Beware where you get medical advice! This is a frustrating issue that I deal with frequently. Most people get medical advice from those with no medical training. The most common sources of such advice is family and friends and the internet. I saw a guy who was sent by his psychologist to discuss medications. He … Read more
I am closing the summer blog series on addiction with an editorial that I sent to the Orange County Register. In response to the article “Tears for Dead Teens” 7/28/2011, I grieve for the families that have lost loved ones to the scourge of addiction. It became personal to my family and I when my brother-in-law … Read more
As I have said in previous blogs about addiction, it is a struggle at times to convince people who have a strong anti-medication mentality to reconsider their views and allow themselves to be educated about the truth on addiction and medication. Since our current drug war and attempts to curb illicit drug use is such … Read more
I would like to shift the attention for the last couple of blogs towards solutions of the addiction problem. I realize that this is repetitive, but it is extremely important to finding the ultimate solution. What is addiction? Addiction is a brain disease, plain and simple. The vast majority of addicts and those in recovery … Read more
Addiction and, more importantly, getting to the root cause of addiction is a difficult problem that plagues our society, and it seems to be worsening and more destructive over time. The solution is not simple, as there are a host of factors that contribute. This is the start of a multi-part blog on this subject … Read more
I will now discuss the treatment of and cures for insomnia, which is varied. It is important to not forget good sleep hygiene habits, such as not watching a stimulating t.v. program or movie or reading a suspenseful novel right before bedtime. Light reading can be very helpful though, without the t.v. on. Relaxation techniques … Read more
What is insomnia? This is one of the more common problems I encounter in my practice. It can be a difficult problem to resolve, and I will outline my treatment strategy to combat insomnia. There are different types of insomnia, with the most common being difficulty falling asleep or early morning awakening. The first refers … Read more
Now that I’ve discussed Types of Headaches, the focus of headache treatment and curing headaches is usually pain relief, such as with Tylenol, antiinflammatories (likr Ibuprofen and naproxyn variants such as motrin, advi, aleve, etc.), opiates (codeine-based products/narcotics) and sinus/allergy meds if this is a factor. Migraine medications such as Imitrex, Zomig, Relpax and several … Read more
Headaches are a common problem for many patients that I see. It is one of the most common stress related symptoms. The most common symptom related to stress is tension of the muscles of the neck, trapezius (muscles from the neck to the shoulder) and upper back muscles. The muscles of the neck attach to … Read more
What is Chronic fatigue Syndrome? This is a condition that has been discussed frequently for many years. Some doctors and patients don’t take it seriously as it may be perceived to be a made-up condition for hypochondriacs who are just lazy and weak. Some patients may feel the same way, and write it off as … Read more