Tag Archives: doctor

Helping Your Kid With a Fear of the Doctor

07/07/2021 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

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Seeing doctors and other health professionals is something that we all have to do from time to time. Few of us enjoy our medical appointments, but most us can handle them well enough. However, there are some people, children in particular, who have a real fear of seeing the doctor. If your child is one of them, here are a few things that might help you to help them:

Model good behavior

If your child has a fear of the doctors, one of the best things you can do is accompany them and act as casually as possible try to have fun even. If they see that not only are you not afraid, but you’re also having a good time, it may just be enough to put their mind at ease.

Practice

If your child is due her shots or needs to attend a hearing aid fitting, for example, one thing you can do to get them comfortable with the idea is to practice at home. Role-playing exactly what will happen from the moment you go through the door until the appointment is over will not only be fun for them but it will help to take the fear away. Fear of the unknown is a huge cause of medical phobias, so by letting your kids know just what will happen, you can really help them.

Focus on the positives

When talking about medical appointments with your kids, always try to push the positives. Talk about how great the doctor is and how she can help you all to be healthy and keep those nasty germs at bay, for example. Avoid talking about any of the negative aspects and big up the doctor so that your child starts to see them as more of a superhero than a villain who gives them shots and causes them pain.

Don’t give you much warning

Although practicing before seeing the doctor is a great way to allay their fears, try not to mention the medical appointment too soon in advance as it will give your child the chance to brood over the appointment, building it up in their head until it’s the scariest thing ever. Try to keep letting them know until the day before at most.

Keep close

As a parent, when your child is being examined, keep as close as you possibly can to your child. Be their anchor and let them know that you are right there and there is nothing to fear. This may be easier in some cases than others, but if you can’t hold on to your child, at least stand as close as you possibly can to them.

Get them therapy

Some children develop a real phobia around healthcare professionals, which it can be really difficult, if not impossible, for you as parents to unpick. If that is the case, then speaking with a pediatric therapist is often the best course of action. They have seen it all before and developed effective techniques for getting rid of the fear once and for all.

Good luck!

Going Healthy, Health, Life

Do You Really Need An Annual Physical?

11/21/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

Have you ever heard of someone getting an annual physical and thought to yourself, “that seems like overkill?” The truth is that more people skip the annual physical or don’t even think about it at all. But this could pose more of a risk to your health than you might think. Here are a few good reasons to make sure you get yourself checked out every year, as well as what the physical typically involves.

annual physical, health, doctor, doctor's office, medicine — *Photo – Pixabay License*

It’s the only way to protect your long-term health

The vast majority of health issues that really affect our quality of life are not sudden injuries or infections that come out of nowhere. Rather, they are the slow and steadily moving conditions that lie under the surface until they’re ready to leap out and really attack us. This is the case with the most common chronic health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes. There are signs that you might be developing these conditions, such as your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels. However, you won’t know these signs if you don’t have them checked out by your doctor at least once a year.

A closer look at your senses

If you have never had your eyes or ears tested, now is the perfect time. When it comes to your ears especially, it’s important to have a baseline test so that, if it changes at all in the future, it’s easier to pick up. However, it’s also important since changes to your hearing and sight can be so gradual that you don’t notice them at first, even if they are adversely affecting your lifestyle, such as your ability to communicate. There are plenty of solutions you can quickly put in place, such as glasses and rechargeable hearing aids. As such, even if you get bad news from your eye test or hearing test, it doesn’t all have to be doom and gloom. What’s important is that you start working to fix things before those issues get worse.

Watching your risk factors

Aside from chronic health conditions, there are also life-threatening diseases we should always be aware of when it comes to our risks. Cancer is the big one, naturally. People have different risk levels when it comes to different kinds of cancer depending on genetics, on lifestyle factors, on factors like sex, age, and a lot more. Men should always be aware of the risk of prostate and testicular cancer, for instance, while smokers should always know that they have a higher risk of lung or throat cancer. A physical with your doctor will often involve looking at these risk factors and performing the necessary checks to give you the all-clear.

As you age, the tests that you get during your annual physical will continue to change as different risk factors play a role in what is likely to be affecting your health. However, while the components of this yearly check-up may change, its importance to your overall health doesn’t so don’t skip it.

Going Healthy

4 Great Reasons Why You Should Have Regular Dental Check-ups

04/16/2018 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

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Most people think that if they brush and floss their teeth daily, then everything should be OK. However, this is not the case and regular visits to your dentist are required to keep your teeth in optimal shape. You should try to go see your dentist at least twice a year, to let him or her check for decay and plaque, and if necessary, remove it for you. Keeping your teeth clean and healthy protects you from further infections and a clean mouth is the key to good health. Make sure to search for a top dentist in your area to ensure a comfortable visit with a caring and knowledgeable staff.

In the past, the dentist was there to administer fillings and pull out rotten teeth if necessary, but now dentists are taking a more preventative approach, where they try to catch issues before they become problems. You may say that you are just too busy to visit a dentist Noosa locals go to, but going to visit your dentist means that you don’t have major problems further down the road. There are many reasons why regular dental checkups are essential and we will look at some of them here.

1. Poor Gums – Gum disease in Australia, and even in other countries around the world, is an ongoing problem. Just because you brush your teeth regularly doesn’t mean that you can avoid gum disease. When you go to see your dentist at your regular times, they will look for any changes in the structure of your gums. They will look for any large spaces between your teeth and your gums because this is a sure sign of gum disease. Poor gums can actually affect the rest of your body and lead to ill health.

2. Prevention Is The Key – Many of us already have cavities in our teeth, but because we feel no pain, we wrongly believe that everything is OK. The cavity may be hidden between your teeth and may not be in a prominent place where you chew, and so you feel nothing. Your dentist’s job and the purpose of your twice annual check up is to find these cavities in their early stage. This way, it can be treated early and with the minimum of fuss.

3. Well Equipped – Even though we brush well and we brush regularly, we never get everything totally cleaned. Plaque can build up behind the teeth in places that are hard to reach with the toothbrush. If the plaque continues to accumulate, it will create tartar and this will certainly lead to bad gum disease and most likely cavities. Your dentist has all the tools necessary to clear away the plaque and the tartar.

4. Early Discovery – When you attend the dentist, they just don’t look at your teeth and gums, they also look at other areas like your throat and tongue, to try to spot other potential issues with your health. If you get early treatment with some oral cancers that are spotted earlier, there is a better chance that treatment can address them.

Dental health checkups are an essential part of your dental routine and should always be undertaken twice yearly. Healthy teeth means healthy gums and a more confident smile.