Fingers are easily injured from everyday activities, and finger injuries are some of the most common traumatic injuries seen in an emergency room. Injuries may range from simple bruises or contusions to broken bones and dislocations of the joints. Understanding the basic anatomy of the hand and fingers is useful in understanding different types of finger injuries, broken fingers, and how some treatments differ from others. Continue reading
Bug bites and stings usually are just nuisances. They bring momentary alarm, temporary discomfort and pain, but no serious or lasting health problems. But on occasion, they can cause infections that require treatment and allergic reactions that can be serious, even fatal. Continue reading
Bullous emphysema is a medical condition in which spherical air sacs in the lungs become severely enlarged and eventually rupture and deteriorate. Individuals with progressive bullous emphysema often experience chest pain, difficulty breathing, chronic coughing, and other debilitating symptoms related to a lack of oxygen in the blood. In the most severe cases, the condition can cause one or both lungs to collapse and necessitate emergency surgery to restore or remove a lung. A person who believes he or she may be experiencing the first signs of the disorder should consult a doctor immediately to make a proper diagnosis and arrange for treatment. Continue reading
No matter which IOL is used the surgeon will need to select the appropriate power of IOL (much like an eyeglass prescription) to provide the patient with the desired refractive outcome. Traditionally doctors use preoperative measurements including corneal curvature, axial length, and white to white measurements to estimate the required power of the IOL. Continue reading
In addition, there is an accommodating lens that was approved by the US FDA in 2003 and made by Eyeonics, now Bausch & Lomb. The Crystalens (R) is on struts and is implanted in the eye’s lens capsule, and its design allows the lens’ focusing muscles to move it back and forth, giving the patient natural focusing ability. Continue reading
Cataract surgery is the removal of the natural lens of the eye (also called “crystalline lens”) that has developed an opacification, which is referred to as a cataract. Metabolic changes of the crystalline lens fibers over time lead to the development of the cataract and loss of transparency, causing impairment or loss of vision. Many patients’ first symptoms are strong glare from lights and small light sources at night, along with reduced acuity at low light levels. During cataract surgery, a patient’s cloudy natural lens is removed and replaced with a synthetic lens to restore the lens’s transparency. Continue reading
Bladder pain can result from inflammation, infection, damage or injury to the bladder. The symptoms may be constant or variable and may improve or worsen with movement. The pain may be described as sharp, dull, stabbing, burning or throbbing and can range in intensity from mild to severe. Continue reading
Having bradycardia (say “bray-dee-KAR-dee-uh”) means that your heart beats very slowly. For most people, a heart rate of 60 to 100 beats a minute while at rest is considered normal. If your heart beats less than 60 times a minute, your doctor may diagnose bradycardia. Continue reading
Dermatitis herpetiformis is often misdiagnosed, being confused with drug eruptions, contact dermatitis, dishydrotic eczema (dyshidrosis), and even scabies. Continue reading
Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), or Duhring’s disease, is a chronic blistering skin condition, characterised by blisters filled with a watery fluid. Despite its name, DH is not related to or caused by herpes virus: the name means that it is a skin inflammation having an appearance similar to herpes. Continue reading