Health guides

Health Guides

Written by the people who see these things every week, and kept to when to seek care rather than how to treat it at home.

A Cough That Will Not Go Away: What Three Weeks Means, and What to Check A Cough That Will Not Go Away: What Three Weeks Means, and What to Check Most coughs after a cold last longer than parents expect, and that alone… Read the guide → Back to School in Arizona: The July Checklist Nobody Warns You About Back to School in Arizona: The July Checklist Nobody Warns You About Arizona schools go back in late July and early August, not after Labor Day. Every back-to-school… Read the guide → Bedwetting: It Is Not Laziness, and It Is Not Your Fault Either Bedwetting: It Is Not Laziness, and It Is Not Your Fault Either A child who wets the bed is asleep. That is the whole of it, and almost… Read the guide → Brushing a Child’s Teeth: The Three Rules, and the Arizona Water Question Brushing a Child's Teeth: The Three Rules, and the Arizona Water Question Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease of childhood — more common than asthma —… Read the guide → Car Seats: The Four Rules That Matter, and the Arizona Problem Nobody Mentions Car Seats: The Four Rules That Matter, and the Arizona Problem Nobody Mentions Car seats generate more anxious searching than almost anything else in early parenthood, and most… Read the guide → Caring for Your Newborn: The First Weeks, and What Actually Needs a Call Caring for Your Newborn: The First Weeks, and What Actually Needs a Call Two things belong at the top of this page, because everything else can wait and… Read the guide → Chickenpox: What to Do, What Not to Put on It, and When It Is Not Mild Chickenpox: What to Do, What Not to Put on It, and When It Is Not Mild Call us before you bring a child with suspected chickenpox into the… Read the guide → Childhood Asthma: The Two Inhalers, the Plan, and Arizona’s Triggers Childhood Asthma: The Two Inhalers, the Plan, and Arizona's Triggers Call 911 if Your child cannot speak in full sentences, or cannot walk across a room · the… Read the guide → Childhood Immunizations: What They Protect Against, and What the Schedule Is For Childhood Immunizations: What They Protect Against, and What the Schedule Is For If you are here because a school or child care centre asked for an immunization record,… Read the guide → Children’s Sleep: The Routine, the Hours, and the Problems That Are Not Behavioural Children's Sleep: The Routine, the Hours, and the Problems That Are Not Behavioural A tired child does not look tired. A tired child looks badly behaved. That is… Read the guide → Diabetes in Children and Teens: The Signs Not to Miss, and Managing It Here Diabetes in Children and Teens: The Signs Not to Miss, and Managing It Here The four signs, and why this page leads with them Type 1 diabetes in… Read the guide → Ear Infections in Children: Why Antibiotics Are Not Always the Answer Ear Infections in Children: Why Antibiotics Are Not Always the Answer Tonight, the thing to do is treat the pain. A dose of acetaminophen or ibuprofen, weight-based, works… Read the guide → Feeding Your Family Well: Nutrition From Infancy Onward Feeding Your Family Well: Nutrition From Infancy Onward Almost every piece of nutrition advice written for parents assumes the problem is information. It usually is not. Most parents… Read the guide → Fever in Children: What the Number Means, and What Actually Matters Fever in Children: What the Number Means, and What Actually Matters Under one month old: any fever is an emergency A rectal temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher… Read the guide → Flu in Children: How to Tell It From a Cold, and Why the First 48 Hours Matter Flu in Children: How to Tell It From a Cold, and Why the First 48 Hours Matter If you think it is flu, call us today rather than… Read the guide → Halloween: The Candy Is Not the Problem Halloween: The Candy Is Not the Problem Children are struck and killed by cars on Halloween evening at several times the rate of an ordinary night. It is… Read the guide → Pink Eye: Which Kind It Is, and Whether Your Child Can Go to School Pink Eye: Which Kind It Is, and Whether Your Child Can Go to School Two questions bring people to this page, and they are almost never the medical… Read the guide → Play Is the Work: Why Unstructured Time Is Not a Gap in the Schedule Play Is the Work: Why Unstructured Time Is Not a Gap in the Schedule Play is not the reward for finishing the important things. It is one of… Read the guide → Sore Throats in Children: Strep, Tonsillitis, Mono, and When to Call Sore Throats in Children: Strep, Tonsillitis, Mono, and When to Call It is 9pm, your child's throat hurts, and the question you actually have is whether this needs… Read the guide → Sports Injuries in Children: Prevention, First Response, and Recovery Sports Injuries in Children: Prevention, First Response, and Recovery If your child has just been hurt, skip to what to do in the first hour. If something looks… Read the guide → Stomach and Digestive Problems in Children: What’s Normal and What Isn’t Stomach and Digestive Problems in Children: What's Normal and What Isn't "My tummy hurts" is one of the most common things a child says and one of the… Read the guide → Taking the Fear Out of a Doctor’s Visit: What to Say, and What Not To Taking the Fear Out of a Doctor's Visit: What to Say, and What Not To The goal is not a fun appointment. The goal is a child who… Read the guide → Vision and Hearing in Children: Why Problems Look Like Behaviour Problems Vision and Hearing in Children: Why Problems Look Like Behaviour Problems A child who cannot see the board does not raise their hand and say so. A child… Read the guide → What a Pediatric Practice Is Actually For: A Guide for New Parents What a Pediatric Practice Is Actually For: A Guide for New Parents Most families use a pediatric practice for about a third of what it does. They come… Read the guide → Whooping Cough: The Cough That Sounds Wrong, and Why Babies Are the Reason It Matters Whooping Cough: The Cough That Sounds Wrong, and Why Babies Are the Reason It Matters A baby under one with a cough that comes in fits, or who… Read the guide → Your Child’s Immune System: What Genuinely Helps, and What You Are Being Sold Your Child's Immune System: What Genuinely Helps, and What You Are Being Sold You cannot boost an immune system, and you would not want to. An immune system… Read the guide →

A Cold: What Actually Shortens It, and What Is Just Being Sold to You A Cold: What Actually Shortens It, and What Is Just Being Sold to You Almost nothing shortens a cold. That is the honest headline, and everything sensible follows… Read the guide → Before December 31: Using the Health Benefits You Have Already Paid For Before December 31: Using the Health Benefits You Have Already Paid For For most plans, the clock resets on 1 January. Whatever you have already paid toward your… Read the guide → Exercise: The First Twenty Minutes Are Worth More Than the Next Two Hours Exercise: The First Twenty Minutes Are Worth More Than the Next Two Hours The benefit curve is steepest at the bottom. Going from nothing to a little produces… Read the guide → Getting Through the Holidays: Illness, Sleep, Food, and the Stress Nobody Books Time For Getting Through the Holidays: Illness, Sleep, Food, and the Stress Nobody Books Time For The holidays are not a health risk because of the food. They are six… Read the guide → Hair Loss: The Blood Tests Worth Doing, and Why the Pattern Matters Most Hair Loss: The Blood Tests Worth Doing, and Why the Pattern Matters Most Hair loss is a symptom, not a diagnosis — and it is one of the… Read the guide → High Blood Pressure: Why It Has No Symptoms, and What the Two Numbers Mean High Blood Pressure: Why It Has No Symptoms, and What the Two Numbers Mean High blood pressure does not make you feel unwell. Not at the start, not… Read the guide → Mindfulness and Breathing: What Actually Helps When You Are Anxious Mindfulness and Breathing: What Actually Helps When You Are Anxious If you need something right now, this is it. Breathe out for longer than you breathe in. In… Read the guide → Osteoarthritis: Why Movement Helps a Worn Joint, and What the X-ray Does Not Tell You Osteoarthritis: Why Movement Helps a Worn Joint, and What the X-ray Does Not Tell You Two beliefs make osteoarthritis worse, and almost everyone arrives holding both. The first… Read the guide → Prediabetes and Insulin Resistance: The Window Where This Is Reversible Prediabetes and Insulin Resistance: The Window Where This Is Reversible If you have just been told you have prediabetes, here is the part that matters: this is the… Read the guide → Protecting Your Heart: The Numbers That Matter and When to Check Them Protecting Your Heart: The Numbers That Matter and When to Check Them Do this part first If you are having chest pain, pressure, or tightness — especially with… Read the guide → The Medicine Cabinet Review: What to Throw Out, What to Replace, What to Ask About The Medicine Cabinet Review: What to Throw Out, What to Replace, What to Ask About This takes about twenty minutes once a year, and it catches three things… Read the guide → Vitiligo: An Autoimmune Condition, Not a Cosmetic One Vitiligo: An Autoimmune Condition, Not a Cosmetic One Vitiligo is not a skin blemish. It is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system destroys the cells that… Read the guide → Warts: Why Most Need No Treatment, and What to Do If You Want Them Gone Warts: Why Most Need No Treatment, and What to Do If You Want Them Gone Most warts go away by themselves. In children, roughly two-thirds clear within two… Read the guide → When You Cannot Sleep: What to Try, and When It Is Something Else When You Cannot Sleep: What to Try, and When It Is Something Else One bad night is not insomnia. Insomnia is difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking… Read the guide → Winter in Phoenix: What Actually Goes Around, and What the Season Is Good For Winter in Phoenix: What Actually Goes Around, and What the Season Is Good For Almost everything written about winter health assumes winter is the problem. Bundle up, fight… Read the guide →

Allergies Allergy Season in Arizona: What Blooms, When, and What Actually Helps Allergy Season in Arizona: What Blooms, When, and What Actually Helps People move to Phoenix for the dry air and are surprised to find their allergies worse than… Read the guide → Mental Health Children’s Mental Health: Anxiety, Attention, Development, and Where to Start Children's Mental Health: Anxiety, Attention, Development, and Where to Start If your child is talking about wanting to die, or about hurting themselves, that is not something to… Read the guide → Seasonal Heat Safety in Arizona: Knowing the Line Between Hot and Dangerous Heat Safety in Arizona: Knowing the Line Between Hot and Dangerous Everyone in the Valley knows summer is hot. What is harder to know is the moment hot… Read the guide → Arizona Health Sun Protection and Skin Cancer in Arizona: What Actually Reduces Your Risk Sun Protection and Skin Cancer in Arizona: What Actually Reduces Your Risk Arizona has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the United States. That is… Read the guide → Arizona Health Valley Fever: The Arizona Illness That Gets Treated as Bronchitis Valley Fever: The Arizona Illness That Gets Treated as Bronchitis If you have had a cough and a flattening tiredness for more than two or three weeks, and… Read the guide → Wellness Well-Child and Annual Visits: What They Actually Catch Well-Child and Annual Visits: What They Actually Catch Most people book a check-up because they are told to. That is a poor reason, and it is why check-ups… Read the guide → Patient Guide Where Should You Go? Primary Care, Urgent Care, or the Emergency Room Where Should You Go? Primary Care, Urgent Care, or the Emergency Room First, the only part that is not a judgement call If any of these are happening,… Read the guide →