Category: Uncategorized

Bacterial versus Viral Infections – How to tell the difference, and get the right treatment With so many types of infections making the rounds, it can be hard to determine the right way to address an ailment. Infections are either bacterial or viral; bacterial infections are caused by bacteria, while viral infections are caused by viruses. That’s the easy part; …

The flu and COVID-19 are both respiratory illnesses that can present many of the same symptoms, but they are caused by different viruses. Most people who become infected by either an influenza virus or SARS-CoV-2, which is the new coronavirus strain that causes COVID-19, will recover without the need for intensive medical intervention. However, both types of infections can lead …

Anyone who has ever had the flu knows what a miserable experience it is. For most people, a bout with the flu will likely mean at least a few days in bed with a fever, headache, sore throat, and muscle aches. Other common symptoms include coughing, a stuffy nose, and nausea. The majority of people who contract the flu will …

Urgent care clinics were developed in the 1980s to provide short-notice medical care that didn’t require booking an advance appointment at a traditional doctor’s office or waiting long hours to see an emergency room physician. Today, urgent care centers have become a mainstay in the health care industry, with more than 10,000 urgent care locations across the U.S. When it …

There are few good things to be said for the COVID-19 pandemic, but the effort to slow the spread of this serious and highly contagious illness has put the spotlight on simple disease prevention measures like handwashing. Frequent handwashing—especially if you know how to properly wash your hands—is a great way to prevent the spread of many respiratory and digestive …

Have you ever been at work and experienced a paper cut that refused to stop bleeding or fallen down some stairs and scraped your knee? If your employer had a first aid kit that contained bandages, antibiotic ointment, and maybe even some over-the-counter pain reliever, you were probably grateful. Or perhaps you went hiking and picked up a splinter when you grabbed a handrail on a rustic log bridge that carried you over a picturesque stream. If you had a well-stocked first aid kit in your backpack, you were probably able to use tweezers to dislodge the splinter, then apply an antiseptic solution to chase any germs away. Voilà! You could continue communing with nature, worry free.

Breathing is essential to survival, and it’s pretty much automatic—most of us rarely ever think about the air that we inhale and exhale thousands of times a day. So when you suddenly start wheezing, coughing, sweating, feeling tightness in your chest, and struggling to breathe, the signs of distress can be frightening, both to you and others around you. These …