After hours

We do not share “call” for after hours time. We have a medical provider available for truly urgent needs.  We also are open 5 days a week to handle all concerns including problems, refills and medication requests so please be respectful of our time after hours and know that routine things will be handled during regular office hours.

Often patients want to know some simple things they can try for common ailments so we have compiled a list of some.  All available treatments listed are for otherwise healthy people and taking no interacting medicines.  If you are on medications (like heart or blood pressure or others) make sure you read the cautions with your medicines or ask your pharmacist if it is ok to mix with your regular medicines.

We cannot diagnose you without seeing you, so if you want to diagnose and treat yourself with the following options, you do so at your own risk.  If in doubt, you should seek further evaluation and treatment.

Allergies (Nasal/sinus)

Antihistamines like Zyrtec or Claritin or the more drying and more sedating Benadryl or Chlortrimeton.

Nasal steroid sprays like Flonase or Nasacort.

Nasal saline sprays and irrigation.

Colds, Sinus issues, and Congestion

Sudafed is very good, but not good with certain conditions like those of the heart, blood pressure, and prostate.

Nasal steroid sprays like Flonase or Nasacort.

Nasal decongestant sprays like Afrin, but ONLY for 2-3 days.  Nasal congestion rebound (like a nose addiction) is strong beyond a couple days of use.

Nasal saline.

Swimmer’s Ear

As long as it is mild, white vinegar a few times a day is a good treatment.  There must be little to no discharge from the ear, and an ear canal that is not closed off. If you have a lot of pain or not sure it is swimmer’s ear or a middle ear infection, you definitely need evaluation.

Cough (dry, tickling, not associated with shortness of breath, fever or other symptoms)

Delsym or Mucinex DM is good.

A spoonful of straight honey has been shown to help children’s coughs more than medicines.

Cough drops or lozenges.

Itchy Bug bites and Poison Ivy (not associated with pain, open wound, or other signs of infection)

Hydrocortisone cream.

Calamine/Caladryl lotions.

Oatmeal lotions and baths.

Vicks VapoRub a few times a day is Dr. Miles’ favorite for his family for chiggers and mosquito bites.

Yeast (vaginal)

Monistat 3 day is very effective.

Probiotic tablets used as a vaginal suppository can help re-establish the normal bacterial flora.

Externally, clotrimazole (an antifungal) and hydrocortisone (an anti-irritant) creams can be applied.

Acid reflux

Prilosec, Nexium, and Prevacid are very potent medicines that are available without a prescription.  They don’t always work fast, however.

If you need something fast, Mylanta works pretty much instantly.

Don’t chalk “heartburn” pain up to reflux.  If there is any doubt, go have it checked out.

UTI/simple bladder infection

We recommend evaluation of your symptoms and urine testing.

Some people will try to treat with cranberry extract and lots of water, but if that doesn’t help quickly you really need to be seen.

We do not recommend the Azo that turns your urine orange as it mostly just masks symptoms and distorts urine tests.

Fever and back pain with a UTI is a bad sign and warrant immediate evaluation.

Pain conditions

Unless it is a routine problem you understand and deal with regularly, we recommend you go get evaluated.

If it is something you have dealt with you probably already know things like cold, heat, gentle stretching or massage, and over the counter pain relievers which can often be helpful.

Fever

Unless you know what the fever is coming from and that it is a self limited Cold or other known virus, we don’t recommend you go long without evaluation, especially for fever over 101 F and not responding to Tylenol.