Is sleeping on our left side in any way harmful for the heart (or anything else)? Some people tell me we shouldn't do it and others tell me it's actually better than sleeping on our right side. What's the truth?

Thanks!

I find it relaxing, along with rubbing my face, to rub my eyeballs (with my eyelids closed, of course). It feels good to massage the muscles and squeeze out the air that builds up back there. Is this safe? Do I risk deforming my eyeballs and changing my vision?

I recently saw a health show on TV that said you should wear darker sunglasses because they filter more light. Previously, I had heard that darker sunglasses cause the pupil to open wider and make the eyes more vulnerable to harmful light; ergo, you should wear lighter sunglasses with good UV protection. I have very light colored eyes, so my eyes are especially vulnerable to harmful light anyway, which is why I really want to get this right. Can you give me a definitive answer on this one?

I fell on my roller blades yesterday and skinned my knee. Now I'm watching my knee change and I am fascinated by the healing process. Could you explain to me just what is happening?

A couple of months ago I developed a hard, bony growth on my instep. I noticed that the top of my foot was hurting, and when I took my shoe off, there was a red lump the size of a quarter (it's not red all the time, just from rubbing against the shoe). A friend of mine who is a nurse said that it's probably a ganglion cyst and the best thing to do would be to, and I quote, "hit it with something really hard," like a dictionary, or a hammer. It should break up immediately, she told me. She hasn't seen it, by the way — this was over the phone.

I'm surprised that she thinks it's a cyst, because it's awfully hard — I would have just thought that it was a bone spur. What do you think? And is smacking a cyst with a dictionary really the way to go?