Month: July 2020

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is caused by the narrowing of the arteries in the extremities. This narrowing reduces the amount of blood that is supplied to the legs. Peripheral artery disease is mostly caused by the accumulation of fat inside the arteries in a condition called atherosclerosis. Blood flow to the heart, brain, and legs is reduced due to the narrowing of the blood vessels.

Many people with peripheral artery disease do not have symptoms but some have symptoms like pain during walking, which is referred to as claudication. This pain that occurs in this condition can be treated by an anesthesiologist in Monroe Township, NJ using medications, nerve block, or cold laser therapy. Treatment is individualized for every patient, therefore, improving the outcomes.

What Are the Symptoms of Peripheral Artery Disease?

Many people with peripheral artery disease may have no symptoms, or their symptoms may be mild. Other people may present with claudication, which is leg pain when a person is walking. Claudication causes muscle cramping in the leg’s calf region, and the pain goes away with rest. The pain of claudication can occur at any other site in which the arteries have been narrowed.

Other symptoms of peripheral claudication include numbness or weakness in the legs, legs with a shiny skin or have a change in the skin color, hip or thigh pain, a leg that feels cold compared to the other leg, reduction in the growth of toenails, lack of a pulse in the affected leg, hair loss in the legs or erectile dysfunction in men.

The severity of these symptoms varies in different people, and some people may even experience pain when they are resting in what is called ischemic rest pain. The pain reduces when you hang your leg on the edge of the bed. Some of the complications of peripheral artery disease include stroke or heart attack because of a reduction in blood supply in the heart or brain.

A person may also develop chronic non-healing ulcers that may get infected and result in tissues’ death. When the tissues in the leg are dead, the doctor will amputate the leg, and this can traumatize someone. To avoid these complications, you should consult a doctor early enough to get treatment.

Who Is at Risk of Peripheral Artery Disease?

People who smoke, are diabetic, obese, or suffer from high blood pressure are at an increased risk of getting peripheral artery disease. Old age that is above 50 years also increases the chances of peripheral artery disease. Some people are genetically predisposed to get peripheral artery disease. Having high cholesterol and homocysteine levels also increases the risk of PAD.

PAD’s risk can be reduced by quitting smoking, weight reduction, exercising regularly for 30 minutes, and repeating this many times in a week. Eating a healthy diet with low saturated fats and controlling the blood sugar in diabetic patients also reduces the risk of PAD.

Conclusion

Peripheral artery disease is a condition that occurs when the arteries in the extremities become narrowed due to fat deposits. Narrowing of arteries causes a reduction in the blood supply in the legs, which can cause pain in the calf that reduces with rest and also can cause limb numbness and weakness. Hypertensive and diabetic patients, people older than 50 years and overweight persons are at a high risk of PAD. The risk can be reduced by quitting smoking, eating a healthy diet, and good blood sugar control in people who have diabetes.

Most women could be uncomfortable with how their vaginas are dealing with old age or childbirth but could not dare talk about it. You should know that it is okay to talk about issues with your vagina, and it is prudent to seek the services of an expert gynecologist for vaginal revitalization in Forest Hills. They will guide you on the options available for you. Vaginal rejuvenation could help treat vaginal relaxation relieving you of the discomfort that comes with aging and childbirth. Vaginal rejuvenation can help boost your self-confidence by improving your sexual experience and the ability to control your bladder after childbirth or as a result of aging.

Conditions Treated With Vaginal Rejuvenation

Vaginal relaxation might lead to decreased sexual sensation, and you can take care of this through vaginal rejuvenation. Vaginal tightness can have a significant impact on your sexual experience as it increases friction and pleasure. Vaginal rejuvenation can help you control a loose bladder that occurs due to childbirth and age. Some women who have experienced vaginal loosening say that they could not control the popping sound during yoga or while walking around, and this can be rectified with vaginal rejuvenation. There are different vaginal rejuvenation procedures which involve:

• Vaginoplasty-which helps tighten the vagina
• Labiaplasty- improves the appearance of the labia
•  Labia majoraplasty- reduces the size of the labia majora
• Clitoral reduction- is performed to reduce the size of the clitoris, which minimizes the folds of the clitoral hood.

What is a Vaginal Rejuvenation Procedure Like?

The vaginal rejuvenation procedure is performed in a hospital under general anesthesia, and it could take about one hour to complete. It would help if you chose a surgeon that makes you feel comfortable, as this helps you relax while undergoing the procedure. Your surgeon will examine your condition mark the areas for operation, and you might feel some pain and discomfort after the surgery. With the advice of a physical therapist, your gynecologist would prescribe some exercises that might help strengthen the pelvic muscles. Your surgeon gynecologist would help with vaginal muscle stretching, which helps reduce the formation of scars after the operation.

You should not have sex soon after the operation for at least two weeks as it can lead to tearing and delayed healing. Be careful not to lift heavy loads after the vaginal rejuvenation process as this could tear your wound. You should also eat small amounts of food and avoid constipation, which could stretch the muscles on the lower abdomen.

Is Vaginal Rejuvenation Effective?

Vaginal rejuvenation has a high success rate and can significantly improve the appearance of the genitalia and functionality. It can help you boost your self-confidence due to increased sexual pleasure and improved ability to control your bladder. You could choose minimally invasive methods of vaginal rejuvenation that leave you feeling good with minimal scars.

The Bottom Line

The vagina can relax due to childbirth, or aging and women are least likely to talk about the discomfort that results from vaginal relaxation. Vaginal rejuvenation can help tighten a relaxed vagina and enable you to control your bladder once more. Look for an expert who will help you achieve vaginal rejuvenation through minimally invasive procedures that heals within a short time.

When you develop back pain, this can significantly affect your life. The pain can make you have sleepless nights and walking becomes a challenge. Finding what is causing the pain and how it can be treated becomes your priority. If this description fits you, there is hope in The Woodlands spinal stenosis. Jessen Mukalel MD has been helping the residents of The Woodlands, TX, struggling with chronic back and nerve pain using epidural steroid injections. This treatment method has revolutionized the management of nerve pain all over the world.

How epidural steroid injections help

Epidurals shots contain medication that helps reduce inflammation and pain in your epidural space (the outermost portion of your spinal canal, where the roots of the nerves are found).

You may be shocked at the thought of planting a needle injection in your spine. This emphasizes the need to seek a qualified and experienced provider. A wrong move can make you confined to a wheelchair for the rest of your life.

Jessen Mukalel MD will use X-ray imaging during the procedure to help precisely deliver the correct dose of steroid and anesthetic medication to the area that is giving you pain. Epidural injections can take up to 7 days to work after your injection and remain potent for several months. The medicine fights off inflammation of the nerve roots and soothes your back to give relief from pain.

When Can Epidural Steroid Injections Help?

Epidural injections do not provide relief for all types of back pains. These include pain from strains and sprains. Instead, the injections are designed to help provide relief from pain originating from the nerves at your back. Epidural steroid injections will provide relief against pain for the following conditions:

•   Spinal stenosis
•   Bone spurs
•   Injuries to your spinal nerves, vertebrae, and surrounding tissues
•   Bulging or herniated discs
•   Failed back surgery syndrome that is characterized by chronic leg or back pain

Jessen Mukalel MD will start your treatment using conservative treatment methods including physical therapy and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to manage your pain. Epidural steroid injections are high in the hierarchy of nerve pain treatment.

Risks Of Epidural Steroid Injections

Epidural steroid injections have long been used to manage chronic pain. However, there are a few risks linked with the usage of these drugs. Corticosteroid injections have been found to cause infection and nerve damage in a paltry 1% of users. In most of the reported cases, the adverse effects of epidurals emanated from an overdose and not from physician error. Choosing a skilled doctor can help you avoid this problem. Below are the possible side effects of an overdose of corticosteroid medication:

•   Hair loss
•   Insomnia
•   Weakening of muscle, cartilage, and bone
•   High blood sugar
•   Thinning of the soft tissue and skin at the injection site
•   Facial flushing
•   Fever
•   Headaches
•   Hormone imbalance

Proper care and administration of the right amounts of medication are crucial in ensuring the safe use of epidural medication. Visit an experienced physician to help you get relief from nerve pain.

If you have chronic pain in the neck, the spinal cord, or the legs, your doctor will advise you on the methods of pain management. One of the standard pain management practices for these types of pains includes epidural injections in the affected area. Clinical studies on epidural injections show that the injections help a patient deal with pain, reduce inflammation, and enables one to go back to normal activities. If chronic pain has reduced your quality of life, it could help if you seek an expert in epidural steroid injection in McAllen.

What Is A Steroid Epidural Injection?

Steroid injections include the use of corticosteroids and anesthesia that gives a numbing effect in the painful area. The injection is administered directly to the epidural sac in the spinal cord and can help deal with pain in the spinal region, the neck, and the legs. The epidural sac in the back is located between the protective dural sac, the spinal nerves, and the bony vertebra. The injection helps calm down the nerves, and it reduces inflammation in the affected area. The injection only helps reduce the pain by flushing away the proteins, which cause pain and swelling. Unfortunately, it does not reduce the herniated discs. The epidural injection could deal with pain for a few months or even years. In this time, a patient can recover by incorporating physical therapy and exercise programs that improve their conditions.

Who Can Have An Epidural Injection?

If you have neck, back, and leg pain that does not go away with conventional methods of pain management, an epidural would help improve your condition. Your doctor is likely to recommend epidural injection if you have the following conditions:

•       Herniated discs

Herniated discs cause rapture of the soft tissues within the disc, which could seep into the spinal area and cause discomfort. Steroid epidural could help reduce the pain and discomfort caused by herniated discs, but unfortunately, it does not reduce the size of the discs.

•       Spinal stenosis

If your spinal cord has stenosis, it narrows at the spinal canal and the nerve root canal. The narrowing of these parts of the spinal cord could cause back and neck and leg pain when moving, which could reduce your life quality.

•       Sciatica

Sciatica pain occurs along the sciatic nerve in the legs and buttocks and is caused by the compression of the first spinal nerve or the fifth lumbar bone. An epidural injection can reduce inflammation caused by sciatic pain.

•       Spondylolisthesis

Spondylolisthesis is a weakness at the upper and lower facets of a vertebra, which could cause forward slipping of the vertebra and compress the nerve roots, thus causing pain. A doctor would recommend epidural steroid injections to deal with spondylolisthesis.

The Bottom Line

If you have chronic pain in the neck, back, or the legs that do not go away with traditional medicine, you should consider trying steroid epidural injections. The injection is administered at the spinal sac directly near the area with pain and is effective in reducing the pain by flushing the proteins that cause inflammation. The injection is an excellent way of dealing with pain while taking other steps such as therapy to deal with underlying issues.