I've got a Sore Throat!!! when your sore throat is more than just a sore throat....

Tonsillitis is a kind of sore throat- but its a very much severe kind of throat infection. The Tonsils are a group of swellings in the throat which fights infections basically.

When the infection becomes overwhelming, then you get a Tonsillitis.

Chances of getting a Tonsillitis is quite higher during the cold weather, especially in children.

How to recognize it:

• If you have a sore throat, and its quite painful, its likely you have a tonsillitis.
• You could have an extension of the pain in your ear- on the same side.
• Pain gets worse on attempts to swallow, and sometimes speak.
• Open your mouth wide and say "ahh" in front of a mirror, look in the corner of the back of your tongue on both sides, you may need to get a flash light for proper illumination.
• An infected Tonsil would usually look swollen and red on the affected side. 
• In some cases, you may see white patches as shown above.
• You could run a fever as well.

What to do:

• particularly if you see just a red and swollen tonsil

1. drink lots of warm tea (twinnings does a good brand of tea) 
2. warm water with a little bit of salt gargle as frequently as possible.
3. use pain relief- if you have no allergies or aren't pregnant- then you can use Ibuprofen or Diclofenac. if you do, then use paracetamol which is safest.
4. avoid kissing please. Tonsillitis isn't something you want to be sharing
5. If you do this for 2 days and it doesn't feel like you are getting better, please see a doctor.

• If you see white patches, then you need some antibiotics. you could see your doctor for that and follow the above listed steps.

However, if you do have more than 4 episodes of this infection in a year, then its a reason for you to see an ENT specialist to have them remove your tonsils via a Tonsillectomy, as the procedure would reduce risk of you having a recurrent infection. Note your body has other several defensive mechanism, so worrying about your tonsil should be the least of your worries.

A Tonsillectomy typically takes about 45 minutes, and the recovery is very sweet as you are on an ice-cream diet for a couple of days:) that's the best thing about ENT :D

I'm Thankful we don't have to experience pain to learn about it (my doctor-patient view point on Tonsillitis)

Ironically, I took ill after I posted tips for coping with cold. As humorous as God is, I was down with Tonsillitis- a kind of throat infection which is much more painful than a regular sore throat (that's my new definition-  I really don't care what any other text may call it). This episode of Tonsillitis has opened my eyes to the many dimensions of pain.

Pain is a very personal experience. In medical school, we are taught the characteristics of pain, but in my opinion to really understand pain we have to feel it. Imaginably, if we had to feel pain to understand pain, I definitely would have dropped out of medical school! In medical school, we learnt about different kinds of pain and their characteristics. I also learnt to ask my patients to rate their pain on a scale of 1- 10, with 10 being the most severe. However sometimes when a patient claims the 8-10 range, I give them my "drug dependent" look- like they are drug addicts :$.

  my "drug dependent" look

When we talked about radiation of pain in class, I  always imagined pain reappearing somewhere else. So when I ask my patient "does the pain go anywhere?" and they say "yes... to my arm" for example; I sometimes imagine they may have read up the symptoms on the internet and have come armed with the correct signs and symptoms. Incidentally My mother used to say - "its the person that wears the shoes that knows where it hurts"...


I must say here, I'm a pretty healthy person. I'm not sure I remember what it feels like to have a headache:) so you can imagine my horror when I woke up with a nasty pain in my throat. I've had sore throats before, and I guess I know what they are, however this was a different kind of pain. I was alarmed. I knew something was definitely wrong!!! I tried to swallow and it hurt some more. I got out of bed, and went to the mirror, picked my phone for the flash light, opened my mouth as wide as it would permit and I saw it! Lo and behold, I had the dreaded Tonsillitis!

Armed with a pre-knowledge of what to do, I began following the rituals of what I needed to do. While I was drinking my first cup of tea, as the tea hits the back of my throat, I noticed a sharp pain in my left ear. Immediately I understood... the famous question... where does the pain radiate to?... I took some paracetamol aka PCM for the pain and proceeded back to bed. The pain in my ear was rather unbearable. It felt as though I was waiting endlessly for my PCM to kick in which made me remember how another woman i had labelled drug dependent calls PCM chalk. I began to wonder if I was already drug dependent... and then it hit me, I needed to step up my pain relief tablet. which I did. Eventually I did get some sleep. I continued my warm tea, warm saline gargle and vitamin C ritual till I was able to eat solid meals again.

This ordeal has helped me understand very much the patho-physiology (medical term for disease evolution) and management of Tonsillitis. Thank you nature for this crash/refresher course. I hope I wont have any more soon or ever again... Thank you:)

Most of all, I'm thankful we don't have to experience pain to learn about it.

With this illness; I've learned a couple of things

• pain is very personal
• pain is quite distressing
• pain really does radiate
• the pain associated with tonsillitis is an 8 for me, so i guess a heart attack for me would possibly be like an 18 and maybe labour would be a 100.... and that's out of 10!!!
• to believe some of my patients when they say their pain isn't controlled. not everyone is a junkie...
• PCM sometimes feels like chalk
• Doctors are really the worst group of patients!
• Maybe experience is a good teacher. isn't it why we do a number of practicals?

Thank God Medicine is practice (practice makes perfect), I guess I would be able to empathize better with my next patient of tonsillitis

Dr Anonymous
xo

Surviving the weather for 2 ;)

Many thanks to every one who has taken the pain to read and reach out thus far. Its really encouraging:)

Seems the harmattan this year is something else hence this post.

Because of the rather dry weather, a lot of people would be coming down with catarrh, cough, allergies etc. In order not to fall victim;

• Wash your hands as frequently as possible- I know the weather is quite dry, you should also have your moisturiser on you, you don't want to be going about looking all ashy and dry. Hand washing goes a long way.
• Try to have a balanced meal, it helps boost your immune system which wards off infections.

As for those of us who are already down with a cold;

• Lots of warm drinks as frequently as possible,
• Regular cough mixture if you do have a cough. usually it should be about a table spoon morning, noon and night. If you are coughing up something, or have an associated chest pain or trouble breathing, you may need to check up with your doctor.
• Vitamin C -morning , noon and night
• Throat pains- warm water and salt gargle, some paracetamol for the pain, lots of water and juice, and some strepsils should do the magic. However if your symptoms persist, you should check with your doctor.
• Ear pains, please have your doctor look at it:)

Don't forget to dress warm, lotion deep, and gloss your lips:)

Have a cold free week. and please don't be ashy
xo

Inappropriate medical examinations - Know the limits

So I recently watched an expose on-line about the quacks in Nigeria. That video got me thinking about the ordeals some patients go through. Hubby and I got talking after the video, and he gisted me about a certain doctor, who we have 'mutually diagnosed' with paraphillia (sexual perversion) that used to finger and do inappropriate stuff with his patients.

I understand patients are usually vulnerable, especially when there is a problem and for that reason their ignorance could be easily exploited.

The other day, I was consulting with a patient who had a rash on his penis and I told him I would need to take a look at it and this man decided he would love to come another day when there was a male doctor around. Little did he know how happy I was!- so here's your cue, I'm a woman and I don't have Paraphillia:)

So I've decided to do a post to prevent pervert doctors and quacks from performing their dastardly acts.
Tips to protect your self from paraphillic doctors

• Know what a vaginal exam is. It is NOT fingering. your doctor is NOT meant to keep sliding in and out your vagina, a breast examination doesn't include fondling your breasts or squeezing your nipples (although your doctor would need to try milk your breast to reveal any discharges if you do have), and your penis exam doesn't include any form of stroking!
• When dealing with a doctor of the opposite sex especially those you haven't had a previous contact with, if he/she has to examine you, particularly your breasts, vagina, penis,or anus as the case may be, have them do so in the presence of either another of their colleague or a nurse on duty.
• Parents, please don't leave your children alone to be examined in the doctors office. Particularly teenage girls and minors.

If your doctor feels like he/she is falling in love with you or your body, let them take your number and do the right things and not exploit you. 18+
Together we can stop all inappropriate behaviours.

breast

Kourtney kardashians placenta pills- would you use some?

Being the celebrity stalker I am- I do that in my free time:)- I just stumbled upon this growing trend that mothers do, they eat their placentas!

                       Kourtney's placenta pill (dosage 2 pills after each meal)

This reminds me of a show I watched growing up. The placenta of death, it aired on AIT and I watched religiously! The gist of the show was that the junior queen cooked some placenta soup for the king to punish him for treating the senior queen favourably. After eating the soup the king took seriously ill, and the gods had to intervene to set them free. The junior queen had to be executed. Tragic story.

                                                           Some cooked placenta...

So I decided to do a little research, Some prefer to cook it and make it into a meal- maybe have Rice and placenta sauce- others prefer to make it into pills like Kourtney Kardashian just did! She's just revealed she would be feeling sad when she runs out of this pill.

In the little research I've been able to do, people have different responses to this act. Some have termed it cannibalism, others who have tried it have reported anxiety and depression with them and their baby, as well as excessive breast engorgment associated with excess milk, another group where I'm sure Kourtney belongs are reporting improved mood, increasing energy levels,hastened changes to previous state before pregnancy etc.

It even has a fancy name now- Placentophagia... Would you eat your placenta?

Are you having safe sex?

Sharon is a 19 year old student, She lives with her Aunt and Uncle. She was rushed in to the hospital because she was bleeding from her Vagina and feeling faint. She told her Aunt who brought her in she had been seeing blood in the last 3 days as it was her periods. When Sharon got to me, she was very weak, and tired. she could barely stand without any assistance.
I admitted her, took some blood samples for tests and started giving her drips pending when she was fit to speak.
When she came around a little bit, I began taking a proper history of what had happened to her. It turned out she had missed her periods the month before because she was pregnant and her boyfriend convinced her to get an abortion which helped bring her "periods" back; but almost at the cost of her life unknown to them.
The danger with abortions include:

• over scrapping the womb which reduces chances to get pregnant later in life.
• over poking the womb and possibly cutting through it and potentially injuring the intestine. 
• developing an infection in the womb.

*if the last 2 complications are not timely and properly addressed they could lead to fatal outcomes*

How to know your abortion has gone wrong,

• the bleeding is not reducing.
• you notice a foul smelling discharge form your vagina.
• you start running temperature and start feeling cold after the procedure.

How to avoid unwanted pregnancy

• Abstain :)
• If you must, use a condom or other forms of contraceptives.
• Make sure your man removes the condom as soon as he ejaculates.
• "Withdrawal" method or Safe periods - having sex on the days you are less likely to conceive are some of the natural methods you could try.
• Talk with your doctor on the form of birth control that is best for you, you would be glad you did.

Update on Sharon: She received 2 bags of blood, we helped her complete what her 'doctor' started, and I hope she's practising safe sex today.

Ebola Vaccine comes to West Africa in a month.

WHO has confirmed the Ebola Vaccine trials would be starting in a month in West Africa with the health care officials So far, the GSK vaccine has started trials in the UK for now, and the reports are looking good.

I Hope that the vaccine would be available for the general public soon, so that Ebola can be put to rest finally.

Meanwhile, please never ignore simple sanitary measures:

• Wash your hands once as frequently as possible, particularly after an outing and before meals- develop hand washing Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)- its a good type of OCD (a disorder that causes you to repeat things because of fear)
• Cook your meals thoroughly before eating them.
• Keep your surroundings clean so you reduce chances of having unwanted wild life tenants.
• Monitor where your kids go and what they do, as we've been made to understand the first victim of this outbreak of Ebola was a little boy.

The dude with two penises.

So I'm online doing some research and I stumbled on something!- permit me to mention here that my knowledge of embryology (study of development of babies while they are in the womb) is pretty weak😒- so you can imagine my degree of curiosity when I made this discovery of the man with 2 phalluses or Penises!

The tell all book, if you are able to get a copy, kindly share

There's some man out there, who like 

me has chosen to not reveal his identity while he walks about with 2 penises! He put out a book which was released this year, detailing how he's coping with this condition...

So here's the gist!

He's bisexual

He claims to be in a committed relationship with one other man and one other woman.

He claims both penis work! Wow how true can that be!? :s

I have a lot of crazy imaginations about his last fun fact though; but I would rather keep those to myself! 

Lastly, the condition he has is called diphallia, Google it, I just did ;)

Protect your Vagina!

 Ehn ehn, even soap can't clean it???Then what can? - just water😃. That's right!

A number of people these day, come down with a variety of itchy symptoms, changes in smell, generalised discomfort  etc all because of the antiseptic soap and disinfectants they use on and in the vagina :(- these chemicals are quite harsh and harm the naturally existing balance of the vagina and following a series of reactions cause those symptoms. 

Let's help or Vaginas/Virginity (whichever you choose to call it please) and let's stop overly trying to keep it clean. It's able to take care of itself.

This goes to mothers too no extra scrubbing, no extra soaping, just water is good.

Yaay for self cleansing!!! at least our soap can last a couple of days more now :)

**If you really must, there are feminine intimate wash products that are formulated to match the type of skin on the vagina, so far that's a safe option, but water is very much enough.**

That's all!

Before Help Comes- Seizures/ Convulsions

I just read a story about a man in Lagos who convulsed today on the road, till he eventually fitted into a gutter and no thanks to our poor drainage system where he almost drowned. Thank God for people who rescued him from the gutter. This story has prompted me to do a series i would tag 'Before Help Comes'- which would be an emergency/ safety guide. I would make it short and straight to the point.
For those who can not go through my new year encounter with a seizure, I would do a brief recap here.

                                  picture of guy who convulsed in Lagos. credit LindaIkejiBlog


Recognize it- Seizures are jerking movement involving the entire body- arms and legs usually, with an accompanied loss of consciousness. i.e the person is unaware they did all the drama.

Call for help!

Before help arrives-

• Make sure the person isn't in any form of danger. Remove all sharp objects around the person allow him adequate space.
• Protect his head. Put something soft under his head.
• Loosen tight clothing particularly around the neck.
• Do not try to hold the person down.
• Do not put anything in the persons mouth.
• Roll the person over to lay on his left side when the seizure stops.
• after the seizure ends, its very likely the person is not aware of his surroundings and would take a short nap. so don't be very worried.

Once help comes, you could let them know what you have done so far, and feel good about helping save a life.

lets not stop looking out for each other.

Dr Anonymous.

Guy convulses in bus on New Year's Day

My new year story!

So with the launch of the blog, I was unaware of the many adventures life had for me. So let's back up a little bit to how it started. A couple of days ago, as a result of my excess spare time I happened to do an 8 hour marathon of an American show which I just stumbled upon called 'What Would You Do'? The show is sort of like a constructive prank show, where people are faced with real life scenarios and their reactions are caught on tape. This my marathon act has left my Husband challenging my every action and inaction. Inaction  more than action. So on this New Year's Day, we happened to be at cross over service where I was challenged into nurturing a young kid whose "eyes were red and would have great difficulty sleeping". Note here, my dear husband is super convinced about his medical skills beyond any reasonable doubt. To begin the year with good deeds, I succumbed and rocked the child to sleep and I must say she did sleep off in a matter of minutes. although her parents may have looked at us like potential kidnappers...

         How her parents looked at us...

After the cross over service we spent some time visiting family and friends. Eventually, it was time to say our good byes. I had already envisaged how much sleep i could catch on our ride back home as we had travelled inter-city. We boarded our bus, I strategically picked out my comfy seat-good for view and for sleep- and as soon as the bus moved I was fast asleep. Little did I know what was coming!

            Bodi no be firewood!

In the times I've been practicing medicine I've really not been in the scene of many emergencies. I had witnessed a couple when I was in medical school for instance on a flight I once boarded a man apparently fainted. On getting there the man was up already. So when I watch shows like royal pain, and greys anatomy, I somewhat get upset by the producers level of imagination. But today, I learnt something, emergencies do happen at oddest times and a witness is crucial to helping the doctor understand.

So back to my story, while I was napping finely, I notice hubby jump out of his seat and his like "Anonymous! Wake up!! This guy is having a seizure!!!" I'm like  "yepka, work don find me come!?!?" 🏃

I fumbled with my seatbelt for an eternity and my 'self acclaimed former life doctor husband' is waiting anxiously on his 'present life doctor wife' after what seemed as an eternity of trying to get off my seat, I leapt to hold up the guys head which was already falling onto the lap of the guy seated next to him who was screaming "I think this guy is dying can someone call an ambulance" and hold it up high so he could still breathe. As he was seating position and I could hardly get him down on the ground. I undid his seatbelt, while hubby tried to make the guys seat flat. I did a quick assessment, he was foaming from the mouth, still having a serious jerking movement of his arms and legs, had a rash under his nose. He is between 22-25 years of age. He had good pulses on the neck. And then he suddenly stopped moving. In all this time, the driver had slowly halted the vehicle and rang the ambulance services. We asked a couple of questions. Although we couldn't get an accurate history as I'm positive the guy wasn't very coherent.

While we waited on the ambulance the driver, hubby and I kept a watchful eye over the guy.

I went to wash my hands and returned to my seat and started doing  possible differential diagnosis with hubby :) although I May have judged and condemned him a little. For which I'm ashamed now.

However a couple of minutes later, I did a quick appraisal of my interaction with the guy, and I thought I could have done better as the driver later became more of a doctor than I was. He was very much kind enough to check up on him every now and then as opposed to me who did a few checks and when I saw he was fine, I let him off the hook and moved on with my life and quest for sleep. The driver was quite quick to empathise  with the young man, I don't know either of their stories though. But I had to resort to conclude the driver was doing his job, and I felt I could let him be when I saw he was stable enough. But I guess my over watching of WWYD has gotten a better part of me.

Anyway  I've decided to see all opportunities as a learning point, and today I've learnt I would need to make an effort to be much kinder even while doing my job.

It turns out the young man did have Epilepsy. Meaning he didn't have any of the other scary things hubby and I imagined. 

Learning points-

People still do have epilepsy- it's not eradicated, it's non infectious.

Should you come across someone having a seizure, and you have access to some space, lay the fellow on the flat ground and turn him to lie on his left side. 

DO NOT attempt to hold them down. Make sure the area around them is cleared of anything that could cause more injury to them.

You don't NEED to give them water!!! (Hubby has a theory water cures all and even suggested we gave our water therapy. I don't know what sort of medicine they practiced in his former life) Until you are certain they are awake and can have a great a sensible conversation with you.

DO NOT put anything in their mouth- fingers, spoons, knives. Nothing please.

Transport them to the nearest hospital for proper evaluation and management.

Final notes: The paramedics came at an hour forty-five mins later. I gave them a quick review of what I saw and my examinations. They took him into their ambulance for another series of examination. After a couple of minutes, they concluded he won't be continuing the journey with us and they would need to admit him. I felt really sad and when over to the ambulance to re-assure him he would be alright.

Clinton calls. Water or Tissue?

Tissues are very handy, but how effective are they? A recent event however has made me aware of this latest development courtesy of my 'Husbandopedia'-trust me, he has every information any one needs to know!
So this day, a discussion about personal hygiene came up, particularly after taking a dump. I must say here, I've always been #teamtissue. Hubby however is #teamclean. The point however is that which makes you cleaner. Since tissues are dry, i would beg to decamp to #team wipes. But #teamclean is always right! Hence this topic.
Introducing the WC that is found in many places in Japan and a few other  Developed countries.

      The tiny rod is detachable.

It is fitted with a rod like shower-a nozzle-which helps you 'clean up' perfectly after a dump. Trust me to already condemn the hygiene of the WC. But the Husbandopedia has all answers! The fittings are detachable. And hence everyone can carry theirs. Husbandopedia knows a few friends who  have them.😳
Pros- maximum cleansing
Cons- potential trauma.
#team tissue, #team wipes or #teamclean?
Choose wisely.