Time to return to the office

We encouraged televisit during the pandemic. Now that we are vaccinated, it is important to return for office visits. This article described the type of visit that should be done in person, what can be done by televisits.

Our office closed the door in late February 2020 after seeing the evidence of highly contagious viral transmission prior to symptoms. We learned to be good at diagnosing illness, order lab, and radiology testing without physically seeing a patient. We also referred some patients to specialists to prevent deterioration of the illness. Some of the physical exams is delayed due to the pandemic, The following exam should be done now that the office is open,

1. Lingering abdominal issues or pain:

It is impractical for us to scan the whole body. Even if the ultrasound or CT of the abdomen is negative, the pain from the stomach may be functional, listening to your bowel sound may help us determine if there is any functional disease in the gut.

2. Fatigue, dizziness, or generalized weakness:

One of the important exams we usually do at the office is the auscultation of the heart sound. Using the stethoscope, we can listen for any murmurs or abnormal rhythm. Returning to the office for a heart exam is a good start to see if we can hear any abnormal sounds in the heart, neck carotid artery, or abdominal aneurysm

3. Blood pressure and EKG,

You may have been taking blood pressure medication and taking your BP at home. It's time to come in, even bring your machine to get the BP tested at the office. White coat syndrom (getting high blood pressure in the doctor's office) is adverse to your health. It tells us that your blood pressure goes high when you are under stress. We definitely need to address that. EKG is usually a routine before a operation, but we also have some guidelines to do this for you if you have hypertension and high cholesterol, high triglyceride and DM. You are at risk for coronary heart diesease. The EKG can tell us if there is ischemia (lack of oxygen for the heart).

4. if you lost your insurance, we have discounted cash patient rate. You can take advantage of that for sure. Bring your medication, and a list of questions. Make the in person appointment by calling 949-651-9671 today. or email help@sprucemedicalgroup.com