Say NO to Delivery Food!

Have your kids reached the "I'm bored" stage of summer yet? If so, why not spend some quality time together in the kitchen? Our family is challenged with one vegetarian and one GF (gluten-free) dieters, but we have found multiple menus that still please everyone. Today's meal (pictured above) was made by our younger teenage daughter, proving that 14 year-olds can definitely do more than order pizza!

Nutrition studies have found that kids are far more willing to expand their palate when they are involved in preparing the food. Fruit smoothies are probably the easiest and most delicious way to engage your child in the kitchen. Grab some frozen fruit, a banana, and some plain or vanilla yogurt. Toss the ingredients together in a blender and voila- healthy breakfast you can drink on the run as you dash off to dance camp!

My next favorite is today's dish-stir fry. This meal is simple to make vegetarian by adding your beans of choice, but can also be protein-enhanced with chicken, fish or other meats. Supervise your kids as they learn to chop up squash, zucchini, mushrooms, onions and carrots, then toss them in a large wok or pan and stir fry with olive oil. You can also add some garlic and other seasonings as they expand their palate. We serve this over rice (using the" toss in the microwave for one minute" super-fast option) or pasta or even simply over lettuce for an extra veggie load.

BOTTOM LINE: Break the pizza/burger/nachos summer habit, and substitute some healthy dishes and family fun in the kitchen!

Swim Season! Are Your EARS Ready?

Swim season is fully upon us, and with that comes a couple medical challenges. Today I'd like to focus on swimmer's ear.

What is swimmer's ear? 
This typically refers to an OUTER EAR infection caused by fungi or bacteria. The moisture left in the ear after swimming is fertile ground for these organisms to multiply, especially lake water.

What are the symptoms?
Swimmer's ear is PAINFUL and almost always one sided, despite the fact that both ears had the same exposure. (Differently shaped ear canals and varied amounts of ear wax are to blame for this discrepancy.) Since this is an outer ear infection, typically there are no other symptoms (such as stuffy nose, headache, or sore throat, like we see with middle ear infections.)

How quickly should you head to your doctor?
Good news here- often mild to moderate cases of swimmer's ear can be treated with over-the-counter solutions. If you are developing fever or intense pain, it's time to head call your doctor, but more mild symptoms can wait for a couple day trial of home therapy.

How is it treated?
Doctors treat these infections with ear drops that contain both antibiotics or anti-fungal medications, as well as drying and anti-inflammatory agents. However, there is a home concoction that works extremely well for prevention, and often can provide a remedy. Grab a bottle of vinegar and a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and mix them together half & half. This mixture can be spilled on to a cotton ball and squeezed into the ear canal OR my preference is to use the bottle from the over-the-counter swimmer's ear prevention product and fill it up with my "home brew". Place around six drops in each ear, and allow to drain back out- do this after every swim session, and three times/day if you develop a sore ear. Warming up the bottle in your hands will make it less irritating to your ears. The vinegar kills the bacteria & fungus and the alcohol dries up any remaining moisture. Voila! Prevention & cure- same solution.

Please remember that although this mixture will treat a large percentage of outer ear infections, if your sore ear isn't improving in a couple days, please call your doctor & let them take a look, as you may require stronger medications.

By the way, using q-tips to "clean" the ear serves to cause minor trauma to the ear canal and tends to make it easier to get these outer ear infections, so skip the q-tips, please.

BOTTOM LINE: If you (or your kids) are frequent swimmers, don't wait for a sore ear to start using swimmer's ear prevention this summer!

UNPLUG Your Kids!

As summer goes on, kids get sucked deeper and deeper into their electronic abyss. Before you know it, they are sleeping past lunch, staying awake all night and receiving all their light rays from a computer screen or their phone. Today's blog is my public service announcement to parents to UNPLUG your kids!! Remember that all the medical academies recommend we limit screen time to LESS than TWO HOURS per day. Yeah, I know- your kid had that much screen time before she ever got out of bed this morning...

I love camps that prohibit all electronics and allow kids to go back to being kids- jumping in lakes, riding horses, crafting or just hanging out and actually talking out loud instead of texting. Kids (yes, teens, especially) seem to come back home recharged and more socially engaged. However, YOU can create (force, whatever!) your OWN electronic fast  for your kid right at home. Create at least a day (or start with a half-day) of UNPLUGGED time. What can they do? Read a book. Talk. Play cards, or maybe a board game. Better yet- make THEM come up with a list of 10 things they could do.

Of course, adults, we could all use this advice, too. So, stop reading this blog & UNPLUG yourself for a few hours!

BOTTOM LINE: Don't let your kids (or yourself) stay "plugged in" to electronics- limit that screen time!

Summer Swimmer's Ear PREVENTION

Swimming all summer is FUN...till someone gets "swimmer's ear". An ounce of prevention here is truly worth the proverbial pound of cure, and the best news is that you can MAKE that "ounce" right in your kitchen!

Swimmers ear is caused by bacteria and fungi, which get access to the ear via the pool or lake water during swimming. (By the way, using q-tips to "clean" the ear serves to cause minor trauma to the ear canal and tends to make it easier to get these outer ear infections, so skip the q-tips, please.) 90% of the time, swimmer's ear only affects one ear. If you wake up with both ears hurting, it is more likely your middle ear causing the problem, and all the topical treatments in the world won't help.

Back to your kitchen- grab a bottle of vinegar and then a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and mix them together half & half. This mixture can be spilled on to a cotton ball and squeezed into the ear canal OR my preference is to use the bottle from the over-the-counter swimmer's ear prevention product and fill it up with my "home brew". Place around six drops in each ear, and allow to drain back out- do this after every swim session, and three times/day if you develop a sore ear. Warming up the bottle in your hands will make it less irritating to your ears. The vinegar kills the bacteria & fungus and the alcohol dries up any remaining moisture. Voila! Prevention & cure- same solution. I would estimate this will treat the vast majority of infections, but if your sore ear isn't improving in a couple days, please call your doctor & let them take a look. We certainly see "swimmer's ear" infections that require topical antibiotics and or topical steroids (to decrease inflammation and swelling.)

BOTTOM LINE: If you (or your kids) are frequent swimmers, don't wait for a sore ear to start using swimmer's ear prevention this summer!

Got Your "Base Tan" for Summer?

Hooray! School is out (at least in Texas) and summertime is here. Before your teen convinces you she must head to a tanning booth to get that "base tan" before your family's beach vacation, be aware of this- the notion of a "base tan" has no scientific basis, nor support from dermatologists. In fact, the American Academy of Dermatology (AADA) testified last year at FDA hearings about the risks of indoor tanning. These devices have shared the same low risk category as bandaids and tongue depressors, yet we have had medical evidence for years that they clearly cause skin cancers.

Melanoma rates are increasing across the board, and melanoma is now the number one cancer in young people aged 25-29, and the second most common cancer in 15-29 year olds. Use of a tanning bed before the age of 35 increases your risk of developing melanoma by a whopping 75%! I can personally attest in my own practice that I have diagnosed multiple cases of melanoma in the last couple years, primarily in people younger than I am- which really hits home. (I'm 46.) Having lost a friend to melanoma many years ago, I am very aware that skin cancers are not simply cosmetic nuisances.

Tanning beds are not "safe", and they target young people (especially women) with their ads. Many tanning salons promote their "safe" or "harmless" type of UV radiation, but the UVA rays cause damage in the same fashion as UVB rays- only a bit more slowly and more deeply.

The American Academy of Dermatology hopes the FDA will ban indoor tanning devices all together, but at the least, should require a minimum age of 18 for ANY indoor tanning and should mandate obtaining informed consent from clients AFTER educating them about the real risks of skin cancer. The AADA also strongly recommends changing the risk category of these machines to match the health risks they create.

BOTTOM LINE: TANNING is NOT SAFE and "base tans" don't help! Use sunscreen, wear protective clothing and stay away from tanning beds all together.


PS It's June 1st- Change those AIR FILTERS!

Swimmer's Ear- Home Remedy

Here in Texas we are nearly done with school, and thoughts are veering away from finals and towards days filled with swimming, boating and all kinds of water activities. Austin boasts terrific natural swimming spots, including our lakes and our famous spring-fed Barton Springs pool, where the refreshing water stays at a cool 65 degrees even when we are baking in 100-plus temperatures. Not surprisingly, we tend to see an increase in swimmer's ear infections (otitis externa), which can not only be painful, but can limit your water fun. The good news is that prevention works extremely well, and even when that fails, you may not need to head straight to the doctor. The solution is EAR DROPS.

What drops do we use? We make our own home brew of half and half, alcohol and vinegar. (Yes, rubbing alcohol and generic cooking white vinegar.) To be honest, I like the convenience of the over-the-counter little bottle, so I actually buy one and pour out the contents, replacing it with our home remedy. An extra tip is to set it outside (in the shade in Texas) where it will warm up a bit before you put drops in your ears, so it's not cold and irritating.

This mix will actually work both for prevention and for treatment, if you forgot to use it ahead of time. Nine times out of ten, this will be all you will need! The vinegar kills the fungus, and the alcohol dries up any moisture that remains.
If you are an ear-wax-builder-upper, you may need to flush your ears periodically (such as once per month) using an infant bulb syringe and luke warm tap water, to remove packed in ear wax prior to putting in the home brew drops.

BOTTOM LINE: As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but remember vinegar/alcohol ear drops for swimmer's ear and you'll be set!

The Secret to a Successful Exercise Program

Here in Austin, the temperature is already climbing into the upper 80's, so our swimsuit season has officially arrived. Unfortunately, most of us still have a bit of "winter fat" on us that we'd like to shed. If you have kids, it's easy to get caught up in the end of school year rush and push aside your own health priorities. After all, who's got the time?

Let me encourage you to MAKE the time. Make exercise a DAILY habit- just like brushing your teeth. Take away the whole "am I going to exercise today" dilemma. If you got out of bed, YES, some form of exercise will happen today. Period. You don't have to have an elaborate work out plan that consumes an extra hour simply to get to and from the gym! If you have the time, grab that gym bag, but if not, START MOVING. The "BEST" exercise is the plan you will follow every day. Extend that dog walk and make it two miles in a half hour; pull the clothes off the treadmill or exercise bike and hop on it to watch your favorite show; pull out your favorite exercise DVD or flip channels till you find a new one.

What's the secret to exercising every day? Do it FIRST THING in the morning, and don't give yourself a "choice" to hit snooze. Let me assure you, when my alarm goes off at 5:00am, I do NOT leap out of bed with a smile on my lips and a song in my heart! I grumble to myself, moaning and groaning a bit while I throw on weather appropriate clothes, leash the dog, and head out the door. That being said, by the time I reach the top of the first hill, I'm pleased with myself for getting out there, and I feel energized and ready to take on the day by the time I hit the shower.

BOTTOM LINE: START EVERY DAY with 30 minutes of exercise, and you'll stop worrying about whether or not you can "fit" exercise into your schedule!

Get Cooking! (Another Summer Suggestion)

In our BORED list earlier this week, I didn't have space to include COOKING. Summer is a wonderful time to encourage your kids to participate in the family meal plan, as well as learning to cook. It's easy to fall into the routine of hot dogs, burgers, fries, and pizza, if you are not paying attention. Kids in general love to cook, and with no homework to tie them up, they're free to help out in the kitchen. Teach them how to safely chop up vegetables, or create a salad (even if they don't like salads yet, they can pitch in during the preparation.) Supervise them tossing ingredients into a slow cooker in the morning, and then they are proud they prepared dinner.

Another summer suggestion is to make sure every day's diet includes five to ten servings of fruits and veggies. Fruit smoothies are delicious, and especially refreshing in the summer. Toss a banana in the blender, add in a cup of yogurt and a handful of frozen berries, and you're all set! Right there, you've got a couple fruit servings.

Grab some melons- I'll bet a watermelon will disappear in a heartbeat! I challenge everyone to set out a platter of cut up melon, strawberries and grapes in front of some teens and see how long it takes for them to inhale it. Add some cheese and whole wheat crackers, and you've got a healthy lunch.
BOTTOM LINE: Include the kitchen in your summer fun!

Pretty Toenails for Summer

Have you been sandal shopping yet? Well, here in Texas, it's already sunny & hot, and the kids are nearly out of school- we're ready for summer! Many of my patients ask my opinion about pedicures as they prepare for sandal season. So what do I think?
Overall, I am okay with pedicures. Make sure they use disposable blades and sterile equipment, and discourage too much "cuticle" work. If you have markedly yellow, thick nails, then I would suggest that you stick to the pedicure technicians smoothing out your calluses and consider leaving nail polish off for awhile (weeks to a couple months) while you treat the toenail fungus. The home remedy that I recommend for yellow nails is Vicks Vaporub applied to a naked nail each evening (even if you apply polish each morning- remove it nightly.)
Doing your own pedicure with a home foot bath? Remember to clean out the bath with a bleach solution between uses.
Last but not least, cut your toenails strait across (not curvy, like fingernails) to help avoid ingrown nails.
Bottom Line: Enjoy your pedicures (within limits) as you prepare for sandal feet!