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Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
This Is The Most Common Reason Your Ear Piercing Is Getting Infected
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." POV: You finally got that cartilage piercing you've been thinking about. You picked out the perfect starter stud (but have big plans to level-up to a hoop when the time is right) and you're feeling like a certifiable cool girl. Flash forward a few days later and there's just one problem: the piercing is infected—or so you think. The healing process with any piercing might have some bumps in the road (pun intended), including infection. 'By definition, a skin infection is an unwanted bacteria, fungus, or virus on the skin,' Mona A. Gohara, MD, an associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine and Women's Health advisory board member, says. 'This generally requires some type of intervention to heal, stop spreading, and prevent further occurrences.' And, if it happens to you, just know you're among the nearly 30 percent of people who get an infection, per a 2022 study in the Journal of Nature and Science of Medicine. Infected piercings can occur due to sanitary reasons or just straight-up bad luck. The biggest signs you might have an infection are itchy skin, burning, throbbing, or even a skin rash. Ahead, doctors share everything you need to know about infected ear piercings—the causes, treatment options, how to prevent infections, and when it's time to call your provider. Meet the experts: Mona A. Gohara, MD, is an associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine and a Women's Health advisory board member. Kenneth A. Kaplan, MD, is an otolaryngologist with ENT and Allergy Associates in New Jersey. Kim Nichols, MD, is a dermatologist, cosmetic surgeon, and the founding director of NicholsMD. Leila Mankarious, MD, is an ENT specialist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an associate professor of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at Harvard Medical School. Tracy Evans, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist and the medical director of Pacific Skin Cosmetic Dermatology. What causes an infected ear piercing? Anyone can get an infected piercing, but it usually happens due to one of two major reasons. Either your piercing site wasn't adequately sterilized before you were pierced, or you didn't take great care of it after you were pierced, Kenneth A. Kaplan, MD, an otolaryngologist at ENT and Allergy Associates in New Jersey, says. Typically, new ear lobe piercings heal in about six weeks, but if you keep touching it during that time, infection may occur. "Twisting and turning a new piercing could damage the delicate skin and hinder the healing process," says dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon Kim Nichols, MD. Your hands can expose your new piercing to germs and bacteria, which can lead to another infection and scarring, she says. While infections can technically occur anywhere on your ear, getting a cartilage piercing may put you at a higher risk (try 40 times higher, per the 2022 study). 'Piercing infections are most likely to occur in areas where the blood supply is low,' says Leila Mankarious, MD, an ENT specialist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an associate professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Harvard Medical School. That's why cartilage piercings have higher infection rates—and a tougher healing process, adds Dr. Kaplan. How To Treat An Infected Ear Piercing If you trust the studio location you got pierced at, it may help to visit and have your ear evaluated before treating the infection at home, Dr. Kaplan says. But most of the time, you can treat your infection at home if you catch it early enough. Here's how, per Nichols. At-Home Treatment For An Infected Ear Piercing Start by washing your hands with soap and water. Grab a saline solution, either store-bought or homemade (dissolve a 1/2 teaspoon of iodine-free sea salt into a cup of distilled water). Do not use alcohol to clean the site, as it can dry out an infection and delay healing. Soak your piercing in the saline solution or use a cotton swab to gently clean around both sides of the earlobe. Avoid using products like cotton balls and gauze since they can catch more easily on the piercing and cause irritation. Air-dry your piercing. The less the piercing is touched and moved around, the better. Repeat three times a day. Medical Treatment "Skin infections are treated based on severity," says Tracy Evans, MD, a dermatologist and the medical director of Pacific Skin Cosmetic Dermatology. "Sometimes we can do local interventions such as cleaning the area with peroxide and water or Hibiclens soap. Other times we need to do oral antibiotics if the infection is more severe." In non-severe cases, you might be prescribed mupirocin or polysporin ointment, says Dr. Evans. If you have a major infection or it involves the cartilage of your ear, you might need to remove the piercing. 'Failure to remove hardware in a timely manner could result in the need for hospitalization for intravenous antibiotics and/or surgical intervention,' Dr. Kaplan says. Your doc may need to drain pus from the infection or even remove the non-salvageable tissue, which could be a pretty big deal and even increase chances of deformity, he warns. How To Prevent An Ear Piercing Infection A huge factor is choosing a piercing shop that's sanitary. 'The more experience someone has in doing piercings—with a reputation for good results—the better the odds of a favorable outcome,' Dr. Kaplan says. Read reviews on the shop and your piercer beforehand, and if you go into a piercing shop and it seems like it's not clean or you just don't get a good vibe, go elsewhere. You can also try to avoid cartilage piercings, specifically. 'No physician will ever recommend piercing the cartilage of the ear,' Dr. Kaplan says. If you do opt for a cartilage earring, follow the after-care instructions perfectly, even after it seems like your piercing is all healed up. 'Not strictly adhering to the post-piercing care instructions would increase the odds of infection,' Dr. Kaplan says. Finally, touching your piercing a lot while it's still a new, open wound, can also expose it to bacteria. Hands off your new accessory, at least in the beginning. When To See A Doctor Ear piercing infections don't typically occur until three to seven days after the initial piercing, Dr. Mankarious says. Redness, discharge, tenderness, and swelling could be signs of a minor infection, but your infection might be severe if you notice increasing redness, pain, pus drainage, major swelling, abscess formation, or a fever, says Dr. Kaplan. If you have a fever higher than 100.4 degrees, you may be dealing with cellulitis, a common and potentially serious bacterial skin infection. You may also have an allergy to the hardware in your ear that can resemble an infection. But unfortunately, it can be tough for non-doctors to figure out the difference, Dr. Mankarious says. Ultimately, if you have severe irritation, your earring becomes embedded in your skin and the piercing is stuck in place, or your infection doesn't improve with at-home treatment in two to three days, it's time to consult your healthcare provider. If you start to develop a fever or the infection starts to spread, seek help immediately. Frequently Asked Questions Do only new ear piercings get infected? 'Infections are most likely to occur during the first week following [a new] piercing, but can arise later on,' Dr. Kaplan says. If you've had pierced ears for eons, you're not totally off the hook, but you are at a lowered risk of just randomly developing an infection. That said, if you pick at an old piercing or it's affected by some sort of trauma, you can get an infection. How do you treat a rejected or migrating piercing? Foreign objects like piercings can be seen as threats by your body, which can cause a negative response at the piercing site, explains Dr. Nichols. "Generally when this happens, the body tries to fight the piercing by pushing it out and healing over it," she says. If it looks like your jewelry is moving away from the original piercing site, it could be migrating and your body may be rejecting it. In this case, make an appointment with your doc who will likely remove the piercing and prescribe further treatment. 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Medscape
16 hours ago
- Health
- Medscape
The Pandemic Literally Aged Our Brains
This transcript has been edited for clarity. Welcome to Impact Factor , your weekly dose of commentary on a new medical study. I'm Dr F. Perry Wilson from the Yale School of Medicine. Living through the COVID pandemic aged your brain by about five and a half extra months. This, according to new research. It's a pretty scary headline, but what does 'brain age' even mean, how do you measure it, and what risks does a five-and-a-half month older brain have to face? We're going to use what's left of our brains to dig through the data this week. Stay tuned. The study generating those scary headlines is 'Accelerated Brain Ageing During the COVID-19 Pandemic', from Ali-Reza Mohammadi-Nejad and colleagues, appearing in Nature Communications . But before we get into it, a reminder that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, is a weird one, especially when it comes to the brain. It was pretty early in the pandemic when we realized that one of the rather unique symptoms that came with COVID infection, differentiating it from the common cold and flu infections and the like, was anosmia — the loss of smell. It turned out this was due to infection of some epithelial cells in the nose, with inflammation impacting the olfactory bulb of the brain. To be clear, evidence of direct brain infection by SARS-CoV-2 is fairly weak. Neurons don't express high levels of the ACE2 receptor — the viruses' point of entry to other cells. And while some autopsy studies have found viral genetic material in the brain, it has been quite difficult to find live virus in brain cells. But secondary effects of the virus — inflammation and microclotting— do affect the brain. And multiplestudies have suggested that infection can worsen certain cognitive outcomes. There was more to the pandemic than just the virus, though. There was social isolation, higher levels of stress, and loss of work and other cognitively stimulating activities. In other words, there were lots of reasons for people's brains to get a little worse during those few years. That's really what the Nature Communications study is looking at. It's an overall sense of how our brains are doing, and 'brain age' is a useful proxy for that concept. So, what is brain age? It's pretty straightforward. Imagine a carnival barker doing the 'guess your age' thing. You come up, they take a look at you, squint, and call out a number, usually with startling accuracy. The carnival barker is using various clues — features on your face, wrinkles, hairstyle, and so on — to make a guess. We can do the same thing with an MRI machine. We just have to teach a computer what the brains of different ages look like. That's what researchers did here. Using the huge UK biobank cohort, they took brain scans of more than 15,000 healthy people of various ages and trained a machine-learning model to predict age based just on the images. It got pretty accurate, as you can see here. Of course, it's not perfect. Nor would we expect it to be. Some people's brains look younger than their stated age. Call it the Paul Rudd effect. And, of course, some brains look older than they should. The distance between your calendar age and your brain age is the 'brain age gap' (BAG), with higher numbers implying that your brain is older than it should be. This gap seems to stay pretty consistent over time. If your BAG is 5 years right now, it tends to stay around 5 years even a few years later, provided nothing intervenes to more rapidly age your brain. If anyone ever accuses you of having an excessive BAG, you can say 'that's not my bag, baby.' (And that ends the '90s references for this week.) It's the repeated brain scans that make this study interesting. The researchers identified about 1000 participants who had multiple brain scans, on average about 2 years apart. For 432 of those folks, the pandemic happened between the two scans. So, we can look at how much their brains aged in that timeframe and compare that aging to a group who was not exposed to the pandemic. This is the meat of the study. Here are the primary results. Remember, BAG is supposed to stay pretty stable if nothing else has changed. And that's what we see in the control group. Between the two scans, there was, on average, no change in BAG — though the distribution here encompasses changes in both directions. Now we add the pandemic group. What you see is that the distribution has shifted, on average by 5.5 months. That's where we get that headline that started this whole thing. But of course, 5.5 is just the average change in BAG. Different people's brains aged at different speeds. Still, overall, this is a statistically significant difference. You're probably wondering why some brains aged more than others. The 5.5 month result is the effect of the pandemic – not necessarily infection. Out of the 432 individuals with a postpandemic scan, 134 actually had documented COVID-19 before that second scan. Interestingly, the increase in brain age was similar among those infected and those not infected. To be fair, only five of those infected were sick enough to be hospitalized, but it still seems that the bulk of the aging effect of the pandemic may have been due to factors independent of the virus itself; factors that made the pandemic effect worse. The brains of older people and men seemed to age more during the pandemic than those of younger people and women. Poor socioeconomic status and lower education also led to more pandemic brain aging. Still, it's not how you look; it's how you feel. Do older-looking brains on brain scans function worse? The study doesn't offer much support for this. Cognitive testing found no compelling relationship between changes in brain age and changes in various tests of cognitive ability across the entire cohort. There did seem to be some relationship among those infected with COVID-19: They did worse on cognitive tests if their brains had aged more than expected. But I'm often wary of signals like this that appear in a very particular subgroup. Leaving the realm of data and stepping squarely into the land of speculation, I think what we are likely seeing here is that the pandemic was a population-wide neurologic stressor. The isolation, the anxiety, and the lack of cognitive stimulation led our brains to atrophy a bit. It does not seem that this is a direct result of viral infection, though again, we don't have data on people with more severe COVID-19. The big question is, what happens next? Now that we are reintegrated with society, back at work, and using our brains a bit more, will they grow younger again? It remains to be seen. But if the pandemic-induced gray in my hair is any indicator, there may be no going back.
CNET
a day ago
- Health
- CNET
Abs Are Made in the Kitchen. Here's How to Eat Right
Six-pack abs might be one of the most sought-after fitness goals, but the truth is, they're not easy to get -- and for a lot of people, they may not even be realistic. Despite what flashy YouTube videos promise, doing a few hundred crunches won't magically give you a defined core in a week. Still, finding a rhythm -- whether it's through routine or listening to the right playlist -- can help keep you moving. Whether you have those coveted abs has less to do with exercise and more with genetics and body fat percentage. Genetics are completely out of our hands, and body fat is a little harder to control than you might think. Still determined to try for six-pack abs, or want to learn why your exercise-filled attempts have never been successful? I spoke to Dr. John Morton, the head of Bariatric and Minimally Invasive Surgery at Yale Medicine, and together we'll tell you everything you need to know, including how to work toward your goal safely. Read more: The best home gym equipment What does body fat percentage mean? Body fat is partly determined by what you eat, but other factors are out of your control. Getty Images It may sound fairly self-explanatory, but your body fat percentage just measures how much of your body mass is fat. And don't look at fat like it's a bad word -- body fat percentage includes essential fat you need to survive. Body fat percentage is easy to get confused with body mass index, or BMI, but the two are quite different. BMI isn't the best measurement of health, since some people can have a "healthy" reading but actually be in danger for obesity-related illnesses because they have too little lean mass. There's a bunch of different ways you can measure your body fat percentage, and for the best readings you'll want to get it done at a doctor's or dietician's office. They'll have machines like an underwater weighing station or the ability to do a DEXA scan, which are far more accurate than anything you can do at home. However, if you don't have the resources to make the trip to a healthcare provider, you can get a fairly good estimate at home. The American Council of Exercise has a calculator where you can plug in some skinfold measurements for a rough idea of what your body fat percentage is. Read more: Best filtered water bottles for 2025 to remove bacteria, sediment and more What body fat percentage do I need for a six-pack? No matter how strong your ab muscles are, they're not going to show through unless you have a low enough body fat. That specific body fat number, though, is individual. Morton says you'll typically need to be below 15% body fat for a six-pack, though he stresses it's different for everyone. Some women on Reddit report that they can start to see a six-pack at around 20% body fat, while others are at 18% and don't see anything. The reason why the number varies for everyone is because we all have different body fat distribution -- some carry fat around their midsection, while others have an "hourglass" shape, where you carry fat in your chest and hips. Body fat distribution is determined in part by environmental factors, like alcohol intake and cigarette use, but it also has a strong genetic component. So, you may be at 18% body fat and carry weight on your hips, but I may be at 18% and carry it around my stomach -- in that case, you'll have a lot easier time getting a six-pack than I will. Read more: The best rowing machines Morton also points to groups of people who have a harder time getting to a low body fat -- namely, Hispanics, African Americans and women. Depending on your individual situation, the body fat percentage needed for a six-pack may not even be healthy. Low body fat can disrupt menstruation and fertility, and can damage your heart, immune system or cause a ton of other serious conditions. Women will typically not want to go below 14% body fat, and men 8%, but for some people that number may be higher -- if you're experiencing health problems connected to your weight, contact your health care provider. Say you get to a low enough body fat percentage in a healthy manner -- I hate to break it to you, but you still might not have a six-pack. Your abs are actually one big muscle, called the rectus abdominis, and the six-pack look is created by the intersections of three lateral tendons and one horizontal one. While most people have this tendon pattern, some have two or four lateral tendons -- in that case, you'll have a four- or eight-pack. What workout should I do for a six-pack? I hope I haven't rained on your parade too much -- if you're still motivated to try, there are certainly steps you can take to maximize your chances of getting that coveted six-pack. The first thing you'll probably want to do is lose weight. But be careful -- weight loss doesn't automatically mean fat loss. Morton says to emphasize your protein intake instead of carbs and fat, and keep up your exercise and weight lifting during your weight loss journey. This way, you can ensure that you're primarily losing fat and not muscle or water. When losing weight, be sure to keep up the exercise. Westend61/Getty Images "Another helpful way to get a six-pack is to avoid the other six-pack," Morton says, referring to alcohol. There's a reason why it's called a beer belly -- alcohol intake usually puts weight around your midsection, so you'll definitely want to avoid overconsumption if you want a six-pack. Finally, don't neglect the core workout. Morton tells me that even if you aren't striving for a six-pack, core workouts are super important for preventing neck and back issues, as well as improving your posture. Certified physical therapist Jeff Cavaliere, known on YouTube as Athlean X, has a great workout routine video with some simple compound movements to develop your abdominal strength. Whatever workout you end up doing, you'll want to ensure you're incorporating whole body movements so you don't develop muscle imbalances. Just remember to make sure you're getting protein, avoiding too much alcohol and working out your abs -- if the genetic gods are kind to you, your hard work will get you where you need to be.
WIRED
a day ago
- Science
- WIRED
Newly Discovered ‘Infinity Galaxy' Could Prove How Ancient Supermassive Black Holes Formed
Jul 22, 2025 5:00 AM This collision of two galaxies could demonstrate that theorized 'direct collapse black holes' exist. The newly discovered Infinity Galaxy. Photograph: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, P. van Dokkum A team of astronomers have discovered a curious figure in the universe. It is two distant galaxies colliding with each other to form a larger structure. From Earth's perspective, the junction of the disks resembles the number eight lying down, similar to the infinity symbol (∞). Because of this resemblance, the researchers—who are based at the universities of Yale and Copenhagen—have nicknamed it the 'Infinity Galaxy' and have detailed their discovery in a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Beyond its evocative shape, the structure intrigues the scientists because of its contents: Within it could be the first direct evidence of a newly formed primordial supermassive black hole. The images were taken through the James Webb Space Telescope and then enriched with information from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the most powerful X-ray telescope ever created. Light from this galaxy comes from a time when the universe was only 470 million years old—roughly 13.5 billion years ago. In the dual galaxy's structure, at least two consolidated black holes can be observed, each centered in a respective disk (the yellow points in the image below), and a region of compressed gas at the point of intersection suggests the presence of a supermassive object (the green point). The Infinity Galaxy, with three points marked where there could be black holes. Photograph: NASA, P. van Dokkum, G. Brammer The scientists think they might have viewed signs of a direct collapse black hole. Typically, black holes are formed when stars run out of fuel and collapse under their own gravity, but there's an alternative formation phenomenon debated in astrophysics—where a black hole forms via the collapse of gigantic gas cloud, without a star having formed. Such a possibility has been theorized, but this type of black hole has yet to be observed. The largest black holes found in the universe, supermassive black holes, have been identified in galaxies that formed just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. But what made their formation possible is not yet fully understood. Many supermassive black holes are believed to have come into being as a result of smaller black holes merging. But with very old supermassive black holes, there does not seem to have been enough time for the first stars in the universe to evolve, collapse into stellar-mass black holes, and then merge to colossal, supermassive sizes. So some astronomers have proposed an alternative origin for the universe's first supermassive black holes. According to this hypothesis, the black holes would not need to form from a star or arise from mergers. Instead, the theory goes, dense clumps of matter that in other instances gave rise to galaxies could have compressed directly into massive black holes. Scientists are currently investigating this scenario, although conclusive evidence of this having happened is still lacking. It is possible that the Infinity Galaxy offers revealing clues about the possibility of this second formation pathway. 'During the collision, the gas within these two galaxies shocks and compresses. This compression might just be enough to form a dense knot, which then collapsed into a black hole,' Pieter van Dokkum, a professor of astronomy and physics at Yale and a coauthor on the paper, said in a post on his university's website. 'While such collisions are rare events, similarly extreme gas densities are thought to have been quite common in the earliest cosmic epochs, when galaxies began to form,' Van Dokkum added. Scientists are also considering other, less spectacular alternatives as to what's going on in the Infinity Galaxy. Rather than being created through a direct collapse of gas, that potential extra black hole—the green spot in the image above—could instead be the signs of a black hole ejected from another galaxy as 'Infinity' passes through it. Another possible scenario is that this image actually shows the collision of three galaxies, with the third eclipsed by the other larger ones. For the moment, the team says the preliminary results are exciting. 'We can't say definitively that we have found a direct collapse black hole. But we can say that these new data strengthen the case that we're seeing a newborn black hole, while eliminating some of the competing explanations,' Van Dokkum concluded in a blog for NASA. This story originally appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
B12 Supplements and IVs Promise an Energy Boost. Here's What the Science Says
B12, a vitamin naturally found in animal products, has become the internet's favorite solution to low energy, fatigue, and overall sluggishness. It's long made an appearance in multivitamins and standalone pills—but these days, its footprint seems to be ballooning. Energy drinks and shots are juiced up with the ingredient, as are IV drips promising things like vitality and hangover relief. And of course, a growing market of run-of-the-mill B12 tablets and gummies tout similar claims, suggesting the vitamin can give you an instant energy lift. But as with most supplements, marketing can be deceiving, and the truth about B12 isn't quite so 'easy pick-me-up' as you might (desperately) want to believe. B12 is indeed a critical vitamin to consume. It plays a key role in forming red blood cells (which shuttle oxygen to your organs) and helps convert food into energy, so it makes sense why people might associate it with getting a boost, Gary Soffer, MD, director of the Integrative Medicine Program at Yale School of Medicine, tells SELF. It also helps create new DNA molecules (which are necessary to repair cells and form new ones) and maintain healthy nerves (hence why B12 deficiency is linked with neuropathy and even cognitive decline). Plus, the body can't make it, so we have to get it from outside sources, like meat, fish, eggs, and dairy items. But at the same time, we don't need much B12 to reap its benefits—the recommended amount for adults is 2.4 micrograms daily, which most people in the US typically hit with food. So, are there benefits to taking a supplemental form of it? And how can you tell if you might actually be B12 deficient? Read on for everything you need to know about taking B12 and when, if ever, it may be something your doctor recommends. Spoiler alert: There's no evidence that suggests loading up on B12 will give you energy if you're not deficient. It's true that a lack of vitamin B12 in your system—less than around 150 picograms per milliliter of blood—could manifest as fatigue or weakness. (Though it's worth noting, B12 deficiency doesn't always trigger symptoms.) Without enough B12, you could wind up with larger-than-usual red blood cells that don't effectively transport oxygen to your organs, which is a form of anemia. Plus, low B12 levels could interfere with your body's typical process for churning out energy from food, which may contribute to lethargy. And it can eventually diminish the protective covering on your nerves, leading to neurological symptoms like numbness and tingling in your hands and feet, and mood changes. So if your doctor determines that you have a B12 deficiency, taking a B12 supplement could restore your energy and resolve other related symptoms. However, as few as 6% of people in the US under age 60 have a B12 deficiency. If you're like the majority of the population that is not substantially missing out on B12, consuming more than the recommended daily value isn't going to make any difference—no matter how fatigued you may be. After all, there are a bunch of non-B12-related causes for tiredness, ranging from stress, dehydration, and poor sleep habits to medical conditions like depression and hypothyroidism. 'It's the same reason why taking more iron when you're not iron-deficient isn't going to increase your energy, either,' Elisabeth Fowlie Mock, MD, MPH, a family physician in Bangor, Maine, and a member of the board of directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians, tells SELF. Not to mention, your body will just flush out any extra B12 in your pee. 'It works like a gas tank,' Dr. Soffer explains, 'so if you take more [than it needs], it'll just spill over.' Any boost you might feel from popping a B12 supplement is generally a placebo. When it comes to shots and energy drinks laden with the stuff, there's a greater chance that you're feeling buzzy in response to other ingredients like caffeine and sugar. And the instant refreshment of an IV drip is often tied simply to the rush of hydration. B12 deficiency is pretty rare, though a few GI disorders could make it more likely. Most people in the US get plenty of B12 via their diet. (A single serving of beef or Greek yogurt, or two large eggs can get you about halfway to the recommended daily value, and one serving of salmon or canned tuna is enough to surpass it.) So doctors don't generally suspect a B12 deficiency (at least, not off the bat) if someone comes to them with malaise or fatigue, Dr. Mock says, nor do they routinely check B12 levels with a blood test. That said, your doctor may be suspicious of deficiency if you report not only tiredness but also the neurological or cognitive symptoms noted above. Same goes if you're experiencing other symptoms of anemia like shortness of breath, dizziness, pale skin, and a fast heartbeat. Iron deficiency is a more likely culprit there, Dr. Mock says, but your doctor may still check your B12 level to be safe. The other scenario that may prompt them to assess B12 for low energy is if you have a risk factor for deficiency. A big one is being vegetarian or vegan. After all, B12 only occurs naturally in animal products. While there are veg-friendly foods that are fortified with B12, like some cereals, plant milks, and nutritional yeast, it's still easier to fall short if you're in this camp, Dr. Soffer notes. Because of the way B12 is absorbed via stomach acids, deficiency is also more common in those who have GI-related conditions. In particular, people who take common heartburn meds called proton pump inhibitors (that reduce stomach acid production) may be at higher risk, as are older adults, who just tend to have less stomach acid. (The number of people with B12 deficiency jumps from 6% to nearly 20% for the 60-plus population.) All types of B12, whether in animal sources or fortified foods, also need to sync up in the stomach with a protein called intrinsic factor in order to be fully absorbed. And some people might not make enough of this protein for that process to work. This can happen to those with a condition called pernicious anemia, as well as folks with certain GI disorders (like celiac or Crohn's) or alcohol use disorder (AUD), and those who've had bariatric surgery or another procedure that involved removing some or all of their stomach. So if you fall in one of these groups, there's reason to suspect you might be dealing with a bonafide B12 deficiency. (But if that's you, there's also a good chance you're already aware of your potential for nutrient deficiencies, Dr. Mock points out, and feeling fatigued will be far from your only symptom.) If you *do* have a B12 deficiency, a supplement isn't always the solution. In the particular cases above where a B12 deficiency could be on the table, your doctor may first run some routine bloodwork. This includes a measure of the average size of your red blood cells called mean corpuscular volume (MCV). A high MCV could prompt them to check your B12 level with an additional blood test, Dr. Mock says. (A normal MCV, by contrast, is reassurance that B12 probably isn't the issue, she adds.) If your B12 is indeed below the norm, it's important to work with your doctor to figure out how to raise your level. You might be able to do this via food, perhaps by eating more B12-fortified items. Experts agree, it's best to consume any vitamins and minerals via food because your body can use them more easily than in supplement form. Not to mention, the supplement industry is a hazy, unregulated one. These OTC products don't have to go through the same rigorous FDA approval process as medications, so it can be tough to know if you're getting what's on the label. That said, if your doctor does suggest taking an oral supplement to close the gap, they can steer you toward a reputable brand that's been third-party tested. They can also advise on the ideal dose and format (pill or under-the-tongue lozenge), and whether it makes sense for you to take a B-complex product (including a mix of B vitamins) or a standalone B12 supplement. Worth noting: In cases of deficiency caused by a GI or health condition that hinders absorption, just downing more B12 in supplement form might not solve the problem. After all, B12 in pills (or souped-up energy drinks) still needs to connect with intrinsic factor in the gut to get absorbed. That's why, in these specific situations, your doctor might recommend supplementing B12 via prescription injections or nasal gels, which bypass the GI route completely and go straight into your bloodstream. Bottom line: Most people with fatigue aren't lacking B12, so supplements aren't the solution. Low B12 is an uncommon reason for feeling tired. Chances are, if you have a deficiency, it coincides with one of the specific lifestyle or health-related situations above. 'Someone who has no known risk factors who truly has a vitamin B12 deficiency is a needle in a haystack,' Dr. Mock says. For most people, taking in extra B12 will just give you B12-rich pee…rather than any noticeable boost. So, what to do if you're feeling sapped and craving energy? Dr. Mock recommends turning to some tried-and-true lifestyle changes, like cutting down on screen time, getting outside in nature more often, fitting in daily movement (at least a few hours before bedtime), and eating a balanced diet that includes breakfast. These tips may not be as sexy as the latest B12-infused drip, drink, or pill, but they're bound to help you get better sleep at night and feel more rested and ready-to-go come daytime. If you try out a few of these and still can't seem to escape the drag of constant fatigue? It's worth seeing your doctor. Low B12 may not be the root cause—but they can certainly help you figure out if a medical condition might be lurking, and what you can do to get the pep back in your step. Related: 3 Things to Do When You're So, So Tired But Sleeping More Isn't an Option How to Feel Less Depleted by the End of the Workweek 6 Less Obvious Signs of Burnout You Should Definitely Pay Attention To Get more of SELF's great service journalism delivered right to your inbox. Originally Appeared on Self
