Medical

Dr. Marc Lussier and Dr. Chrystal Fernandez, RN, Ph.D Join Forces

We at Town Center Surgery are excited to announce that Dr. Chrystal Fernandez, RN, Ph,D has joined our practice.  Dr. Marc Lussier has been searching for that perfect fit to complement his practice with someone who is enthusiastic, experienced, knowledgeable and has a true passion for aesthetic medicine.  He has found that and more in Chrystal.

I have been working with a beautiful patient in my practice for 17 years.  Over that time the shape of her face has changed due to the movement and collapsing of her  dental arches.  Her children are now in college and it is time for her!  We started Invisalign Orthodontic trays for treatment that would last approximately six months.  Wow, what a change.  Her cheeks are now balanced and symmetrical.  Her smile is beautiful.  She looks at least ten years younger.  A non-surgical face lift!  Even I was impressed with the results. 

People hold onto relationships, hoping to eventually find what they seek, though holding on results in feeling stuck.  Ideally, we’d like a meter to measure the likelihood of achieving our goals with a particular person.  Do we know what’s realistic to seek, whether it exists in particular people or if resistance to change exists?

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 4.5 million Americans are presently living with Alzheimer’s Disease.  Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s or any form of dementia often requires a great deal of time and patience, and can cause great stress to the caregiver, particularly as memory loss progresses.

Everything starts with the mind.  Our thoughts affect our feelings, which affects our behavior, which affects our actions (or lack thereof), which in turn affects our lives.  Whatever our thoughts are they carry weight.  They stimulate our passions, desires, goals, confidence, anger, stress, worries, fears and the list goes on and on.

Now that we are entering the middle/end of summer we need to take a closer look at the skin care products that we are using.  Are you still using the same facial products that you were using over the winter months?  If so, you need to keep in mind that just as the winter weather makes us pay special attention to our skin, summer with its sun and heat can have its own negative effects on your skin and scalp.  Now, reminding you all to wear your sunscreen is only a small part of what you can do for a smooth complexion and healthy glow.

Have you ever noticed that the “secrets of success” featured in magazines and books are rarely secrets at all?  Most of the time, they’re common sense strategies that anyone can use to achieve a goal.  As president of Lindora and author of Lean for Life, I’m often asked for “diet secrets” or “tips” for losing weight.  And while we all want to discover the newest miracle cure, I inevitably return to the basics because I know they work.  Here are two simple strategies you can begin using today to help you lose weight and improve your health. While they’re no secret, they definitely work!

Vacation time is here — road trips, long flights and rising gas prices await us.  While packing suitcases, booking rooms and planning itineraries, set aside time to think about what you’ll eat while on the road (or in the air). 

Maintaining healthy eating habits while on vacation can be a challenge; so, do your homework, put in some time and effort and you’ll find it is possible to vacation and eat healthy at the same time. 

Stress.  We all feel it in our lives.  Did you know that it costs our country over $200 billion annually in absenteeism, worker’s compensation claims, health insurance costs and lowered productivity?  Reducing stress in your life will make a much happier and healthier you.

As though trying to fit in at school wasn’t hard enough, add an outbreak of acne and it can seem unbearable.  Various forms of acne affect more than 85 percent of teenagers and frequently continues into adulthood.

Optimum prenatal care should actually start three months before trying to achieve a successful pregnancy.  The intake of folic acid has been shown to decrease the incidence of birth defects, especially those affecting the brain and spinal cord.  Women with chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, need to be in excellent control and on medications appropriate for use during pregnancy.  Seizure medications may need to be changed so as to decrease potential harm to the fetus.

I talked about dental x-ray in last month’s issue.  Let me continue the frequently asked questions regarding radiographs.
How often should radiographs be taken?

A woman’s breasts may change over time, losing their youthful shape and firmness.  Such changes, with their resulting loss of skin elasticity, can result from pregnancy, breast feeding, weight fluctuation, aging, gravity, and heredity.  While not all women are troubled by such changes, they can be a psychological burden to those whose self-image is adversely affected.

As millions of Americans hit the beach this summer, Leslie G. Levy, DPM and Dana Lavian, D.P.M. FACFAS,  foot and ankle surgeons in Valencia, share these safety tips from the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons.

Insomnia has different patterns: difficulty in falling asleep after retiring, early awakening, intermittent waking through the period of attempted sleep, and even inability to sleep all night.

Insomnia is often accompanied by dizziness, headache, palpitation, poor memory and mental disorders.

Etiology and Pathogenesis

The connection between oral health and overall health was highlighted in the May 2000 U.S. Surgeon General’s report, “Oral Health in America”.

It stated: “The terms oral health and general health should not be interpreted as separate entities”.  Oral health is integral to general health; this report provides important reminders that oral health means more than healthy teeth and that you cannot be healthy without oral health. 

Is a toenail’s change in color nothing more than discoloration?  Women think, ”just put nail polish on it and no one will see it.”  The problem is that it is probably a fungal infection.  If so, it needs to be treated.

Not many of us living fast-paced, on-the-go, multitasking and stressed out lives would deny that stress adversely affects our health in numerous and varied ways.  For some people, stress results specifically in migraine and tension headaches.  Ask anyone who suffers from these often debilitating headaches, and they will tell you that the pain can be anywhere between mild to moderate, to beyond painful.  As with many painful and chronic health conditions, acupuncture and traditional eastern medicine (TEM) is an effective and powerful alternative to prescription and over-the-counter medicines.  It can provide a more natural and holistic approach to headache treatment.