I feel like people from other regions shit on Midwestern food because it’s not typically spicy and tends to use a lot of dairy. I like spicy food, but I also like non-spicy food and for some reason people assume that if a dish isn’t spicy it’s automatically bland. Midwestern food is so looked down upon that I almost feel embarrassed to say I really like our cuisine. 😭
I have read the FAQ. Whenever rabies is discussed, it seems like the general advice is to get the vaccination if you find a bat in your home. I found a bat in my attached garage. it flew out as I walked in and as far as I know, didn’t touch me. I go into my garage a fair amount, so I don’t know if I should be concerned about this or not, or if attached garages count as finding it “in your house”. If this was any other animal, I would just move on with life, but the fear of unknowingly being exposed to rabies and dying is stressing me out.
I've been religiously avoiding NSAIDs for the past year (I developed tinnitus a year ago) because every time I would take Ibuprofen, my tinnitus would get louder and I'm terrified of making it permanently worse.
However, I have a complicated, chronic of many years orthopedic issue in my left foot. My doctor last year wanted me to take Meloxicam for 12 weeks to see if it would help reduce inflammation in my foot. I was going to do it...but then I developed tinnitus. I should note that I developed the tinnitus before ever beginning the NSAID course. I developed tinnitus after a gum graft surgery. I was terrified of making the tinnitus worse, so I never did the 12 week NSAID treatment.
Unfortunately, my foot has deteriorated to such a state that I almost can't walk anymore. I may have no choice but to take NSAIDs long term, since I am out of other options. My doctor is really, really pushing me to do a long course of NSAIDs.
Is there anything I can do to reduce the risk of permanently worsening my tinnitus by taking NSAIDs or other ototoxic drugs? If it was for a day or two, I might risk it, but this would be for weeks or even several months.
TLDR: After 10 years of trialing 50+ sunscreens (yes, actually that many), I've come to the conclusion that I simply can't wear sunscreen anywhere on my face or neck without it burning the absolute sh*t out of my eyeballs. I can't use any retinol either due to the damage Tret caused my tear glands. How badly will I age/is there anything I can do?
I started wearing sunscreen daily when I was 20 and I'm now 30. I had severe cystic acne throughout all my 20s. Dermatologists absolutely drilled into my head to wear sunscreen every day (especially if using acne treatments) and the internet made it seem like if you don't use sunscreen, you are guaranteed to turn into a raisin. I tried sunscreen after sunscreen after sunscreen. Chemical sunscreens and fragranced sunscreens immediately burned like hell, but mineral sunscreens also caused a lot of dryness and irritation. I've tried Korean sunscreens and Europeans sunscreens and the new "better" chemical filters also burn like hell. I managed to put up with it until I tried tretinoin, which destroyed my tear glands despite avoiding the undereye area. I've tried every acne treatment (topical AND oral) except Accutane, which I can't use due to the risk of worsening my dry eyes. So I'm out of luck with treating my cystic acne too.
I finally realized after not using any sunscreen at all this past winter that my eyes felt noticeably better. They were still very dry, but didn't feel like someone set them on fire. I finally realized I was reacting to both my mineral sunscreen, which I thought was safe, and my Vanicream moisturizer (the only other skincare product I was using). The only product my eyes can tolerate anywhere on my face is Avene Xeracalm preservative-free moisturizer. I should note that I do see an ophthalmologist and I use 3 prescriptions for my eyes: Xiidra (to improve tear quality), Tyrvaya (to improve tear quantity), and Tryptor (to improve tear quality). They are certainly better than nothing, but my eyes are still extremely dry and sensitive.
Now it's summer and despite trying, I can't wear any sunscreen at all on my face, even if I avoid the eye area. I've finally had to concede defeat and admit that I just can't wear sunscreen (or any other skincare) without f*cking up my eyes. I'm concerned because I'm quite pale and definitely prone to both burning and wrinkling. The internet makes it seem like unless you use sunscreen and retinol, you'll age absolutely terribly, and I'm vain enough to care.
So, real talk, how badly will a fair person age if they can't use sunscreen or retinol, and is there anything I can do despite not being able to use either?
Does it even exist?
I have insanely sensitive and dry eyes and cannot tolerate any sunscreens. I cannot tolerate ANY chemical filters (including Korean sunscreens, European sunscreens, and hidden chemical boosters in mineral sunscreens). I can’t tolerate any fragrance or any preservatives.
I’ve searched high and low and managed to find a preservative free moisturizer and eye cream (Avene Xeracalm AD and Blephaderm) that don’t irritate my eyes, but I cannot for the life of me find a preservative free sunscreen. Preservatives burn the shit out of my eyes and many common preservatives are bad for your tear film, like phenoxyethanol and parabens. I already deal with very dry eye and can’t make my eyes any worse.
Does anyone know of any preservative free sunscreens that exist? I’m desperate and feel like I can’t go outside because I don’t have sunscreen and I’m so pale. I also (admittedly vainly) want to use sunscreen for anti-aging purposes since I’m 30, but I can’t tolerate anything currently.
I have a 13mini currently. I've been fairly happy with it and have been resisting upgrading because I don't like large phones as they're uncomfortable and cumbersome to hold. However, I made the mistake of updating to ios26 about 2 months ago on my mini, and it's completely ruined the functioning. The phone is very glitchy now, the battery life drains outrageously fast (even when I'm not using the phone!), battery heats up like crazy now, and I swear even the keyboard is less sensitive.
I was told that the reason ios26 works poorly on the 13mini is because it's an older phone and ios26 doesn't work well with older phones. So, I'm genuinely thinking of upgrading just to have a functional phone, which is super frustrating tbh. The 17e is the next smallest phone, which is why I was looking into it, but I'd be potentially open to the 17 if it's significantly better than the 17e.
What are your opinions of the 17e compared to the 13mini? Or 17e vs. 17? I've seen mixed things online about the 17e camera. I'm not a photographer, but I do like taking photos on occasion casually (meaning, if I walk by some cool flowers, I'll take a photo of them). The 4 main things I do on the phone are: internet, email, call/text, and gps. I'm not a super techy person and don't care about a perfect phone; I just want a functional one.
I developed tinnitus 8 months ago after a gum graft. i think the combination of having my mouth open for an hour (which permanently fucked my jaw up) and taking a lot of ibuprofen on the first day caused my tinnitus.
My tinnitus did decrease in volume after months of TMJ physical therapy, but never went away. 3 weeks ago, I got a steriod epidural done for my sciatica. i had a bad reaction to the shot; horrendously increased sciatica pain for a week afterwards and a sharp spike in my tinnitus. My sciatica seemed to return to baseline, but my tinnitus didn’t. I’m going crazy with how loud it is and I’m writing this while in bed, unable to sleep. Background noise drives me crazy, so white noise/green noise/brown noise/etc does nothing to help and just pisses me off because it’s more noise.
Will my tinnitus ever go back down again? I never in a million years expected a steriod shot in my back to worsen my tinnitus and I’m deeply regretting my decision to do it, esp since it did nothing for my sciatica.