Category: P

A physician who specializes in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation. Physiatrists focus on restoring function in people who experience acute or chronic pain or who have musculoskeletal or neurological disorders. They treat a range of problems, from back pain to carpal tunnel syndrome to quadriplegia. In addition to 4 years of medical school,…

An anticonvulsant drug. Phenytoin sodium (Dilantin) is used to treat seizures associated with epilepsy and to prevent seizures during neurosurgery. Phenytoin sodium acts on the central nervous system to reduce the number and severity of seizures. An older drug for the treatment of epilepsy. It is not now widely used as it is difficult to…

An abnormal pouch of tissue where the pharynx (the lower part of the throat) joins the esophagus (the muscular tube that connects the throat to the stomach). Diagnosis is usually made by an upper gastrointestinal (GI) series (an X-ray procedure).  

A sensation of discomfort at the site of a missing limb. Pain in a phantom limb is a common phenomenon after an amputation. The majority of amputations in the United States take place as a result of circulation problems caused by diabetes. Phautom pain usually begins within 24 hours following amputation. In some people, the…

A group of inherited neuromuscular diseases characterized by wasting of the extremities, particularly the peroneal muscle groups of the lower legs. People with peroneal muscular atrophy are sometimes said to have “stork legs.” A uncommon genetic condition marked by muscle degeneration, initially in the feet and calves and later in the hands and forearms. Often…

Redness and swelling of the skin caused by overexposure to the cold; also known as chilblains. Pernio occurs chiefly on the hands, feet, and ears. Symptoms include blistering, burning, itching, and ulceration. Treatment is with protection from the cold and gentle warming. Smoking should be avoided because it constricts the blood vessels. Occasionally, medications are…

A lotion used externally to treat head lice and scabies infections. Permethrin (Acticin, Elimite, Nix) is available as a 1 percent lotion that acts by destroying lice and their eggs. In a 5 percent cream formulation, permethrin is used to kill the mites that cause scabies. It should not be used in infants. An insecticide…

A prenatal diagnostic test for genetic abnormalities and infection. Percutaneous umbilical cord blood sampling (PUBS) is one of the newest methods of sampling fetal blood for testing. The procedure is used only after the 17th week of pregnancy, and only when other diagnostic procedures have not yielded a definitive result. PUBS is exclusively performed by…

Contagious, viral growths on a man’s penis that first appear as cauliflower like eruptions and increase rapidly in size. Penile warts usually cause itching and can spread from the tip of the penis to the shaft and may also occur inside the urethral opening. They are one of the sexually transmitted disease, produced by a…

Treatment programs designed to help a child recover from a debilitating injury or illness. Pediatric rehabilitation helps a child cope with and compensate for disabling conditions that cannot be reversed with medical care. Rehabilitation may be prescribed for learning disabilities, head trauma, amputations, orthopedic or spinal injury, or congenital birth defects such as spina bifida.…