Yearly Archives: 2015

Treating Injured Muscles [Show Notes]

 in Podcasts  tagged injury / muscles / pain / RICE / strains / treatment by

How Muscles Work

Muscle contractions depend on the muscle cells trading Potassium (K⁺) and Calcium (Ca⁺⁺).

As your muscle uses up energy to do work, the by-product is Lactic Acid.

Muscle fibers are “woven” together – kinda like fabric.

Contracting and relaxing a muscle causes the fibers to grip together and then spread back out.

Bilateral muscles = symmetrical muscles.  They look the same on each side of your body and worktogether to move your body in both directions from your center (left and right).

How Muscles Get Hurt

Stretching a muscle causes the muscle fibers to extend.

Over-extending a muscle can lead to a strain or pull/torn muscle. 

Inflammation happens in the tiny fibers of your injured muscle.

Treatment Options for Injured Muscle

Anti-inflammatory medications work great for strained muscles.
– Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin)
– Naproxen (Aleve)

R.I.C.E.
Rest: stop using it, or at least give it a little break with only light use
Ice: yep, that cold, frozen water stuff
Compression: for smaller muscles, they can be wrapped to help limit inflammation and hold muscle fibers in a inoffensive position.
Elevation: smaller muscles that can be affected by gravity pulling blood to it, can benefit from being elevated and allowing gravity to pull blood away from it for a short time.

Here’s a link with a concise explanation of when to use ice vs when to use heat.

Prescription steroids help relieve inflammation.

Prescription muscle relaxers keep the muscle from knotting up.

Holla

@_KevinBuchanan used 800 mg ibuprofen for his injury.  800 mg should be taken every 8-12 hours, no sooner, or GI side effects may occur.

Recap

1. Stop the offending activity.

2. Ice the injured muscle (24-72 hours after injury)

3. Take anti-inflammatory pain relievers.

4. Apply heat to keep muscle relaxed

5. Gentle use or stretches

Behind the Scenes

Wearing a toddler while cleaning the kitchen can cause sore or injured muscles. Wear toddlers and clean kitchens with caution!

Since baby sister was born, Jossalynn gets one-on-one time with me by riding in the “backpack”, which is a woven wrap by Pavo Form.

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Cleaning Up Bacteria’s Mess [Show Notes]

 in Podcasts  tagged antibiotics / bacteria / infection / resistance / toxicity by

Bacteria and Antibiotics

MIC stands for Minimum Inhibitory Concentration, and is the lowest amount of antibiotic required to stop the bacteria.

Antibiotics either kill the bacteria or slow it down enough that your own immune system can get rid of it.

Antibiotics are designed to keep a certain amount of medicine in your body over a certain number of days to ensure the infection is completely gone.

Do not take antibiotics that you have left over because you most likely do not have enough medicine for a full course of treatment.

Here’s a Metaphor

Think about a spot of dirt on the floor:

Dirt + a few drops of water = mud

Dirt + a whole pitcher of water = a watery mess

Dirt + a wet rag = clean floor

Relate it to Bacteria

Infection + too little antibiotic = resistance

Infection + too much antibiotic = side effects

Infection + the right dose of antibiotic = you get better

The Take Away

The gap between the lowest effective dose and the highest, non-toxic dose is called the Therapeutic Index.  This is the information that is used to determine the dose of many medications and how they should be taken. 

That is why you should always take antibiotics exactly as directed and until they are all gone.

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Ear Wax Removal [Show Notes]

 in Podcasts  tagged clean / ear wax / impaction / removal by

Ear Wax Basics

Ear wax is produced by your ear to keep junk out and away from your ear drum – like a slimey booby-trap.

Allergens and other things that go in your ears (like water, especially dirty water, like lake water) causes the production of ear wax to increase to the point it can become a problem.

When you swim under water, the deeper you go, the harder the pressure of that water pushing down on you gets, including the pressure of the water pushing in your ear.  This pressure can smoosh wax up against your eardrum.

A quick tip to get water out of your ear – use a capful of rubbing alcohol.  Alcohol evaporates quickly at room temperature, so when it mixes with the tiny amount of water in your ear, it helps that water evaporate faster.

Three Steps Ear Wax Removal (or maybe four)

1. Debrox (Carbamide Peroxide) – This is an OTC drop that helps dissolve ear wax if you have ear wax buildup. It can also soften an impaction (glob of wax smooshed against ear drum).

2. Take a hot shower.  Ear wax – just like other waxes – when it gets warm, it will soften.

3. Irrigation with an ear bulb

     1. Fill sink up with comfortably warm water.

     2. Fill bulb with water.

     3. Point affected ear down towards sink.

     4. Put tip of bulb in your ear.

     5. Squeeze water into ear and let water and wax drain back out.

4. Use a capful of alcohol to dry water droplets left over (optional)

NO EAR CANDLES!!

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Allergy Attack

 in Podcasts  tagged allergies / antihistamines / otc medication / reactions by

An image of dandelions in the two forms - yellow flowers and white puffs against a black background. Several white seeds from the puffs are floating up in the air. These are responsible for triggering allergies.

Allergy Basics

Seasonal allergies can lead to nasal congestion and throat irritation, eye irritation with itchiness or watery eyes, or asthma-like symptoms.

If you can’t breathe or swallow or see, call 911.

At first sign of allergic reaction, take Benadryl (diphenhydramine).  It’s an antihistamine to counteract the histamines that are part of an allergic reaction.

Benadryl also comes as a topical.  The other option is Cortisone (hydrocortisone) – a steroid.  This can’t be used all over your body because it can soak all the way through your skin and get in your bloodstream, which would lead to systemic effects of steroids.  If you need systemic effects, it’s best to get a steroid prescribed by a doctor.

Antihistamines

1st Generation: Benadryl – drowsy side effects, works fast but wears off fast.

2nd Generation: Claritin, Zyrtec, Allegra – all have generics, all OTC, just take 1 time a day.

Steroid nasal sprays are newly OTC – Flonase and Nasacort.  Localized steroids in your sinus passages can help block the other chemicals involved in allergic reactions, not just histamines.

The only medication that requires a doctor’s prescription is Singulair – it works best for asthma-like reactions that is produced in the lungs.

Also, Albuterol inhalers can be used for people who have asthma-like symptoms to open the airways back up quickly.

Audience Question

Is poison ivy cumulative in your body? (from @steve_tessler)

When you come in contact with an allergen (poison ivy leaves), you body recognizes it as a “bad guy”.  Once your body deals with the offender, it “remembers” poison ivy, so the next time you come in contact with it, your body’s systems can be more efficient at taking care of it (antibodies).  A problem arises if your body does “too good” of a job or gets overzealous.  This can lead to a more serious reaction or possibly anaphylaxis.

Poison ivy is typically a topical offender.  It would require an unusual type of exposure  (i.e. burning it and inhaling the smoke) for it to affect other systems of you body than just your skin.

Avoid poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, and any other poisons if you can help it.

Note:  I told a story on the live broadcast. Afterwards, I checked my facts and found out I told it wrong, so I cut it out.  Here is the real story (to the best of my knowledge – I reserve the right to add or correct details as I learn the full story)…

True Story

My husband’s grandfather burned a pile of brush that included some poison ivy or poison oak.  He ended up breathing in some of the smoke which allowed it to go through his lungs and even into his bloodstream.  It obviously caused a terrible, widespread reaction.  And he would have an allergic reaction every year after that at about the same time as the original reaction.

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The Lady Who Caught on Fire

 in Podcasts  tagged burns / emergency / fire / heat by

An image of crumpled paper as it burns, with flames visible around the edges.

Burns: Rule of Thumb

If total burned area is larger than a softball, get medical attention.

A Quick Physics Lesson

Heat is a result of increased energy.  Energy likes to flow from places of high energy to places of low energy until it’s equaled out.  So heat will flow from the hot thing to the cool thing until they are the same temperature.  Because the temperature difference between the hot thing and your skin is so large, the heat transfers really quickly, to the point that the water in the cells evaporates and causes cell injury.

Burns can lead to dehydration due to the loss of moisture from that area.  Burns can also lead to infection due to cell injury and possible broken skin from blisters. 

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Drink Your Water

 in Podcasts  tagged hot / hydrate / summer / Water by

An image of a clear glass of water reflecting the light of an orange swirl of light on the left and a blue swirl of light on the right.

Water for Life

Avoid becoming dehydrated. Drink water, lots of water. Eight 8 oz glasses of water a day, at least.

Your body is mostly water. If you end up in a deficit, heat sickness or heat stroke may ensue.

Drink room temperature water to be able to drink more and absorb more. Here’s a website that explains different situations in which you should drink water at different temperatures.

If you feel thirsty, you’re already at a deficit and needs to be corrected ASAP.

Make sure kids are drinking water and staying hydrated. And your pets too!

Temperature References

Water freezes at 32º F
Refrigerated water is between 35-45º F
Room temperature is between 68-78º F
Body temperature is 98.6º F
Your hot water heater is probably set somewhere between 110-140º F
Water boils at 212º F

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Stomach Acid Overview

 in Podcasts  tagged antacids / medication / reflux / stomach acid by

A yellow fruit submerged in a clear liquid, with bubbles of many sizes clinging to the outside of the fruit. This demonstrates the activity of stomach acid when food is introduced.

Stomach Acid Basics

Stomach acid causes heartburn.

Long-term reflux problems leads to a GERD diagnosis.

Stomach acid has a pH of 2.

Low pH = acid; High pH = base

Stomach acid is Hydrochloric acid (HCl)

Some Biochemistry

The molecules of the acid like to spend their time joining together and breaking apart. So by attaching to something else instead of each other is how it can be dangerous but also how it helps digest food quickly.

Your stomach is designed to hold this strong acid safely.

There are pumps in the cells of the lining of your stomach that produce the acid.

Proton pumps work kind of like a water wheel – they move protons from inside the cell to outside to the stomach cavity.

Hydrogen atoms are made up of 1 proton (positive charge) and 1 electron (negative charge). So if you take the electron away from hydrogen, you are left with a proton with a positive charge.

Another process that helps create acid in the stomach relies on histamines.

They are not quite the same as the histamines that you hear about in relation to allergies. But there is a particular type of histamine that is only in your stomach.

Acid-reducing Medications

There is a class of medications for reflux called Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI). These medications turn off the pumps so they pump less protons into the stomach.

The medications for the histamine process are called Histamine 2 Receptor Blocker (H2RB).

H2RB’s work faster than PPI’s. Just like you can take an antihistamine and it block histamines causing allergies in just a dose or two, H2RB’s can work as fast as one or two doses. That is why they are advertised to treat heartburn after you eat or to help prevent heartburn before you eat.

PPI’s take up to 2 weeks to reach maximum effect.

The third option for heartburn are your antacids. They are bases that go into your stomach acid and help neutralize it.

OTC Medications (by class)

Antacids: Tums, Rolaids, Maalox, Mylanta – fastest

H2RB’s: Pepcid, Zantac, Tagamet – all have generics, all OTC

Tagamet can have drug-drug interactions with other prescription medications, so caution is advised.

PPI’s: Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium – some generic, newly OTC – slowest

Cautions

The downside to having reflux medications available OTC and people having the opportunity to self-treat is if there are any cellular changes in your esophagus.

Your esophagus is not designed to be in contact with that level of acid. As those cells are injured, they eventually change and can become cancer.

Fun Tidbit

Just like the cells of your skin are epithelial cells and their job is to keep the inside things in and the outside things out. Your digestive tract is also lined with epithelial cells. So technically the food you eat doesn’t go inside your body, it just moves through this tract that is “outside turned in”.

Holla

@steve_tessler‘s question: After he eats, he coughs for 30 minutes, and sometimes sneezes. Is this considered GERD? Cannot eat nuts or seeds due to diverticulitis. If he sits and rests it doesn’t get so bad, but if he has to be active right after a meal, it is.

Recommendation: try a H2RB morning and night and see if it contains the acid after meals. The next option could be a slight food allergy, possibly gluten, so cutting out certain foods would be necessary.

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Type 1 Diabetes vs Type 2 Diabetes

 in Diabetes / Podcasts  tagged Diabetes / insulin / medicine / Type 1 / Type 2 by

An image of a hand underling the word "DIABETES" in red marker

Diabetes Facts

All of the cells in your body depend on different forms of sugars to make energy (mostly glucose though).

Insulin works like a key to unlock the doors of the cells and let the sugar in to be used.

Adults get newly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes too, it’s not just a childhood disease like a lot of marking will make you think.

Diabetes: Type 1 vs Type 2

Type 1 Diabetes: The pancreas (insulin factory) quits working or becomes dysfunctional.

Type 2 Diabetes: The key holes and the doors are broken or jammed and the insulin “key” won’t fit in them as well or at all.  This is known as insulin resistance.

In Type 1, you have to import insulin (aka injections), because you can’t make your own insulin anymore, ever.

Insulin pumps (outside pancreas) give a continuous flow of insulin and can sense sugar levels. It tries to operate as much like a natural pancreas would.

In Type 2, the medications are being developed to encourage your body to use your natural insulin as best and as long as possible.

There are lots of ways to get in a door if they key won’t work, thus there are lots of different medications to help in Type 2.

Holla!

Shout out to Rachel Mayo (@rachelcmayo) for her inspiration for this topic and for her strength and courage to not be scared of #T1D.

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Too Much Acetaminophen?

 in Podcasts  tagged Acetaminophen / Aspirin / overdose / recommendations / show notes by

An image of multiple red and while capsules that resemble acetaminophen pills.

Why is this important

Studies have been done regarding deaths caused by Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose, and they are finding that kids and adults are dying from having too much medicine with just a little bit extra over the recommended dose. [This American Life did a whole episode on Tylenol overdose stories]

Acetaminophen Basics

APAP is processed by enzymes in your liver. They are like little boats that carry drugs from one place to the other and cause them to make changes so it can do it’s job when it gets to the other side. So, APAP rides in it’s own little boat, and the body then uses it to reduce pain or fever.

The problem is, if there’s more APAP than boats, other things start happening to it, and it becomes very toxic. It not only damages liver, it can damage the DNA of your body. The only way to get it back in order and bind it back up, is for you to receive other pharmaceuticals in a hospital.

Most likely, if someone has had too much APAP, it takes about 4 days for them to experience any symptoms, and therefore, it’s probably too late for them to receive help.

Excedrin Migraine = Acetaminophen (APAP), Aspirin (ASA), Caffeine

Take Aways

Please don’t take more APAP than recommended.

They changed the maximum dose allowed from 4000mg per day to 3000 mg per day.

Extra strength APAP: 500 mg/ tab (1-2 tabs q 6 h) —> 500 x 2 = 1000 mg —> 3 doses in a day (6 tablets)

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) include Aspirin, Ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin), Naproxen (Aleve)

The Side effects of NSAIDs are much more instantaneous, so if you take too much, you will know right away and can back off.

Many prescription pain medications contain APAP too.

Maximum Doses
APAP: 3000mg in 24 h
Aspirin: 6500 mg in 24h
Ibuprofen: 3200mg in 24h
Naproxen: 1250 mg in 24 h

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Shoo the Poo

 in Podcasts  tagged constipation / laxative / poo by

An image of a frog on the toilet figurine beside a pair of toilet paper rolls. Constipation can cause long and uncomfortable visits to the bathroom.

OTC Medications for Constipation

Stool softener (Colace = Docuasate) – it’s job is to go into your digestive tract and attract water to soften things up.

Laxative (Dulcolax = Bisocodyl) – increases peristalsis (natural, rhythmic wave-like movement of your intestinal muscles).

Constipation Basics

Constipation can be caused by either that rhythm slowing down or stuff being so hard that the natural rhythm can’t move it fast enough.

Stool softeners make things softer so the natural motion can move it out, laxatives make the natural wave motion wave faster.

The downside to a stool softener is that it might not work fast enough for some people.

The downside to laxatives is that they might cause cramping and pain, and actually lead to diarrhea.

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