Arthroscopy (ahr-THROS-skuh-pe) is a procedure for diagnosing and treating joint problems. During arthroscopy, a surgeon examines and, in many cases, repairs your injured or diseased joint with the help of an optical instrument called an arthroscope. An arthroscope consists of a light source, a lens system, and bundled glass or plastic fibers (fiber optics) to carry light to the area being examined. These parts are encased in a tube, usually about one-eighth of an inch (4 mm) in diameter. A video camera attached to the arthroscope relays the view from within your joint to a video monitor. Because the arthroscope is so narrow, your surgeon needs only a small incision to place it in your joint.

Doctors use arthroscopy to help diagnose and treat a variety of joint conditions — most commonly those affecting the knee, shoulder, elbow, ankle, hip and wrist — in people of all ages.

In diagnosis, arthroscopy is the definitive examination, typically performed after X-rays and other imaging studies have left some diagnostic questions unanswered. Often, arthroscopy is also used to assess the results of earlier joint surgery, or to supplement some types of standard (“open”) orthopedic surgery.

Conditions treated with arthroscopy include:

• Bone spurs or loose bone fragments
• Damaged or torn cartilage
• Inflamed joint linings
• Joint infections
• Torn ligaments
• Scarring or tissue overgrowth within joints

Source: www.mayoclinic.com

For more information on arthroscopy, visit www.arthroscophil.com.

Back pain is a common complaint. In fact, most people in the Philippines will experience low back pain at least once during their lives. Moreover, back pain is one of the most common reasons people go to the doctor or miss work.

On the bright side, you can take measures to prevent or lessen most back pain episodes. If prevention fails, simple home treatment and proper body mechanics will often heal your back within a few weeks and keep it functional for the long haul. Surgery is rarely needed to treat back pain.

Symptoms of back pain may include:

• Muscle ache
• Shooting or stabbing pain
• Pain that radiates down your leg
• Limited flexibility or range of motion of your back
• Inability to stand straight

Back pain that lasts from a few days to a few weeks is considered acute. On the other hand, pain that lasts for three months or longer is considered chronic.

Most back pain gradually improves with home treatment and self-care. Although the pain may take several weeks to disappear completely, you should notice some improvement within the first 72 hours of self-care. If not, see your doctor.

In rare cases, back pain can signal a serious medical problem. Contact a doctor if your back pain:

• Is constant or intense, especially at night or when you lie down
• Spreads down one or both legs, especially if the pain extends below your knee
• Causes weakness, numbness or tingling in one or both legs
• Causes new bowel or bladder problems
• Is associated with pain or throbbing (pulsation) in your abdomen, or fever
• Follows a fall, blow to your back or other injury
• Is accompanied by unexplained weight loss

Also, see your doctor if you start having back pain for the first time after age 50, or if you have a history of cancer, osteoporosis, steroid use, or drug or alcohol abuse.

What causes back pain? Your back is an intricate structure composed of bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons and disks. Disks are the cartilage-like pads that act as cushions between the segments of your spine. Back pain can arise from problems with any of these component parts. In some people, no specific cause for their back pain can be found. Back pain most often occurs:

• From strained muscles and ligaments
• From improper or heavy lifting
• After a sudden awkward movement

Source: www.mayoclinic.com

For more information on physical therapy, visit us at www.bodytherafix.com.

By: Janet Somer

As people age, they begin to complain more of pains in their muscles and joints. They seem to stiffen up with age, and such commonplace activities as bending over for the morning paper can make them wince.

Such pain can grip so fiercely that they are sure it begins deep in their bones. But the real cause of stiffness and soreness lies not in the joints or bones, according to research at the Johns Hopkins Medical School, but in the muscles and connective tissues that move the joints.

The frictional resistance generated by the two rubbing surfaces of bones in the joints is negligible, even in joints damaged by arthritis.

Flexibility is the medical term used to describe the range of a joint’s motion from full movement in one direction to full movement in the other. The greater the range of movement, the more flexible the joint.

If you bend forward at the hips and touch your toes with your fingertips, you have good flexibility, or range of motion of the hip joints. But can you bend over easily with a minimal expenditure of energy and force? The exertion required to flex a joint is just as important as its range of possible motion.

Different factors limit the flexibility and ease of movement in different joints and muscles. In the elbow and knee, the bony structure itself sets a definite limit. In other joints, such as the ankle, hip, and back, the soft tissue-muscle and connective tissue-limit the motion range.

The problem of inflexible joints and muscles is similar to the difficulty of opening and closing a gate because of a rarely used and rusty hinge that has become balky.

Hence, if people do not regularly move their muscles and joints through their full ranges of motion, they lose some of their potential. That is why when these people will try to move a joint after a long period of inactivity, they feel pain, and that discourages further use

What happens next is that the muscles become shortened with prolonged disuse and produces spasms and cramps that can be irritating and extremely painful. The immobilization of muscles, as researchers have demonstrated with laboratory animals, brings about biochemical changes in the tissue.

However, other factors trigger sore muscles. Here are some of them:

1. Too much exercise

Have you always believed on the saying, “No pain, no gain?” If you do, then, it is not so surprising if you have already experienced sore muscles.

The problem with most people is that they exercise too much thinking that it is the fastest and the surest way to lose weight. Until they ache, they tend to ignore their muscles and connective tissue, even though they are what quite literally holds the body together.

2. Aging and inactivity

Connective tissue binds muscle to bone by tendons, binds bone to bone by ligaments, and covers and unites muscles with sheaths called fasciae. With age, the tendons, ligaments, and fasciae become less extensible. The tendons, with their densely packed fibers, are the most difficult to stretch. The easiest are the fasciae. But if they are not stretched to improve joint mobility, the fasciae shorten, placing undue pressure on the nerve pathways in the muscle fasciae. Many aches and pains are the result of nerve impulses traveling along these pressured pathways.

3. Immobility

Sore muscles or muscle pain can be excruciating, owing to the body’s reaction to a cramp or ache. In this reaction, called the splinting reflex, the body automatically immobilizes a sore muscle by making it contract. Thus, a sore muscle can set off a vicious cycle pain.

First, an unused muscle becomes sore from exercise or being held in an unusual position. The body then responds with the splinting reflex, shortening the connective tissue around the muscle. This cause more pain, and eventually the whole area is aching. One of the most common sites for this problem is the lower back.

4. Spasm theory

In the physiology laboratory at the University of Southern California, some people have set out to learn more about this cycle of pain.

Using some device, they measured electrical activity in the muscles. The researchers knew that normal, well-relaxed muscles produce no electrical activity, whereas, muscles that are not fully relaxed show considerable activity.

Source: www.natural-health-directory.com

For more information on physical therapy, visit www.bodytherafix.com.

Now that your boy is growing up fast, it’s about time that you give him his golden ticket to manhood. Help him become a man by letting him undergo the passage to manhood.

For only Php 3,500, you can avail of Healthway’s circumcision package that already includes the physician’s fee and the use of our operating room.

Don’t miss this opportunity to have your boy cross over from boyhood to manhood.

Promo runs from March 1-June 15, 2010 and is available in all Healthway Medical clinics. For more information, call our hotline at 751- (HWAY) 4929 or log on to www.binatilyo.com.

You may already have bad breath and not even know it.

• Halitosis is breath containing an unpleasant odor. This odor may strike periodically or be persistent, depending on the cause.
• Dental reports in the United States say there are about 40 million Americans who have bad breath. In the Philippines, as in other regions in Asia, the incidence may be 75% or higher for the general population. (Figures vary in different subgroups in the community)
• Halitosis is mainly caused by sulfur-producing bacteria that normally live within the surface of the tongue and in the throat. These bacteria release an unpleasant odor from the mouth that we normally know as bad breath. Halitosis is not infectious.

Symptoms

• Bad-smelling breath
• Bad taste or taste changes
• Dry mouth
• A white coating on the tongue

Causes

• Poor oral hygiene (not brushing and flossing properly)
• Gum disease
• Eating certain food that causes foul breath like onions or garlic
• Tobacco and alcohol products
• Dry mouth (caused by certain medications, medical disorders and by decreased saliva flow during sleep – hence the term “morning breath”)
• Systemic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, liver and kidney disorders

Prevention

Bad breath caused by dental problems can be prevented easily.

• Good oral hygiene – brushing your teeth at least 2 times a day using toothpaste with fluoride, cleaning your tongue and gums, flossing, and rinsing with mouthwashes
• Regular visits to the dentist (at least twice a year)
• Drinking plenty of water every day
• Chewing products that keep breath fresh and prevent plaque from forming- sugar-free gum, sugarless lozenges, raw carrots and celery.

Treatment
The treatment of bad breath depends on its cause. If you have persistent bad breath that is not improved with brushing and flossing, see your dentist for a thorough dental examination as this could indicate a more serious problem.

Visit Healthway Dental now and get your teeth cleaned with a dental check-up and oral prophylaxis.

Sources

www.colgate.co.uk

www.emedicinehealth.com

For more information on dental health, visit www.healthwaydental.com. For more health bulletins, visit www.healthway.com.ph or call our hotline at 751-4929.

(by: Jun Castillo)

Suffering from muscle or joint pain? Don’t let pain get in your way of living an active lifestyle. Physical therapy is an easy and conservative way of managing simple muscle and joint pains. But what is physical therapy?

Physical therapy is an allied health discipline under physical medicine, which is a well-known branch of rehabilitation medicine. Also known as Physiotherapy, physical therapy also refers to the use of physical agents such as water, heat, electricity, cold, exercises, traction, massage, mobilization, maneuvers, and manipulation in treating various neuromusculoskeletal and cardiopulmonary problems. It also helps improve muscle strength, realign bones, and restore range of motion, utilizes techniques to restore foundation of individuals’ movements and functions.

As rust corrupts iron, so does bodily pains weakens man; now, wouldn’t you like to enjoy the fruits of your bearing?So why let a simple body pain stop you from doing what you want? With physical therapy, you can enjoy a continual pain-free active lifestyle.

For more information, call our hotline at 751-HWAY (4929) or log on to www.bodytherafix.com

Healthway’s Corporate Clinic Services (CCS) announced recently that it has partnered with two leading Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Consultants to better understand Healthway’s role in developing wellness programs for its clients and design health and wellness packages unique to industries with a view to enhance workforce productivity.

OSH is a cross-disciplinary specialty that seeks to protect the safety, health, and welfare of the workforce. Its objective is to protect every worker against the dangers of injury, sickness, or death through safe and healthful working conditions. This conserves valuable manpower resources and prevents loss or damage to lives and properties, consistent with Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) development goals and Bureau of Working Conditions’ (BWC) commitment to the total development of every worker as a complete human being.

Occupational Health / Medicine Consultant Dr. Marilou D. Renales, MSc, FPCOM is a diplomate and fellow of the Philippine College of Occupational Medicine (PCOM) and an accredited DOLE – BWC OSH Consultant. Dr. Anthony R. Busque is an occupational medicine practitioner experienced in policymaking and program development in OSH and quality improvement, as well as in the clinical management of work-related illnesses.

Ms. Emily M. Terso, Healthway CCS/MEDI-access Business and Operations Manager, says it is imperative to establish good occupational safety and health standards. “Moral, economic, and legal reasons all come into play,” says Terso. “An employee should not have to risk injury or death at work, nor should others associated with the work environment. Also, government realizes that poor occupational safety and health performance results in expense to the State, for example, through social security payments to the incapacitated, costs for medical treatment, and the loss of the worker’s ‘employability’.”

Terso adds that legally, occupational safety and health requirements may be reinforced in civil or criminal law. “It is accepted that without the extra ‘encouragement’ of potential regulatory action or litigation, many organizations would not act upon their implied moral obligations.”

For more information, call 7514957 or 7502027. You may also check out websites, www.healthway.com.ph, www.healthwayatwork.com and www.medi-access.com.

Positive thinking helps with stress management and can even improve your health. Overcome negative self-talk by recognizing it and practicing with some examples provided.

Understanding positive thinking and self-talk

Self-talk is the endless stream of thoughts that run through your head every day. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information.

If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you’re likely an optimist” someone who practices positive thinking.

The health benefits of positive thinking

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

• Increased life span
• Lower rates of depression
• Lower levels of distress
• Greater resistance to the common cold
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

It’s unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body. It’s also thought that positive and optimistic people live healthier lifestyles ” they get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and have reduced rates of smoking and alcohol consumption.

Identifying negative thinking

Some common forms of negative self-talk include:

• Filtering. You magnify the negative aspects of a situation and filter out all of the positive ones. For example, say you had a great day at work. You completed your tasks ahead of time and were complimented for doing a speedy and thorough job. But you forgot one minor step. That evening, you focus only on your oversight and forget about the compliments you received.
• Personalizing. When something bad occurs, you automatically blame yourself. For example, you hear that an evening out with friends is canceled, and you assume that the change in plans is because no one wanted to be around you.
• Catastrophizing. You automatically anticipate the worst. You refuse to go out with friends for fear that you’ll make a fool of yourself. Or one change in your daily routine leads you to think the entire day will be a disaster.
• Polarizing. You see things only as either good or bad, black or white. There is no middle ground. You feel that you have to be perfect or that you’re a total failure.

Focusing on positive thinking

Because your self-talk is mainly negative doesn’t mean you’re doomed to an unhappy or unhealthy life. You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking. The process is simple, but it takes time and practice — you’re creating a new habit, after all. Here are some ways to think and behave in a more positive way:

• Check yourself. Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you’re thinking. If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way to put a positive spin on them.
• Be open to humor. Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during difficult times. Seek humor in everyday happenings. When you can laugh at life, you feel less stressed.
• Follow a healthy lifestyle. Exercise at least three times a week to positively affect mood and reduce stress. Follow a healthy diet to fuel your mind and body. And learn to manage stress.
• Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure those in your life are positive, supportive people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback. Negative people, those who believe they have no power over their lives, may increase your stress level and may make you doubt your ability to manage stress in healthy ways.
• Practice positive self-talk. Start by following one simple rule: Don’t say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. If a negative thought enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond with affirmations of what is good about yourself.

Examples of typical negative self-talk and how you might apply a positive twist include:

Practicing positive thinking every day

If you tend to have a negative outlook, don’t expect to become an optimist overnight. But with practice, eventually your self-talk will contain less self-criticism and more self-acceptance. You may also become less critical of the world around you. Plus, when you share your positive mood and positive experience, both you and those around you enjoy an emotional boost.

Practicing positive self-talk will improve your outlook. When your state of mind is generally optimistic, you’re able to handle everyday stress in a more constructive way. That ability may contribute to the widely observed health benefits of positive thinking.

Source: www. mayoclinic.com

Date: October 12, 2005
Content source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases: Division of Bacterial Diseases

Bahia Shipping Services, Inc., a maritime manning agency that supplies competent Filipino seafarers for shipboard employment, now holds the distinction of being one the first manning agency to provide quality healthcare services to almost 2000 seafarers’ dependents. Bahia, in partnership with Healthway Medical, the country’s biggest mall-based network of clinics, recently signed a partnership to provide the former with better healthcare through their MEDI-access program.

MEDI-access is the only flexible plan that can administer healthcare programs. It’s a one-of-a-kind TPA that allows employers to better manage the healthcare program of their employees by only paying for what is consumed by means of a system called HR Portal. HR Portal is a web-based system that enables HR heads to monitor their membership and utilizations. The card also allows access to consultation, laboratory and other hospitalization needs with over 200 accredited clinics and hospitals and over 3,600 network of physicians and dentists nationwide.

MEDI-access also provides wellness programs that promote preventive health care. Lectures and seminars concerning health and wellness matters as well as fun activities are part of the program.

“MEDI-access will provide healthcare services to a maximum of 2 dependents, who are in good health, per employee. The partnership with MEDI-access is meant to give our employees a better quality of life and to foster loyalty.” said Cynthia Mendoza, Bahia’s President.

Bahia Shipping Services, Inc., started operations in December 1987 at Intramuros, Manila. Today, Bahia has a pool of thousands of seafarers onboard our Principals, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, Fred Olsen Marine Services and VShips Management. Their services include timely remittance, programs for protection and indemnity, crew and mail system and communications system.