“That gunky, smelly, puss draining out of your son’s ear is an infection called ‘Otitis Externa‘ – or possibly Otitis Media that has ruptured and is draining.
With the history you gave I’m guessing it’s ‘externa’ – you can call it ‘Swimmer’s Ear‘ but I don’t, cause it’s certainly caused by a lot more things than merely swimming.”
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For the first time in a long time that I can remember, the dislike of mosquitos has taken on an entirely new life this summer. Most certainly due to all the medical news about the mosquito illnesses and Zika; but, there are other diseases mosquitos harbor too that we can’t just rely on “citrus smells” and “bug zappers” to defeat.
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The Lachman test is pretty easy to explain to someone but difficult to understand without some kind of example.
A plastic model of the knee helps in understanding but an actual patient is better. Unfortunately, there isn’t always one available during your “teaching moment.”
A great alternative is a good teacher and a cooperative patient on a video – like this one.
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is hidden inside the knee joint and is diagnosed by performing the Lachman Test during a thorough physical exam – like this one by a pediatric orthopedist.
As you watch him explain the terms: “medial” means “inside or middle“; “lateral” means “outside“; “anterior” means “to the front” and “posterior” means “to the rear.”
There are two “collateral” ligments – one on each of the medial and lateral sides of the knee which prevent right and left scissoring of the lower leg outward and inward.
And there are two “cruciate” ligments – the anterior and posterior, in the middle of the joint which prevent the lower leg from slipping forward or backward out of the joint.
There are other tests which diagnose tears in the remaining three knee ligaments that are not described here. An ACL tear is the most common injury of this type.
Thirty-six million kids participating in organized sports across the US means that 2.6 million of them will be treated in ERs this year with sport’s injuries – and that’s not counting informal recreational activities or kids over 19.
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We’ve written about common summer problems in previous posts. But we’ve got a new crop of kids going out the front door now this season and a new crop of parents worrying about their bumps, bruises and fractures.
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However you spell it: Hay Fever or Hayfever, it’s miserable; and the name has become, like “Kleenex”, the “generic” moniker for any scratchy, itchy, watery red eyes with runny nose – even though the true disease occurs in the fall during the farmer’s haying season.
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Did you pick out the Five Things About Concussions You Should Know?
First – don’t wait to “see if it goes away” before you seek accurate diagnosis. Often an accurate diagnosis depends on comparing measurements in an early visit with those in a later visit.
Second – Follow-up care is important not only to prevent further harm but sometimes to make an accurate diagnosis, especially about the brain and nervous system which can be very subtle.
Third – We now realize that there are long term effects of concussions, possibly up to 6 years! There may even be life-long consequences that must be overcome.
Fourth – Even multiple impacts without a diagnosed concussion often lead to long term effects. And,
Fifth, Helmets are designed to prevent skull fractures and NOT concussions.
With summer comes heat – at least that’s how we do it in the U.S. (so far). And, for most of us: Summer Vacation, Little League and lot’s of sun.
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We’re talking about ‘travel diseases’ which should be considered before taking a trip ‘abroad’ either with or without the family in tow. Yes, from the standpoint of living in the U.S. most of these seem vague and ‘out there somewhere’ but not associated with our daily worries.
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The summer travel season is upon us, at least here in the U.S., and for most of us it means dusting off the car games for the kids to use between bathroom stops as we cruise across the country on vacation.
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This post begins the series of TEN Travel Diseases you shouldn’t forget to consider if you’re lucky (and brave) enough to be taking a vacation this year which involves some degree of traveling – especially across some borders. And remember, the more borders you cross, the more of these you should consider.
You may or may not have even heard of them (hence writing these posts) but be assured, they are still alive and well in the world. And many still here in parts of the United States!
Here is the index to the Ten Travel Diseases series:
Due to editing and space constraints, my (newspaper) article on tonsillectomy two weeks ago did not present the entire picture of how physicians feel about this surgical procedure… and generated several additional questions – which we will cover here.
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