Archive for Май, 2010

The Top Six Massage Techniques

The Top Six Massage Techniques

Massage is now applied in different ways and forms for different purposes. Here is a list of the top rated massage techniques. Read on for one of them might be the right option for you.

Keywords:
Deep Tissue Massage, Swedish Massage, Sports Massage, Neuromuscular Massage, Rolfing, Massage, massage therapy, therapeutic technique, massage therapists

Massage is probably the oldest and simplest existing form of medical care that it has been applied for relaxation, fitness, and other health purposes. Basically, massage therapy is a therapeutic technique that involves manipulation of the soft tissues of the body. It is the calming, therapeutic process of kneading, stroking, and pressing the different areas of the body to alleviate pain, relieve stress and tensions, or relax, stimulate and tone the body.

Well, as what most experts have said, massage, no matter how simple or complex the techniques involved, can really be a great healing system.

A number of massage techniques are available nowadays. The massage is commonly applied in different techniques and in different strokes. The techniques and strokes vary widely from the most delicate touch with the fingertips to the more focused deep tissue work. These techniques may even vary in speed as well as in pressure.

Below is a list of the top rated massage techniques. Read on for one of them might be the right option for you.

Deep Tissue Massage

The deep tissue massage, on the most basic, is a massage technique that focuses on the deeper layers of muscle tissue. It involves a number of slow movements, but generally the pressure is more intense as it aims to release the chronic patterns of tension in the body. The most common target of these movements and deep finger pressure are the contracted areas, either following or going across the muscles of the fiber, fascia and tendons. Usually, in this kind of massage, the therapists use their thumb, fingers and even elbows to apply the needed pressure.

Swedish Massage

Also included in the line of the top rated massage techniques is the so-called Swedish massage. Basically, this technique involves the use of kneading, tapping or calming strokes applied to the entire body to loosen sore joints and relieve muscle tension and pain. Well, what sets Swedish massage unique from the other massage techniques is that it involved five major beneficial strokes: effleurage, petrissage, friction, tapotement, and vibration. Although each of these strokes differ according to their movements and target points, all of them are developed to promote an ultimate feeling of being pampered.

There is one particular purpose that the Swedish massage is strongly holding – to increase the flow of oxygen in the blood and release toxins that were trapped in the muscles. With this purpose alone, the Swedish massage highly works to shorten the recovery time from muscular strain

Sports Massage

Sports massage, as you may know, is a form of massage that is applied for sports purposes, hence the name. It is the technique of kneading and manipulating the soft tissues in the body to help athletes improve their performance, prevent and treat sports injuries. It is highly considered in the field of sports knowing that as the participation in sports becoming more popular at all genders and ages and as performances continue to improve annually, more is expected and demanded from the athletes. It is with this situation that athletes start looking for some effective ways to boost their performances, and sports massage is one of the best solutions they’ve ever discovered.

Heated Stone Massage

Heated stone massage, also known as la stone massage, is widely appreciated and accepted in the healthcare and bodywork industry today. Several clinics, spas, fitness centers, and other healthcare establishments have in fact considered it a very effective alternative to the regular massage therapy.

During the heated stone massage procedure, the therapists and the clients themselves will notice certain changes on the body temperature, including the heart and breathing rates. Heated stone massage is used to indicate such changes to determine the flow of the blood and the exchange of blood and oxygen in the body, allowing a sense of well-being in the end. That’s basically how the heated stone massage works.

Neuromuscular Massage

This is actually a form of deep tissue massage that is applied to the individual muscles. However, the main purpose of the massage techniques involved here is to increase the blood and lymphatic flow, while reducing the pain and release pressure trapped on the nerves. The neuromuscular massage techniques are also considered to release the trigger points which could help relieve headaches and the pain in your shoulder.

Rolfing

Rolfing also hit the line of the most well-known and widely performed massage techniques available. This technique, on the most basic, involves reeducating the body about proper posture. Yes, posture is given much attention here for the belief that posture highly determines health problems like headaches, backaches and joint pain. With that focus, the rolfing massage techniques no doubt seek to straighten and realign your body by working the myofascia, which is actually the connective tissue that assists to hold your body together. This tissue surrounds your muscles.

Not All Fats Are Bad

Not All Fats Are Bad

Fats have been unfairly lumped together as being all bad for too long. Fat doesn’t necessarily cause disease, and can actually cause a role in its prevention. The truth is that some fats are very bad for us and some fats are actually very good for us.

Time has shown us that diets that restrict all fats fail in terms of weight loss. Since the end of World War II, Americans have been told that they need to restrict saturated fat in their diets. So we switched to margarine fr…

Keywords:
nutrition, diet, weight loss, dieting, fats, coconut oil, food, healthy

Fats have been unfairly lumped together as being all bad for too long. Fat doesn’t necessarily cause disease, and can actually cause a role in its prevention. The truth is that some fats are very bad for us and some fats are actually very good for us.

Time has shown us that diets that restrict all fats fail in terms of weight loss. Since the end of World War II, Americans have been told that they need to restrict saturated fat in their diets. So we switched to margarine from butter, and did what we could to restrict fat. We have been constantly told that the reason for our health problems is that we still eat too much fat, especially saturated fats.

Since Americans have been told to eat a low fat diet to lose weight, the results are that nearly two thirds of adult Americans are now classified as overweight and more children are overweight now than ever before. Obviously something is wrong. That is because we need special kinds of fats in our diets that we are not getting.

If you are like me, you grew up being told that vegetable oils were the good oils and saturated fats were the bad ones. Now we are finding out that it is just the opposite. Diets that are moderate to high in “good” saturated fats and oils such as coconut oil and olive oil are actually very good for us. They raise good cholesterol levels and lower bad cholesterol, blood glucose and blood pressure. As a matter of fact, people who started adding at least 4 tablespoons of coconut oil to their diets every day, have found that they can now lose weight when they could not before on a fat restricted diet. Sometimes the addition of these oils even helps with their health problems.

It turns out that the bad guys are polyunsaturated oils, which carry toxic fatty acids (long chain fatty acids or LCT’s). These LCT’s tend to produce fat in the body. Polyunsaturated oils are the vegetable oils we commonly see in the grocery store, such as soy, corn, cottonseed, rapeseed and safflower.

We have been told that they lower cholesterol, but they way that they do is not healthy, as it ends up collecting in the liver. These oils are easily oxidized and damaged by free radicals. When cooked they become rancid in a few hours, even in the refrigerator. This causes damage to our body at a cellular level, the end results showing up as problems like diabetes, cancer, hypothyroidism and heart disease. And if that is not enough, these oils help us to get fat, lower the metabolic rate in our bodies, help suppress the thyroid function and cause our skin to age quicker.

Trans-fat is one of the worst bad guys. Trans-fatty acids often appear on ingredient labels as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. It is what they do to vegetable oils to make them into hard fats such as margarine and vegetable shortening. It is used in the prepared food industry in baked goods like cookies, crackers, and most supermarket peanut butter to prolong the shelf life. These bad fats are used almost exclusively in fast foods that are fried. When heated and eaten, they turn into something like poison in your system, because your body can not process this kind of chemically made fat. Trans-fats not only increase levels of bad cholesterol, but they will decrease levels of good cholesterol in the blood stream and trans-fatty acids have been linked to heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Fats such as margarine and shortening should be totally avoided, as well as foods items that contain them.

The United States FDA is finally catching up to this truth, and by January 2006 they will be requiring food products to label the amount of trans-fat they have in them.) What is frightening is that trans-fats are found in over 40% of the products on our supermarket shelves.

The fatty acid chains in coconut and olive oil are medium-chain fatty acids (MCT’s) and they promote weight loss by increasing the body’s metabolism to create energy. Coconut oil has become popular lately, because it has been discovered that coconut oil is nature’s richest source of MTC’s. If you decide to add coconut oil to your diet, it is recommended that you purchase virgin coconut oil (VCO), usually found in health food stores, because it from the best part of the coconut and has not been chemically bleached and heat processed. It is better for cooking than olive oil, because olive oil can be damaged by the heat of cooking, making it similar to the other vegetable oils in the body when cooked.

Even saturated fat from animals is not as bad as it once was thought to be, especially if it is from organically raised animals (free range and grass fed). Organic butter has a very high conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content, which helps us lose weight and gain muscle. But non-organic meats may still be dangerous because of the way the animals were raised or fed. Most grocery store meats are filled with hormones, pesticides, medicines and unhealthy fat that gets transferred to us when we eat it.

Organic grass fed and free range meat and eggs avoid these problems, and give us a much healthier source of protein and saturated fat. Organic saturated fats and oils are actually good for you and should be eaten daily. The body needs these fats for healthy functioning.

So, forget the guilt and fry up that range-fed chicken in some coconut oil and enjoy!

Saunas: Pleasure That Is Safe

Saunas: Pleasure That Is Safe

Saunas have been used for many years as a way to relax and to improve the body’s look and feel. If you have never been able to set foot in one, then there are some things that you should know so that you can be properly prepared and so that you can remain safe. Saunas can be soothing and exhilarating when they are used correctly.

Here are some things to remember when you step into saunas:

• Realizing that it is going to be hot is important. In some cases, temperatures…

Keywords:
Saunas

Saunas have been used for many years as a way to relax and to improve the body’s look and feel. If you have never been able to set foot in one, then there are some things that you should know so that you can be properly prepared and so that you can remain safe. Saunas can be soothing and exhilarating when they are used correctly.

Here are some things to remember when you step into saunas:

• Realizing that it is going to be hot is important. In some cases, temperatures can range from any place between 60 degrees to 120 degrees. They are generally at about 70 to 90 degrees Celsius most of the time.

• Because of this temperature and the level of humidity in the saunas, you will find that often heat prostration and heat stroke can occur. It is important to watch for signs of these as you may not realize it if you are relaxing.

• Also, after the sauna, it is customary to take a cool shower or even take a plunge in a cool bath afterwards. The problem with this is that it needs to be done carefully to avoid the sudden and intense increase in blood pressure that can make you dizzy.

• Saunas should not be used by individuals who have a history of conditions such as stroke or hypertension because saunas can quite affect these conditions.

In many cases, saunas are thought to help cleanse the body. Some people believe that they help the body get rid of toxins that are in the pores through sweating. In fact, in some countries it is believed that saunas can help cure diseases as well! What there is no doubt about is that saunas are a great way to relax and to enjoy some soothing time. If you have the opportunity, visit one as often as you can so that you too can experience this pleasure that is like nothing else.

The Best Fat Burning and Muscle Building Bodyweight Exercises

The Best Fat Burning and Muscle Building Bodyweight Exercises

For when you can’t afford to go to the gym, don’t have access to one, or just don’t feel like going, there are always bodyweight exercises. Bodyweight exercises are an amazing way to keep fit and are a great way for a newbie to get accustomed to the fitness world. Bodyweight exercises are wonderful tools for developing the your physique, and perhaps best of all, they don’t cost a dime.

Keywords:
fitness, bodyweight exercises, six pack, beginner fitness

For when you can’t afford to go to the gym, don’t have access to one, or just don’t feel like going, there are always bodyweight exercises . Bodyweight exercises are an amazing way to keep fit and are a great way for a href=http://beginner-fitness-tips.blogspot.com/>fitness beginner to get accustomed to the fitness world. Bodyweight exercises are wonderful tools for developing the your physique, and perhaps best of all, they don’t cost a dime!

Probably the most simple and known bodyweight exercise is the push-up. Push-ups have many varieties but they all target the same general muscle groups: the triceps and the chest. Normal grip push-ups work the chest the most while “tricep” or “diamond” push-ups – done with hands together and directly under the sternum – work the triceps more. Once you are able to crank out 15 or more reps easily, you may wish to increase the difficulty better encourage strength gains. This can be done by either filling a backpack with weights and wearing it while you do pushups, or by elevating your legs (e.g. doing pushups off a sofa).

Another great bodyweight exercise is the pullup. Pullups stimulate mainly the biceps and the lats(the upper back). Similar to pushups, pullups come in all shapes and sorts, usually distinguishable according the grip used. When your hands face towards you, it is called a chin up and utilizes the biceps more directly. When your palms face away, it is usually called a pull up and works the lats and forearms more. Something to remember on top of these differences, is that the wider the grip, the more focus is put on the lats, while the narrower it gets, more focus is put on the arms.

The last bodyweight exercise in this article is probably not the most well known but it is definitely one of the most useful: the hindu squat. Hindu squats were used for centuries by Hindu wrestlers to strengthen their enormous and powerful legs. Contrary to what one might think at first about the exercise, they are not bad for your knees at all, and have been in fact proven to be good for your knee health. The starting position of a hindu squat is a standing position with your arms extended in parallel to the floor. You then start to lower your body into a squat position while lowering your arms until they are perpendicular to the floor at the same time. The squat position of a hindu squat is not the same as a traditional squat position because you should be on your toes and your knees should be pointing forward, as opposed to being on your heels with your shins perpendicular to the floor.

Bodyweight exercises are extremely valuable to people of fitnesses of all levels. It is wonderful to be able to experience noticeable gains without having to spend any money or leave the house at all.

Satinique Styling Products

Satinique Styling Products

The article ‘Satinique Styling Product’ provides information about cheap and affordable hair styling products.After reding this article you will be able to choose a hair styling product which will suits both your hair as well as your budget.

Keywords:
Satinique styling products,healthy hair,hair-care products,alcohol free products,smooth and shiny hair,Brilliant Hair Polish,glossy gleam, cheap hair care products, affordable hair styling products

Everyone wants to have great-looking hair, but who has the time (or the money) for regular visits to the salon? Buying the expensive salon products may work great for your hair, but it doesn’t work out so well for your wallet. Is it possible to have beautiful, salon-worthy hair at a reasonable price?

Satinique products are designed to give you healthy hair and a healthy scalp, targeting dry and damaged areas of hair. Satinique does what its name suggests – your hair will feel like satin after using Satinique styling products. These quality hair-care products, which include Satinique’s new line of styling products (Piece Out Styling Stik, Smooth Moves Shaping Crиme, and Brillian Hair Polish) will leave your hair looking like a million bucks – without costing just that much to look great.

“SATINIQUE products solve hair problems by working on both the health of the scalp and hair, making hair smoother, shinier and more resilient. Salon quality SATINIQUE products repair, strengthen and protect in one use.”
- Amway website, Satinique, May 2006

Allergy tested, alcohol free Satinique products contain sunscreen to protect your hair’s moisture and prevent damage. Satinique styling products will leave your hair smooth and shiny, giving you that salon-fresh feeling. Even dry and damaged hair will look smooth and shiny after using Satinique products, which are designed to replenish your hair’s natural vitamins and minerals.

“Smoothly coating the hair surface, they leave hair looking shinier and healthier. The allergy-tested, alcohol-free formulas will not dry hair, while moisturising agents actively promote healthy moisture content.”
- Amway website, Satinique, May 2006

Use Satinique styling products and express yourself with the latest product line from Satinique: Piece Out Styling Stik, Smooth Moves Shaping Creme, and Brilliant Hair Polish. Released just this past Spring, this new line from Satinique has everyone talking hair.

“The new SATINIQUE styling products include Piece Out Styling Stick, Smooth Moves Shaping Crиme and Brilliant Hair Polish,” says Peggy Florence. “Piece Out Styling Stick is a lightweight defining pomade that gives you texture and control so you can spike up or smooth down your look.’”
- Press Release, April 02, 2006

Satinique products are designed to repair and strengthen your hair, as well as giving you extra gloss and shine. Want healthier, shinier hair? The answer may be Satinique, and their newest line of styling products will give your hair a beautiful, shiny, stylish look that makes you look like you’ve just come from the beauty parlor.

“All SATINIQUE and SATINIQUE ADVANCED styling products contain Meadowfoam Seed Oil complex with UVA/UVB sunscreen. They offer protection from sun damage and the effects of heat styling, helping to protect the moisture content of the hair.”
- Amway website, Satinique, May 2006

With Satinique, the name says it all. Many are raving about the products from Satinique, which aren’t just limited to styling products. Satinique offers a whole line in hair care, including shampoos and conditioners to leave your hair clean, sweet-smelling, and more beautiful and healthy than before. Growing in popularity all the time, Satinique products are becoming more widely available. The Satinique web site will give you information on buying directly from them.

You don’t have to spend a fortune, or spend all your time at the salon, to get great-looking hair. With Satinique styling products, you can express yourself and show the world the hair you’ve always wanted to have. To give your hair a healthy, glossy gleam, try the latest Satinique styling products: Piece Out Styling Stik, Smooth Moves Shaping Crиme, and Brilliant Hair Polish. Your hair will thank you for choosing Satinique, and you’ll be pleased with how great you look.

Spencer Kobren’s The Bald Truth: The Reality of Hair Loss

Natural Psoralen Therapy in Vitiligo

Natural Psoralen Therapy in Vitiligo

You will hardly find a person who has used a prescription medicine for Vitiligo and is very happy about it, but even if it were successful and gratifying, that does not mean that there can not be other types of remedies which can be effective as well.

Keywords:
Vitiligo, Vitiligo Skin Disorder, Vitiligo Treatment

Vitiligo, a condition in which the skin turns white due to the loss of melanocytes. These cells produce melanin, the pigment that gives the skin its characteristic color. (Melanocytes also impart color to the retina of the eye and the mucous membrane tissues lining the inside of the mouth, nose, genital and rectal areas). In vitiligo, the Melanocytes some are self-destroyed in different parts of body, the result is white patches on these parts. The hair that grows in areas affected by vitiligo may also turn white.

It is a well known fact that there is no treatment that will completely eradicate the disease from body. When one says treating vitiligo, it is meant “bringing skin color back” weather root cause is addressed or not. One oldest known way is use of Psoralen. Psoralen is capable of high UV (Ultraviolet) absorbance. It is the UV part of sun light that does the tanning magic.

Psoralens are being produced in laboratories since 1970, but before that only source of Psoralens was nature. Psoralen is the parent compound in a family of natural products known as furocoumarins. Psoralen is found in the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia, common Fig, celery, parsley and West Indian satinwood.

Oral Psoralen therapy:
An oral intake of Psoralea corylifolia (in powder form) along with sun exposure can help in gaining the pigment back, with the disadvantage of
(a) Large no. of people will not tolerate it. Some patients experience nausea and itching after ingesting the psoralen compound.
(2) It will tend to tan the whole body. And if vitiligo effected areas are not responding, the contrast ratio of these parts with normal skin will increase making the situation worse.
The therapy should hence be started with only a small intakes, and with very little sun, on limited body parts only.
Topical psoalen theapy:
In topical psoralen therapy, psoralen is applied to vitiligo affected areas, then UVA/ SUN light is applied to gain the pigmentation.
Oil extracted from Psoralean corylifolia is perhaps the oldest natural topical therapy used for this purpose. The natural psoralen in this magic herb acts and absorbs the UV portion of sunlight resulting in re-pigmentation of the skin. The disadvantage again being the non tolerance of many patients. A low dosage should be tried for this purpose. Anti-Vitiligo, a well known topical Anti-Vitiligo contains Psoralean Corylifolia in 8% weight to weight ratio with other natural herbs.

Remember that sun/ UVA is must for any therapy using psoralen. No UVA – No pigmentation. Since artificial UVA sources some times are 5 times stronger than the normal sun, so UVA/ Sun burns can happen very fast. It is highly recommended that atrtificial UVA should only be used under medical supervision.

Weight loss: Pills vs. Diet Programs

Weight loss: Pills vs. Diet Programs

The article talks about the necessities of weight loss as a means to attain optimum health. The article also delves into the different weight loss pills that are being marketed today. Weight loss programs are also tackled as a form of safe and proven weight control method.

Keywords:
weight loss programs, weight loss pills, lifestyle, diet

Many people consider weight loss as an important goal to achieve optimum health. Both men and women are naturally conscious of how they look, including how much they weigh. Being fat or obese can be quite self-destructive, since it can affect a person’s self-esteem and also his self-confidence. By knowing what to eat, and how much should be eaten, people can more or less control their weight. Aside from limiting food intake, people should also regularly exercise and maintain a healthy, active lifestyle.

But there are people who find it hard to go to the gym or simply cannot resist eating more than they need to. To lose weight, they often look for weight loss pills which they consider to be the sweat-free way of losing the extra pounds. These pills have become popular to weight watchers because of their convenience and perceived effectiveness. Weight loss pills are sold as over-the-counter drugs at local drugstores, health food stores, and supermarkets. Even on the Internet, a lot of these pills are being sold and ready for delivery for eager online shoppers. However, much care must be put into the decision to use these drugs. Many of these weight-reduction medications have not been proven safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration. These pills actually contain different components that supposedly make a person lose weight fast. Based on advertised claims about these drugs, weight loss pills decrease a person’s appetite, blocks the absorption of dietary fat, and increase the number of calories that are burned by the body. These pills also supposedly increase fat metabolism, reduce body fat and builds muscles, while increasing the feelings of fullness. All these are just unsubstantiated claims and, as such, the use of the said drugs should be done only after consultation with health professionals. The use of unregulated drugs could be dangerous to one’s health.

At present, the US Food and Drug Administration has a list of approved weight loss medications for adults. One such approved drug is called Alli, a reduced-strength over-the-counter weight loss pill that works by decreasing the absorption of fat by the intestines. However, this particular medication only works with a reduced calorie, low fat diet together — and regular exercise.

Knowing that some of these weight loss pills are still not proven safe nor effective, people should consider thinking of losing weight the natural way. Although it would be a challenge for anyone, this would be the safest and healthiest way to lose weight.

There are actually several safe and proven weight loss programs that have been designed for people who desperately need to shed off extra pounds. These diet-based programs cater to different types of individuals who have certain preferences when it comes to their choice of diet and lifestyle. These weight loss programs take time to work and anyone who wants to try them out should have the mental toughness, determined effort, and close family support needed to see through the program. Going on a diet is like reversing or removing lifetime habits of eating and lack of exercise. Weight loss programs such as the Atkins Diet, Weight Watchers, the Scarsdale Diet, the Zone Diet, and the Anne Collins Diet promises weight loss for people who follow the requirements and recommendations set forth in these specially designed regimen. These diet programs, however, all share the same thing: the weight watcher must engage in physical exercises. All these programs have different eating plans to range from low-carbohydrate intake to no-meat plans. Of course, these diet plans have been designed to meet the varied needs and preferences of weight watchers.

When one is really willing to lose some weight, following these weight loss programs would surely be much easier. People can surely lose weight without the dangers of risking one’s health by taking dangerous weight loss pills that might not be even be effective at all. By having an optimistic and sensible approach to weight loss, people can lose weight in a healthy way.

Men's Health Basic Fitness Workout – Lektion9

Teenage pregnancy: Think And Re-think Of Your Choices

Teenage pregnancy: Think And Re-think Of Your Choices

An unplanned pregnancy is a traumatic event, this is especially true among teen-age girls. Teen pregnancy is one of the most difficult experience a young person might ever face. It can interrupt school or other plans in their young lives. But with options available nowadays, teenagers now have an opportunity and choose the best for them and their babies.

Keywords:
counseling, depression, relationship

Adolescence can be a challenging time for young people and their families. A teenager goes through rapid physical and emotional changes. Teenagers go through awkward times and get caught in between wanting freedom and having the security of the family. Parents want their children to grow to happy and independent. But at the same time, they cannot help but fear for the safety of their children as they watch them spread out their own wings. Given this situation, parents have accept the fact that the dreams they had for their children may not come true. For teenagers to have their own dreams, they must cope with the controlling behavior of parents while trying to explore the world on their own.

Aside from the initial forays into drinking and smoking, many teenagers also explore the “adult world” by getting into a romantic relationship. Having an intimate and romantic relationship among young people is very common even if it is prohibited by their parents. Naturally, teenagers rebel and some even engage in pre-marital sex not thinking of the consequences of such actions. This is especially true among teen-age girls. Unfortunately, these girls will also be the ones who will have to face the problem of early pregnancy, a dilemma that would have long-term consequences.

Teen pregnancy is one of the most difficult experiences a young person could ever face. It can interrupt school or other plans in their young lives. It can create an emotional crisis resulting in feelings of depression, shame, and fear. The stress of how a teenager breaks the news to her parents might be even greater, and finding help may seem an impossible task.

Some pregnant teenagers are so shocked and frightened that they try to cope by ignoring or denying the pregnancy. A pregnant teener might even think no one can help her, she might be too embarrassed to search for help. However, denying the pregnancy or ignoring it can only make things worse for the teen ager and the baby. Denial will not take the pregnancy away, instead, the teenager will lose the time she could have invested in prenatal care and counseling.

Research shows that sex education and access to effective contraception are essential in preventing unplanned pregnancy in the teenage population. Some teenage pregnancies occur as a result of young women’s sexual inexperience and an inadequate understanding of their reproductive cycle. Research suggests that knowledge about reproductive matters and access to contraception are necessary to prevent unintended adolescent pregnancy.

Teenagers, as a group, have significantly higher complication rates both during pregnancy and delivery. Reasons for the higher complication rate include physical immaturity, lack of health care knowledge, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, illegal drugs, poor diet, inadequate antenatal care. Teenage mothers have a higher risk of postnatal depression than older women.

Moreover, research have shown that the number of births to teenagers has decreased considerably over the last few decades. This decrease is most likely due to the increased availability of contraception and abortion, rather than a decrease in sexual activity. There has also been a dramatic fall in the number of teenagers choosing adoption. Changes in social attitudes towards single parents and illegitimacy and the availability of social support groups have made parenting a more viable option.

Pregnancy counseling is generally available in school, church or the community. Ideally, counseling should support the young woman in making a free and fully informed decision about her options, and give information on abortion, adoption and parenting. Many teenagers feel uncomfortable or unable to talk with family, so professional counseling offers a valuable and much-needed resource.

Teenagers now have a lot of options and making a choice can be a bit difficult. But carefully checking one’s resources and giving oneself the opportunity to make the best informed decision should be available to each and every teenager.