It’s easy to lose track of your health when you are in college and to start thinking things like “I’ll take better care of myself after I graduate”. True, taking care of yourself later is better than never, but doing it now is better than both. That’s because on top of lowering your quality of life in the present, failing to take proper care of your body and health during your college career can easily cause irreparable damage to your health.
Your oral health is a good example of this. It may seem like cavities and other oral health issues can easily be fixed by a dentist, but the problem is that those fixes aren’t perfect. Dental fillings and other procedures don’t last forever, which means dental work today leads to more dental work being needed in the future. On top of that, dental procedures carry risks, and while there are guides that make finding affordable dental care easier, dental work can still be quite costly.
There are similar risks associated with ignoring other areas of your health as well. It’s harder to lose weight than to maintain your current weight, for example, and heart problems may cause permanent damage. All of this goes to prove that the old saying holds true: an ounce of prevention is indeed worth a pound of cure. Here are some tips that can help you take better care of your health while in college.
1 – Protect your sleep
The quality of your sleep can have an impact on various areas of your health, including your immune system, hormonal balance, overall stress level, and more. This doesn’t mean that not getting 8 hours of sleep every night will kill you, but a persistent pattern of sleep deprivation can have a negative impact on your overall health.
Do what you can to make sure you get enough sleep every night, and keep in mind that the definition of “enough” is fluid. Some people need more sleep, some people need less; so aim to get enough sleep to leave you feeling rested in the morning.
2 – Invest in prevention
As mentioned, prevention is good for your health. On top of that, prevention is usually cheaper and requires less time than dealing with a more serious health condition. Keep that in mind if you ever feel like you can’t fit a doctor’s appointment into a schedule — skipping it can lead to issues that take a lot more time to handle down the line.
You should see a general physician and a dentist once every six months or so. And an eye doctor at least once a year. These, however, are rules of thumb — you can and should adapt how often you see a doctor to match your needs.
For example, if you often find yourself with cavities, it’s best to see a dentist for a checkup and a regular cleaning every three months, or even every two months.
3 – Monitor your stress levels
We all have different stress tolerances, and we experience stress in different ways, so make sure you keep track of how stress affects you. Maybe it gives you the feeling of “brain fog”, maybe it affects your sleep, or maybe it changes your appetite. Keep an eye on it, since it’s surprisingly easy to underestimate just how stressed you truly are.
On top of monitoring your stress, you’ll also want to have a rough idea of what you can do to relieve stress when things get too tense. Stress is both bad for your health and for your academic performance, so time spent on things that help you relax should never be considered wasted time.
4 – Be smart about your meals
What you eat can have a big impact on your health, that’s no secret. So make sure you are having proper meals when possible, with healthy portions, eaten at regular intervals. And if you are the type who likes to snack when they are studying or stressed, look for some healthy snack ideas you can use.
Your goal is to make eating healthy as easy and practical as possible. That’s because when the midterms come around and you are both stressed and short on time, you will want to spend as little time and energy dealing with food as possible. So as long as you make eating healthy easier than eating unhealthy, you can trick yourself into sticking with the good foods even when things are tough.
5 – Know where help is
When you are sick, stressed, or depressed trying to problem solve and find help is much harder. You may find yourself so sick you barely want to get out of bed, after all. So make sure you set aside a small list with emergency contacts, and keep tabs on where you can find help for different problems around campus. Or who on campus you should call when trying to get help for different issues.
Just knowing ahead of time where you can get help makes you much more likely to seek out help when you need it. Plus, knowing all of this will also allow you to point friends and family in the right direction when they need help.