Adults

We all experience pain at some point, and whether you have an aching back, sore muscles or a stiff neck, the pain can be unpleasant. The upside is that pain plays an important role as part of the body’s defence system – it’s your body’s way of alerting you to injury and encouraging protection from further damage. Despite its protective role, pain can be disruptive – as well as impacting on everyday activities it can also affect your sleep. Understanding how pain works may help you find effective ways to manage and relieve your pain.1 Here are three key things to know about pain.

Stress is an imbalance in demands being made and our ability to meet them. The reasons people get stressed vary, for example moving house, losing a loved one, starting a new job, worrying about a deadline… they all can have an effect on us in different ways. Interestingly enough, stress in itself isn't necessarily harmful. A little bit can actually help motivate you to achieve goals and ambitions. It’s when you’re under too much stress that your health can suffer. Thankfully, there are a number of simple steps you can take to help manage stress and stressful situations. The first step is to recognise the signs of stress.

Headaches are one of the most common causes of pain, with most people experiencing a headache at least once in their life.1 Just because they are common, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take them seriously. Headaches don’t just cause pain for some people, they can also cause financial burden through lost work and productivity.2 That can add up to more than just a pain in the head.2

When you have colds and flu, chances are that people around you will have some handy advice. Out of all these many stories connected with both colds and flu, who gets it, how we get it, what we should or shouldn't do to avoid it, and so on – it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. But let's take a look at some of the common cold and flu myths, to see exactly what's true, and what is not! We encourage you to practice good hygiene and physical distancing to help slow the spread of germs. If you are experiencing symptoms of fever, coughing, sore throat or shortness of breath, you should seek medical advice from a doctor (including pathology testing) and stay at home. Where any conflict may arise between the Department of Health’s advice and any information on this website, please follow advice from the Department of Health’s health alerts.

When cold and flu season strikes, sore throats, runny noses, sinus headaches and cold and flu aches and pains can leave you feeling less than your best. Unfortunately, most of us will catch a cold at some time.1 That’s because it’s one of the most common illnesses, affecting adults 2-4 times a year and children as many as 5-10 times a year.*2 Cold and flu symptoms can make your work or school day feel miserable. While there’s no cure for the common cold, there are things you can do to help relieve your symptoms.3 *Healthdirect - Colds

Although migraines are common, they are quite unlike other types of headache. Unless you have personally experienced one, it can be difficult to understand what makes them so different. Migraines can have a significant impact on the daily lives of sufferers. Here is some useful advice on how to spot migraines, plus a few helpful tips and ways to cope when they strike.

You may have sprained an ankle tripping up the stairs. Or hurt it while exercising at the gym. Regardless, the result is the same. It can really disrupt your day. Typical signs of a sprained ankle are swelling, tenderness, pain and sometimes bruising, otherwise known as inflammation. These symptoms are to be expected. But what may surprise you is they’re all part of the body’s natural defence system. So, what’s happening to your sprain and why does it hurt that much?

Just when we think the growing pains are over, we’re gifted one last surprise. Wisdom teeth are the last teeth to grow. However, some of us have wisdom teeth that come in at angles or crowd the jaw. This can be quite painful and some people have their wisdom teeth removed as a result.

The normal body temperature is generally around 37oC, although this can vary slightly from person to person, and it may be affected by factors like time of day, the weather, how much you’re running around or the type and amount of clothing worn.1 Fever is when your body temperature rises above 38°C.1 A fever is often a sign your body is fighting some kind of underlying illness and is often a symptom of infection. Both bacterial and viral infections can cause fever.1 While fever symptoms can leave you feeling pretty miserable, a low-grade fever (a temperature of 38–39°C) is usually no cause for alarm.1,2 Most of the time fever will get better within a few days, and often can be managed at home.1

Whether you’re 18 or 80, most of us have experienced aches and pains. It can be clear where some of them come from, like back pain and period pain. However, sometimes we get aches and pains that don’t seem to have an obvious source. Learning more about what causes common aches and pains can help you deal with them.

The knee is a complex joint that connects the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia) at the kneecap (patella). A thick layer of cartilage (called the meniscus) acts as a ‘shock absorber’ between these bones. The knee joint is held together by connective tissue called ligaments and surrounded by a tough capsule filled with lubricating fluid. It is attached to the thigh and calf muscles with tendons. Knee pain affects around 25% of adults and can limit your knee function and mobility. The most common causes of knee pain are injuries to the meniscus, tendons, or ligaments, and knee osteoarthritis.

“Sit up straight!” “Stop slouching” Many will have heard those two lines before whether it came from your teacher or parents growing up, or your human resources manager at work. But posture is more than just sitting up straight. Posture refers to the relative arrangement of the parts of the body, whether you’re sitting, standing, or lying down. A healthy spine has three natural curves that form an S-shape. Good posture helps to maintain these curves to keeps bones and joints in the correct alignment so that muscles are being used properly.  When the muscles and skeleton are aligned, they protect the body against injury. So, it’s very important to keep the many intricate structures in the back and spine healthy.