Tag: Medical Files

How Are Kidney Stones Diagnosed

Do you have kidney stones? You will never know until you are examined by a doctor because the symptoms associated with this problem are very similar to UTI or urinary tract infection.

So, you have to set an appointment with the doctor. While there, he or she will review your medical history and conduct a physical examination before running some tests.

If you are a regular patient of the doctor, it will be easy to pull your file out. However, if this is your first time, you will have to fill up the form and get your medical files.

Your medical history does not say much about kidney stones especially if you have never had this before which is why the next step is to conduct a physical examination. Here, the doctor will look at you physically and touch certain areas. This is hard for the doctor to do if the patient is in extreme pain.

So the best way to confirm initial findings is through laboratory tests. The doctor will either extract blood or ask a urine sample from you.

You may also have to be scanned and there are a variety of machines for that. These include a computed tomography (CT) scan, intravenous pyelogram (IVP), retrograde pyelogram, and the regular X-ray.

The CT scan is used for various examinations. A scanner and a computer are used to create images of the urinary system. The only problem is that it has difficulty detecting small stones if they are located near the bladder. If a stone is found, an x-ray follows to determine the orientation, shape and size of the kidney stone.

Intravenous Pyelogram or IVP is done after a contrasting agent is injected into the vein. Within minutes, the test will show if there is a kidney stone blocking the ureter. This is perhaps the best method to check if you have kidney stones even if there is a slight risk for an allergic reaction to the fluid that was injected into the vein.

If you think that the ultrasound is only used to see the baby growing inside the womb, think again because it can also be used to detect a dilated upper urinary tract and kidney if the stone is lodged in the ureter. Its limitation is that it cannot detect kidney stones that are no longer in the kidney area.

Another term for retrograde pyelogram is a cytoscopy. The test begins by inserting a telescopic instrument into the bladder. Then, similar to the IVP, a contrast agent is injected into this opening and an x-ray is done to find the kidney stone.

Some doctors say this is better than IVP because there is no way to get an allergic reaction from the contrasting agent. This is because you will first be injected with anesthesia so in essence, you dont feel anything.

Among the different tests done to detect kidney stones, this is only used when other tests have proven to be inadequate or unsuccessful.

It is only after careful diagnosis that doctors will be able to tell if you have kidney stones or not. From there, they can treat you by giving some medication or advising you to drink lots of water because you may be able to expel the stones on your own. But if this does not work, then surgery is the next option.

Everything You Need to Know About Laser Wart Removal

Laser hair removal, have you heard of it before? Laser hair removal is rapidly increasing in popularity. Amazingly, laser treatment can prevent or greatly reduce the growth of body hair. If you think that is amazing, wait until you hear what else laser treatment can do. If you suffer from warts, you may be able to have your warts eliminated with laser treatments.

Laser wart removal is done at a professional office. There are a number of dermatologists who can offer this type of treatment, but it is most commonly found in laser treatment centers. Laser treatment centers are centers that tend to focus solely on conditions that can be treated by lasers. These conditions may include, but are not limited, unwanted body hair, poor vision, as well as warts.

As previously mentioned, your best chance for undergoing laser wart removal is to contact a local laser treatment center. If you have a primary care physician, they may be able to point you in the direction of a well-known and trusted laser treatment center. If you do not have a primary care physician, who can provide you with recommendations, you are advised to use the internet or your local phone book. Both of these resources should be able to provide you with the contact information of local laser treatment centers.

When it comes to undergoing a laser wart removal, there is a good chance that you may need to make a consultation appointment. This appointment, if it is needed, will be used to fully examine your body, as well as the warts that you would like removed. If you are being referred by a dermatologist or even your family physician, it is possibly that you may not need to have a consultation appointment; however, to make that possible you should request that your doctor share all of your medical files with the laser treatment center that you plan on using. This may make it possible for your consultation appointment to be eliminated.

Consultation appointments are not only used to examine your warts, but they are also used to prepare you for the procedure. If you are not planning on having a consultation appointment, it is important that you understand exactly how the procedure will go. You should easily be able to do this online or by speaking to your laser treatment centers staff. You will likely find that the laser, which is typically a pulsed dye laser, will cutoff of the warts blood supply. This will cause the wart to dry up and later fall off.

When it comes to laser wart removal, one of the most common questions asked is about pain. Despite what you may believe or may have heard, laser wart removal is relatively painless and sometimes even pain-free. Most professionals will use topical numbing gel and you may be asked to take an over-the-counter pain medication, but that is usually about it. In fact, there is a little or no complications associated with laser wart removal. It has even been said that most patients can return to their daily activities that same day.

Perhaps, the best part about laser wart removal is that it is ideal for individuals of all ages. In addition to being a great treatment option for adults, laser wart removal is also safe for children. If that werent enough, laser wart removal can effectively and safely remove warts from anyplace on the body. If you would like more information on this relatively new, but popular wart removal method, you are advised to speak with a professional healthcare provider today.

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