Medical Minutes

In the spring, many people turn to flip-flops for their everyday footwear. While thin, flat, rubber shoes are inexpensive and convenient; they can be painfully bad for your feet and legs. When the weather gets warmer, we commonly see an increase in tendinitis, stress fractures, and other injuries. This increase in injury can, in part, be attributed to America's favorite go to summer footwear.

The worst pain of your life is a fair assessment of how many people would describe passing a kidney stone. In fact, some say it is more painful than giving birth. Kidney stones often come on abruptly, without warning, and bring with them excruciating pain. It has been estimated that 15 percent of Americans can expect to pass at least one kidney stone in their lifetime and that figure is on the rise.

Millions of Americans suffer from balance disorders with symptoms ranging from feeling dizzy to lightheaded. Others are weak or unsteady and have a sensation of movement of their surroundings. Because the term dizziness is used to describe a wide range of sensations and symptoms, it is extremely important for patients to be as specific as possible when describing their dizziness episode(s) to help narrow down a list of possible underlying causes.

Remember the days when your employer paid the entire cost of your health insurance? Or when you could go to the doctor or dentist and not worry about any residual bills after your insurance paid the claim? As nice as those days were, they are long gone. With more of the burden of the cost of health care falling on the consumer, we can no longer be amateurs in the world of benefits, networks, copays and deductibles.

It is estimated that over 35 million Americans suffer from some form of bladder problem. Of those who suffer, women are twice as likely to experience incontinence as their male counterparts, in fact, 30-70 percent of perimenopausal and menopausal women experience some symptoms of urinary incontinence.

Flowers blooming, bees buzzing and breezes blowing are a recipe for itching, sneezing and wheezing for seasonal allergy suffers. Seasonal allergies can wreak havoc during some of life’s simplest pleasures, such as a picnic in the park or a hike in the woods."

Flowers blooming, bees buzzing and breezes blowing are a recipe for itching, sneezing and wheezing for seasonal allergy suffers. Seasonal allergies can wreak havoc during some of life’s simplest pleasures, such as a picnic in the park or a hike in the woods."

About 48 million adults report some degree of hearing loss. By the age of 65, 1 out of 3 people has a hearing loss. In fact, the loss of hearing is the 3rd most common physical condition after arthritis and heart disease. For women entering the menopausal years, it can feel like everything is changing all at once, including the ability to hear. Many people feel that they are missing out on important conversations, especially in group settings or noisy environments."

Portneuf started as a partnership to build a world-class medical center. Five years later, Portneuf has become much more than what is inside this building. Everyone in our community – physicians, business and community leaders, hospital administrators, all of us in Bannock County – pitched in to do what none of us could accomplish alone.