Mountainside Medical Blog

Protect Yourself From The Sun

Posted on June 22 2017

The sun's rays feel great when enjoying a relaxing day outside, but the harm that they cause if you're not protecting yourself properly could be detrimental. Check out these sun facts that we put together to make sure that you are making the most out of your sunny days all while being safe and reducing the damage that could be done to your skin and health.

Need to stock up on some sunscreen? Luckily, we have an entire section on our website dedicated to just that! Head over here to stock up and protect yourself as well as your family today.
A Simple Way to Ease Dry Mouth Symptoms

Posted on June 16 2017

GC America Oral Dry Mouth Gel is designed to ease the symptoms of dry mouth. Flavored dry mouth oral gel is great for patients suffering from impaired saliva production due to medications, radiation/chemotherapy treatments, or diseases that can damage salivary glands. This oral gel has a neutral pH, pleasant taste, and is both sugar and alcohol free.

Did you know that dry mouth can affect everyone? It's true. Not only can medications, medical treatment, and disease affect your saliva production, but inadequate water intake, dehydration due to physical activity, mouth breathing, and dehydration from high intakes of caffeine or alcohol can also cause dry mouth.

GC America, a leader in oral and dental health products such as MI Paste and MI Paste Plus, has developed a great-tasting oral gel that will relieve dry mouth so that you can feel comfortable again. This gel is long lasting, can be easily applied at any time, and can be used multiple times throughout the day, as needed. Simply place a generous amount of GC dry mouth gel onto your finger or tongue, and smear over the buccal and lingual surfaces of the teeth and oral tissues.

For instant, lasting relief from dry mouth symptoms, use GC Dry Mouth Gel.

Grab your GC America Dry Mouth Gel here today.
Asthma: Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment Options

Posted on June 15 2017

Asthmatic bronchus (asthma) is a respiratory condition marked by spasms in the bronchi of the lungs, causing difficulty in breathing. An asthma attack may include coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, and trouble breathing. The attack happens in your body’s airways, which are the paths that carry air to your lungs. As the air moves through your lungs, the airways become smaller, like the branches of a tree are smaller than the tree trunk. During an asthma attack, the sides of the airways in your lungs swell and the airways shrink. Less air gets in and out of your lungs, and mucous that your body makes clogs up the airways even more. It usually results from an allergic reaction or other forms of hypersensitivity. Affecting patients of all ages, symptoms of asthma include wheezing, chest tightness, difficulty breathing and coughing, and some treatments include nebulizer machines and humidifiers, to asthma allergy medications.

Signs and Symptoms: Chest Tightness; Coughing with thick, clear, or yellow mucus; Cyanosis (late sign); Diaphoresis; Nasal flaring; Pursed-lip breathing; Sudden dyspnea; Tachycardia; Tachypnea; Use of accessory muscles for breathing; Wheezing accompanied by coarse rhonchi.

Cause: Obstruction or narrowing of the airways, which are typically inflamed and hyperresponsive to variety of stimuli.

For asthma related treatments that may be needed and suggested by your doctor visit the asthma section of our site here.

Looking for pediatric nebulizers? We have those too, like the Express Train Nebulizer and Dog Nebulizer!

Also be sure to check out our Lung Health Pinterest board for tips and education.
Acne Causes and Treatments

Posted on June 13 2017

Stop hiding and take control of your acne. Acne affects millions of people of all ages everyday and remains one of the most common dermatologic conditions. Acne affects the skin’s oil glands. Your pores connect to oil glands under the skin and these small glands make an oily substance called sebum. The pores connect to the glands by a canal called a follicle. Inside the follicles, oil carries dead skin cells to the surface of the skin. A thin hair also grows through the follicle and out the skin. When the follicle of a skin gland clogs up, a pimple grows. Most cases of mild comedonal acne occur in teenagers and young adults which can usually be treated with traditional topical gels, creams and face wash solutions. The most common of these are retinoids, like Retin-A, Differin, Renova, and Tazorac which work to unblock clogged pores.

Dermatologists will often combine a topical retinoid with an oral antibiotic, such as doxycycline, tetracycline, minocycline or erythromycin, which kills the bacteria that cause inflammation around the blocked pores.

You can also reduce your acne symptoms by gently washing your face daily with a mild face wash and warm water to get rid of any make up or dirt particles that you may have gotten on your skin throughout the day.

You can also check out our favorite acne fighting products right here for everything from face washes to treatment gels.

Also, be sure to check out our Skin Care Pinterest board for more great tips, tricks and products.
Naloxone: What It Is and Who It Can Save

Posted on June 12 2017

It is an epidemic that is rising faster than ever. The opiate drug overdose epidemic has taken the lives of many and continues to regularly, affecting the lives of those around us in momentous ways. It is for this reason that law enforcement has decided to add a new tool to their arsenal of equipment when patrolling the streets; in steps naloxone.

Naloxone is an opioid antagonist used to reverse the effects of all types of opioid overdoses including heroin and prescription pain pills such as morphine, codeine, oxycodone, methadone and Vicodin by blocking receptors in the brain and bringing the individual back to life within just 2-5 minutes.

Naloxone has also saved the lives of officers who have come in contact with drugs like fentanyl when patting down suspects, as well as K-9s who are sent into situations to find narcotics. Both humans and dogs can fall victim to overdose by absorption through the skin (and paws of dogs) or if accidentally ingested. Both canine and human can be administered naloxone through a nasal spray and depending on the drug and the amount exposed to, both people and dogs can require multiple doses to reverse the overdose.

Mountainside Medical Equipment is proud to introduce the Naloxone First Responders Kit, which comes preassembled with all of the supplies that emergency responders would need to safely administer Naloxone. Since emergency responders are usually among the first on the scene, equipping them with Naloxone will enable them to provide lifesaving assistance much quicker than if the patient had to wait until getting to a hospital to receive treatment, which might be too late for it to be effective.

One of our customers, Lieutenant/PIO Russell Blanck of the Centennial Lakes Police Department stated "There is no doubt that equipping our officers with Narcan has resulted in saved lives. Our officers are proud to be equipped with Narcan and to be able to offer this critically needed service to the citizens and guests of our jurisdiction. When you think about it, $66 (the cost we paid per kit) is an infinitesimally small amount to be equipped to save a life."

(Via Centennial Lakes Police Department)

Sending a big thank you out to the responding officers who were the front line handlers of these medical emergencies. Keep up the great work!

You can see all of the Naloxone options and kits that we carry here.