WE often focus on needing to eat better and exercise more when we are trying to give our health a boost.
But it is important to look after our social wellbeing, too.
Loneliness can be crippling – the impact on your health is equivalent to puffing on 15 cigarettes a day.
Luckily, summer is a great time to get out and about and expand your social circle.
Why not invite your neighbours over for a barbecue, join an outdoor swimming or hiking club or sign up for parkrun to meet like-minded people?
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Check on vulnerable loved ones at this time of year, too.
Hearing everyone outside and seeing packed pub gardens can make others feel even more isolated, so reach out.
Meanwhile, here’s what you asked me this week . . .
Q: I AM 48 and for the last year or so my period has been sporadic.
I can go a few months without getting one, then it appears.
Sometimes I have stomach cramps, but no period.
The thing that’s really getting me down is my very painful breasts.
They can be sore for weeks then ease off when a period arrives, but within days they are painful again.
I wear supportive bras and pain relief doesn’t help. Can you suggest anything that will?
A: Breast pain of this nature and pattern, combined with your age and changes to your periods, makes it quite likely to be related to perimenopause.
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Breast pain at this point in your life can be in one breast or both, it can be throbbing, feel tender or like it’s burning, or it can be a sharp pain.
On its own, it is very rarely a sign of breast cancer.
But it is important to regularly check your breasts and, if you find a lump, thickening or if there’s any change in the appearance of them or of your nipples, including discharge, see your GP.
In perimenopause, levels of oestrogen and progesterone hormones go up and down and this can cause tenderness.
In the later stages of the menopause transition, where oestrogen levels stabilise, breast pain tends to settle.
A good bra will go a long way to support your breasts as the connective tissues in them decrease as you lose oestrogen.
Quitting smoking has been found to alleviate breast pain, as has avoiding caffeine.
Taking evening primrose oil or starflower oil can help, too.
There are a few interactions with some other drugs, so check with your pharmacist first if you are taking medication.
Losing weight can also be beneficial — as you will shed weight from your breast area too — as can anti-inflammatory painkillers.
Hormone replacement therapy could help, although it is worth mentioning some women get breast pain on HRT.
Look at the long list of menopause- related symptoms to see if there is anything else that may be alleviated by HRT.
The good news is that breast pain caused by HRT generally settles after a few months, so it shouldn’t deter you from starting it if you think it is right for you.
Q: WHAT is the best way to get to see your GP?
In my area in the past few years, appointments are carried out via a phone call. They never seem to want to see anyone.
A: There are a lot of reasons why getting a GP appointment might not be as easy as it once was.
But the main one is we have a severe shortage of GPs across the country.
This, plus the cost-of-living crisis, hospital wait times and the rise in health issues caused by the pandemic, means the workload for GPs has never been higher.
That said, if you are signed up to a practice, they have a duty of care to see you.
Does your practice have a website and do you have the NHS app downloaded?
Lots of GP surgeries now utilise online booking systems, which can help you avoid lengthy wait times on the phone.
Many people are not keen to try the eConsult option, but it is a great way to get quick access to your GP.
GPs typically respond to an eConsult within two days, so I’d encourage you to try it if it is available at your practice.
You can attach pictures, and sometimes a diagnosis can be so simple you don’t need to attend the surgery.
Plus a prescription — if it is needed — can be sent straight to your pharmacy for you to collect.
If eConsult is not available with your GP, or you would rather not use it, you may need to call.
Each surgery differs in how it manages its phone lines and appointments.
If it is something fairly urgent, you often need to call as soon as lines open.
Some surgeries allocate same-day appointments on a first come, first served basis.
Others use a triage method, where you will be offered an initial telephone consultation with a nurse or doctor to assess the problem so they can use the same-day appointments for those that need them most and give later dates to others.
It might be that your GP cannot see you for a few weeks.
In that case, you can decide whether to wait, to pursue an eConsult or try for same-day appointment.
GP receptionists can only allocate appointments that are available.
They are there to help, so if you’ve been struggling for a while to get an appointment, explain this and ask what they suggest you do.
If all they can offer you is a telephone appointment, take it, and when you speak to the doctor explain to them why it is important for you to be seen face to face.
