Cheryl BryantBruce

Yes, you should be able to drive the day after LASIK surgery. Beware that your vision may not be as clear in the involved eye immediately after surgery, and so your peripheral vision and depth perception may not be perfect, but you should still be able to drive.

Hello 19!
What you report as your mechanism of injury leads me to believe this is a simple neck strain injury, which can be quite painful and can take some time to resolve. Neck strains are quite difficult, because. unlike some muscles that we can rest, your neck must continue working to do its primary job, which is to hold up your head. Imagine trying to balance a 10 pound bowling ball on a broomstick. It takes a lot of muscles to make this happen and a lot of strength. This is essentially the job that your neck muscles do. When you strain your neck, some of those muscles are weakened. Although the other muscles in your neck step up their efforts to make sure that your head stays upright and you are able to move it appropriately, the injured muscles cannot lay down on the job to get rest or your head would flop into some unusual position. While your injured neck muscles can reduce their work load by restricting your movement with inflammation and pain, they cannot stop holding up your head to rest while they heal. Accordingly, they take longer to heal. It is not uncommon to even have headaches during this period of time. You should anticipate that your neck pain may even worsen over the first few days following the incident. Although mild neck strains may take only a few days to heal, it is not uncommon to have neck pain and weakness for several weeks after a severe strain. If however, your neck pain is not improving at all after a few days, it is best to see a doctor. Xrays of your neck may be needed. If your fall was not with your feet planted on the ground, e.g. if you were airbourne going for a rim shot, if your head hit the ground hard, if you landed on your neck, if your neck twisted in some unusual position, or if you heard/felt a crack when you hit the ground, please go to the ER and seek further care. An xray of your neck is probably prudent under those circumstances. Additionally, if you are having any numbness or tingling in your arms or hands, an xray is needed. Finally, if in doubt, please seek further guidance from a doctor who can physically examine you, even if only with a virtual visit where you can be visually observed.

Urinary tract infections are often treated with Bactrim DS(sulfamethoxazole), but it depends on what the source of the infection is. Young males often have chlamydia as their source, which would require Azithromycin. Other commonly used antibiotics include Amozicillin, Keflex (cephalexin), and Ciprofloxacin. Any urinary tract infection requires a urine culture and sensitivity test though, because an organism could be resistant to any antibiotic that you place the patient on, which would require a change in the antibiotic.

No, you should not go to urgent care. You should go to the ER. The combination of calf pain with ankle swelling and chest pain is worrisome for blood clots and warrants further evaluation that will probably require an ultrasound of your leg and some chest imaging.

Peace. Blessings, Health, & Longevity,

Cheryl BryantBruce, M.D.

Poor vision is frequently the cause of persistent headaches due to eye strain. If you have not had your eyes checked recently, you may need a new glasses prescription. Even if you have had them checked recently, your glasses prescription may have changed or may not be quite correct for you. Additionally, there can be other causes of headaches that can be diagnosed from a good eye exam. Stress, high blood pressure and new-onset diabetes are common causes of headaches. Persistent or severe headaches can indicate more serious problems however and should be followed up with a primary care visit, if an eye exam does not reveal and correct the problem.

The most common reason for persistent diarrhea is that people usually do not give the bowel a chance to rest after an imbalance by infection with a virus, bacteria, or fungal overgrowth. I usually recommend 24-48 hours of nothing but clear fluids in the diet (e.g., clear broths, jello, electrolyte drinks, clear popsicles, tea, and for babies I include breast milk and pedialyte). If the diarrhea has stopped, begin refeeding with the BRAT diet, which consists of:

B-Bread, Bananas
R- Rice/Rice Cereal (no milk added)
A-Apples/unsweetened applesauce (no apple juice)
T- Toast/Tea

If you tolerate the BRAT diet, with no recurrence of the diarrhea x 24 hours, then advance to a soft diet. A soft diet includes easily digestible foods like boiled eggs, steamed vegetables, and baked fish. If the soft diet causes no further symptoms, you may advance your diet as tolerated, avoiding greasy, fatty, sugary or spicy foods for at least a week. If at any point in advancing the diet the diarrhea recurs, back up to the last dietary advance that did not cause diarrhea and remain there for two days, before advancing again.

You may also try an over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medication while attempting the above dietary management, but be aware that this may prolong the recovery course.

If the diarrhea persists, you notice blood in your stool, you have excessive cramping, you have fever or chills, or your stool turns black or pale yellow, you should seek physical medical attention from your primary care doctor or an emergency facility.

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! The risk of damage to your kidneys from taking Creatine is so significant that I advise all of my patients to avoid the use of all Creatine containing products. Just say NO!

Multiple things can cause blurred vision, such as dry eyes, tired eyes, hormonal changes, allergies, and minor eye infections. Other more serious things can cause blurred vision, as well, things like: serious eye infections, new onset diabetes, auto-immune disorders and tumors in the eye structures or brain. It is important to seek further medical evaluation, if you are having severe, persistent or frequently recurring blurring of the vision.

Peace, Blessings Health & Longevity,
Cheryl BryantBruce, M.D.

Greetings,

There are numerous things that can cause stomach pain. It helps to know more about the pain, e.g., where it is located, when it occurs, whether or not eating, urinating or defecating effects it, what relieves it or makes it worse. Also, things like medical conditions, medications, diet, and stress level can be factors. One thing is certain, however: daily stomach pain is not normal and requires attention. Answering some of these questions can better elucidate some of the possible underlying causes. Further testing may be needed or sometimes the diagnosis can be made just from really defining the symptoms in greater detail. Sometimes nothing more is needed than changing some of your habits.

Peace, Blessings, Health, and Longevity,

Cheryl BryantBruce, M.D.