Tinea versicolor is a non contagious rash caused by an overgrowth of a naturally occurring yeast on the skin. This overgrowth is precipitated by a number of factors including excessive sweating, hot and humid weather, oily skin or use of oil based products, hormonal...
Heartburn has nothing to do with the heart; it is simply refers to acid regurgitation from the stomach up into the esophagus, causing a burning discomfort in the chest and sometimes a sour or bitter taste in the mouth. There are a number of preventative measures that...
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a frequently encountered condition where the median nerve gets compressed in the wrist, causing numbness, tingling and occasionally weakness of the affected hand. This condition is very common in occupations that require a lot of grasping,...
Nasal sores are a common, painful nuisance. They frequently come and go, and often are accompanied by blemishes on the face and scalp that typically have white, pus-filled tops (see picture). These sores are most commonly due to staph bacteria. The majority of...
Clostridium difficile is an ever-increasing and common cause of infectious diarrhea. It is one of dozens of bacteria that normally lives in many people's large intestine. However, something throws off this balance, causing C. difficile colonies to overgrow and lead...
One out of five Americans smokes tobacco regularly. Even so, people are (or become) aware of the dangers that tobacco may pose (including lung cancer and high blood pressure) and take up the quest to end their addiction to tobacco. But the road is long, and not...
Superglue can be used to seal small, shallow lacerations, usually on the arms, hands, legs and trunk. The first thing to do is to make sure that there are no embedded foreign bodies. Secondly, irrigate the wound out thoroughly with clean tap water. The wound in this...
Antibiotics are most commonly used to treat bacterial infections. Appropriately used, they significantly shorten the duration and severity of disease, and have dramatically helped increase life expectancy in the last century. However, antibiotic use is not without...
Rosacea is an condition that primarily affects fair-skinned individuals, generally between the ages of 30 to 60. It appears as pimples, pus-filled bumps, redness and/or small blood vessels of the nose, cheeks, chin and/or forehead. Sometimes the eyelids and eyes are...
Whatever happened to personal freedom in the United States? The individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act, that requirement stating all people must have health care insurance or face a fine, seems to be me to be an affront to personal liberty and responsibility...