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Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus that causes chickenpox. After you've had chickenpox, the virus lies inactive in nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain. Years later, the virus may reactivate as shingles. The virus usually affects the nervous system on one side of the body. Symptoms occur in skin that a particular nerve supplies. Occasionally, two or three nerves next to each other are affected. The first sign of shingles usually is a tingling feeling, itchiness, constant dull, burning, gnawing, or stabbing pain on the skin typically on the back, side, tummy, or face near...

It’s that time of year when sore throats are circulating around. Mask wearing due to COVID, causes bacteria in the nose and mouth to be breathed back in, making it worse. Have you also ever felt that something wasn’t right in your throat and then discovered a white spot or two toward the back of your throat as you examined it in the mirror under a bright light? Patients describe a foreign body sensation, or a feeling like something is stuck in their throat and can be a frequent cause of bad breath. They will often cough up or hack...

Chronic pain can be caused by dysfunctional nerves and or inflammation. It may last for weeks, months, or even years. The original cause may have been an injury, structural abnormality, repetitive use/motion trauma or an infection, such as the shingles virus. Sometimes a clear cause remains undiscovered. Pain starts in receptor nerve cells found beneath the skin and in organs throughout the body. These receptor cells send messages along nerve pathways to the spinal cord, which then carries the message to the brain.  When pain becomes such a problem that it interferes with your life's work and normal activities, you...

Skin changes are among the most visible signs of aging. Let’s face it; no one wants to see in the mirror fine lines, wrinkles or sagging skin!  How quickly the skin ages is related to health problems, environmental factors, genetic makeup, nutrition, smoking, prescription medications, properly working digestive tract, stress, sleep, sun / tanning over exposure and other factors.  With aging, the outer skin layer thins, as changes in the connective tissue reduce the skin’s strength and elasticity.  While topical creams and cosmetic products can help prevent aging of the skin from the outside, nutritional foods and supplements can repair...

Since the beginning of COVID 19 airline travel is becoming frequent again. Time to protect yourself against the many germs you are exposed to while traveling in the air. According to a study published in Microbiology Spectrum 2015, “Infectious diseases" are still among the leading causes of death worldwide due to their persistence, emergence, and reemergence. Air transportation is a major vehicle for the rapid spread of germs. A University of Alabama study found that some germs can stay up to 7 days on a plane piling up on everything you touch. In 2014 alone, over 3.3 billion passengers and 50...