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Health Tips
How’s your body doing? These surprising self-checks will tell you instantly.
1. Test your…balance
Stand with your feet in a line, heel to toe, arms by your sides. Close your eyes and count to 10. If you wobbled, you need better balance, says sports medicine expert Keith Lustig, M.D. “People with bad balance are more likely to have their ankles or knees give out,” he says. You can work on yours by standing on one leg whenever you can (try it when you’re doing dishes).
2. Test your…ears
2. Test your…ears
Have a friend stand three feet in front of you, facing away, then try to have a conversation. If you can hear her clearly, increase the challenge by turning on the TV at a background volume. Did you miss the endings of her words or sentences? Then get your ears checked, says hearing loss expert Jed A. Kwartler, M.D. Mild hearing loss is on the rise among young women, partly because of listening to too-loud music on headphones. You can’t get lost hearing back, but you can likely stop it from getting worse by keeping the volume on any audio device to no more than 50 percent of full volume.
3. Test your…lungs
3. Test your…lungs
Hold a lit candle at arm’s length, then open your mouth and try to blow it out without pursing your lips. If you can’t do it, you may have a respiratory problem such as chronic bronchitis or early-stage asthma, which often goes undiagnosed in young women who think they’re too “old” to develop it, says Hormoz Ashtyani, M.D., director of the Breath and Lung Institute at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. Breathing issues can make working out or even lugging groceries tougher, so make an appointment with your doctor to see if you need treatment.
4. Test your…posture
4. Test your…posture
Stand as you normally do and have a friend snap a digital photo of you from the side. “Your head should be in line with your shoulders, not leaning forward or back, and your shoulders should be in line with your ears, not slumped or rolled forward,” says Costa Mesa, California, chiropractor Tim Ramirez. Also, your lower back should have a slight inward curve, but not so much that it looks like you’re sticking your butt out. “Bad posture could cause hip and back problems, whereas good posture not only makes you look better, it also expands the chest, helping you to breathe more easily and giving you more energy,” says Ramirez. To improve your stance, try this stretch, one of Ramirez’s favorites: Stand in a doorway, holding the sides of the door frame at the nine and three o’clock positions; lean forward for several seconds. Then move hands to about 11 and one o’clock, and repeat. Ahhh.
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