Doctor’s blog

Varicose veins in rectum are called hemorrhoids. When a vein becomes elongated and tortuous it is said to have become varicose. The common anatomical sites where veins can become varicose are rectum, leg, abdomen, esophagus, scrotum and many other sites of the body. If you are suffering from hemorrhoids, it may become embarrassing at times and also troublesome, especially in long standing hemorrhoids.

Symptoms of hemorrhoids include bleeding (fresh) per anum, pain, itching, in severe and late cases prolapse of the varicose veins. Due to regular bleeding anemia may become evident, especially on long standing cases and if other cofactors for anemia exist, such as worm infestation, other bleeding sites in the gastrointestinal tract, poor dietary intake of iron etc.

Hemorrhoids should be treated promptly and appropriately upon diagnosis. It is difficult so say which the best hemorrhoid treatment method is. Generally the mode of treatment depends on many factors such as the type of treatment a patient wants, the age of the patient, treatment facilities available locally, the affordability of the patient, expertise of the treating physician etc.

Many patients choose to get hemorrhoids home treatment, at the comfort of home, especially if the hemorrhoids is not giving much trouble and at the initial stage of disease when it can be managed medically or at least it is possible to prevent further progression of the hemorrhoids. There are several methods which can help relieve symptoms and also prevent further progression of hemorrhoids, such as establishing normal and healthy bowel habits, use of non prescription pain relievers and other NSAIDs (non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen), application of ice locally several times a day etc. Normal and healthy bowel habit can be established by taking plenty of fiber rich foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables and whole cereals instead of taking refined and fast food.

There are different systems of education in different countries of the world and the process of becoming a doctor also varies in different countries. The first step of becoming a doctor is to become a medical graduate and thereafter a medical graduate (doctor) becomes specialist doctor (which is post graduation in any medical discipline) and further super-specialist doctor which is post PG (post graduate). In different countries the duration also varies, to become a medical graduate first and then specialization, the duration varies. In a same country also the duration may be changed by the appropriate authorities.

In my country, primary education is for five years, secondary education is another five years and higher secondary education is for 2 years. Higher secondary education is of three types namely arts, commerce and science streams. Those who select science stream, they, after completing 2 years in science write an entrance examination for entry into a medical institute.

Ranks are given according to the merit list in the entrance examination and if selected can get admission to a medical institute (medical college). There are Govt. as well as private medical colleges and they conduct entrance examination separately. Private managed medical colleges charge hefty admission fees.

After admission to medical institute the students go through a four and a half years graduation course and one year compulsory internship. All aspects of medical science are generally covered in four and a half years course. After successful completion of compulsory internship they are given registration to practice medicine, by appropriate govt. authority. Once successfully completed, the doctors (medical graduates) are eligible for post graduation in the subject of their choice.

You may be using contact lens because you do not want to wear glasses or you may have an eye problem which is best managed with contact lens. Whatever may be the reason of your use of contact lens you should always consider using disposable contact lens, as use of disposable contact lens has several advantages, some of which are health advantages such as lower rate of infection and some are the comfort of use and no need of maintenance.

If you can afford (which most people can afford these days) disposable contact lenses you should go for disposable contact lenses. Before you start to use a specific brand of disposable contact lens, you should always compare contact lens with other brands that are available in your local market. The comparison should include not only price (although price is the most important factor to consider) but also the trustworthiness (it is important to use a well trusted brand, as you are dealing with eyes) of the brand you decide to use, and advice of your doctor (ophthalmic surgeon).

Availability of cheap contact lens (reusable as well as disposable contact lenses) has made use of disposable contact lens within affordable limit of most of the individuals who use contact lens. If you are using contact lens for therapeutic purpose or for cosmetic purpose you should use the contact lens which are of best quality and should not consider the cost, in other words quality should guide you to select the contact lens you will use and not price or other minor factors.

These are the personal view and opinion of the author and you should always use your discretion before you decide to use disposable contact lens for any purpose.

Contact lenses are used for correction of refractive errors of the eye, for therapeutic purpose (such as to deliver a particular drug to cornea or to protect the cornea from further damage due to friction of eyelids), cosmetic purpose etc. The commonest use of contact lens is for corrective purpose, instead of using glasses which may be cumbersome at times and many individuals do not want to wear glasses and prefer to use contact lens, which allows certain advantages over use of glass.

Disposable Contact Lens has gained popularity vary rapidly and still gaining popularity as the price of disposable lens is going southwards. Disposable contact lens or simply Disposable Contacts have several advantages over non disposable contact lenses. The biggest advantage of using disposable contact lens is the freedom from maintenance the disposable contact lenses provide and in this fast track and modern life many individuals do not find time to keep the contact lenses clean by cleaning the contact lenses with proper cleaning solutions. Another great advantage of disposable contact lens is the reduced chance of infection with the use of disposable contact lens. The disposable contact lens is not reused which reduce the chance of infection greatly. Infection can be a problem with use of non disposable contact lens as they need to be cleaned properly and everyday and if the cleaning is not proper it may cause infection or it may irritate the cornea due to presence of some debris on the contact lens.

The availability of Cheap Disposable Contact Lenses has made the life of contact lens user very simple and at affordable cheap rate. The user can use the disposable contact lens and just throw it and forget it and present generation wants exactly the same type products.

There are several different types of cleaning solutions available for cleaning contact lenses. For cleaning your contact lens, use of any type (should be used properly) can serve the purpose of cleaning contact lenses.

The main aim of cleaning contact lens is to keep the contact lens clear or transparent and to keep it free from microorganisms. Presence of microorganisms can cause infection to the eye. The different microorganism will cause different type of infection.

The commonly used cleaning solutions for cleaning the contact lens are saline solution, multipurpose solution, hydrogen peroxide solution, enzymatic cleaner etc.

Saline solution:

The saline solution is for rinsing the contact lens after cleaning it with other cleaning solution and used before inserting/using contact lens. Saline solution can not disinfect contact lens.

Multipurpose solution:

This is the most commonly used and also most popular cleaning solution for cleaning contact lenses. Multipurpose solution is used for cleaning, disinfection, and storing contact lenses. It can also be used for rinsing contact lens instead of saline solution. Use of multipurpose solution can serve all the purposes of cleaning in general. Newer multipurpose solution can remove bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms.

Hydrogen peroxide solution:

It is mainly used for disinfecting. But saline solution must be used for rinsing to wash off hydrogen peroxide from the contact lens after disinfecting with hydrogen peroxide solution; otherwise it may cause intense pain in the eye. Because of the need to rinse with saline solution, hydrogen peroxide solution is not very popular.

Enzymatic cleaner:

It is used for cleaning protein deposits from lens surface which may get deposited after using contact lens for few days. Generally enzymatic cleaner is used once a week. If there is any protein deposit in the contact lens, it makes wearing contact lens uncomfortable and also makes disinfection difficult and incomplete.

If you are a user of contact lens, it is utmost important to take proper care of you contact lenses, otherwise your contact lens may give you more trouble than benefits. This article is not to train you how to take care of your contact lenses, but to inform you that taking care of your contact lens is of vital importance and to inform you how you can do it. You can use this information for taking care of contact lens.

The most important aspect of care for contact lens is to keep it safe, so that the lenses do not break or get damaged easily. For storage of contact lenses, always use lens cover which you get while purchasing contact lenses. Storing of contact lenses in lens cover will prevent the lenses from breakage or damage. So always store your contact lenses in lens cover which manufacturer recommend.

Next important aspect in care of contact lens is to keep contact lenses clean and sterile. Keep contact lens clean and sterile by use of a cleaning solution. There are several different cleaning solutions available in the market. Follow the advice of the contact lens manufacturer or consult your doctor, preferably eye surgeon for advice. Never hesitate to consult your eye surgeon if you have any doubt, because eyes are very precious. Regular cleaning of contact lenses is very important to prevent infection, which may be due to bacteria, fungus, ameba, etc. which form a thin layer over contact lens known as biofilm. Clean the contact lenses as per advice of your eye surgeon or the manufacturer of the contact lens.

If you are not comfortable or do not want to clean your contact lenses daily, you can go for disposable contact lenses. Disposable contact lenses are costlier than reusable contact lenses, but the chance of infection is also minimized by use of disposable contact lens.

When there is “male pattern of hair growth in females” it is called hirsutism and if hirsutism is aggressive form with additional signs and symptoms like voice become male type (deep voice), breasts become smaller, and clitoris becomes enlarged, there is increased in muscle bulk etc. it is called virilization. In other words virilization is severe form of hirsutism or next stage of hirsutism. There is also increased libido in virilization. Generally virilization is an ominous sign and suggests a high possibility of an ovarian or adrenal tumor.

Hirsutism is fairly common problem among females and affects approximately 10% of female population. But hirsutism is only a variation of normal hair growth and generally do not cause any significant physical problem, although it can cause considerable psychological problem among females. Very rarely hirsutism is indicative of serious underlying pathology, but commonly virilization is indicative of serious underlying pathology.

The cause of hirsutism is commonly idiopathic (unknown cause) and in most of the cases the commonest pathology involved is androgen excess (like in case of congenital adrenal hyperplasia or CAH and polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS).

The sites which are involved in male pattern of hair growth are upper lip (mustache), chin (beard), chest, abdomen, upper back, lower back, upper arms, pelvis and thighs. These are the nine areas of human body which are sensitive to androgen and excess androgen causes growth of hairs in these areas to cause hirsutism in females. In general males have higher levels of androgens and that’s why males have male pattern of hair growth like beard and mustache. The clinical assessment of hirsutism is also done by taking into account of these nine androgen sensitive areas.

All professions, jobs, positions (how prestigious the position may be), or for that matter anything in this world have its pros and cons (or positive and negatives) and all of us are aware of this pros and cons, although we do not consider this frequently and seriously. All of us are aware of the positive aspects of being a doctor, such as well placed person in society, name, fame and blah blah blah (when you do not have enough time for yourself and family, in my opinion all these name and fame means very little).

But I wonder if you have ever wondered (if you are not a doctor or medical person) what are the cons or disadvantages of being a doctor. I am telling from my own experience, as I am a doctor, what are the great disadvantages of doctors in general and also I will tell the problems I face for being a doctor, which I would like not to face.

The greatest disadvantage of being a doctor is that you know that you are no body to save life (only God can save and doctors only do their job and try their best to do their job), but other people see you as a person who can save life (it is really a frustrating thing). If you are an honest (to yourself and not to others) doctor you know what you are, what you can do and what you can not do. Many a times you get frustrated, because even after your best efforts your patient is not responding accordingly, although you get joy when you see a patient is responding better than your expectation and this is enough to understand that nothing is in your hand.

Another great disadvantage is having less (and lesser) time for yourself and family. This may be frustrating, especially when you see your friends in other profession are having a ball of a time and you age busy treating sick people. I personally get frustrated in this type of job and so I changed my job from being a doctor to being a teacher in a Medical College and choose a Para-clinical subject, where I do not have to attend patients. When I was joining Medical College for study all these things were not in my mind, but I could manage my life. Unfortunately many doctors only live with all these disadvantages never realizing there is always a way out of every problem in life.

I will continue writing the negative aspects of being a doctor from my own experience.

The importance of exercise to remain fighting fit is known to all, but unfortunately not many of us do regular exercise. The reasons of not doing regular exercise are many and it is different for different individuals. We all should try to find out our own as what is the major obstacle for us for not doing regular exercise. The reason may be lethargy, lack of motivation, inability to find and adjust time for exercise etc.

If you are not doing regular exercise you can try going to gym for motivation and also you will get many equipments which are not available at home. You can also find some like minded persons who go for a jog daily in the morning or evening. The reason of your need for regular exercise may also be different from others. If you have low backache or backache problems you should try using equipment for back exercise like teeter hang ups inversion table, which are very good for exercise for backache. Teeter 550 has some additional features over other hang ups inversion tables, like new flex technology bed which gives comfort to your back along with exercising your back to relieve back pain.

The hang ups inversion tables are very helpful for relieving back pain, which use earth’s natural gravity to relieve back pain. These hang ups inversion tables also help in improving circulation and lymph flow, improves flexibility of muscles and range of movements at the joints, and also reduces muscular tension if present and one of the causes of back pain.

Most important is to continue doing exercise which is best for you, especially if you have any medical problem for which you need regular exercise. But at the same time you should be aware that wrong type of exercise may harm you instead of good, so consult your doctor or fitness expert for advice regarding you exercise and the type of gym equipment you should use.

If you have chosen to use contact lens instead of glasses or if you eye surgeon advised you to use contact lens it is vital to take precaution and take proper care of the eyes as well as contact lenses. You have to take care of your eyes and of course you have to take care of your contact lenses too. You should always ask your doctor about how to take care of the contact lenses and also what precautions you should take while using contact lens. If you have any doubt, you should clarify the doubt immediately from your doctor or health care provider.

The care for your eye starts with not wearing contact lens 24 hours a day. Wearing contact lens continuously may cause irritation to the cornea and also it may reduce oxygen supply to the cornea and cause problem. You should always remove contact lenses during sleeping (which may be night time sleep or day time nap). Wearing of contact lens, especially hard type of contact lens during sleep may cause injury to the eye. Use of soft type of contact lens may reduce the chance of injury due to wrong handling of the contact lenses.

Before you touch contact lenses (for wearing them) you should wash and rinse your hands thoroughly with soap and clean tape water. The soap should not contain any fragrance, or any allergen. The soap should not contain any antibacterial substance as it may destroy the normal bacterial flora of the eye due to improper washing or cleaning/rinsing of hands. The normal bacterial flora of the eye does not allow the pathogenic bacteria to colonize the eye. You should also wash your face (eyes) thoroughly with the same soap used for washing and rinsing your hands.

The technique of inserting/wearing contact lens should be learned and practiced properly as improper technique can cause injury to the eye, especially cornea. You should learn the technique from your health care provider and practice it before actually using contact lens. The technique of wearing hard type and soft type of contact lenses are slightly different.