Pelvic floor dysfunction could be affecting you, ladies — and gentlemen. Chronic urinary tract infections? Bowel trouble? Pelvic pain? Painful sex? Urinary incontinence? I know what you’re thinking — my pelvic floor muscles control all of that? Absolutely. And their dysfunction often goes undiagnosed for years, which means people get treated for the wrong thing, repeatedly, while the actual cause … Read More
Introducing Peanuts, Milk and Other Allergens to Your Baby
Nobody has time to sort through the constantly changing, conflicting advice on infant feeding — and Google makes it worse, not better. So here is the current version, plainly. The old advice was backwards For years parents were told to delay allergenic foods as long as possible. That advice has been reversed. There is no evidence that waiting past 4–6 … Read More
Fever in Kids: When to Worry and When to Relax
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 damages a child or causes lasting harm. So the goal isn’t a normal thermometer reading. The goal … Read More
Poison Ivy: What Actually Works (and What Doesn’t)
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
Lyme Disease in Missouri: How Common Is It Really?
The lone star tick — the female’s single white dot makes her easy to identify. This is the tick behind most of Missouri’s tick-borne illness. Summer in the Ozarks brings lake days, hiking, yard work — and ticks. Every year patients come in worried after finding one attached, and the first question is almost always the same: “Can I get … Read More
Skin Cancer: How to Protect Your Skin and What to Watch For
Summer in the Ozarks means lake days, gardening, and a lot more time in the sun. It is also a good moment to talk about the most common cancer in the country — and one of the most preventable. About 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer by age 70. The good news is that when it is caught … Read More
Virtual Visits: See Your Provider Without Leaving Home
It’s 6 p.m. on a Friday. Your 3-year-old has a 102°F fever, a runny nose, and a slight cough. Do you load up the whole family and head to urgent care, or wait out the weekend and hope you can get in Monday with your regular provider? Or maybe you have diabetes, your blood sugars are fluctuating more than usual, … Read More