Month: April 2022

If you live with chronic pain, you know how it can impact your quality of life. Nerve blocks can be an excellent tool for pain management and provide relief from many different types of chronic pain. Nerve blocks are a specific type of injection used for pain management and anesthesia during surgery or medical procedures. These injections help numb an area by blocking pain signals sent to the brain. They can provide relief from back, neck, hip, or joint pain and pass through the tissue to get deep down where the nerves are located. Specialists in administering nerve blocks in Austin can recommend this treatment for many different types of chronic pain, and we look at some of them in this article.

• Back Pain

Several different factors can cause back pain. It’s one of the most common and debilitating types of chronic pain, and it often affects the lower back. This type of pain can range from mild to severe and can come on suddenly or develop over time. Nerve blocks for back pain work well because they help numb the area causing you pain. This can be highly beneficial for those suffering from back pain because it provides an effective way to reduce the sensation of pain during movement, physical therapy sessions, or any other activities where you might feel discomfort.

• Joint Pain

Nerve blocks are often used for joint pain during medical procedures since they help numb the area causing you pain. Nerve blocks that help with joint pain are often used on joints in the neck or shoulder, knees, ankle, or elbow. These nerves can be impacted by arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, herniated discs, nerve impingement, and rotator cuff injuries.

• Arthritis Pain

Nerve blocks for arthritis can significantly reduce the pain and inflammation associated with this condition. This type of injection is often used before or during physical therapy sessions and helps minimize the discomfort you might feel while exercising. Whether you want to relieve arthritis pain in your toe, knee, neck, or wrist, nerve blocks are available to help get you the relief you need.

• Hip Pain

Hip pain is another common type of chronic pain, and it affects many different people, including those who are younger. This can be due to several factors ranging from injury or arthritis to bursitis and tendonitis. Before you undergo surgery for hip pain, block injections can often help numb the area causing you pain. This provides an excellent alternative to surgery and could reduce your time to recover.

• Face Pain

Nerve blocks for face pain can be an excellent solution for those suffering from trigeminal neuralgia, atypical facial pain, or postherpetic neuralgia. These types of chronic pain usually impact the face and may cause sensations like stinging, burning, sharp pains, and numbness. Nerve blocks for face pain can help lessen these sensations and provide a safe way to reduce the pain caused by these conditions.

In summary, nerve blocks for pain management can be an effective way to reduce the amount of pain you’re suffering from and provide you with a better quality of life. If you want relief from chronic pain, we recommend consulting Austin-area specialists who can help.

Most topical therapies and simple anti-aging remedies provide benefits that last only a few weeks or months. The effects of your Brooklyn liquid facelift can last for two to three years. Your doctor will inject Sculptra dermal fillers into strategic parts of the face, like the cheeks, mouth areas, and jawline, to complete the treatment. After a series of therapies, you will notice subtle, visible results that improve over time.

A non-surgical facelift with filler injections is suitable for reducing mild to moderate aging indications. With wrinkles and skin laxity, you can anticipate firmer, smoother-looking skin and youthful contours from this restorative diagnosis. Here is all you need to understand about this lavish anti-aging rejuvenation therapy.

What is unique about a liquid facelift with Sculptra?

The best dermal filler for restoring facial volume and filling in wrinkles and folds is Sculptra. When strategically injected into various parts of the face, this filler can enhance your skin’s natural collagen synthesis, improving skin firmness and improving contours. Sculptra is also made from poly-L-lactic acid, a biocompatible synthetic material. The body naturally absorbs this substance over time as it helps promote the reconstruction of lost collagen.

1.     Reduces the early signs of aging – Natural collagen synthesis in your body has already begun to decline by your late twenties. Furthermore, lifestyle factors like smoking and persistent sun exposure can deprive collagen levels in your skin. If you are ready to slow down the early signs of aging, non-surgical facelifts and dermal fillers can help you prevent and minimize volume loss in your face. A few treatments can produce remarkable results that last for several years.
2.     Provides complete facial rejuvenation – Since this treatment stimulates natural collagen production, you can expect the deeper layers of skin to be restored and improved. This procedure produces a thorough facial rejuvenation that rejuvenates your appearance by adding fullness, improving contours, and reducing the appearance of lines, wrinkles, and folds. If you have bony regions where the skin has thinned with age (cheekbones), the doctor can use dermal fillers in a non-surgical facelift to plump up and add wholeness in these regions. The result is a softer, younger appearance.
3.     Reduces moderate-to-severe volume loss – If you have fully grown skin in your 30s or 40s, you may have loose tissues in the lower face, resulting in jowls and recessed corners of the mouth. Volume loss and skin thinning are milder to severe signs of aging in your 50s. Your doctor can help you improve your looks and change how you look without requiring surgery. They can provide liquid facelifts, and PDO thread lifts to readjust loose skin and lift facial contours.
4.     Offers natural-looking outcomes over time – There is no need to be concerned about looking like you “had work done” on your face because the results of a non-surgical facelift can seem gradual. The injections are spaced out over several weeks to allow the fillers to settle into the skin. Natural collagen production can also take some time, so you may have to wait months before you see the full effects of your diagnosis.

It is both an art and a science to reverse and minimize the signs of aging. Are you ready to indulge in luxurious beauty treatments that have been meticulously designed to produce stunning results? Call Brooklyn Dental Spa or make an appointment online to learn more.

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is when plaque builds up in the arteries that supply blood to the limbs. This can lead to pain, numbness, and discoloration in the extremities. PAD is most commonly caused by atherosclerosis, a condition in which fatty deposits build up on the inner walls of the arteries. PAD can be treated with lifestyle changes, medication, and surgery. Lifestyle changes include quitting smoking, eating a healthy diet, and exercising regularly. Medication may include blood thinners, cholesterol-lowering drugs, and pain medications. A specialist in peripheral arterial disease in Coconut Creek can recommend the ideal treatment if you have any symptoms. Here are some tips on how you can prevent the condition.

• Quit smoking

Smoking is one of the leading causes of PAD. Smoking damages the endothelium, the thin layer of cells that line the arteries. This can lead to plaque formation and increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke. Smoking also increases the risk for other conditions that can lead to PAD, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. If you smoke, quitting is the best way to reduce your risk for PAD.

• Eat a healthy diet

A healthy diet is essential for overall health, and it’s also the key to preventing PAD. A diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol can help keep your arteries healthy and reduce the risk for plaque formation. Choose lean meats, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains instead of processed foods.

• Exercise regularly

Regular exercise is another important way to reduce your risk for PAD. Exercise helps keep your arteries healthy by strengthening the endothelium and preventing plaque accumulation. It also helps control blood pressure and cholesterol levels, contributing to PAD. Aim for at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week.

• Maintain Healthy Weight

Being overweight or obese can increase your risk for PAD. Carrying excess weight puts stress on the arteries and works harder to circulate blood. This can lead to the formation of plaque and an increased risk for PAD. Losing just 5-10% of your body weight can help reduce your risk for the condition.

• Watch Your Cholesterol Levels

High cholesterol levels can also increase your risk for PAD. Cholesterol is a type of fat that builds up in the arteries and can lead to plaque formation. High cholesterol levels increase the risk for heart disease, a significant risk factor for PAD. Managing your cholesterol levels is a critical way to reduce your risk for PAD.

• Avoid Specific Medications

Some medications can increase your risk for PAD. These include drugs that lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels and pain medications. They work by relaxing the arteries and making them wider. If you take any of these medications, it’s essential to be aware of the risk for PAD and to report any symptoms to your doctor.

To summarize, there are several things you can do to reduce your risk for peripheral arterial disease. These include quitting smoking, eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and maintaining a healthy weight. You can also watch your cholesterol levels and avoid specific medications that can increase your risk for PAD. If you have any symptoms, be sure to see a specialist as soon as possible.

Do you have difficulties moving and chronic pain due to arthritis? Arthritis can be disabling, but you can find home remedies to alleviate the pain and increase the motion range. However, it is better to find a Germantown arthritis expert who can advise you on the appropriate home remedies before incorporating any remedies into your treatment plan. These arthritis home remedies might alleviate your pain and increase your motion range.

Manage Your Weight

Weight impacts arthritis, and the more weight, the higher the chances of developing arthritis complications. Thus, it is always better to manage your weight when dealing with arthritis. However, you should find the correct exercises to avoid damaging the joints; your physical therapist will advise on the appropriate exercises for arthritis. They will set a target weight and design a holistic program that helps weight loss. You may engage in physical exercises and dieting to lose extra weight. Losing weight may be beneficial for increased mobility, decreased pain, and preventing future damage to the joints.

Use Hot and Cold Therapy on the Joints

Arthritis might make the joints’ ligaments, tendons, and muscles swell. You would use heat and cold therapy to alleviate the symptoms. Heat treatments reduce swelling and increase the blood circulation to the joints leading to blood oxygenation and toxin removal. You may take long, warm baths; use a hot towel or electric kettle to deliver the heat therapy to the joint.

On the other hand, cold therapy reduces joint inflammation and swelling, thus reducing pain. You may use a gel ice pack on the joint for quick pain relief.

Try Acupuncture

Traditional Chinese societies practiced acupuncture, and some people claim the traditional pain relief method might work for arthritis. The pain relief method reroutes energies and restores balance using needles on specific body parts with nerves.

Use Medications

Medications significantly improve arthritis; you can opt for painkillers that deal with chronic pain. Moreover, you can choose the relaxants that lower stress and help you cope better with the pain. You can combine the medications with relaxation and breathing techniques to get the best pain relief. The constant pain associated with arthritis causes stress, anxiety, and depression.

Eat Healthily

Eating healthily can reduce the symptoms of arthritis; healthy food may boost your immunity, making it possible to cope with arthritis. Plant-based diets reduce the symptoms associated with arthritis as the diet is loaded with antioxidants. Saturated fat, sugary food, and red meat may aggravate inflammation, making arthritis worse. Moreover, the food might cause obesity, high blood cholesterol, and heart disease, making arthritis worse. Eating food with fish oil and vitamin D may contribute to wellness for patients with arthritis.

Final Thoughts

Arthritis reduces the motion range making it difficult to move around and accomplish everyday activities. It may lead to constant chronic pain, which doesn’t subside with medications. Thus you should ask for arthritis home management tips from your doctor. You should consider eating healthily, engaging in exercises, reducing your weight, and incorporating relaxation techniques into your life to manage the condition. Good luck learning to deal with arthritis.

Mohs surgery is one of the most effective treatments for certain skin cancers. Its cure rate ranges between 98-99% depending on the cancer type, location, and size. It involves removing skin cancer while preserving the surrounding normal tissues. Many medical experts use Mohs surgery in Glan Allen, VA, to manage melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and basal cell carcinoma. The affected skin will be removed layer by layer until the entire cancer tissue is gone. To further your understanding of Mohs surgery, you should know some essential facts.

Only Affected Skin is removed

Mohs surgery is a proper procedure that involves the removal of only the affected layer of your skin, preserving other healthy tissues. Your doctor observes the skin under a microscope for the cancer cells and removes the thin layer of your skin. If the cells are still present, your doctor will repeat the process until all cancer cells are eliminated. This beats the idea of estimating how much skin is affected by the cell, which ends up removing extra tissues. With Mohs surgery, your doctor will only target the exact affected tissue, and the less the tissue removed, the less the scar meaning the natural part is left unchanged.

A Well-Established Surgery and Most Effective

Mohs surgery has come from the 1930s and has been researched and investigated for decades by medical experts. This has made the surgery one of the most effective skin cancer treatment options with a 98-99 % success rate. However, the surgery’s outcome depends also on your provider’s qualifications, and it is crucial to ensure that your doctor has additional training and expertise on performing Mohs surgery.

It Takes Time

You must be willing to be patient when considering Mohs surgery.  While routine skin cancer surgery involves numbing the skin, cutting the tissues, and closing the wound, which can only take minutes, Mohs surgery is more complicated. Remember that your doctor has to take a small slice of your skin while investigating the presence of the cancer cells under a microscope. The process has to be repeated repeatedly until no more visible cancer cells. This repetitive nature can make the operation last several hours or up to the entire day.

Closure Techniques Vary

With Mohs surgery, different closure techniques can be employed after the operation. Your doctor will discuss the possible options after removing all cancerous cells. The location and the size of the wound matter in determining which closing technique is most suitable. Sometimes the wound could close on its own only with a bandage or might require some stitches. Also, sometimes skin grafting would be necessary to cover the damage.

Post-Surgery Instructions are Vital

Mohs surgery exposes you to several health risks like any other surgical procedure. But your care team ensures you are safe and helps you understand how you can avoid common complications like bleeding, nerve damage, and infection. Taking good care of the wound gives you the best chance to recover successfully with fewer complications and minimal scarring. You will get better results and an appealing appearance when you follow your doctor’s post-surgery instructions to the detail.

Mohs surgery can effectively manage your situation if you endure typical skin cancer. Reach out to the experts at Absolute Dermatology & Skin Cancer Center to understand if you are a good candidate for the treatment. The treatment will offer you about a 98-99% success rate to treat your cancer.

Your body’s mobility and flexibility are made possible by your joints. Therefore, joints are among the most crucial parts of your body since you can barely do anything involving movements without them. However, arthritis in Rockville is not uncommon, and it affects the health and function of your joints. Fortunately, effective treatments are available today, depending on your unique needs. All you need is an accurate diagnosis from a medical expert to know the right approach to take. Knowing all you can about the condition is crucial, and the following six facts will get you started.

Arthritis is named for Multiple Conditions

When you hear about arthritis, understand that you are not talking about a single disease. You will be referring to over a hundred known health complications. That is why it is crucial to get an accurate diagnosis from a qualified health practitioner before taking any medical approach to address your symptoms. Have your doctor evaluate your symptoms and assess your risk factors to tell you the exact type of arthritis you have and advise the right course of treatment.

Most Types of Arthritis Have no Single Known Cure

Some arthritis forms like Lyme arthritis are cured through antibiotics. However, there is no single known treatment or medication for most types of arthritis. Most treatment options will help with pain management, symptoms control, slowed disease progression, and minimized joint deformity or damage but may not cure the disease. With elevated symptoms, you can live a quality life and cope with arthritis.

Your Beliefs Can Affect Treatment

What have you heard about arthritis?  That could be a distraction to make you not get the attention you need; if you have heard that the condition is for only older adults, or it causes only minor pain, diet changes can cure common arthritis types? You must confirm with your doctor about this before you take them in your heart. They are not accurate and will only hinder you from seeking the care you need. Diet changes might indeed improve some of your symptoms but remember that no single treatment has been discovered for arthritis. Such inaccurate information can lead to delayed diagnosis and late treatments.

Early Diagnosis is Crucial

Like any other health complication, an early diagnosis of arthritis can improve the effectiveness of the treatment approach you take. Every type of arthritis has a different treatment, and the earlier you can tell what type you are enduring, the faster you can begin your treatment. Late diagnosis may worsen your symptoms over time and lead to life-threatening issues like joint damage and disability.

Response to Treatment Varies

One of the most important things to remember about arthritis is trial and error treatment. An optimal treatment that may work for you may not work for another patient and vice versa. Therefore, your doctor must try several options to see how you respond. But the good news is that you will find the safest and most effective medication or therapy for your unique needs, and it will be more beneficial with fewer risks.

If you are experiencing joint pain, it could be a form of arthritis. Remember that the earlier you get a diagnosis, the better. Therefore, contact the arthritis specialists at Quality Primary Care today for help. Anyone can get arthritis. Remember!

If you have chronic pain or experience work-related or sports injuries, you can benefit from PRP therapy. Your provider can use PRP therapy in conjunction with other treatments to accelerate your healing so that you can resume your daily activities as soon as possible. If you are interested in exploring the benefits of PRP therapy, consult with your New Brunswick PRP therapy specialist today.

What do you need to know about platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy?

Platelet-rich plasma therapy refers to a form of regenerative medicine that utilizes your body’s growth factors to stimulate the healing process. It also involves using a concentration of your platelets to speed up the healing process of damaged body tissues. This treatment exposes the damaged tissues to a high concentration of platelets by injecting the solution into your body. Once inside your blood vessels, the solution promotes circulation, stimulates cell regeneration, and relieves inflammation. PRP therapy rarely causes any side effects because the treatment uses platelets from your own body.

What diseases does platelet-rich plasma therapy treat?

The Pain & Anesthesia Care specialists use PRP therapy to treat various musculoskeletal problems. You may not notice the results immediately after your treatment procedure, but its effects are long-lasting once you start seeing them. Your doctor may recommend PRP therapy for tendon injuries, torn ligaments, strains and sprains, osteoarthritis, pulled muscles, and torn ligaments. If you take longer to recover from orthopedic surgery, your provider may recommend PRP therapy to accelerate healing. This treatment is noninvasive, and the chances of complications occurring are minimal.

Is PRP therapy scientifically proven?

Most medical experts have been using PRP therapy for ages to speed up the healing process after surgery and relieve chronic pain and inflammation. However, most people were not aware of this treatment until recently; that is why they are skeptical about its safety and effectiveness. Some people believe that PRP is a risky procedure that may cause life-threatening complications. However, doctors believe that the method is safe because it uses components from your blood hence ruling out the possibility of your body reacting negatively to foreign components. Additionally, the procedure has been in practice for a long time without significant complications. Some of the positive effects you can obtain from this innovative procedure include:

• Short recovery time
• Long-term relief from joint pain and inflammation
• Relieves and prevents the progression of osteoarthritis
• Minimally invasive

How long does it take to notice the dramatic results of PRP therapy?

After your treatment, you may notice some mild swelling and slight pain at the injection sites, which should resolve within a day. Your provider may give you a set of instructions to help you recover properly and faster. PRP therapy promotes healing by stimulating cell regeneration to replace the damaged tissues, which may take some time. You may start noticing the desirable changes in your body after several weeks. Over time, you may experience improved mobility and a significant reduction in your pain. Experiencing the full effects of PRP therapy may take about three to six months.

If you are struggling with chronic pain, call the Pain & Anesthesia Care office or schedule your appointment online to begin your journey to wellness.

Ultrasounds have become a common way for pregnant women to monitor the health of their unborn child in Newport Beach, California. But what are they, and what do they do? An ultrasound is a diagnostic imaging technique that uses high-frequency sound waves to create pictures of the inside of the body. Ultrasounds are most commonly used during pregnancies to check on the baby’s development and look for potential problems. Below are five benefits of visiting a fertility clinic in Newport Beach, CA.

• Early Detection of Problems

Ultrasound in pregnancy can be used to check for congenital disabilities or abnormalities in the fetus, which allows treatment to begin early on. A standard prenatal procedure is a level two ultrasound (commonly known as an anomaly scan) between 18 and 20 weeks of gestation that typically includes checking for club foot, cleft lip/palate, brain abnormalities, and abdominal wall defects. 

In addition, a scan at this time will check the number of fluids surrounding the baby and provide a better estimate for when you are due. The results from this scan allow your doctor to look for signs of problems with your baby’s heart or brain.

• Monitoring the Growth and Development of the Baby

In addition to detecting potential problems, your doctor can also use an ultrasound to monitor your baby’s development. This is especially useful when seeing a high-risk obstetrician for prenatal care. Early in pregnancy, a woman’s belly is very small, and it can be difficult for a doctor to tell what is going on inside using just a stethoscope. Therefore, ultrasounds are used to measure the size of your baby and the amount of amniotic fluid surrounding it.

Ultrasounds can also provide valuable information about how much your baby is growing by measuring its development over time. For example, at 32 weeks gestation, a fetus will be between 30 and 33 centimeters long. Ultrasound can also determine the sex of your baby.

• Prevents Miscarriage

Ultrasounds are also used to check for signs of a miscarriage. Early in pregnancy, women often experience what they think is a period. After several episodes, most women become concerned and seek help. Ultrasound can determine if the bleeding is due to something benign like an early miscarriage or something more severe like placenta previa. The placenta lies low in the uterus and covers part of the cervix.

• Monitoring Fetal Health During Labor

Ultrasounds can monitor fetal health during labor, allowing early detection of any problems that might require medical intervention. This is especially helpful in high-risk pregnancies where there is a possibility that babies need help breathing after they are born. If there is a concern, an ultrasound can determine if the baby has enough fluid surrounding it to breathe.

• Brings Peace of Mind

During pregnancy, many women are concerned about the health of their developing children. Ultrasounds are a way to detect any potential problems early on and provide peace of mind for moms-to-be throughout the entire nine months. However, ultrasounds do have limitations since they don’t always show everything. For example, some issues may not become detectable until after 26 weeks.

Pregnancy ultrasounds are an essential way to monitor a baby’s health during pregnancy. If you’re pregnant, it’s always advisable to get a scan within your first trimester so that any potential problems can be detectable early on. Ultrasound scans also allow for monitoring fetal development and growth over time and provide valuable information about the sex of the child.

Telemedicine makes use of safe and secure systems to offer high-quality medical care to people who have medical issues right from their homes. However, virtual medical care is not ideal for all medical interactions. In some instances, a patient must undergo a physical examination, so their doctor can make the right healthcare decisions for them. But virtual visits can be a great option for a lot of situations. A telemedicine doctor can give convenient online appointments for those who need clinical services. Also, they provide curbside testing and laboratory results, ensuring the health needs of their patients are met without scheduling an in-person appointment. If you are wondering whether or not telemedicine is right for you, read on to know some services and situations when you might benefit from a virtual visit:

How Does Telemedicine Work?

Telemedicine allows patients to get medical care remotely rather than visiting a doctor’s office. They just need to request an appointment through a practice’s online tool and follow the given link to complete the registration forms. Nearly all insurance companies cover virtual medical visits. Sometimes, in-office visits are necessary; however, a lot of health concerns can be handled by a telemedicine physician effectively and safely.

When to Schedule a Virtual Doctor’s Visit

You may want to consider telemedicine for the following situations:

• Scheduling follow-up visits. After you consulted a doctor virtually to get treatment for an acute condition like an injury or infection, you may need to schedule a follow-up visit to ensure you are healing as expected. Such a visit will let you ask questions or raise concerns to your doctor. Also, your doctor can give additional treatment recommendations during your online follow-up visit.
• Managing medication or getting refills. If you have maintenance medicines that need a refill or must be adjusted or monitored, you can schedule a telemedicine appointment to meet with your doctor.
• Getting treatment for viral infections. These infections include the colds and flu, which are both contagious. Rather than risking the spread of a virus, consider scheduling a telemedicine appointment to get an initial evaluation and determine whether or not you need to visit your doctor in person.
• Managing a chronic condition. Virtual monitoring and treatment can benefit a lot of people who are suffering from chronic illnesses like high blood pressure, arthritis, and congestive heart disease. It allows these patients to get the necessary care when they are not feeling well. Also, it allows them to better communicate with their healthcare provider.