to provide accurate guidance. My operating surgeon was Dr. Mark Adamiak with Green Hills Oral Surgery, and they went ABOVE & BEYOND to make this entire process as close to perfection!

The post Defeating My Wisdom Teeth appeared first on Medika Life.

However, I’ve been battling a seemingly endless war with my wisdom teeth. I heard horror stories about other people and their painful teeth, and for a few months now, I have struggled with this excruciating pain. Surprisingly, I also listened to an equal number of stories that ended with, “I had no problem with my wisdom teeth because they grew in perfectly fine.”

Holding on to the hope that my battle would reach a more peaceful conclusion, I prolonged getting my teeth checked. I prayed my story would end with “I had no pain at all.”

This was not the case.

Part One: The Introduction to Pain

The first part of my fight started with minor pain, which worsened over months and evolved into a constant, aching, throbbing sensation. I’ve been trying to find the words to describe this feeling. However, there’s nothing worse than dental pain. It resides in the corner of agony all by itself.

Part Two: The Impossible Solution

You’ve probably figured out how this fight ended—with my wisdom teeth once again winning. The second part of my fight entailed trying to find the perfect over-the-counter medicine to ease my discomfort. There is nothing in this world that can ease these aches. You’re probably listing medications you’re certain would work: Tylenol, Excedrin, Ibuprofen, Motrin, etc. Trust me, I tried them all and without fail, the pain persisted. Even two doses of Motrin combined with two doses of Tylenol every 4 to 6 hours wasn’t enough to give me relief.

Part Three: The Wisdom Teeth Win

The third part of the fight ended up just as you probably predicted— I had to see an orthodontist, who told me that my wisdom teeth were severely impacted and I would need oral surgery to remove them.  Therefore, I was referred to a specialist—an oral surgeon.

Thinking my fight couldn’t get any worse, the surgeon told me that my wisdom teeth were infected, and I was instructed to take oral Penicillin.

That brings me to where I am now. I look back at where I first started – hoping my story would have a joyful ending – and question if there is any way to change the narrative. I’ve shed an endless supply of tears, become accustomed to daily headaches, and returned to my dietary roots: eating baby food—all because of my wisdom teeth.

The Remedy to It All:

As I write about the worst fight of my life and prepare for oral surgery, there are a few things I’ve found that have made my battle a BIT easier:

• Drinking hot liquids: Cold liquids usually made my pain worse. However, tea, coffee, and hot drinks offered my teeth a calming sensation.
• BC Powder: At one point, the pain was so bad that I pulled over to the nearest gas station and stumbled upon this powder and have used it ever since! Applying the powder directly on my teeth and drinking water with the powdered medication helped with my intense pain.
• Getting rest: There were times NOTHING worked, and I had no choice but to sleep. Sleeping in a position where I wasn’t laying on my teeth helped a whole lot!
• Seeking professional help: Yes, I hesitated in getting help from a professional. However, I wouldn’t recommend that you follow my example. It pays to tackle your teeth head-on and immediately, so you won’t end up in a battle similar to mine! 

The post “Going One On One With My Wisdom Teeth” appeared first on Medika Life.