A few years ago, I used to get back pains incredibly often and stiff neck episodes. I was not even 18. I used to get otitis very often, partially losing hearing frequently. After a free cavity childhood, I got braces, and it fragilized my teeth; I started getting cavities every year. My face was greasy and full of pimples. Over the years, I found solutions to these problems. Then, when I moved to the Philippines, I started getting different issues. Serious bloating, stress-related body pains, chronic dehydration, etc, and again I found solutions to these problems too. Little by little, I’ve made a few simple changes to my health habits.
Since I’ve started implementing these changes, my body has been thanking me. It took me many years to learn those, starting in college, but today I’m going to share all those tips at once. And the best part is that most of them are easy to do. Let’s get into it.
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1. Switch to backpacks or light crossbody bags
Since I could convince my mom to buy me a handbag for school instead of a backpack, I was sporting handbags every school year, well into college. Back then, backpacks were seriously uncool, and I had to do this to survive. I got used to it. In college, I was even carrying my super heavy laptop in my handbag and a water bottle. And every year, our mom got us to see osteopaths. We were lucky to have an osteopath school near us, and sessions with students were dirt cheap. I kept getting painful back pains at that time. And one day, an osteopath suggested I switch my handbag for a backpack. I followed that advice, and I think my back screamed in relief that day.
So here’s my advice: If you have to carry heavy things like a laptop, books, notebooks, a water bottle, and you know you’ll be walking around a lot, get a backpack. I still use crossbody bags and tote bags, but I can’t put a lot of weight inside, otherwise my back instantly starts hurting. But if I know I won’t be walking a lot with my bag, I still use totes and crossbody. I ditched handbags completely because I like having my hands free and my movements unrestricted.
2. Use an electric toothbrush
One day, my dad got electric toothbrushes for the whole family. And when my dad buys something, you can be sure a lot of research went into it; it’s almost like his second job. So we got electric toothbrushes, but not the kind that will sand your teeth down to the nerve. The vibrating motion was not rough, and it even had a timer. It stopped automatically after 2 minutes, with a slight change of vibration to indicate 30-second marks. With this, I started to brush my teeth longer than I had ever done before. The automatic timer was a game-changer.
That first toothbrush lasted me sooo many years (with replaceable heads of course, I’m not disgusting). I recently bought my second toothbrush. It’s a Xiaomi one, I love the sleek design. It still has a 2-minute timer with 30-second signals. It even has 4 vibration modes. I also love the cheap price. Here’s the link to it.
Recently, I also learned about the right way to brush your teeth, and it made a huge difference. Chances are you’re doing it wrong, like I was. I will talk about it in another post.
3. Stop using regular cotton buds to clean your ears
There was a time in college when I used to get otitis SO often. If the wind was blowing the wrong way, I would get otitis. It was so painful and because of it, one or both of my ears were almost constantly blocked, making it hard to hear and live my life normally. Then I heard about cotton buds. They were not designed to clean your ears deeply. They make it worse by pushing the cerumen back into the ear.
So I bought reusable bamboo Q-tips. They’re designed like a small spoon, and with this, you’re sure to get everything out. It’s a weird sensation at first, and you need to be careful because the inside of the ear is very sensitive. When I started using those, I stopped getting otitis. You can get the bamboo ones here or the metal ones here (one is included in the manicure kit).
4. Get a water bottle
As long as I can remember, my mom has always sent me to school with a water bottle, long before it was fashionable. It was disposable plastic ones that used to leak into my bag at least once a year.
My point is: I got used to drinking a lot of water, and when I grew up, I bought myself a reusable bottle and brought it everywhere. Now that I’m living in the Philippines, access to drinking water is much more complicated than in France, and the climate is more humid. Constantly having a water bottle is practically a survival thing.
Buy yourself a cute water bottle. It will encourage you to drink more throughout the day. Use it at home if you live in a hot, humid climate. Using my bottle at home was what helped me keep track and increase my water consumption here in the Philippines. It’s much easier to remember how many times you’ve refilled your bottle than your glass. My bottle is 0.8L and I try to empty it three times a day: a bottle in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening.
My advice: you don’t have to buy an insulated one as they’re much heavier. If you don’t leave your bottle in a closed car under the burning sun, your water will stay at a reasonable temperature, even if you’re outside. Try to pick one that’s easy to open with one hand and is sturdy enough. If you’re blessed with a dishwasher, try to find one that’s dishwasher-compatible for easy regular cleaning. I recommend this one from Decathlon, it’s the one I’m currently using. It’s only available in France though. You can find the insulated version here in the US store.
5. Stretch daily
Back to my back pain. Using a backpack was the first step, but sometimes I would still get pain, especially after sleeping. So I got into stretching. Even a 5-minute routine right as I got out of bed was enough to alleviate the night’s pain.
It’s free, and there are many videos of stretching you can find. I recommend this one that you can find on the Fit On app (free). It’s the video I started with, it’s easy enough for absolute beginners, and it’s super quick.
6. Find the right mattress and pillow
My back pain journey took a turn when I went to the Philippines for the first time. I just got out of a bad pain episode, and I was worried about the kind of bedding I would find there. And I was right to be worried because the mat I was given here was much thinner and firmer than the one I was using at home. I was worried, but to my surprise, after the first night, I woke up without ANY pain. After two months like this, I was convinced. When I got back to France, I went to buy a new mattress, a firm one. It changed the game. And then when I moved here, my husband and I didn’t have a bedframe for years, so we just slept on the floor with our mat. Best sleep I’ve ever got.
If you have the budget, try to switch your mat for a firm one; it could be life-changing. Even the ones you find here (it’s just a big foam rectangle, nothing fancy) could do. Most mat vendors have a return policy of several days, sometimes months. It’s worth a try if you’ve been suffering from back pain that’s worse when you get up.
7. Reduce the height of your heels
I used to wear very high heels several times a week (think 7-10cm). And then because of the pandemic, I stopped using any kind of heeled shoe, you know, with being stuck at home and all. Then I moved to the Philippines, in an area where almost everybody is smaller than me (even if I’m on the shorter side in France). I didn’t want to tower over people, so I didn’t use heels for the first year. And my husband is slightly shorter than me, so I used to be uncomfortable and I didn’t want to accentuate the difference.
But I grew more comfortable, and I started using heels again. I didn’t buy super high heels like I used to wear, because it’s not really what people wear here. After another year, I asked my mom to bring my old shoes here because I missed them. After I tried them out, I realised I was incapable of standing with those high heels without any pain, even for a few minutes. I used to be able to run with these kinds of shoes. Now I’ve made my peace with not being able to wear my old shoes. I wear heels that do not exceed 5cm, and I don’t wear them as often as I used to.
My advice: If you’re wearing heels a lot, buy shorter ones. Your feet, back, and whole skeleton will thank you.
8. Apply sunscreen daily
Before my wedding, I started researching makeup and skincare. I used to get acne, an oily face, etc. This got me to apply sunscreen daily, even if the weather is cloudy. I searched for a while to find a sunscreen I liked that was in my budget, and I found a great one from Eucerin. During the pandemic years, I was using sunscreen even indoors, but now I don’t bother with that. I should, though, but since I can’t find my sunscreen here and the ones I’ve found so far are only available in ridiculously small quantities for a ridiculously high price, I’m not ready to change.
In the Philippines, where the UV level is higher than in France, I also need it to apply it to the visible parts of my chest. I noticed the skin there didn’t look good. Now it’s better. Applying sunscreen reduces acne and black spots.
Here is my absolute favorite sunscreen. It’s from Eucerin, it’s a chemical sunscreen, so it means no white cast. It has a dry touch finish so it’s not as sticky as other sunscreens can be. It’s spf 50, with both UVA and UVB protection. It works well with sensitive and acne prone skin. If you let it dry for a few minutes, you can also apply makeup easily on top of it. And the best part? It’s a 200mL bottle for only about 16 euros (depending on where you buy it). It takes me about a year to go through the bottle. On Amazon it’s priced at more than 20 euros but you can probably find it cheaper in your local pharmacies and drug stores. Where I buy it in France it’s only 17 euros (used to be 14 *sigh*).
9. Apply moisturizer before you sleep
Another skincare step that I picked up when researching the topic is applying moisturizer at night. To be honest, before I looked into skincare, my own skincare was nonexistent. Sunscreen sometimes in summer, a sheet mask from time to time with my friends, picking at my spots and backheads. I didn’t even have a lip balm or a lotion (I still don’t have a lotion lol).
I learned that moisturizing your face helps reduce the oiliness, as weird as it sounds. It works well for my skin. I started with just an aloe vera gel (pure is better, don’t fall for those fake 99% ones). Then, I bought this moisturizer from the Ordinary, and it was okay. It’s “designed to mimic the composition of your skin’s natural hydration system”. It worked really well as a moisturizer, but I didn’t like the feeling when applying, it was warm. Now I’m out of it, and I need to find a new one.
10. Get silky pillow cases
I got silky pillowcases before my wedding because I also researched haircare and learned that it helps reduce frizziness. My problem was that real silk pillow cases were too expensive for me, so my mom came up with an idea. She found that fabric was cheaper, so we bought silk, and she made me two pillowcases. Only one side has the silk fabric; the other is just regular cotton, which helps reduce the costs even more.
It still has a price, but if you can afford buying a yard of silky fabric and cotton and sew a simple pillowcase, that will help improve not only your hair, but also your face and your sleep. Silk has a cold feeling that’s very nice in hotter weather.
11. Drink ginger tea for bloating
A few years ago, I started to get bloated as part of PMS (new symptom unlocked, yay!). I looked up what I could do for it, and I stumbled upon ginger lemon tea. I’ve tried it and it’s shocking how well it’s working. Almost instant relief.
For this, you can use tea bags. It works just as well as fresh ginger and doesn’t require much effort (and is probably cheaper, depending on where you live). If it has lemon, it’s a nice touch, but the ginger is what’s important. It has saved me from bad and painful cases of bloating. I absolutely recommend it.
12. Use electrolyte drinks
Another thing I discovered here in the Philippines is that people often get digestive/intestinal/food poisoning problems, and they treat most of them at home. And for the dehydration, they buy electrolyte drinks (like Gatorade). Even the doctors recommend it. Sometimes when it’s super hot and I haven’t been drinking enough, I get dehydrated for several days, and it’s hard to get back to normal, even if I drink a lot afterwards. I’ve noticed that drinking a bottle of electrolyte drink helps a lot, and it can easily be found in any supermarket or other food places.
Reserve that for when you’re dehydrated. It contains some sugar, so it’s probably not healthy to drink that every day if you don’t need it. It won’t help your bank account either, water is cheaper.
13. Drink chamomile infusions for better sleep
My latest discovery: chamomile infusions. I’ve known for a while that chamomile helps you sleep, but I hate drinking tea with every fiber of my being, so I had never tried that, until one day.
We stopped at a friend’s house in the afternoon, and they offered us coffee. I declined because it was already late in the day, and I had been getting palpitations from coffee. So they offered me chamomile infusion instead. Here, it’s not very polite to repeatedly decline food, so I accepted this one. And I was pleasantly surprised. It had a very nice flowery smell, and with 2 spoons of sugar (I know, it’s a lot), it was drinkable. I felt instant relaxation. At that time, I was very stressed (hence the coffee-induced palpitations), and I felt my whole body melt and relax. I slept like a baby that night. A week later, I bought myself a box of chamomile infusions (pricy here but worth it). I use it when I get a stress buildup.
And this concludes this slightly lengthy post about changes I’ve made to improve my health.
Will you be trying some? Do you have other recommendations? Let me know in the comments so we can all benefit from your knowledge and experience.
See you in the next one!