HEALTH & BEAUTY – Expert Eye, Ear and Skin Care, and excersing in the heat.

with more exercise advice.

would blame you for it. Soaring temperatures, which are likely to become more common as our planet continues to get warmer, mean we need to adapt to living, working and exercising in the heat. The longer, warmer days are usually the perfect opportunity to spend more time outside and enjoy exercising in the fresh air. But when the conditions are hotter than normal, you could put your health at risk if you don’t take some precautions. As a general rule, exercise stresses the body in a positive and beneficial way. But aggravating this stress by exercising in extreme heat, or without sufficient hydration, puts excessive pressure on our body’s defence mechanisms and can result in heat exhaustion, or even heatstroke.

When we exercise, our demand for oxygen increases. Our breathing rate increases and our heart pumps more blood around the body to help our muscles work. As a result, we produce more heat and our core temperature rises. Blood vessels dilate to allow for heat loss and to regulate our core temperature and we start to sweat. When sweat evaporates, it takes heat with it so if we’re in a hot environment this process is accelerated, mainly by us sweating more. However, there are benefits to working out in the heat, which include:

A chain reaction of adaptations occurs when exercising in the heat. For example, plasma volume expands and heart function improves.

Your body becomes better at cooling itself down, making it easier to work out in the heat. When you add heat to exercise it increases the stress load on your body, which can play a role in future performance. For example, competitive athletes will have an advantage in the heat if they’re already used to training in it.

The mental health benefits of exercise are well known and exercising in the heat can take your fitness to another level, helping you become comfortable with the discomfort of training. Your body is working harder, but so is your brain, which has positive benefits all round.

Before you set out, you might want to consider taking a cold shower and leaving your hair wet to get your core temperature down before you start.

Staying hydrated is really important to replenish what you’ve lost in sweat. If you’re exercising for prolonged periods of over an hour and sweating a lot you’ll also need an electrolyte sports drink to replace the salt you’ve lost.

When it’s hot, try exercising when it’s cooler in the early morning or late evening. 10am to 3pm is the hottest time of day during the summer. You’ll also need to take time to rest, hydrate and cool down, so drop the intensity accordingly. If you’re out walking or running, carry fluids with you and try to pick a shady route!

Even when it’s cloudy you’re at risk from the sun’s rays so apply a high factor SPF sunscreen before heading outside. Choose one that has both UVA and UVB protection. Sunburn not only increases your risk of skin cancer, but it also affects your body’s ability to cool down.

If your clothes are heavy or tight, your body won’t be able to cool down as effectively so choose breathable, lightweight, light-coloured fabrics to reflect the sun and that allow sweat to evaporate. You should also wear a hat. It’s always important to listen to your body, but even more so in extreme temperatures so give yourself time to get used to the heat. If you start to feel dizzy, nauseous or more fatigued than normal, stop and take a break. It can take a few weeks to adapt to heat so don’t push it – start slowly with shorter, less intense workouts, and as you get used to it your body will start responding better to it.

Hilary is a Level 3 Personal Trainer and Pilates teacher. She runs Pilates, circuits and stretch classes in Chinnor and can be contacted on 07812 097562, email: hilarywestall@gmail.com for further details.

Age affects every nook and cranny of the body. Along with the wisdom, experience, and accomplishments that come with getting older, there are changes that occur in our outward appearance. Changes in our faces are most at the forefront. We all have a finite amount of collagen which begins to deplete from the age of 25 onwards,” explains Emma Rothery, ZO skin specialist and founder of ERA Skin & Laser Clinic. “The more we can do to keep this topped up, the better our skin will age.”

Dozens of changes take place as the years add up such as; l Foreheads expand as hairlines retreat l Ears often get a bit longer because the cartilage in them grows l Tips of noses may droop because connective tissue supporting nasal cartilage weakens. There are also structural rearrangements going on behind the scenes. When we’re young, fat in the face is evenly distributed, with some pockets here and there that plump up the forehead, temples, cheeks, and areas around the eyes and mouth. With age, that fat loses volume, clumps up, and shifts downward, so features that were formerly round may sink, and skin that was smooth and tight gets loose and sags. Meanwhile other parts of the face gain fat, particularly the lower half, so we tend to get baggy around the chin and jowly in the neck. And, of course, there are the wrinkles. Those deep ones in the forehead and between the eyebrows are called expression, or animation, lines. They’re the result of facial muscles continually tugging on, and eventually creasing, the skin. Other folds may get deeper because of the way fat decreases and moves around. Finer wrinkles are due to sun damage, smoking, and natural degeneration of elements of the skin that keep it thick and supple.

Even if you have great genes and look much younger than you are, age-related changes in our facial appearance are unavoidable. Those changes reflect our joys and challenges in life. One approach is to simply celebrate our age and appearance for what they are. Not everyone is comfortable with that, and some might like to postpone embracing those changes. The team at ERA Skin & Laser Clinic specialise in non-surgical face and body rejuvenation treatments which are clinically proven to stimulate and awaken the bodies natural collagen production, helping to restore plumpness to the skin, gently lifting jowls and address fine lines and wrinkles.

HIFU: Non-Surgical Facelift utilises focused ultrasound energy to generate a stimulating thermal effect in the deeper layers of the skin. This remodels and rebuilds collagen and elastin, two essential skin proteins that serve to strengthen and lift the skin while improving its elasticity and firmness The other is 3D Dermaforce which introduces tiny gold plated needles into the skin. These needles transmit radiofrequency which momentarily heat the tissues, stimulating optimal denaturing of the skin’s proteins. The result is a doubling of collagen levels, a five-fold increase in elastin and boosted hyaluronic acid levels. With both treatments, new collagen fibres start to form 30 days post treatment and results continue to develop naturally over 3-6 months. There’s no downtime and the results speak for themselves. Clinic Owner Emma says “When embarking on skin rejuvenation treatments, the best results come from using a combination of products

and treatments. The rejuvenation treatment helps to keep your skin fit, but you will be able to supercharge those results if you also invest in medical grade skincare.” Having one The ERA Team without the other is like having a personal trainer without exercising in between. “you’ll definitely get results, but they could be even better!” concludes Emma If you’d like to awaken your collagen naturally, book a free consultation to find out how HIFU or 3D Dermaforce could benefit you. The clinic is open Monday – Saturday from 10am. Thame Out readers will receive a complimentary 3D Visage Skin Analysis (worth £95) with all facial consultations before 30th September. Mention Thame Out when booking.

98a High Street, Thame Oxfordshire OX9 3EH www.eraclinics.co.uk 01844 698441 Find ERA on Instagram and Facebook

ERA Clinic is located through the archway between Wally’s Toy Shop and Andrew Murray Estate Agents. Ample parking available.

born too late”by Georgina Clamp (Ellie’s mum)

The benefits of Eyedream Contact Lenses from Ivan R Cammack Optometrists.

years old. My mum, who has always worn specs, took me for a check-up because my teacher noticed I was squinting at the blackboard. My first pair of glasses was a blue plastic NHS pair which I never used at school because they were horrid! I have been short sighted ever since, and I remember going back to see my optician every year to find that my glasses needed to be made stronger each time I went. And then my eyes stopped changing, but that was not until I had finished at university. And now I’m ‘minus five’ and I’m pretty sure that my eyesight is even worse than my mum’s. At my recent visit to Ivan Cammack in Thame the Optometrist I saw talked

a lot about myopia (short sight) and how it was likely to affect my children who are just about to start at ‘big school’. Apparently myopia, which makes distance objects blurred, happens when the eye grows too long for its focussing lens. I know just how much of a nuisance this is - every day of my life, but I didn’t realise that the unusually long eyeball is then at a greater risk of nasty things when I’m older – such as glaucoma and detached retina – so it’s very much better not to be myopic if you have a choice! This is where is gets clever, and where I recognise that I was born too early. Ivan Cammack and his colleagues (I saw a lady called Nisha, who was my ‘eye teacher’ for the day) use a therapy aptly named Myopia Management. This involves using specialist contact lenses or specialist glasses which can stop the progression of myopia (stop your eyes getting worse every year as mine did). My daughter Ellie has just become a little bit myopic, and I am really keen that her eyes do not become as bad as mine. Instead of wearing glasses Ellie has just started wearing Eyedream Contact Lenses, and I have to say that even though she is just 10 years old, she has taken to them so very quickly. Ellie puts her magical contact lenses in at bedtime and then takes them out when she wakes up. I’m there to keep an eye on her, but she really does not need my help. The result is incredible because Ellie can see everything clearly all day without wearing glasses or contact lenses and her ambition is to be a gymnast in the Olympics one day so glasses would be a pain for her. The other bit of magic here is that Eyedream lenses (and the other forms of Myopia Management that Nisha talked about) can stop Ellie’s eyesight from getting worse as she grows – and that’s what I’m banking on. Apparently the way the lenses focus light inside the eye is quite different to ‘normal specs and contacts’ and that takes away the main cause for myopia getting worse. Nisha explained this really well, and I know it is to do with the eyeball not getting longer like mine did, but if you want to know the science then I’m out of my depth! I first heard about Eyedream from the mum of Ellie’s school friend Alex, who was fitted with these lenses about two years ago when he was just eight. Alex has not become any more myopic in those two years, and that is brilliant. I have one last secret to share – I’m about to try Eyedream lenses myself. And although they won’t make me less short sighted, I am looking forward to seeing everything without wearing my glasses. Thank you Ivan Cammack and all your wonderful team.

If you have myopic children or grandchildren – ask your local experts about Myopia Management with Eyedream. Ivan R Cammack (Optometrists) Bringing Quality to Eyecare.

T. 01844 212048 E. info@ivancammack.com Thame: 01844 212048 Chinnor (01844) 351564 Wendover (01296) 625892

Sereta Parker from

talks ear health.

The most serious of all is a type of sudden deafness called ‘sudden sensorineural hearing loss’ (SSHL for short).

Sudden deafness can occur for several reasons. Sometimes it can be caused by common conditions like wax obstruction, or fluid in the middle ear, both of which are not considered a medical emergency. Occasionally there can be an unexplained rapid loss of hearing, normally just in one ear, due to a problem in the inner ear. There can be a sudden loss or ‘pop’ or a slow deterioration over a few days and is considered a true medical emergency. It can be accompanied by tinnitus, dizziness, and a feeling of fullness. Normal sounds may seem strange, almost robotic.

If you lose your hearing suddenly, don’t delay. It is important to establish whether you have had a ‘sudden sensorineural hearing loss’ (SSHL). Sometimes people put off seeing a professional because they think it is just wax plugging the canal. Although some people will recover spontaneously from SSHL, delaying diagnosis can decrease the effectiveness of treatment.

Sereta Parker of Oracle Ear Care talks to Andrew Rudge about his experience of SSHL.

I was out walking with my wife and daughter’s dog when I suddenly felt a loss of hearing in my left ear.

The hearing in my left ear had completely gone and I had no sense even when I touched the ear.

I thought the cause was due to a buildup of wax which I had experienced before, but I had never lost the hearing completely.

After visiting Oracle Ear Care, and looking inside my ears, I was very concerned that the problem was not wax. I was given a hearing test immediately and, seeing the results, I realized this was something that could be very serious.

Oracle Ear Care contacted my G.P. and, since the treatment is time critical, I was put on a high dose of steroid tablets the very same day. The tablets were unsuccessful, so I had an emergency Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) appointment at the John Radcliffe Hospital where I received an injection of steroid directly into the ear through the eardrum. I was told the normal outcome was a third of patients had no recovery at all, a third had partial recovery and a third had full recovery. After several days I did experience some improvement in my hearing. I had another steroid injection through the eardrum but unfortunately this had no further effect on my hearing.

Several audiograms showed that, at certain frequencies, my hearing had been severely affected. My current position is that my hearing is reduced in my left ear, and I also have constant tinnitus which I did not have prior to this happening.

My advice to anyone who experiences anything similar is to seek immediate medical treatment. If it is SSHL, it is crucial that steroid tablets are taken immediately, or a steroid injection is given immediately, otherwise a total loss of hearing could be permanent. I am convinced that if I had not visited Oracle Ear Care as soon as I experienced hearing loss, I would have lost my hearing totally in my left ear.

The causes of sudden deafness are varied, and 90% of people will never know what happened to their hearing due to the complexity of the inner ear. However, there are new ways of imaging with MRI to determine whether there has been a bleed or inflammation in the inner ear. Work is being done to try to develop new ways to dispense drugs into the inner ear to treat SSHL. One way is to push drug infused particles into and throughout the inner ear using magnets. The aim is to diffuse the drug evenly throughout the inner ear making it more effective. The most important point to make is it is time critical; prompt action is needed to get the best chance of saving your hearing. If you are concerned, please do not hesitate to call.

Monday 9-5pm Tuesday 10-8pm Wednesday 9-5pm Thursday 10-8pm Friday 9-4pm

2 East Street, Thame OX9 3JS Phone: 01844 617 478 Email: admin@oracleearcare.co.uk Website: www.oracleearcare.co.uk