Author: Richard C. Trotter

With the Well+Good SHOP, our editors put their years of know-how to work in order to pick products (from skin care to self care and beyond) they’re betting you’ll love. While our editors independently select these products, making a purchase through our links may earn Well+Good a commission. Happy shopping! Explore the SHOP When your lips are so dry that it hurts to smile, lip balm is your sal(ve)ation—just as long as you use the right formula.  Otherwise, your kissers might end up thirstier than they did before, which defeats the entire purpose of using a balm in the first…

A close call while driving, an upcoming presentation, childcare falling through just as you’re heading out the door—any number of everyday things can stress you out. Yep, stress is a normal—and unavoidable—part of life. But chronic stress is different. It sticks around for weeks, months, or even years, not a brief moment in time, and it’s unrelenting, according to Yale Medicine. Symptoms of ongoing stress are pervasive, too, affecting both your body and mind, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Whatever triggers stress, your body responds the same way: Your brain sends out a signal to release energy-boosting adrenaline, along with cortisol,…

It’s easy enough to toss canned goods, frozen foods, and other packaged items into your cart when you’re grocery shopping. But a scan of the ingredients list might leave you wondering: What exactly are you eating? That’s especially true lately, when headlines about unfamiliar ingredients, chemicals linked to cancer, and microplastics feel inescapable. When we asked readers to share their biggest health questions for our Real Talk Rx series, we found many of you wanted to know how concerned you should be about chemicals in your food. So we posed this question to our panel of experts. We’ll get to…

Sure, you’re an adult, capably managing your grown-up responsibilities (most of the time), but certain questions from your doctor can still make you time-travel back to childhood and fudge your answer—or even downright lie. Case in point: questions about substance use. This includes the legal stuff, of course, like alcohol and cigarettes. But when your doc poses this query, they’re also wondering about dietary supplements (think: vitamins, herbal supplements, probiotics), semi-legal drugs like marijuana, and illegal substances, too, such as cocaine, LSD, and other drugs. It also includes prescription medications that weren’t prescribed to you directly and supplements aimed at…

Before I moved to Denver in July 2023, I did not own a single winter coat. But I can’t be blamed. I’d never liked cold weather, and I moved to Colorado from Florida, where it rarely drops below 85°F. But, with an open mind, I embarked on my westward migration in the summer, so as to ease myself into this new, four-season way of life. I spent my summer hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, tubing down creeks, swimming in alpine lakes, and never shutting up about how much I loved my new home. But my Florida friends wouldn’t let…

With the Well+Good SHOP, our editors put their years of know-how to work in order to pick products (from skin care to self care and beyond) they’re betting you’ll love. While our editors independently select these products, making a purchase through our links may earn Well+Good a commission. Happy shopping! Explore the SHOP The first time I slept with someone after getting out of my long-term relationship, I was wearing a pair of underwear that, had I known someone would be seeing them, I would have never, ever donned. They weren’t completely horrendous…but they were beige, high-waisted boy shorts. Any…

With the Well+Good SHOP, our editors put their years of know-how to work in order to pick products (from skin care to self care and beyond) they’re betting you’ll love. While our editors independently select these products, making a purchase through our links may earn Well+Good a commission. Happy shopping! Explore the SHOP While considered signs of a life well-lived, some people might want to soften the appearance of wrinkles and firm up their facial skin, which tends to lose elasticity and collagen as we age. And thanks to innovations in skin care, we no longer have to spend countless…

I’ve pretty much always believed that everything happens for a reason. Growing up in the Christian church was largely why I subscribed to this belief in my younger years, but even as I came into adulthood and parted ways with religion, the concept of a higher power stuck. Now, I’m more of the opinion that the universe writ large has its own way of making things happen. Call it fate or destiny, but I’m a fan of the saying, “Things happen for you, not to you.” And if invisible string theory is to be believed, what (and who) is for…

The annual physical has long been billed as key to staying healthy. During this appointment, you can get blood work done, develop a better relationship with your doctor, and ideally catch health problems early on, which often makes treatments easier and outcomes better. But do these checkups need to happen yearly to deliver all those benefits? If you’ve skipped your annual exam this year (or, ahem, even for the past several), your procrastination might not necessarily be a problem, because just how often you should get a physical depends on your age and sex assigned at birth, according to the…

With the Well+Good SHOP, our editors put their years of know-how to work in order to pick products (from skin care to self care and beyond) they’re betting you’ll love. While our editors independently select these products, making a purchase through our links may earn Well+Good a commission. Happy shopping! Explore the SHOP For as long as I can remember—we’re talkin’ all the way back to my awkward, pimply, middle school days—I’ve had large pores. And although I blessedly outgrew (most of) my awkwardness and pimply-ness, the large pores on my nose and cheeks have remained my constant companions despite…