Monday, February 10, 2025

Ask the Experts

Share

ask-the-expertsFrom pediatric questions to general medical queries, our panel of experts is here to answer your questions….

Cotton Mouth

Question: Recently I have been waking up in the morning with an extremely dry mouth. Otherwise I am of normal health and do not have any health concerns. What could this be?

Dr. Nageen Murad, General Physician responds: “Dry mouth is quite a common symptom, especially in old age. It may be associated with common conditions like anxiety, reduced drinking
of oral fluids, due to the side effects of certain medications, or some serious chronic medical illnesses like diabetes mellitus. In your case, as you have been observing an extremely dry mouth after awakening, it could be due to mouth breathing possibly due to obstructive sleep apnea- a disorder of sleep characterized by pauses in breathing due to physiological collapsing of the upper air ways and mouth breathing. The most appropriate step for you would be to visit your physician and discuss your symptoms in detail. He will assess your history, physical condition, and accordingly, will suggest certain investigations. He may advise you visit a specialist consultation for some highly specialized investigations like sleep studies to rule out sleep apnea syndrome. If you are overweight, it is advisable to reduce your weight, which may improve your symptoms of mouth breathing in case obesity is a contributing factor. Some other simple remedies also include: to sleep on one side, release nasal blockage before going to bed, relieve daily stressors, elevate your head, and to eat healthy.”

Enlarged Wart Causing Concern

Question: I have recently developed a wart on my toe and it’s growing in size. Are warts contagious? What is the gold standard treatment?

Dr. Rajiv Singla, Specialist Dermatology responds: “A wart on your toe could be serious issue as it can cause severe pain while walking or standing. As it is caused by a virus, warts are transmitted by direct or indirect contact. So you need to avoid coming in direct contact with surfaces like wet floors and benches in places such as communal changing rooms, swimming pools and shower rooms. Also, you should not share shoes and socks with other people to avoid transmission of the infection to others.

There are various treatment options available from application of salicylic acid to intra-lesional injections and electric cautery; and best treatment given depends on the size of the wart and number of warts. Since you have the single lesion on your toe, the best treatment option in your case will be to give a fair trial of a daily application of salicylic acid for 12 weeks.

In case there is no response or recurrence, removal by freezing the lesion with a gas, which is known as cryotherapy, is advised. You need a minimum of three sessions of cryotherapy at an interval of two weeks. Although the best results are expected with the above mentioned treatments, still, in your case and in many cases, if there is no good response from either of them and in such recalcitrant cases, laser therapy with long pulse Nd yag laser is given or surgical excision can be done.”

Skin Overly-Sensitive

Question: I have super sensitive skin and scared to use anything on my skin. What are some really safe and gentle ingredients I should be looking out for in a skincare product?

Katrina Valente, Holistic Aesthetician responds: “For super sensitive skin, it’s good to look for ingredients that are calming such as Chamomile, which soothes and calms, Aloe Vera or stone crop,
which moisturizes and hydrates and also calms redness, rose, which is extremely desensitizing and moisturizing, Calendula, which is good for minor burns, chafing and sunburn to support the healing of sensitive skin and also lavender, which is a good all-around soother and balancer.

It is best to find these in a good organic skincare product like Eminence Professional Organics. There is the stone crop moisturizer, which is specifically for sensitive dehydrated pigmented skins, a
Hibiscus Calendula mask that calms and soothes, a rose tonic to hydrate and soothe, or a moisturizer in rose which is excellent for any sensitive skin types and also an amazing Lavender night concentrate which has stem cell therapy. With a proper skincare routine, one can reverse sensitivity to make it more normal over time.”

Print Versions

Read more

Local News