Please enjoy our free resource for plain explanations of most health concerns. The Northeast Professional Home Care Knowldge Center is searchable, authoritatively sourced, constantly updated.
What is Lyme disease?
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection you get from the bite of an infected tick. At first, Lyme disease usually causes symptoms such as a rash, fever, headache, and fatigue. But if it is not treated early, the infection can spread to your joints, heart, and nervous system. Prompt treatment can help you recover quickly.
What causes Lyme disease?Lyme disease is caused by bacteria. In the United States, this is usually a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. It spreads to humans through the bite of an infected tick. The ticks that spread it are blacklegged ticks (or deer ticks). They are usually found in the:
These ticks can attach to any part of your body. But they are often found in hard-to-see areas such as your groin, armpits, and scalp. Usually, the tick must be attached to you for more than 24 hours to spread the bacterium to you.
Who is more likely to get Lyme disease?Most tick bites happen in the warmer months (April-September), when ticks are most active and people spend more time outdoors. But you can also get bitten during the rest of the year, especially if the temperatures are warmer than usual.
Most tick bites happen in the summer months when ticks are most active and people spend more time outdoors. But you can get bitten in the warmer months of early fall, or even late winter if temperatures are unusually high. And if there is a mild winter, ticks may come out earlier than usual.
What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?Early symptoms of Lyme disease start between 3 to 30 days after an infected tick bites you. The symptoms can include:
If the infection is not treated, it can spread to your joints, heart, and nervous system. The symptoms may include:
To make a diagnosis, your health care provider will consider:
Most Lyme disease tests check for antibodies made by the body in response to infection. These antibodies can take several weeks to develop. If you are tested right away, it may not show that you have Lyme disease, even if you have it. So you may need to have another test later.
What are the treatments for Lyme disease?Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics. The earlier you are treated, the better; it gives you the best chance of fully recovering quickly.
After treatment, some patients may still have pain, fatigue, or difficulty thinking that lasts more than 6 months. This is called post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS). Researchers don't know why some people have PTLDS. There is no proven treatment for PTLDS; long-term antibiotics have not been shown to help. However, there are ways to help with the symptoms of PTLDS. If you have been treated for Lyme disease and still feel unwell, contact your health care provider about how to manage your symptoms. Most people do get better with time. But it can take several months before you feel better.
Can Lyme disease be prevented?To prevent Lyme disease, you should lower your risk of getting a tick bite:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Meniere's disease is a disorder of the inner ear. It can cause severe dizziness, a roaring sound in your ears called tinnitus, hearing loss that comes and goes and the feeling of ear pressure or pain. It usually affects just one ear. It is a common cause of hearing loss.
Attacks of dizziness may come on suddenly or after a short period of tinnitus or muffled hearing. Some people have single attacks of dizziness once in a while. Others may have many attacks close together over several days. Some people with Meniere's disease have "drop attacks" during which the dizziness is so bad they lose their balance and fall.
Scientists don't yet know the cause. They think that it has to do with the fluid levels or the mixing of fluids in the canals of your inner ear. Doctors diagnose it based on a physical exam and your symptoms. A hearing test can check to see how it has affected your hearing.
There is no cure. Treatments include medicines to control dizziness, limiting salt in your diet, and taking water pills. A device that fits into the outer ear and delivers air pulses to the middle ear can help. Severe cases may require surgery.
NIH: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Any part of your neck - muscles, bones, joints, tendons, ligaments, or nerves - can cause neck problems. Neck pain is very common. Pain may also come from your shoulder, jaw, head, or upper arms.
Muscle strain or tension often causes neck pain. The problem is usually overuse, such as from sitting at a computer for too long. Sometimes you can strain your neck muscles from sleeping in an awkward position or overdoing it during exercise. Falls or accidents, including car accidents, are another common cause of neck pain. Whiplash, a soft tissue injury to the neck, is also called neck sprain or strain.
Treatment depends on the cause, but may include applying ice, taking pain relievers, getting physical therapy or wearing a cervical collar. You rarely need surgery.
Health care workers are exposed to many job hazards. These can include :
Follow good job safety and injury prevention practices. They can reduce your risk of health problems. Use protective equipment, follow infection control guidelines, learn the right way to lift heavy objects, and find ways to manage stress.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
What are opioids?
Opioids, sometimes called narcotics, are a type of drug. They include strong prescription pain relievers, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl, and tramadol. The illegal drug heroin is also an opioid.
A health care provider may give you a prescription opioid to reduce pain after you have had a major injury or surgery. You may get them if you have severe pain from health conditions like cancer. Some health care providers prescribe them for chronic pain.
Prescription opioids used for pain relief are generally safe when taken for a short time and as prescribed by your provider. However, opioid use disorder (OUD) is still a possible risk.
What is opioid use disorder (OUD)?Opioid use disorder (OUD) means that you have a problematic pattern of using opioids. The pattern causes a lot of distress and impairment (meaning that it causes problems in and interferes with your daily life). Instead of OUD, sometimes people use the terms "opioid dependence" and "opioid addiction." Dependence means feeling withdrawal symptoms when not taking the drug. Addiction is a chronic brain disease that causes a person to compulsively seek out drugs, even though they cause harm.
What are the treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD)?Treatments for OUD include:
The medicines used in MOUD are methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone:
Methadone, buprenorphine, and lofexidine, which can decrease withdrawal symptoms and cravings. They work by acting on one or another of the targets in the brain that opioids act on. But these medicines are different because they do not make you feel high. Some people worry that if they take methadone or buprenorphine, it means that they are substituting one addiction for another. But it is not; these medicines are a treatment. They restore balance to the parts of the brain affected by addiction. This allows your brain to heal while you work toward recovery.
You may safely take these medicines for months, years, or even a lifetime. If you want to stop taking them, do not do it on your own. You should contact your provider first, and together you can work out a plan for stopping.
Naltrexone works differently than methadone and buprenorphine. It does not help you with withdrawal symptoms or cravings. Instead, it takes away the high that you would normally get when you take opioids. Because of this, you would take naltrexone to prevent a relapse, not to try to get off opioids. You have to be off opioids for at least 7-10 days before you can take naltrexone. Otherwise you could have bad withdrawal symptoms.
A combination drug that includes buprenorphine and naloxone. Naloxone is a drug to treat an opioid overdose. If you take it along with buprenorphine, you will be less likely to misuse the buprenorphine.
Counseling for OUD can help you:
There are different types of counseling for OUD, including:
Counselors can also refer you to other resources that you might need, such as:
Residential programs combine housing and treatment services. You are living with your peers, and you can support each other to stay in recovery. Inpatient hospital-based programs combine health care and OUD treatment services for people with medical problems. Hospitals may also offer intensive outpatient treatment. All these types of treatments are very structured, and usually include several different kinds of counseling and behavioral therapies. They usually also include MOUD.
Print 
PDF