Sunscreen: How to Choose It and Actually Use It Right

Tri-LakesPreventive Care & Screenings

Originally published June 2018. Reviewed and corrected August 2026. Summer in the Ozarks is hot, and the sunscreen aisle is overwhelming. Here is how to choose one and use it properly. Which SPF? SPF 30 or higher, broad-spectrum, water-resistant. That covers most people. If you burn easily, have very fair skin, or have a personal or family history of skin … Read More

Pharmacogenomic Testing: What Your Genes Can (and Can’t) Tell Us About Medications

Tri-LakesConditions & Treatments

Originally published May 2018. Reviewed and substantially revised August 2026. Your genetics decide your eye colour and your height. They also influence how your body processes medications — which is part of why one person does well on a particular antidepressant while another feels awful on the same dose, and why some people tolerate a statin while others get muscle … Read More

Fever in Kids: When to Worry and When to Relax

Tri-LakesChildren's Health

Originally published February 2018. Reviewed and updated August 2026 to follow current American Academy of Pediatrics guidance. Let’s start here: fever is not the enemy. Fever isn’t an illness. It’s your child’s immune system doing its job — raising body temperature slows bacteria and viruses down and revs up the cells that fight them. There’s no evidence that fever itself … Read More

Thyroid Test Results Explained: What TSH, T4 and T3 Mean

Tri-LakesConditions & Treatments

Originally published November 2017. Reviewed and rewritten August 2026 to reflect current guidance from the American Thyroid Association, AACE and AAFP. You had blood drawn, the result says “TSH,” and you have no idea what you’re looking at. Let’s fix that. What TSH actually is Your thyroid — the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of your neck — makes two … Read More

Menopause: What Nobody Warns You About

Tri-LakesWomen's Health

Originally published August 2017. Reviewed and updated August 2026 to reflect current guidance from The Menopause Society, the American Urological Association and the FDA. Being a woman practitioner, I take care of a lot of women, and menopause is one of the most common conversations I have. Almost every time, the patient says some version of: “Nobody tells you it’s … Read More

Breastfeeding: My Real Story, and What I Tell New Moms

Tri-LakesWomen's Health

August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month, so I want to share my own breastfeeding story — not the tidy version. I usually keep these posts scientific, and there are medical facts and tips at the end. But first I want to tell you what it was actually like, because I think new moms hear the polished version far too often. My … Read More

Poison Ivy: What Actually Works (and What Doesn’t)

Tri-LakesSeasonal & Outdoor Health

Around 85% of people are allergic to poison ivy, oak and sumac. Only about 10 to 15% seem genuinely unable to react. Here are the facts and the fictions, because there is a lot of confident misinformation about this plant. FICTION: “I’ve never gotten it, so I’m immune.” This is the one that catches people out. The reaction is an … Read More