HB Mag Health Research Team
Skin that turns dark and dry at the same time is usually showing you two things at once. The darkness comes from extra melanin, the pigment your skin makes. The dryness comes from a weakened skin barrier that loses water too fast. Common causes include sun damage, eczema and other inflammatory skin conditions, hormonal changes, … Read more
Cleaning a baby’s teeth takes about two minutes, twice a day, using a small soft-bristled brush and a rice-grain-sized smear of fluoride toothpaste. Start the day the first tooth appears, usually around 6 months. Wipe gums with a clean cloth before teeth arrive, brush gently along the gumline at a slight angle, and clean all … Read more
An ear infection hurts because pressure and inflammation build up behind the eardrum, in a small space with nowhere to expand. The fastest relief usually comes from pain medicine taken by mouth — acetaminophen or ibuprofen — along with a warm compress held against the ear. These measures ease the pain itself. They do not … Read more
Your newborn snorts, whistles, and rattles with every breath, and it sounds far worse than it looks. In most cases, the cause is simple: newborns breathe through their noses almost exclusively, and those tiny nasal passages are easy to block with normal mucus or swell slightly. The sound is usually harmless, even when it is … Read more
Most hernias announce themselves with a bulge you can see or feel, often in the groin or belly, and a dull ache that gets worse when you lift, cough, or stand for a long time. You can do a basic self-check by standing in front of a mirror and looking for a new lump in … Read more
Cross infection is when a harmful organism passes from one person to another, usually in a healthcare setting like a hospital, clinic, or care home. The germ can travel on hands, on equipment, through the air, or in droplets from a cough. It is one of the most studied problems in medicine, and also one … Read more
Rabies in wild rabbits and bunnies is extremely rare. Public health authorities in the United States have long considered rabbits and hares among the animals that almost never carry the rabies virus, and there has never been a documented case of a human getting rabies from a wild rabbit. The animals that matter for rabies … Read more
A thyroid nuclear scan is a test that uses a small amount of radioactive material to show how your thyroid gland looks and how well it works. You swallow a capsule or receive an injection of a tracer, wait while it collects in your thyroid, and then lie still while a camera takes pictures of … Read more
Lower back hair in women is common, and in most cases it is not a sign of a medical problem. The lower back is one of the areas where hair follicles respond to androgens — hormones like testosterone — and nearly every woman has some fine hair there. The amount and thickness vary widely from … Read more
Lactulose is a synthetic sugar used as a prescription laxative and, in a different role, to lower blood ammonia in people with liver disease. It works because your small intestine cannot absorb it. Instead, it travels intact to the colon, where gut bacteria break it down and change how the bowel behaves. That single fact … Read more