Medical

For most of us, the holidays can be a joyful time to celebrate with family and friends.  We attend parties, watch our children perform in holiday shows, decorate our homes, and bake special treats.  For someone who has experienced a recent death of a loved one, this time of year can be overwhelming.  Many people who’ve experienced a loss may find this to be a time when they are most vulnerable to feelings of sadness, fear, confusion, anger, guilt, loneliness, and anxiety.  Experiencing these feelings is a normal part of the grieving process, a natural and universal experience.  However, how we experience grief is unique to each one of us.  One may not experience all of the feelings mentioned, and the intensity of these feelings may be felt differently.

The other day I was adding up all the money I could save by not purchasing car insurance, homeowners insurance, earthquake insurance, paying taxes, etc.  The savings would mean nothing compared to the catastrophic results should an accident or disaster occur, or the dreaded audit.  What many fail to realize is that these same dangers exist with families needing in-home care for themselves or a loved one. 

Do chipped, stained or crooked teeth keep you from beaming your smile to the world?  Does the thought of major cosmetic dentistry make your teeth itch?  Then porcelain veneers might be the answer for you.  The great thing about veneers is they allow a conservative approach to long-lasting, major cosmetic change.

Headache is a subjective symptom.  It can be induced by various acute and chronic diseases.  As it covers a wide sphere, this section only deals in detail with headache as the predominant symptom.  If headache is an accompanying symptom in the development of a certain disease, it will disappear automatically as soon as the disease is cured.  This type of headache is not to be discussed here.

Dr. Weston Price was a dentist.  In the early 1900’s, as the industrial revolution took hold and people began eating processed foods, he noticed an incredible increase in tooth decay in his practice.  This simple but profound finding led him to begin a journey around the world to research why native populations, who ate traditional foods, exhibited perfect teeth into old age.  He also discovered they exhibited perfect physical health.

If you are not having two bowel movements per day, where is all that food going?  Constipation is one of the most common afflictions of the human race and diseases of the digestive organs are the most common reasons an individual seeks the advice of a physician.  Constipation is defined as the difficult or infrequent passage of feces and is associated with the presence of dry, hardened stools.  The constipation condition may lead to intestinal toxemia, which is a form of blood poisoning.  This is caused by the absorption of bacteria and their toxins through the porous intestinal wall.

What is a Body Wrap?  Body Wrapping is a comfortable, effective way to eliminate toxins and impurities that have built up in the body and reduce or eliminate cellulite.  The process involves wrapping the body in cotton and elastic cloths that are soaked in a detoxifying formula.

Heel/Arch pain is one of the most common foot ailments affecting millions of people on a daily basis.  Unfortunately, this affliction is left untreated by a majority of the population, figuring that it will go away, or accepting that the pain is typical with excessive standing or walking.  Eventually, this ailment becomes chronic in nature, often manifesting with “First step pain” when getting out of bed or after a period of rest, usually dissipating after a few minutes of walking, then eventually returning later in the day.

I find much satisfaction in extracting the  wisdom teeth of high school students.  At first glance, the procedure appears tedious because the whole tooth is imbedded in the mandible, but they could be extracted rather easily because the roots are not fully developed yet.

I removed my first son’s wisdom teeth a few years ago.  He was a strong, healthy child on the tennis team but he had to take 2.0 g of Amoxicillin one hour before because he had a mild MVP (mitral valve prolapse).

As long as women have been giving birth, there have been doulas, yet to many, this is a new concept.  When I tell someone I’m a doula, they often say, “Oh, so you’re a midwife” or “I can’t have a doula because I’m having an epidural” or “You’re a nanny?” All statements are misconceptions and deserve clarification.

Is it two weeks before Christmas and you’re running around trying to finish holiday shopping?  Are you trying to plan a dinner for your relatives or trying to entertain your kids while they are on Christmas break?  Well it’s time to sit back and take a breather.  Added stress during the holidays can lead to ill health past the New Year.

The issues that affect today’s woman are complex.  One very personal issue is that of urinary incontinence.  Urinary incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine.  This problem is often thought to be a usual and expected occurrence especially as age progresses, therefore, it is often not discussed.

This is the second of two articles that examine common myths about hearing aids.

Radiation therapy is used in approximately 60 percent of all cancer treatments, either by itself or combined with surgery or chemotherapy.  The first step in the treatment is a consultation with a radiation oncologist.  As a radiation oncologist, I work with the other members of the radiation therapy team to develop a treatment plan specific to each patient.  Our patients partner with the team in creating the best treatment outcome.  Here are some general guidelines that can help patients during the treatment experience.

If you’ve always wanted to improve your smile, but can’t handle your fear of a dentist’s chair, boy do we have great news for you!
Now it’s possible to make all the corrections that will give you the smile of your dreams, while you gently doze.  We call it sedation dentistry.

How do we choose sunglasses, in a gas station, at a kiosk or at a swap meet?  No!  Location, location, location.  You cannot trust your eyes to just any sunglasses.  Your eyes are too important for that.  Our eyes need to be protected by the sun’s harmful UV rays.  In California, most of us have outdoor hobbies like biking, playing golf, sport activities, going to the beach, fishing and hunting.  We want quality sunglasses that will protect our eyes and give us good optical quality that will not tire our eyes.

The way your upper and lower teeth come together is an important part of your dental health.  Traditional dentistry attempted to treat misalignment of the upper and lower teeth by moving teeth alone.  Neuromuscular dentistry considers the involvement of the entire jaw, including the function of the TMJ, (temporomandibular joint), the role of the muscles of the face and neck as well as the teeth in correcting occlusal problems.

There continue to be new advances in all facets of medical care and that certainly includes treatment of the foot and ankle.  I would like to discuss a few of the revolutionary ideas that have become important and effective treatments in the care of the foot and ankle.