Doctor’s Orders…

Nuffield Health Leeds Hospital

Dr Jones is a GP in Leeds and an Honorary Lecturer at the Leeds School of Medicine. He has a vast experience of looking after students and teaching them too! He also runs a GP service from the Nuffield Health Leeds Hospital.

So you’ve made it this far! You’re at University but you still have a long way to go. It would be a shame to let your health affect this.

Here are my Top 5 Tips for staying healthy during your studies and beyond:

 Doctor Doctor

First things first; make sure you register with the student health service if you’re lucky enough to be on or near campus or a local GP practice if you are further out and this is easier. Make sure you know their opening times and how to book appointments. Much of this is done online now so you will have to sign up for a username and password. If you are on regular medication let them know what it is. Ask them to put it on repeat and you will also be able to order it online.

Keep Appy

There is a multitude of Apps available now for looking after yourself during your studies. From health monitoring (free health checks, heart rate monitors etc) to healthy eating guides, exercise manuals to health stats calculators. They are all there at the touch of a button to help you improve, monitor and look after your health. There are even apps to help when you are struggling mentally and or struggling to sleep.

Drugs & Medication

Drugs and medication can be a bit like friends, some can make you happy and feel like you can do anything and some can just bring you down!

Stick to our steady and trusted ones. Make paracetamol and ibuprofen your friends.

Paracetamol is good for general aches and pains and also brings your temperature down when you’re ill. Ibuprofen has similar properties but is also good for sporting injuries when your heroics at Ultimate Frisbee have pushed your ligaments and muscles a little too far.

Here’s Dr Jones’ damage limitation after a night out: Before bed 2 paracetamols and 2 ibuprofen washed down with 1 pint of water containing a rehydration sachet and a Berocca (other fizzy vitamins are available). Repeat in the morning and you’re good to go!

Food for Thought

You are what you eat or so they say? It is tempting to live on fast food and beer (I did try this at Uni for a while too) but eventually your body starts to protest and tell you it’s not happy: abdo pain, dodgy bowels, odd spots and the like. Again there are plenty of resources available to help. Healthy eating guides, discounts available online and of course plenty of stores now selling low priced fresh food and a trip to the local market is always fun!

Try and stick to regular meals and times and of course the 5 a day if you can. Your body will thank you for it in the long term.

Bandaid

Hopefully you’re unlikely to injure yourself at home, walking from the lounge to the kitchen/ bedroom and back again but accidents happen! Make sure between you that you have the basics in the house – antiseptic cleaning solution, plasters, bandages and some painkillers should injuries happen.

For more serious situations, injuries, infections or you just have no idea what is going on there is help at hand. There is 111 for verbal advice, online advice from NHS websites and if all else fails Walk-in centres and A&E. Be sure to know where your nearest Walk-in centre is, these are usually much less busy than A&E and can do pretty much the same things. Also find out where your late night chemist is and their opening times.

Good luck and if all else fails go and have a chat with your GP or book an appointment to see me at the Nuffield!
To book a private GP appointment with Dr Jones, call Nuffield Health Leeds Hospital on: 0113 834 7585 or visit: nuffieldhealth.com/leeds/privategp

Nuffield Health Leeds Hospital

nuffieldhealth.com/hospitals/leeds