Four Essential Self-Checks to Do After You Roll Out the Bed

All too often, when you wake up in the morning, you probably head down to the kitchen and prepare yourself a hearty breakfast. However, you might want to change your routine and instead do some self-check in the mirror first.

Your body has its own built-in sickness sensors, and health experts believe that  it can send you early warning signs if your health is in bad shape. It is even possible for you to spot signs of serious conditions early on if you spend some minutes bonding with your mirror before stuffing yourself with food. So go ahead, make the bathroom mirror your best friend even if you don’t like the image that you see in the morning. You’ll never know, your mirror might just save you from an impending doom.

Below are four self-checks that you should be doing before you indulge yourself with a breakfast.

Armpits

If the only time you zoom in on your armpits is when you do plucking or shaving, you might be missing out on something. Check your armpits thoroughly. If you notice a patch of rough dark skin that wasn’t there before, it can be an indication of diabetes. The excess insulin in your bloodstream causes skin cells to multiply at a rapid pace, thereby resulting to tissue and melanin build up. When this happens, your skin then becomes thicker and darker and this is usually apparent in the armpits, groin and neck. Visiting your doctor for a blood test can help determine if you are suffering from the disease.

Eyes

As the window to your soul and the part that provide you a sense of sight, it is important that you frequently check up on your eyes. If you notice that your under eye circles just won’t go away – unless, of course, you work on a night shift or you frequently stay up late – this sudden onset may be an indication of allergies. Since both your eyes and nose are often exposed to a variety of indoor and outdoor allergens, your body reacts by releasing histamine that helps fend off those allergens.

However, this natural chemical also causes your eyes to itch, water, redden and swell, leading to dark patches around your eyes. Check with your doctor to see what type of allergy you are suffering from.

You can also address eye allergies by placing a cooled tea bag or ice-pack on your eyes. Rinsing your sinus with a nasal spray can also reduce the dark circles, since the veins under your eyes where fluids are drained from the eyes to the nose, can swell when the nasal passages are blocked.

Nails

Other than protecting the tissues of your fingers and toes, your nails can actually give you a lot of clues about your overall health. Some nail discolorations and growth rate changes may indicate serious conditions involving the heart, lung, kidney and liver. While those vertical ridges and white spots are particularly harmless, you should watch out for those dark lines in your nail beds. You might associate them with nail injury, but they can be a sign of cell damage due to melanoma.

Mouth

Just like your nails, your mouth – including teeth, gums and surrounding tissues – says a lot about your overall health. In fact, what you see in your mouth may have a significant impact on your body’s system and function. So it pays to be attentive about this part of your body.

Flat, worn teeth combined with frequent headaches is an indication of high levels of stress. If you have sores in your mouth that you’ve been enduring for a week or two, it’s worth visiting your dentist or doctor to rule out the possibility of oral cancer.

 

Content written by Ericka, who enjoys writing health-related articles and regularly writes content for, a store based in the UK specializing in condoms.