During a major health crisis, it's only natural that you'd be looking for ways to bolster your immune system. Although the average American catches between two and four colds every year, you'll want to do everything you can to avoid getting sick.

When it comes right down to it, adopting healthy lifestyle habits can help you fight off a number of diseases and medical conditions. Here are a few tips you should consider implementing into your regular routine to strengthen your immune system overall.

Get Ample Sleep

Sleep is one of the ways in which your body heals itself, so it makes sense that getting enough shut-eye can help you keep your immune system in check. Without enough high-quality sleep, you'll be more susceptible to falling ill because your body will be less equipped to fight off germs. Adults should get at least seven hours of sleep each night, so be sure to discontinue the use of electronic devices as bedtime grows near. If you're dealing with any kind of back, neck, or foot pain, you may find it difficult to get the recommended amount of sleep each night. You can rely on topical pain relief products -- like an all natural pain relief cream -- to address these issues and make it easier to fall (and stay) asleep.

Fit in Fitness

Maintaining physical activity levels can be a challenge as you age, but that's precisely why you need to make exercise a priority. Leading a sedentary lifestyle has shown correlations to the development of diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and early death. But even in the short term, getting enough exercise can boost your energy levels, encourage other healthy habits, and improve your quality of sleep. You shouldn't exercise beyond what your doctor recommends, of course, but staying active can often alleviate physical discomfort -- which means you may have a reduced need for back pain relief products if you move your body regularly. Get creative with your physical activities and remember

Stress is something that virtually every person can say they’ve experienced. It’s likely that Americans are more stressed than ever before, given the current health crisis and our political climate. And while not all stress is detrimental, the long-term effects of excessive stress can be significant and detrimental to one’s health.

Although stress is often normalized as being an inescapable part of life, we know that too much of it can be incredibly harmful. It’s important that you’re able to recognize the signs of prolonged stress and take steps to prevent this from happening in your own life. In today’s post, we’re sharing a few of the health risks associated with stress, as well as some natural methods of stress relief you might want to try at home.

The Health Effects of Excessive Stress

There are a number of health concerns that come along with high levels of stress, particularly in the long term. Some of these risks may be more immediately noticeable than others, but any of them could convince you to reduce stress as much as possible. Heart problems and high blood pressure are common outcomes of stress, as are headaches and stomachaches. Many people who experience excessive stress have difficulty sleeping or report mental health issues like depression and anxiety.

One of the more obvious signs of stress, both in the long term and in the short term, is muscle tension. The body has over 650 muscles — and the stress we feel mentally or emotionally can often manifest in physical tension throughout our bodies. Tensing your muscles is thought to be a way that you instinctively guard yourself against pain or injury. But ironically, you can often end up causing yourself more pain by reacting to stress in this way. Migraine headaches are often brought on by hormonal fluctuations and by muscle tension, which often means that stress reduction is one of the best ways to keep pain at bay. And if you’ve had to use back pain