Hi, all. I'm your friendly neigbourhood Nigerian physician.

Let's start a discussion here, on matters concerning our health.

I've tried to encourage such a discussion on my site by posting interesting, real-life health "scoops" - actual events that happen in the course of this doctor's daily, scheduled practice, albeit presented in such a way that it tries to safe-guard patients' confidentiality concerns.

Share your own health challenges here or post questions/comments here, after getting the[b] "scoops"[/b] by clicking on the link in my signature below - you get a response here, inside 24 hours. Promise.

Thanks.

i look older than my age.What do i do to look my age

@ kencivic,

If indeed it bothers you looking older than your age, well here is this doctor's advice in a nut-shell:

1) Where possible, remove the stressor factors in your life-style by not getting too "worked-up".

2) Get enough rest, particularly a good night's sleep.

3) Get enough planned, controlled exercise - not to be confused with "walking up and down all day". Walking to and fro, climbing up and down the stairway with your brain calculating on the job as you try to meet up your scheduled work and beat dead-lines - those fall under stressor factors that lead up to Stress.

4) Eat healthy - balanced diet containing a fair amount of the 3 major food substances: Carbohydrates, Proteins and Fats (avoid too much animal Fats which contains Cholesterol), as well as vitamins, Folic acid and Iron. Avoid over-eating.

5) Avoid substance abuse on the body e.g. regular, indiscriminate use of un-prescribed drugs, excessive alcohol & cigarettes, hard substances.

6) Excessive worrying. Try to resolve troubling issues where possible. Where you can't resolve easily, try to find peace.

7) Finally, come to terms with, and feel good with who you are and what you might not be able to change genetically. You radiate to others what you feel inside. If you feel good about yourself, you then appear cool and relaxed to other people - an d probably more "youthful" too.

Hope this helps.

@ kencivic.

I read your thread of the same problem as the one you post here. If the problem is a skin condition, as you seem to imply in your thread, I strongly suggest you see a Consultant Dermatologist - a medical doctor that specializes in skin problems. Try not to do any experimentation.

interesting site.

Making the thread sticky. Nairaland can afford to have more than one doctor.

Hi doc,iv got a scar on my face which presently looks like keloid.visited the dermatologist and an injection was used on the scar.the swelling went down and after some weeks it went back to how it was before the medication.please what do you advice i use or could you please recommend a very good dermatologist in lagos whom i could see.thanks

@yesoo

I suggest you see the same Dermatologist again. It usually takes repeated shots of the injection (I suspect it was Kernalog injection) into the scar for the desired outcome. With this method, the desired outcome doesn't always result, I'm afraid, depending on the extensiveness and nature of the scar tissue.

You might consider seeing a Consultant Burns and Plastics Surgeon. You'll find them at the Teaching hospitals from where you can trace them to their private clinics if you prefer.

Adenoids in a 1 year old baby girl, what should we do doc?

@Aladunni

Adenoids, or Acute Tonsilitis that are recurrent, in a one-year old. Hmm, I imagine she has been placed on a course of antibiotics to no avali, right?

I asked wat to do sir, she was on IV Antibiotics for treating stooling dat wont stop for almost a week. She was fine, had malaria again and in the course of treatment, the doc noticed her snoring in her sleep, he told us it wasnt normal. Then mentioned 'adenoids'. What do u advice apart 4m surgery. I think she is too lil for dat now.

@Aladunni

From the available facts, I advice that you do nothing, since it may be a none-issue.

Or, better still, you get clarification from the doctor who made those statements, as to the significance or otherwise, regarding the child's snoring.

Doctor's make fuzzy statements when thinking out loud in trying to eliminate a possible diagnosis. Flog out the issue and get clarification with the person you are dealing with there and then.

If her stooling has stopped and her Malaria is over, even if she snores at night but breathes well when awake and that is all - no fever, playful, eating, laughing - let the child be.

thanks doc

Aladunni:

thanks doc

You are welcome anytime

I uploaded  on my blog, a moving story - "Brave Young Hearts - . . .   " Did anyone read it? Go read it!

I once had a patient who said something touching to me - she said she understands better the temperament of her doctors, after reading an article in some publication. She had wondered before how come doctors don't always receive her with a smile. She knew better after the article: All that pressure. Imaging, she had read, entering the consulting room on a busy consultation day only for the patient's greeting to be received with a blank stare. Little did the patient know that the patient before, had been close to the doctor's heart and had just been told that her only child is dying of leaukaemia.

How does the doctor make a quick emotional shift from empathy to gaiety, if you see what I'm saying.

I have 2 dimples on my lower back just above my bum. Occasionally, the left one hurts badly. Attempts to massage it lead to me ending up on the other side of the room without remembering how I got there. Anyway I react by reducing my sugar intake but right now my sugar intake is really little as in I take my tea without sugar and only use a cube or two with cereal or garri. So I was puzzled when the pain started up. What could be the cause?

@Ejadamen

Likely a Pilonidal Cyst. This happens when the hair on the skin becomes ingrown, leading to irritation and then infection. Occassionally it is painful, occassionally it is not. A course of antibiotics would usually cure the condition. Sometimes surgical incision is resorted to.

Thanks Doc but that surgical incision

Please assist me doctor,

I dont know what is wrong with my toe. I think I hit it on something sometime in June. I am not so sure. However, I noticed the the skin over there started peeling off. I thought it was going to heal but after 2 weeks it just continued. I had to visit a doctor who gave me tetanus injection and Brustan-N 400mg and Lincomycin 500mg to take. I finished the drugs and I clean the area with Methylated Spirit and Pencillin ointment 2 times everyday, but the peeling off is still continuing.

I dont know what to do again. Someone is suggesting I immerse the toe in kerosene or PMS (Petroleum Motor Spirit).

I am actually out of ideas and the stuff has just spread to the nail on the toe now.

This is the picture of how it looked by mid July. I will upload the recent pic as soon as I sort out the bluetooth problem with my system.

Many thanls for your assistance.

@ ezec2009

Your picture unfortunately doesn't do enough justice for one to assess properly the actual look - too much lighting interference or so.

If you are willing to go through all this trouble then I'm sure you will be able to carry out my simple advice: Seek-out a a Consultant Dermatologist

I don't know your age but certain skin lesions can be a serious matter indeed, even a Cancer. More so that you have received treatment from a none-specialist to no avail.

Hi Doc
Woke up this morning, stretched my arms while still lying on the bed and I felt something snap and a seering pain go thru' the right part of my chest. Since then I've felt a pain on that part of my body. I've used ibuprofen orally and applied neurogesic methyl salicylate ointment externally but as I type I don't feel any relief. If anything, the pain is worse.

What could have caused my problem and what do you advice?

@semid4lyfe

Talk about a rude awakening, Owch! Sorry. Have you been doing some upper-body exercises of late? You might have strained or even torn some of the pectoralis muscle fibres (out of many tiny muscle fibres that together form the whole muscle bulk) or a few srands of the muscle ligament where it attaches to the chest bones. This happens more readily when the muscle tissue is tensed up from nutrients depletion such as calcium, after bouts of muscular activity.

Rest the limb, and time will take care of the rest. Analgesics like ibufen 400mg x3 daily or stronger ones like Diclofenac Sodium 100mg x2 daily, will help too, but avoid these if you are known to surfer Peptic Ulcer, and if not, take them after a meal and not on an empty stomach.

@ surgeon
Thanks!

Although your post was gobbled up by the spambot, I was able to read it. I'll do as u advised.

pls help save a life, my last unprotected sex resulted in an std.my part scratches me a lot.its d 1st time i'm experiencing this.i cant help but to continue scratching and its disturbing my skin around my private part.its been 3weeks now.

My pleasure, @semid4lyfe - Who shall save our gobbled up posts from the throats of those spam robots?

@mawojuuche

You probably have Taenia Cruris. Apply a Clotrimazole cream e.g. Canesten, evenly on all the itchy surfaces after having your bath and towel-drying the area, twice daily for 4 - 6 weeks.

Health advice: use protection. ^{Brotherly advice: be faithful to God.}

hi doc remember me again? another problem o, i just see these small small spots on different parts of my body and when i scratch it, it's like my skin is drying up or something. . . i dunno but its like im begining to have a dry sky or so. when i scratch any part of my body, it appears white. . . ok let me try to give you a clue, u know wen pap (ogi) pours and dries on your skin, you know how it looks? thats what i have all over my body. . . and my skin appears dry. . . help!!!

I've this stubborn stain on my pre-molar. I've brush with chew stick and salt but no good results. And now seems it's spreading fast. What do I do?

@5p1nan

I've replied you on Dr. Balogun's thread

@akyus

This is common on the sides of the molars and pre-molars. It's the calculi that gets stained over time. [i]Scaling and polishing [/i]procedure by a qualified Dentist is your best bet.

pls doctor i need advice on fibroid surgery ,because i was diagonised of having fibriod, i want to know if i operate it,i may get pregnant.

@stevade

Most cases of Fibroid when seen early, can be operated on and then a pregnancy can still very well result. See your Gynae.

Hi doc, i need help ave got boils on my private part, pls what can i do about it?

@porto5

A multitude of Dermatological problems can have the patient say ". . . boils in my privates", so it's difficult to know what the diagnosis can be.

Is it on the  p e n i s,  scrotal sac or the groin area?

Are the "boils" thin-walled, tiny, multiple, fluid-filled vesicles?^{I'd be thinking Herpes}

Are they with a skin colour-changing rash?^{Like in Taenia cruris, etc}

Are they pustular?^{As in oozing pus}