Medical

Whiplash is a non-medical term used to describe injury caused by a rapid jerking of the neck either forward and backward or side-to-side.  It is most often associated with motor vehicle accidents, but can also occur from falls, blows to the head, or sports accidents to name a few.  The sudden, forceful movement with whiplash causes the neck to move beyond its normal range of motion.  This can cause tearing in the muscles, tendons and ligaments, which support the neck and can lead to damage to the intervertebral disc, spinal nerves or even spinal cord.

Relief is in sight for those suffering from back pain due to herniated or degenerative discs, joint problems, arthritis and sciatica.  Dr. Jeff Bowne is now using a new machine, the DRX-9000, a break-through in the treatment of back pain.  He is the first doctor in Santa Clarita to use this state of the art technology. 

With the New Year comes the chance to start fresh. One of the best ways to do this is to make health care a top priority in your life and in the lives of all of your family members.
Samuel Dixon Family Health Centers, Inc., your community health center, is here to help you. We have three locations in the Santa Clarita Valley. Our compassionate, bilingual health care providers can help you get on track with your health for the new year.

We’re the lucky ones.  We’re the generation that grew up with fluorides, gum treatments, and high dental health expectations.  Not that long ago, popular wisdom held that you held onto your teeth for a while, then began having the problems extracted, and finally at about 60 or so, settled into dentures.  Today we know that doesn’t have to be.

As an eye care practitioner, it is my job to know what to look for in infant and toddler visual development.  As a proud new parent, I thought it would be a good editorial to list the expected visual performances of infants and toddlers for parents.
Birth to six weeks:

Hippocrates once said, “The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.”
Detoxification/Cleansing is the process of addressing the toxins in the body.  The liver, digestive tract, kidneys, bladder, lymphatic system, lungs, and skin are the major systems/organs that are involved in the neutralization and elimination of toxins.  Because we are exposed to high levels of foreign substances (medications, pesticides, fumes, synthetic materials, cigarette smoke, caffeine, preservatives) and over consume chemically-treated, synthetically-produced food, extra purification is needed.  In addition to these challenges, our bodies produce waste by-products (such as ammonia, carbon dioxide, and free radicals) as a result of normal metabolism that need to be eliminated.

Nearly every day I speak to a new patient who is complaining of chronic health concerns.  Maybe it’s constipation, headaches, acid reflux, leg pain or numb fingers.  I begin by questioning the patient about old injuries, car wrecks, falls, sports – all the usual events in life that cause physical stress on the body.  Almost universally people tell me that some, if not all of these apply, but continue by saying, “Yeah, but I really didn’t get hurt.” 

I have worked in physical therapy for over 20 years, and I have seen thousands of patients over this span.  I became a physical therapist for many reasons, but most importantly I became a physical therapist because I wanted a job where I could work with and help people.

With all the economic pressure affecting millions of Americans, dentists have noticed a big rise in the number of teeth grinding. In fact, we have seen 20 to 25 percent more patients with teeth grinding symptoms in the last year. This usually occurs during sleep or situations that make you feel tense or anxious. People are not just unaware of this habit but they are also unaware of the consequences.

As more women enter peri-menopause and because more menopausal women are living longer, many questions exist about hormone balance and hormone replacement.  The first of these questions is whether or not to take hormones at all.  Certainly much information has been in the media limelight due to the WHI study that was halted due to an increase in breast cancer, strokes and heart attacks in the participants receiving the medication under study. 

Back pain is notoriously difficult to treat.  Chronic spine pain is one of the most common reasons a person will seek a physicians evaluation.  Frequently symptoms do not correlate with the severity of the disease, nor do clinical manifestations reflect the cause or the severity of the disorder.  Because of the complexity of the spine, pathophysiology is poorly understood.  However the severity of pain indicates changes in the musculoskeletal structures of the spine. 

Many of my patients have diabetes, some undiagnosed.  My clinical experience and studies have shown that diabetics are more susceptible to the development of periodontal (gum) disease.  This can be cyclical because infectious gum disease will have the potential to affect blood sugar and contribute to the diabetic condition. 

Indoors and outdoors, youth athletes stay active year-round in competitive sports, and for many of them heel pain has become “just another part of the game.”  Foot and ankle surgeons, Leslie G. Levy, DPM and Dana Lavian, DPM, FACFAS, advise that when a child complains of heel pain, it should be diagnosed promptly because it may be a warning sign of a serious foot problem.

In 1991, the FDA pulled silicone breast implants off the market for further study of their safety.  Over the next 14 years, the implants would become the subjects of intense research, clinical trials, and fierce controversy.  In 2006, the FDA approved them for use, and plastic surgeons across the country have experienced an uptick in procedures involving silicone breast implants, as opposed to their saline counterparts.

How many times have you found yourself arriving home not knowing how you got there?  It seems that when we do things routinely, we tend to allow ourselves to daydream while the autopilot in our brain takes over to do the task.  This, unfortunately, can be very dangerous, particularly when driving.  We tend to think that we can drive as well as eat, drink, put on our makeup, talk on the cell phone and, yes, some even think they can read or send and receive texts while driving. 

Many patients have recently been asking which type of Botulinum Toxin Type A is right for me.  Some patients believe that Dysport® is a new type of Botulinum Toxin Type A (produced by Medicis Corporation in the UK), however it is just a different formulation/mixture that has been available overseas for many years.  Botox Cosmetic® produced by Allergan Corporation, based in Irvine, California- is the most widely recognized and researched formulation in the United States and demonstrates wonderful efficacy and reproducibility.

Dr. Fellows, a native of Illinois, studied in both the Midwest and Southern California. He graduated magna cum laude with a psychobiology major from the University of Southern California. He then earned his medical degree from the prestigious Northwestern University in Chicago.

One of the most common reasons prompting a visit to an opthalmologist is eye pain. There are many causes for eye pain.  Contrary to popular belief, wearing an eyeglass prescription that is incorrect or needing glasses is not a common cause of eye pain. The most common complaint we hear is feeling a dull ache or pressure behind both eyes.