Your health

Now, while things are operating smoothly, and relatively normally, it is a good time to see to your health needs. Things that are simple matters today, may become difficult or impossible to deal with after a collapse. So why wait? Get a check up, get copies of your medical records, and take care of any problems that crop up – now. Seriously, make an appointment to do this today. Stop reading, bookmark this page, and call your doctor. Not only will it help prepare you for future difficulties; but it will make you fell better right now.

If you do not have a regular doctor, then you really have a problem – get one. This is so important, that it should not be put off. Rather than spend time, money, and effort buying that assault rifle, survival kit, night vision gear, and wilderness camping equipment, get a doctor and go see him. Do it immediately, before civilization falls, or the democrats nationalize health care.

Get your eyes checked. If you need glasses, get several pairs – now. Many places offer discounts for purchase of multiple pairs, and some even do two for one promotional offers. All of that knowledge and wisdom that you have stored away in survival guides, field books to edible plants, and instructions on how to build, store, and survive, will be pretty difficult to use if you break your one and only pair of glasses. With the infrastructure stagnant, the economy dead, and the production system gone, it will be pretty hard to get a pair of prescription glasses after things collapse. That deluxe assault rifle, and accurized handgun will be pretty hard to aim, if you can't see. Just in case, though, get a copy of your prescription while you are there.

Get your hearing tested. If you are hard of hearing, get a hearing aid. Get extra batteries too. You might also consider an old fashioned horn style hearing aid, for use years in the future, when all of the batteries are gone.

Get a complete physical. If you need any sort of surgery, get it done. If you are diagnosed with any medical conditions, like diabetes, epilepsy, arthritis, or Parkinson’s, get medication, and search for natural cures. Diabetes disappears, when certain diets are followed. Often epilepsy can be moderated with proper rest, and a reduction in stress – not likely in a survival situation, but it can’t hurt to try.

Lose weight – I know you need to. So do I. We are Americans, after all. Obesity is as American as apple pie, and Big Macs, ice cream, candy, soft drinks, pop corn, cookies, potato chips, and all of the other junk that we shove into our poor bodies. A fat man is more likely to have health problems than a thin man – and doctors might be in short supply during disaster. A fat man will be less physically fit, and less able to deal with stress, than a more normally proportioned man.

Don’t smoke! I hate to sound like one of the nanny state liberals, who seem to have started a crusade against smoking; but it is an expensive, debilitating habit – an addiction really. It has also been proven to greatly reduce night vision. In addition, things will be hard enough, should disaster occur, without having to quit smoking cold turkey, while trying to survive. For the same reasons, if you are a heavy drinker, or habitual drug user, break these habits. You will live longer, and function better.

Very Important!!! Get your teeth done. Do I even need to elaborate on this one? A tooth ache, tooth decay, an abscess, and pretty much everything else that can happen to a tooth is a source of almost unbelievable and debilitating pain. From personal experience, most of us know that a bad tooth saps the will, makes concentration impossible, and creates a constant fatigue. Teeth can be pulled; but do you want to be in a post civilization world, and not have any teeth? Starvation is a real possibility in such a situation. In addition, before antibiotics and modern dentistry, an abscess had the potential to be lethal.