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A mastectomy pillow is specifically designed to help you heal after a mastectomy. It is usually small enough to fit under your arm and thin enough to be placed between your chest and your seat belt when riding in a car. Mastectomy pillows protect your incisions by keeping pressure off your chest. It can also be a comfort aid while recovering from breast cancer treatment. Sometimes referred to as “comfort pillows,” these specialized pillows are useful when you’re in the hospital, at home, riding in the car, and in bed at night....

Nail pitting refers to dents, ridges, or holes in the fingernails or toenails. The dents in the nails can be shallow or deep. It’s typically a symptom of another condition, such as psoriasis, an autoimmune disease that causes skin cell overgrowth and buildup.Read on to learn more about what causes nail pitting, and how these dents in the nail can be treated and prevented. What Is Nail Pitting? Dents, ridges, and holes in the nails can occur due to an issue with how the layers in the superficial nail plate develop....

Pediatric heart failure is a broad term including any condition in which an infant’s, child’s, or adolescent’s heart is not able to sufficiently fill or pump blood to the body. This results in a range of symptoms due to a backup of blood in some organs and lack of blood flow to others. This article discusses the symptoms and causes of pediatric heart failure, as well as its diagnosis and treatment....

If you or a loved one has cerebral palsy (CP), then you understand the functional limitations and impairments that may come with the condition. You may have difficulty with walking, standing, or moving around in bed. Sometimes weakness or muscular spasms may cause difficulty with basic tasks. Many people with CP benefit from working with a physical therapist. Physical therapy can help improve strength and coordination, decrease and manage spasms, and improve safe functional mobility....

When you undergo orthodontic treatment, your teeth need time to set in place as the surrounding bone and gums adjust to the changes in your smile. This is why you have to wear a retainer to stabilize them after you’ve had orthodontic treatment such as braces or Invisalign; if you fail to do so or are inconsistent with it, you risk having your teeth shifting from the finished position. Removable retainers—such as the classic Hawley retainer, or clear retainers—are a popular option, though there are also types that are permanently affixed....

Most people have one or more over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers in the house, but do you know which ones are best for certain kinds of pain? Or do you just reach for whatever is convenient? By and large, most people tend to stick with the brand they recognize or believe is “better” than others. You may wonder whether there are really any differences between them. The fact is—they are all different in significant ways....

Dyslexia is a learning disability (LD) that affects a person’s ability to read. A person with dyslexia might also have trouble with developing other language skills, such as writing, spelling, and pronouncing words. According to the International Dyslexia Association, dyslexia is the most common learning disability and the most common reason for difficulties in reading, writing, and spelling. It’s estimated that 5% to 10% of the population has dyslexia, although some estimates are as high as 17%....

Whether it’s by car, plane, bus, train, or boat, millions of Americans travel for work and play. If you have thyroid disease, it helps to make sure that you’re aware of safety precautions and ways that you can plan ahead regarding your condition. Here are some tips for making all of your travel experiences as safe and healthy as possible. General Travel While air travel in particular can pose some unique concerns (see below), there are things that all people with thyroid disease who are planning any kind of trip should do to be as prepared as possible....

Nightshades are foods in a family of flowering plants that go by the Latin name Solanaceae. The family includes some types of trees, vines, herbs, and crops. Many nightshade plants are popular foods in most cultures, including tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers. But they also contain high levels of substances called alkaloids that may cause health problems. It’s not common, but some people have an allergy or sensitivity to nightshades. There is also some concern that these vegetables may contribute to inflammatory conditions, like arthritis....

“Off-exchange” health insurance refers to health insurance that is not purchased through your state’s health insurance exchange. This article will explain where and when you can get off-exchange coverage and how it’s regulated. Each state has an official exchange, established under the Affordable Care Act. Most of them are run by the federal government (or jointly by the state and federal government) and use the HealthCare.gov enrollment platform. However, 17 states plus the District of Columbia run their own health insurance exchanges and have enrollment websites that aren’t Healthcare....

Since childhood, many of us have been told to eat dairy foods every day to support our bone health, thanks to the calcium, magnesium, and other bone health-supporting nutrients that this food group provides. In fact, the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommending that most adults in the U.S. consume three dairy servings every day. Key Takeaways Dietary choices can play a role in cancer risk.Recent data that focused on a large Chinese population showed that dairy intake is linked to an elevated risk of developing certain cancers....

The biceps is a large muscle situated on the front of the upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow. Also known by the Latin name biceps brachii (meaning “two-headed muscle of the arm”), the muscle’s primary function is to flex the elbow and rotate the forearm. The heads of the muscle arise from the scapula (shoulder blade) and combine in the middle arm to form a muscle mass. The other end attaches to the radius, the outermost of the two bones that make up the forearm....

If you follow the gluten-free diet and want to eliminate every trace of gluten in your house, you need to look to your pets’ bowls along with your own food: dog and cat foods—especially dry foods—frequently contain whole wheat and pure wheat gluten, and many also contain the gluten grain barley. Manufacturers use wheat gluten along with protein from corn in pet foods because those foods need to contain protein to be nutritionally complete, and wheat and corn are much less expensive than animal-based proteins from beef, poultry, or fish....

Sometimes bug bites can become infected, leading to conditions like cellulitis. Cellulitis is a bacterial infection of the dermis, the thick middle layer of skin. It occurs when bacteria enter the dermis through a break in the skin, like the openings caused by insect bites. This can lead to a bug bite getting bigger and redder, as well as other cellulitis symptoms like inflammation and fever. Continue reading to learn more about cellulitis from a bug bite, its causes, and cellulitis treatment....

Cough-variant asthma is a form of asthma in which the primary symptom is a dry, non-productive cough. The symptoms differ from symptoms of other forms of asthma. Sometimes, cough-variant asthma—especially when not properly treated—is a precursor to “classic” asthma in which shortness of breath, wheezing, and chest pain are accompanied by a wet, productive cough. Cough-variant asthma can be difficult to diagnose because chronic dry coughing can be attributed to many conditions....

What Is Fuzeon? Fuzeon (enfuvirtide) is an injectable prescription medication used to treat the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in treatment-experienced people who are at least 6 years old and weigh at least 24 pounds. Fuzeon is used in combination with other antiretroviral agents for individuals experiencing HIV-1 replication (the process in which HIV continuously spreads in the body) despite ongoing antiretroviral therapy. This medication is classified as an HIV entry and fusion inhibitor....

An HIV RNA test, also called a viral load test, is used to determine if a person has recently contracted the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), to confirm a result from another HIV test, or to determine how much of the virus is in a person with a known HIV infection. The test examines a blood sample for genetic material (ribonucleic acid, or RNA) from the HIV virus. While the HIV RNA test is able to detect the virus within a smaller window of time after exposure than other HIV tests, it is not often used for initial screening because it is expensive and offers only a minor time difference over the more often used antigen/antibody test....

The goal of bronchiectasis treatment is to control lung infections, promote the drainage of excessive secretions, and prevent complications. This may involve antibiotics, expectorants, bronchodilators, and several different techniques and procedures. The multi-strategy/multi-goal approach to treating this form of obstructive lung disease is due to its repetitive cycle, in which the airways abnormally widen, causing inflammation and the pooling of mucus. That mucus then blocks the airways, prompting an accumulation of bacteria that causes infection (and, therefore, more inflammation)—and on and on....

Malignant hypertension (MHT) requires emergency medical attention to limit organ damage and other complications of severely high blood pressure. The first-line treatment is the administration of intravenous medications to lower blood pressure in a hospital setting. Treatment will depend on your health status, the cause of your MHT, and what symptoms, organ damage, or complications you developed during your malignant hypertension episode. This article will discuss the most common forms of medical treatment used to treat malignant hypertension, plus prescription and lifestyle modifications that may be used after stabilization and discharge from the hospital....

The best treatment options for oral cancer depend on many factors, including the location of the tumor, the stage of the disease, and general health. Unlike many cancers, the mainstay of therapy can be surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy, and both chemotherapy and radiation may be used with a curative approach. When surgery is used, it is not always the first step. Chemotherapy (with radiation) may be given either before surgery, to reduce the size of the tumor, or after surgery, to clean up any cancer cells that may have been left behind....