Mens Health Blog. Medical Blog

If one leg begins to swell up, it may be a sign of phlebitis, in which a vein in the leg becomes blocked, or recurrence of an old case of deep-vein thrombosis, a condition in which a blood clot forms and can block a blood vessel. A swollen leg may also be a sign of a blockage in the abdominal cavity, such as a tumor that is pressing on the major vein. In addition, sometimes during a postsurgical period, especially after any kind of gynecological surgery, the lymphatic system can become blocked, which can cause a leg to swell up.

Sudden swelling of both legs can be an indication of either phlebitis or cellulitis, a skin infection. If, however, the swelling appears gradually, it may be a sign of an underlying kidney disease or the water accumulation that frequently occurs in cases of heart failure. In addition, if you have a history of phlebitis, the veins in your legs might have become damaged to the extent that body water begins to leak into the legs. This condition, which is known as postphlebitic syndrome, results in chronic swelling that is helped with the use of diuretics, surgical stockings, and elevation of the legs.

You should also compare the color and temperature of both of your legs and pay attention to whether old shoes or dress shoes that you don’t wear very often are now tight. Also, look for obvious skin marks that are left by socks and shoes, since these can be an indication of water retention, which is often a sign of heart failure.

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Compared to a man’s, a woman’s reproductive system is much more complex, physiologically speaking. Once she reaches puberty, a woman will experience three distinct stages of her reproductive cycle. First, she will have menstrual periods for 30 to 40 years. Of course, during this long stretch of time, she is physically able to bear children. The second stage of a woman’s reproductive cycle consists of the premenopausal years, during which her body begins to adapt to the reality of not having children. The third stage is menopause, when her body ceases to be able to bear children. Each of these stages has its own sets of advantages and disadvantages. For this reason, when you look up a particular symptom in this chapter, you should understand that a Body Signal that occurs in one stage might mean something totally diffetent when it occurs in another.

As a woman ages, she will experience a multitude of physiological changes that are caused by the shifts in the hormonal balance of her body—namely in estrogen. When she first begins to menstruate as a teenager, the level of estrogen in her body starts to increase. It rises gradually until she reaches her early 30s, when the production of estrogen is believed to be at its peak. From there, it slowly declines through the premenopausal years until menopause, when her body no longer produces estrogen.

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Description and Possible Medical Problems

Just about every woman has experienced the feeling of tender, swollen breasts just before her menstrual period begins. A few days before the first day of your period each month, your breasts swell slightly as they become engorged with some of the fluid that the body notmally retains to prepare for the beginning of each cycle.

For some women, the discomfort is mild; for others, the pain and tenderness is so severe that they have to apply an ice pack to their swollen breasts several times a day for three or four days a month, take aspitin ot a prescription painkiller, and spend a good deal of time in bed, since even the slightest movement can cause excruciating pain. Some women with larger breasts find they are affected more than smaller-breasted women.

Treatment

No matter what your degree of discomfort, there are a number of things you can do to lessen the pain. Though some women deal with the pain and tenderness by gritting their teeth through it all, others take an active stance.

Taking a diuretic—either prescription or over-the-counter—will help cut down on the amount of fluid yout body retains during your premenstrual cycle and thus on the amount of fluid in your breasts, which will reduce the swelling. I usually recommend a mild diuretic such as Dyazide, which is taken for two or three days before your menstrual period begins; it’s not a good idea to take a diuretic every day, since it can interfere with the levels of sodium and potassium in your body. Cutting down on the amount of salt in your diet will also prevent your body from holding on to excess fluid. Some women also find some relief if they cut down on or eliminate caffeine, fat, sugar, and/or alcohol from their diet.

During their premenstrual periods, some women wear a bra that’s tighter than usual, so the swollen breasts are held closer to the body and movement is restricted. This, however, can be even more painful to engorged breasts. Many women have found that wearing a bra with less support than normal helps relieve some of the pain; some even wear one while they sleep during the nights when their breasts are painful.

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Surgical removal of the stone was once the rule in treating kidney stones; now it is the exception. The treatment for kidney stones depends on what type of stone it is.

For most people, prescription painkillers such as Tylenol with codeine every three or four hours, or even Demerol, will help decrease the pain without interfering with or prolonging the process of passing the stone. For others, whose pain is disabling because several stones are being passed at once, a process called lithotripsy is commonly used. Also known as a form of underwater shock-wave treatment, lithotripsy is a process in which a machine called a lithotripter is used to aim ultrasound waves directly toward the stone while the patient lies partially under watet. The waves will not harm your body, but because the stones are so fragile, the waves will cause the stones to break up into smaller pieces, making them easy to pass. While the waves are emitted, your urologist watches the process on an X-ray monitor.

Because of the success of lithotripsy, surgery has largely become obsolete as a method of treating kidney stones. With particularly stubborn stones, a small version of the lithotripter is used to enter the body through a small incision on the abdomen. The surgeon inserts a tube called a cystoscope into the bladder to aim the ultrasound waves at the large stones. They break up, and when the surgeon removes the cystoscope, the remaining broken-up stones come out with it.

If your doctor determines that a kidney infection and not a stone is causing your pain, he will prescribe an antibiotic such as the sulfa medication Bactrim, to be taken twice daily for ten days or until the infection clears up.

Tips and Precautions

Once you’ve had one stone, the emphasis will be on the prevention of future stones. Though only 10% of kidney stones are due to a hereditary condition, most people will have to take preventive measures after they suffer through one episode.

The most important—and easiest—thing to do is to drink lots of water every day; I recommend from 8 to 10 8-ounce glasses. Adequate fluid intake will help prevent stones from forming and also help flush any existing stones from your system quickly.

Since some stones are a result of excess protein or calcium in the diet, your doctor may recommend that you cut your intake of foods that are high in these nutrients.

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If you’ve ever had writer’s cramp or have been awakened in the middle of the night by painful leg cramps, you’re familiar with the pain caused by involuntary muscle spasms. Relief comes when you knead the cramp or change the position of the affected area.

But sometimes a pain in the neck can turn into a spasm that doesn’t go away no matter what you do. Torticollis spasmodic is a condition where the head becomes locked into one position and you’re unable to move it. It may or may not “unlock” on its own and without warning. However, you should seek medical help immediately.

Torticollis spasmodic can be caused by a number of health problems, including hyperthyroidism, a congenital muscle imbalance, or a defect of the spine. In some cases, the spasm may appear from time to time before disappearing on its own after a few hours or days, while in others the torticollis spasmodic can get progressively worse.

The most dramatic kind of torticollis spasmodic is when the neck muscles lock up as a reaction to the class of drugs known as phenoth-iazines, which are used to treat psychiatric problems, or to Compazine, which is commonly used to treat nausea.

Treatment

If your neck muscles suddenly lock up and make it impossible to move your head, you should call your doctor immediately. In fact, if you’ve been taking phenothiazines and feel even a slight spasm in your neck, you should head for the emergency room. Whether the cause is medication or a health disorder such as hyperthyroidism, an injection of antihistamine will usually relieve the spasm and “unlock” the neck muscles.

However, this form of treatment should be provided only by your physician, since over-the-counter antihistamines in the form of pills usually won’t work. Once treatment is successful, it’s important that you avoid any medication that contains phenothiazines for the rest of your life.

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