Latest Health News

Symptom: Pain and tenderness

Home care: Pad the heels of the child’s shoes and temporarily restrict activities such as running and jumping.

Precautions

-    Inability to move the foot up and down may indicate a torn Achilles tendon and needs medical attention.

-    Have the child see a doctor if home treatment does not promptly relieve the pain of Sever’s disease.

-    Pain may recur following a new injury. Repeat the treatment.

Painful heels are a common complaint before and during adolescence. Almost 90 percent of the time the pain is due to injury of the bony growth plate near the back of the heel bone (calcaneus). The injury is called Sever’s disease and may be due to a direct blow caused by the heels pounding the ground, or to the calf muscles pulling on the Achilles tendon and the back of the heel bone.

Signs and symptoms

In Sever’s disease, one or both heels hurt when walking and are tender to the touch on both sides and the bottom of the heel bone (about one to two centimeters away from the back of the heel). The heels are not swollen or red; the skin over the heels shows no abnormality. The diagnosis is based on the presence of pain and tenderness at the heel and the absence of other symptoms. Note that other problems that cause pain at the heel also cause other symptoms. For example, infection of the heel bone (osteomyelitis) produces severe pain that intensifies over time, redness and swelling of the infected heel, and a low-grade fever. Blisters, plantar warts, and wounds of the heel can also cause sore heels.

Home care

To relieve pain from Sever’s disease, pad the heels of all of your child’s shoes with a heel pad and temporarily restrict activities that involve running and jumping. Even if a child has pain in only one heel, be sure to pad the heels of both shoes.

Precautions

• If your child can’t move the affected foot up and down (by rising on tiptoes), he or she may have a torn Achilles tendon. Do not attempt home care. The child should see a doctor.

• With the proper home treatment Sever’s disease should subside in four to six weeks; however, pain should cease as soon as the heels of the shoes are padded, and if the pain isn’t promptly eased you should take your child to the doctor. • Pain may recur following a new injury. Don’t worry; just repeat the treatment.

Medical treatment

After a careful examination to rule out other causes of pain, your doctor will follow the same steps as you do in home treatment. If Sever’s disease is severe, the doctor will immobilize the ankles. X rays are seldom required.

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• Start a new interest in life; take up a hobby; go to an evening class; do something that you have always wanted to do, and not necessarily with your partner. Examine your job and see if you could get more out of it or put more into it. If as a result of any of these things you become more interesting to yourself or your partner you are on the way to preventing sexual boredom.

• Try to be more spontaneous and, if necessary, get professional help to overcome any personality problems that are holding you back.

• Try something different. When did you last explore something new in your sexual relationship? You have probably, without consciously realizing it, settled for less than the best. But in the search for novelty don’t throw out or jeopardize your existing, if routine, pleasures. Our interest in new things has to be traded off against the security of the familiar and reliable. Too much hectic change is unsettling in sexual matters as elsewhere in life.

• Be yourself. Stop trying to be something your partner wants-exert your own needs and desires. Don’t hide your feelings – it’s sexier to reveal them to your lover. You need to be selfish at least to some extent if you are to prevent boredom. Unfortunately, we are brought up to be reticent about what we would most like and often settle for far less.

• Share your fantasies. The most important sex organ is the mind! Be wary, though, about what and how you share. Be sensitive to your partner, especially if your fantasies involve someone of the opposite sex whom he or she knows. Many women especially fear that today’s fantasy could become tomorrow’s fact-though this rarely occurs.

• Go for the best at all times. Get away from stereotypes and make your love-making unique to you as a couple. This is true romance. It also makes it less likely that either of you will look outside for sexual pleasures -if only because the chances are that you will be getting more fulfilling sex at home.

• Talk to each other about what is important to you-and not just regarding sex. Make time to share what really matters to each of you in life. As you explore each other more you will become genuinely more interested and interesting and will find sex less boring too.

• Improve your surroundings. Make your bedroom cosier and sexier. Perhaps get a TV or video for the bedroom. Ensure that the room can be warmed up quickly. Get some erotic literature, perhaps some sex toys, and so on.

• Forget about being ‘in the mood’. Many people, women especially, believe that unless they feel ‘romantic’ they shouldn’t have sex. This in itself leads to mounting boredom because there is no one mood in which enjoyable sex can or should take place. Try having sex when you are bored, miserable, angry, sad or quiet as well as when you feel happy or ’sexy’. This produces new emotions and can be a real eye-opener.

• Stop having sex for a while if it is boring you. Go back to courtship behaviour. Learn to enjoy each other in ways that don’t end in intercourse. Once you have increased your repertoire in this way you will return to sex with a new vigour and certainly be less bored!

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• Start a new interest in life; take up a hobby; go to an evening class; do something that you have always wanted to do, and not necessarily with your partner. Examine your job and see if you could get more out of it or put more into it. If as a result of any of these things you become more interesting to yourself or your partner you are on the way to preventing sexual boredom.

• Try to be more spontaneous and, if necessary, get professional help to overcome any personality problems that are holding you back.

• Try something different. When did you last explore something new in your sexual relationship? You have probably, without consciously realizing it, settled for less than the best. But in the search for novelty don’t throw out or jeopardize your existing, if routine, pleasures. Our interest in new things has to be traded off against the security of the familiar and reliable. Too much hectic change is unsettling in sexual matters as elsewhere in life.

• Be yourself. Stop trying to be something your partner wants-exert your own needs and desires. Don’t hide your feelings – it’s sexier to reveal them to your lover. You need to be selfish at least to some extent if you are to prevent boredom. Unfortunately, we are brought up to be reticent about what we would most like and often settle for far less.

• Share your fantasies. The most important sex organ is the mind! Be wary, though, about what and how you share. Be sensitive to your partner, especially if your fantasies involve someone of the opposite sex whom he or she knows. Many women especially fear that today’s fantasy could become tomorrow’s fact-though this rarely occurs.

• Go for the best at all times. Get away from stereotypes and make your love-making unique to you as a couple. This is true romance. It also makes it less likely that either of you will look outside for sexual pleasures -if only because the chances are that you will be getting more fulfilling sex at home.

• Talk to each other about what is important to you-and not just regarding sex. Make time to share what really matters to each of you in life. As you explore each other more you will become genuinely more interested and interesting and will find sex less boring too.

• Improve your surroundings. Make your bedroom cosier and sexier. Perhaps get a TV or video for the bedroom. Ensure that the room can be warmed up quickly. Get some erotic literature, perhaps some sex toys, and so on.

• Forget about being ‘in the mood’. Many people, women especially, believe that unless they feel ‘romantic’ they shouldn’t have sex. This in itself leads to mounting boredom because there is no one mood in which enjoyable sex can or should take place. Try having sex when you are bored, miserable, angry, sad or quiet as well as when you feel happy or ’sexy’. This produces new emotions and can be a real eye-opener.

• Stop having sex for a while if it is boring you. Go back to courtship behaviour. Learn to enjoy each other in ways that don’t end in intercourse. Once you have increased your repertoire in this way you will return to sex with a new vigour and certainly be less bored!

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Kitchen

• Have cupboards that can be reached easily without having to stand on chairs or steps.

• Turn saucepans on cookers so that the handles don’t stick out.

• Keep poisons, cleaning fluids and disinfectants high up and preferably locked away.

• Don’t prise open cans with fingers.

• Never leave fat heating in a pan on the cooker unattended.

• Wipe up spills at once.

• Don’t polish floors highly.

• Put all sharp things in drawers.

• Check the safety of plugs and wiring on domestic equipment.

• Don’t overload electric sockets.

• Use a brush and dustpan to sweep up broken glass or china.

• Have a fire extinguisher or fire blanket handy and know how to use it.

• Never put water on a fat fire-put a lid on the pan or cover it with a fire blanket.

• Teach children to respect kitchen machinery.

• Have a first-aid kit handy

• Never leave a flex from an electric kettle overhanging the edge of a work surface.

Bathroom

• Keep all drugs and medicines out of children’s reach, preferably in a special cupboard that

locks. Place the medicine cupboard high on the wall so that children can’t reach it.

• Flush all old medicines and those without labels down the lavatory.

• Ask the Gas Board to service the water heater yearly.

• Choose non-slip flooring.

• Have a non-slip backing to the bathroom mat.

• Use a non-slip mat in the bath for the young and old.

• Run cold water before hot when filling the bath.

• Ban portable, mains-operated electrical appliances from the bathroom.

• The heater should be high up on the wall or ceiling but not over the bath.

• Have a pull cord for the light switch.

• Have a proper razor socket only -no other power outlets.

• Keep razors well out of children’s reach.

• Never block ventilation holes if you have a gas water heater in the bathroom.

• Never leave children alone in the bath.

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Impotence is defined as a permanent inability to maintain an erection. As a result, sexual activity—including masturbation—reaches a near standstill. Sometimes impotence results because a man’s sexuality changes with age: after the age of 50, his sexual activity can decline rapidly. One study shows that sexual activity in a man drops by 10% in his 50s, 20% in his 60s, 20% more when he’s in his 70s, and 50% or more in his 80s.

But health problems and illness can also cause impotence. Stress can be one factor; heart disease may be another, since an erection occurs when the tissues in the penis fill with blood. If there is a problem with getting the blood to these tissues, an erection cannot occur. And high blood pressure can also cause impotence, as can prostate disease. After a man has prostate surgery, he may be in doubt about his sexuality; however, the surgery can also permanently alter his physical ability to achieve an erection.

Medications, such as drugs to control blood pressure like beta-blockers, can also be responsible. Smoking and alcohol both dilate the blood vessels, which again means there’s less blood available to reach the penis. Depression is also a very common cause of impotence, and an underlying medical illness such as stroke or cancer can not only cause a man to lose all interest in sex but make him physically unable to have an erection.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Have I been depressed or ill lately?

2. Am I unable to have and maintain an erection at all? Or am I comparing it to the erections I had when I was 20 years old?

3. Have I become suddenly impotent, or has the condition developed more slowly?

4. Am I unable to achieve an erection all the time or only occasionally?

5. Are my legs cold or swollen?

6. Have my breasts or testicles become enlarged?

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If you have diarrhea and notice that it has become bloody, you should see your doctor right away, especially if you have a fever and feel weak along with a general malaise.

Bloody diarrhea can be a sign of a viral or bacterial infection that is becoming more severe. It can also occur if you have a long history of ulcer disease or as the first indication of a bleeding ulcer. In this case, you will probably have a stool that is black and tarry or resembles the consistency of putty. If blood appears on the surface of the stool, it is probably due to hemorrhoids.

If bloody diarrhea occurs in a person in his 40s or 50s, it’s possible that a condition known as diverticulitis, a sudden infection in the lower left-hand part of the intestine, may be the cause. Diverticulitis appears when the small pockets in the large intestine—called diverticula— become inflamed because small particles of food, especially seeds, get caught in them, resulting in inflammation and infection. Diverticulitis occurs most often among sedentary people who eat a high-fat, low-fiber diet. If you have diverticulitis, you may also have a fever. If you have a history of irritable bowel syndrome or colitis, you’re more likely to develop diverticulitis. People with irritable bowel syndrome become used to living with an unpredictable bowel, but if diverticulitis develops, you will find that the pain is worse than usual and occurs over the entire abdomen.

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If the shortness of breath does not disappear with rest or quickly recurs during any kind of physical activity, it is a medical emergency and professional care should be sought.

Your doctor will perform a number of tests, including a complete medical history and physical exam, a blood test, a chest X ray, an electrocardiogram, an echocardiogram, a stress test, and/or an angiogram.

Once you’ve been admitted to the hospital, your heart will be constantly monitored with electronic monitoring and blood tests to see if the heart has been damaged. The treatment will depend on what shows up on the various tests. The problem could be angina pectoris. If you do have angina pectoris, your medication might include beta-blockers, nitrates, and calcium channel blockers, depending on your age, your health, and the condition of your heart. Your doctor might also recommend that you carry sublingual nitroglycerine tablets to place under your tongue whenever you experience chest pain or shortness of breath.

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As the skin ages, it becomes thinner and naturally less resistant to bacteria, viruses, and allergens that can irritate it, either on the surface or below, in the epidermis.

A variety of infections and allergens can cause the skin to appear red and swollen. Most are easy to treat.

Sometimes an insect bite, a scratch, or inflammation of a hair follicle can become infected and cause the surrounding skin to become red and swollen. This frequently occurs when bacteria enter the skin through the wound and then cause an infection. Frequently, however, an infection occurs when the skin has come into contact with a substance that has caused an allergic reaction—anything from poison ivy to a new brand of makeup.

Because older skin is also more sensitive to trauma, sometimes it may seem as though your skin is constantly red and irritated. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be the rule for you.

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Description and Possible Medical Problems

Everyone’s tongue feels coated at one time or another, especially after a few drinks, but a whitish, thick tongue is an indication of oral candidiasis, commonly known as oral thrush.

Oral thrush is caused by the same fungus that causes vaginal yeast infections in women. Candida albicans is a fungus that exists in your body in relatively small numbers. It can rapidly multiply to create oral thrush.

Treatment

Frequently, oral thrush strikes when your immune system has been disturbed in some way. This might be due to illness, to certain medications that can affect your immunity, such as antibiotics or corticosteroids, or to chemotherapy. If not treated, the infection can spread to the roof of your mouth as well as to the tonsils and esophagus. If you think you have oral thrush, see your doctor, who will recommend an antifungal prescription medication such as Mycelex tablets, which slowly dissolve in your mouth, or a nystatin mouth rinse, both of which should be used three to four times a day. Unlike a vaginal yeast infection, oral thrush is not caused by an underlying yeast infection, so home remedies such as drinking cranberry juice and eating yogurt are not effective.

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If your eyes are frequently drier than you’re used to, you should see your eye doctor. He may recommend that you use artificial tears to moisten your eyes. Artificial tears are a prescription medication that comes in either eyedrops or an ointment. You should use them as needed.

Tips and Precautions

Don’t make the mistake that some people with dry eyes make of relying on over-the-counter solutions such as Visine that primarily reduce redness and irritation in the eye. The chronic use of any over-the-counter preparation isn’t a good idea without your doctor’s approval, and products such as Visine work by shrinking the tiny blood vessels in the eye. Using these products beyond the manufacturer’s recommended length of time may not only cause you to develop a dependency on them but may permanently damage your eyesight. If your eyes are frequently dry and uncomfortable, see your eye doctor for a diagnosis; he’ll prescribe the right kind of medication.

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