Women and Adolescents Gynecology Center

1. 10 Little Health Skills Every Woman

2. 1. Slash your health care bills Bite back at dental costs. For routine cleanings, go to a dental hygiene clinic, where students supervised by a dentist and hygienist train on patients. The Montgomery County Community College Dental Hygiene Clinic in Blue Bell, PA, for example, charges $15 for a cleaning and exam. Check colleges for clinics, or visit the American Dental Association's website for a national listing of dental schools.

3. 2. Breathe away more fat Oxygen helps fuel your fat burn, so the more efficiently you breathe, the better your workout results. The trick: breathe in and out through both your mouth and nose. (You can also breathe away stress. 

4. 3. Spot stealthy salt Up to 75% of the salt in our diets comes from packaged foods. This simple trick can keep your sodium intake in check: “Look for a 1-to-1 ratio of calories to sodium or less,” says Prevention advisor David L. Katz, MD, MPH, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center. If a food has 150 calories per serving, it should have no more than 150 mg of sodium. Keep your intake below 1,500 mg a day.View Details

5. 4. Get a great workout in 10 minutes Too busy for the gym? No problem. Just 10 minutes can burn nearly 100 calories and boost your energy level by up to 18%. Try this compressed routine from Jessica Dart, personal training manager at Equinox Soho in New York City:

6. 5. Never forget a name Focus on the name as you hear it. People who are good at remembering names are interested in them, asking how they’re spelled or pronounced. Then repeat it not once but several times, says Cynthia R. green, PhD, coauthor of Prevention’s Brainpower Game Plan. View more…

7. 6. Test your posture Stand up straight and count how long you can hold the pose at left before you have to put your foot down. Repeat on the other side. If you can’t balance on each leg for at least 20 seconds, you aren’t standing as straight as you think you are, or your muscles are too weak to hold you in place.

8. 7. Scarproof your skin Scars fade faster if you keep cuts covered and moist, says Jeffrey Dover, MD, president of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery. If you tend to develop raised scars, switch to scar-reducing bandages once skin heals; studies show that silicone sheets help by reducing collagen production. Try Scaraway ($20; drugstores). View more…

9. 8. Learn the art of label reading Rule 1: Ignore all front-of-the-box health claims. “They’re about marketing, not health,” says Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. A “low-fat” or “low-carb” claim tells you nothing about what else was added to compensate (think sugar or salt). Rule 2: Flip to the nutrition facts and scan the ingredient list. Look for a list that’s not straight out of a science lab. Rule 3: Remember that a daily value of 20% or or more for any nutrient is considered high (great for calcium, but a warning sign for saturated fats). (Find out how else you can decode food labels.)

10. 9. Make anyone laugh (including yourself) Exaggerate the truth. Instead of complaining that you were stuck at the department of motor vehicles, say, “I just got back after lunch from the DMV. I got in line at 9 am...last Tuesday.” There’s a surprise element, but also recognition of a shared truth that makes people laugh. —Stephen Rosenfield, director of the American Comedy Institute in New York City Poke fun at yourself. Self-deprecation helps people let down their guard. (Abraham Lincoln: “If I had two faces, would I be wearing this one?”) Just list your faults and exaggerate them. —Mary Scruggs, head of writing and education programs at the Second City Training Center, Chicago

11. 10. Heal common aches at home For heartburn: Take deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) as a chewable tablet 20 minutes before eating to soothe mucous membranes in the digestive tract and prevent reflux, says Tieraona Low Dog, MD, director of the fellowship at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. For back pain: Try comfrey root salve, an ancient but proven back pain reliever. Low Dog likes the product Kytta-Salbe f by Merck, available at womenandadolescentsgynecology.com