Archive for July 13, 2011

13 Jul 2011
Health Care

Piriformis Syndrome

If you are wondering if you have piriformis syndrome you can do a lot to diagnose yourself at home. First, is the pain worse when you are sitting down? Do you have pain, numbness, and/or weakness in the buttocks, down the back of the leg, or both? Without such pain and discomfort, you can rule out piriformis syndrome. Next, if you press on the muscle in each buttock, just above the middle of the cheek, and you have pain on one side or both sides, that is another indication that you have piriformis syndrome. Sometimes you can feel the muscle in spasm there. If you don’t feel any pain, tenderness, or discomfort with this pressure, chances are you don’t have the problem, though there are a few exceptions to this rule. Third is the classic “straight leg raise test”. To do this, you will need someone to help you out. First, you lie flat on your back on a hard surface. Next, the person helping you, will raise your legs one at a time. As this is being done, you must let this person know at what point you feel pain and at what angle you feel it. If the angle is between 30 and 60 degrees and the pain is in the back, it often indicates irritation of nerve roots that form the sciatic nerve. Bending the knee while the leg is still raised should relieve the pain. If this does not relieve the pain then the problem is probably in the hip. If the pain is in the back of your knee and occurs at the same angle for both legs, you may have nothing more serious than tight hamstrings. If, however piriformis syndrome is present, this test should cause more pain on the side that is most affected.

Next we will explain how to perform the FAIR test at home. A simple form of this test, without an EMG machine was created by a Norwegian surgeon named Solheim and is commonly referred to as the Solheim Test. First, lie on your side on the floor, with the painful side up. Next, bring the knee of the leg on that side down to the floor, without turning over and without facing downward. A friend can do that part and the next. Now press ypur knee downward and move the ankle upward, more or less using the leg as a crank to turn the hip joint counterclockwise(to the left)and clockwise(to the right). If you feel pain you may well have Piriformis Syndrome.

There is also a test called the Paces Test, which also requires the help of a friend. Assume the same position as at the start of the Solheim Test. Raise your bent leg. Your friend should now try earnestly but not too vigorously to keep it down Once your leg is up in the air, hold it there. If you are weaker on one side than the other, that is another indication that you may be suffering from Piriformis Syndrome. If you experience any severe abnormalities while performing these tests, you may want to go see your doctor for the full version of the Fair Test with an EMG machine.

A conventional X-ray will not show piriformis syndrome, nor will any standard MRI or EMG. However, the spasm of the piriformis muscle can affect the sciatic nerve and can damage or even sever some of its fibers, and an EMG can pick up that damage.

The various types of exertion that could have caused piriformis syndrome in the first place can also make it worse, or make it begin again if it has eased up. Running on a treadmill is an example of this, as is walking up steep stairs or a hill, or heavy lifting for a long period of time.

Most of the time, people who have piriformis syndrome have it on one side, then get it on the other side as well. The pressure of the abnormally large or stiff piriformis muscle pulls the sciatic nerve taut. The recommended physical therapy for Piriformis Syndrome is two or three times per week for one to three months. We sincerely hope that this has made it easier to tell whether you have this sydrome before you spend a lot of money and time on worthless doctor visits that may not tell you any more than these simple tests will tell you. And we hope that this will help you to tell the difference between sciatica pain and the discomfort and Piriformis Syndrome.

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13 Jul 2011
Health Care • Health Insurance

Health Insurance Info

This is where health insurance could benefit us all. Yes, health insurance may cost a lot but having no health insurance at all cost more. Medical bills incurred from an accident could burn a hole in your savings. And in cases of cancer treatments, with all the doctors’ check ups, laboratory tests, and chemotherapy that one has to go through it could ruin you financially.

Health insurance could help you pay for the cost of a regular medical check ups, surgeries, contact lenses and glasses and even emergency treatments. There are two basic kinds of health insurance plan, the indemnity plan and the managed care plan. Indemnity plan is also called the fee for service plan. It has wider freedom and flexibility in the choices of the insured. He gets to pick the doctor, hospital and laboratory and other medical service provider of his choice. As long as the medical service is included in the health contract. But, the catch is the plan doesn’t pay for the entire charges, instead the insured shoulders the 20 % of the payment. This kind of plan covers only illnesses and accidents but preventive care like flu shots and birth control are not included. And coverage of the cost of prescription drugs and psychotherapy will depend on the policy and the company.

Managed Care Health insurance differs from the indemnity plan in a lot of ways. First, choice of doctors, hospitals, laboratories and other medical service provider is

limited to only those who have contracts with the HMO -Health Maintenance Organization–.Medical services is received only if authorized by the plan. If you insist on engaging on non authorized medical service provider then the cost of service or care provided will not be paid by the company. Preventive care and mental health treatment are covered by the plan.

Due to the rising demands for better and wider health insurance coverage, the health insurance is offering hybrid plans. Wherein, they combine the benefits of HMOs and indemnity coverage. The method is you can use the network of medical service providers that have contracts with the HMO but you are allow to choose someone outside of the network and pay for a higher percentage in the fee.. Managed Care plan also allows open access theory, where one can see a network medical specialist without any referrals from HMO.

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05 Jul 2011
Health Care • Health Insurance

Different of Health Care

There have been a number of different health care reforms proposed during the Obama administration. The first of these reform proposals to be passed by the United States Congress is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which originated in the Senate and was later passed by the House of Representatives in amended form on March 21, 2010 (with a vote of 219–212).President Obama signed the reforms into law on March 23, 2010

A clear goal of the new health care reform law is increased access to home-based care.

Last month’s health care law contained some benefits for the nation’s older population. It provided long-term care options to allow more seniors to stay in their current homes rather than seek institutionalized care, and called for more publicly available information about nursing homes.

The number of Americans over 65 will mushroom in the coming decade, as roughly 75 million Baby Boomers reach retirement age. Their long-term health care needs will strain the nation’s collective wallet, stretching thin programs like Medicaid and Medicare.

Meanwhile, more than 10 million Americans are currently in need of long-term services that help them function in their daily life, and that number is expected to rise to nearly 15 million by 2020, according to the National Council on Aging.

A variety of specific types of reform have been suggested to improve the United States health care system. These range from increased use of health care technology through changing the anti-trust rules governing health insurance companies and tort-reform to rationing of care. Different overall strategies have been suggested as well.

Reforming or restructuring the private health insurance market is often suggested as a means for achieving health care reform in the U.S. Insurance market reform has the potential to increase the number of Americans with insurance, but is unlikely to significantly reduce the rate of growth in health care spending. Careful consideration of basic insurance principles is important when considering insurance market reform, in order to avoid unanticipated consequences and ensure the long-term viability of the reformed system. According to one study conducted by the Urban Institute, if not implemented on a systematic basis with appropriate safeguards, market reform has the potential to cause more problems than it solves.

Critics have argued that medical malpractice costs (insurance and lawsuits, for example) are significant and should be addressed via tort reform.

How much these costs are is a matter of debate. Some have argued that malpractice lawsuits are a major driver of medical costs. A 2005 study estimated the cost around 0.2%, and in 2009 insurer WellPoint Inc. said “liability wasn’t driving premiums.” A 2006 study found neurologists in the United States ordered more tests in theoretical clinical situations posed than their German counterparts; U.S. clinicians are more likely to fear litigation which may be due to the teaching of defensive strategies which are reported more often in U.S. teaching programs. Counting both direct and indirect costs, other studies estimate the total cost of malpractice “is linked to” between 5% and 10% of total U.S. medical costs.

President Barack Obama argues that U.S. healthcare is rationed, based on income, type of employment, and pre-existing medical conditions, with nearly 46 million uninsured. He argues that millions of Americans are denied coverage or face higher premiums as a result of pre-existing medical conditions.

The payment system refers to the billing and payment for medical services, which is distinct from the delivery system through which the services are provided. The over 1,300 U.S. health insurance companies have different forms and processes for billing and reimbursement, requiring enormous costs on the part of service providers (mainly doctors and hospitals) to process payments. For example, the Cleveland Clinic, considered a low-cost, best-practices hospital system, has 1,400 billing clerks to support 2,000 doctors. Further, the insurance companies have their own overhead functions and profit margins, much of which could be eliminated with a single payer system. Economist Paul Krugman estimated in 2005 that converting from the current private insurance system to a single-payer system would enable $200 billion per year in cost savings, primarily via insurance company overhead. One advocacy group estimated savings as high as $400 billion annually for 2009 and beyond.

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