All posts filed under: Quick Questions

Coughing woman

Quick Question – Why do we cough?

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

A cough is one of the major symptoms of Covid-19 and a common feature of any respiratory infection but why do we cough and what actually happens in the body during a cough? Coughs are annoying and irritating, both for the person suffering and for those around them (I seem to be as intolerant of listening to coughing as I am of hearing people chew!) They are however a protective mechanism designed to remove foreign particles from the windpipe and lungs. Larger objects such as food that’s gone down the wrong way and smaller particles such as dust, germs and mucous are all expelled from the body through coughing. The lining of our airways contains specialised cells called goblet cells which produce mucous to keep our airways moist and to trap dirt and germs. Alongside them are ciliated cells which have hundreds of tiny, microscopic legs at their surface which wave, waft and move the mucous and trapped particles back up the airways. During an infection we may have a dry cough where little or …

Red blood cells

Quick Question – What are oxygen sats?

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

We seem to have developed a range of new vocabulary since the onset of the Covid-19 global pandemic. Suddenly words such as self-isolate, health modelling and social distancing have become the norm. Some of the medical terminology that’s now filling our social media feeds can be unknown and confusing. A question I’ve seen a few times is, ‘What are oxygen sats?’ so I thought I’d answer it in my #quickquestion series. Red blood cells carry oxygen around our body. They pick up oxygen molecules when they travel through the lungs and then transport it around the body attached to haemoglobin, which is a protein in the red cell. Our body’s organs and tissues need a steady supply of oxygen for them to function. Oxygen sats is the short form of oxygen saturation and is a measure of how close blood is to being completely saturated with oxygen. Sats are measured in per cent and the goal is 100 per cent. You might also see oxygen abbreviated to its chemical symbol O2. Healthy people will have …

Quick Question – Why do I get a stitch when I exercise?

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

Stitches can quite literally stop you in your tracks. It’s hard to ignore a dull yet stabbing pain which takes your breath away, hurts more as your feet hit the ground and sometimes feels as severe as you’d expect a pain requiring surgical intervention to feel! What actually is a stitch? Why do some people get them more than others? How can you prevent a stitch and most importantly, what can you do to get rid of a stitch?

Quick Question – How can I stop hay fever affecting my exercise?

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

I’m beginning to sneeze already! As soon as March kicks in and the tree pollens start to appear, hay fever can begin to interrupt exercise. If you’re unlucky, the sneezing, itchy eyes and runny nose can go on until October. You can feel grumpy, lethargic and not in the least like exercising and being outdoors just makes things worse. What can you do to get rid of hay fever symptoms? How can you stop hay fever affecting your exercise plans and performance? In this week’s #quickquestion I’m sharing my four Cs for exercising with hay fever.

Quick Question – How can I stop needing to poo when I exercise?

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

The last Quick Question blog answered the conundrum of why exercise makes you need to poo, so now let’s figure out how to stop it! Can you stop the runner’s trots or exercise induced pooping?  What can you do to prevent the diarrhoea that exercise can cause? Here are a few simple tips that will help you reduce the need to poo when you exercise:

Quick Question – Why does exercise make me need to poo?

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

Are you one of the many people who find that once they start doing some exercise, particularly vigorous stuff like running, you get a sudden urge to open your bowels? More often than not it’s a runny motion too. Why does exercise give you diarrhoea? Is there such a thing as exercise-induced poop? It’s so annoying, can be really inconvenient (think crouching in the bushes) and actually put you off being active in the first place. It’s a very common problem so I thought I’d answer it for my #QuickQuestion this week.

Quick Question – Should I pop my blisters?

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

Love them or hate them, feet cause an awful lot of bother, especially if you lead an active life. Even with the best fitting shoes, you can still find you sometimes end up with a blister, particularly if your feet and socks have been wet or you’ve gone further than you usually would. What’s the best way to treat blisters? Should you pop blisters? Should you cover them up? Let’s consider what blisters actually are so we can decide what best to do with them.

Quick Question – Is it ok to exercise with a hangover?

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

Ha! A great question for the festive season. Even the most motivated and focused of us enjoy a night out every now and then but what about the day after the night before? Is it ok to exercise with a hangover? Is running with a hangover dangerous? Should you miss your gym workout if you’ve drunk too much? Will exercising with a hangover actually make you feel better? All good questions that I’ve been asked, so here’s the run down on exercising with a hangover.

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Quick Question – Can I take paracetamol and ibuprofen together?

Published by Dr Juliet McGrattan

Do you have a favourite pain killer that you reach for when a headache, toothache or back pain strikes? What happens when the pain doesn’t seem to ease? A really common question that I’ve been asked is whether you can take paracetamol and ibuprofen at the same time. Is it ok to do that? Is it dangerous to take ibuprofen if you are already on paracetamol? It’s great that people are wary and questioning when it comes to drugs because certain drug interactions can be harmful.