Saturday, March 23, 2024

Can Doctor On Demand Treat Ear Infections

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When To Call A Doctor

Ear Infections? Do This! | Dr K & Dr Wil

Urgent care can treat minor illnesses

Consider talking with a doctor about your symptoms and options for treatment if:

  • Symptoms persist or get worse over two to three days.
  • Infection is recurring. A child who has three or more ear infections in a six-month period may be referred to a specialist for pressure equalization tubes.
  • Pain is severe.

Ear infections can usually be treated in urgent care clinics, or by your childs pediatrician.

If youre able to get in with your primary care provider, that is going to be preferred especially if its a recurring issue. We know that kids get sick frequently, so pediatrician offices usually have several appointments available every day for kids who need to be seen on short notice, Dr. Ray said.

Controlling Pain And Symptoms At Home

Mild ear infection symptoms can be controlled with:

  • A hot or cold compress
  • Over-the-counter pain relievers, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen

Other home remedies, such as numbing drops, or homeopathic remedies, such as essential oils, are not recommended for ear infections.

Over-the-counter numbing drops dont provide long-lasting relief, Dr. Ray said. And essential oils are an unproven treatment.

For the most part, these are not super well-studied. If the ear infection gets so bad that the pressure on the eardrum is enough, it can actually poke a hole in the eardrum. In those cases, those substances can actually get into the middle ear, where they could cause additional harm, Dr. Ray said.

In general, I am not a fan of putting anything in the ear canal to treat these ear infections.

How Does Doctor On Demand Work

Doctor on Demand is designed to streamline access to physical and mental health care through their mobile app and website. Its core service is consultations with doctors, psychiatrists, and psychologists, starting at $75 per visit, to cover a range of conditions, including asthma, depression, allergies, diabetes, and more. After your consultation, you can also receive prescription medication to help treat these conditions. Its services are covered by most standard insurance plans, as well as Medicare Part B.

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Anxiety Depression Mental Health Concerns

In the emerging discipline of telemedicine psychiatry , a healthcare professional, including a , or , on the other side of a video chat can assess your mood and other mental health symptoms, offer counseling, and even prescribe certain medications to help you feel better. Also called telemental health, these services offer confidential, convenient care right in your own home. Telemental health services work best for people who have been previously diagnosed with a condition than by someone seeking a diagnosis. And telemental health doctors cant prescribe controlled substances after a video visit, though they can prescribe other medications.

To Maintain Safety When Prescribing Online Online Doctors Will:

Natural Ear Infection Remedies
  • Determine all your current medical conditions, including your drug history and current prescriptions as well as over-the-counter medications that you may be using.
  • Identify whats causing your current condition and perform a thorough examination of your health.
  • Make sure that your condition presents enough justification to actually prescribe medication.
  • Rule out the possibility of any contraindications, which refers to any situation where the medication may actually cause harm to you, either based on personal health or interactions with other medications and lifestyle habits. PlushCare prevents negative medication interactions by having patients enter past and current medications, as well as allergies, into our high-tech software program. This technology eliminates the possibility of human error by preventing the doctor from prescribing any medications that could be harmful.

Keeping patients safe is a doctors responsibility. They should be able to fully explain the prescription process and give you reasons for choosing a certain medication over others.

Online Doctors cannot currently prescribe controlled substances, including:

  • Medicinal marijuana
  • Antipsychotic medications such as Zyprexa, Risperdol
  • Stimulants, including Adderall and Ritalin
  • Narcotics, like morphine, oxycodone, and Vicodin
  • Sedatives and sleep aids, including Xanax, Ambien, Ativan, and Lunesta

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Urgent Care Virtual Visits

When a PCP visit isnt available, virtual visits are a great choice for care, saving you and your employees time and money. These services are sometimes called video visits, telemedicine or telemental health. Members see a provider for urgent medical care or behavioral health services through real-time, Skype-like technologyusing a smartphone, tablet or computer. This allows them the option to get care without needing to travel to a providers office, urgent care center, or emergency room.

These options can reduce absenteeism, eliminate the need to arrange for child care, and support privacy by letting members receive care wherever they may be.

Bad Reviews About Doctor On Demand

I feel cheated because I had bad in-app experience and paid to see a doctor that wasnt able to keep her promise to get me the medicine I needed.

When I used it last week I was given a doctor who felt off right from the beginning: terrible bedside manner, and flat out told me my medical history was wrong.

After several positive sessions with one psychiatrist on staff who was treating my youngest, she simply stopped showing up to appointments.

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Fluid Buildup And Hearing Problems

Fluid behind the eardrum after an ear infection is normal. And in most children, the fluid clears up within 3 months without treatment. If your child has fluid buildup without infection, you may try watchful waiting.

Have your childâs hearing tested if the fluid lasts longer than 3 months. If hearing is normal, you may choose to keep watching your child without treatment.

If a child has fluid behind the eardrum for more than 3 months and has significant hearing problems, then treatment is needed. Sometimes short-term hearing loss occurs, which is especially a concern in children ages 2 and younger. Normal hearing is very important when young children are learning to talk.

If your child is younger than 2, your doctor may not wait 3 months to start treatment. Hearing problems at this age could affect your childâs speaking ability. This is also why children in this age group are closely watched when they have ear infections.

If there is a hearing problem, your doctor may also prescribe antibiotics to keep the fluid in the ear from getting infected. The doctor might also suggest placing tubes in the ears to drain the fluid and improve hearing.

How Long Do Online Medical Appointments Take

Ear Infection Pain Treatment in an Adult | Auburn Medical Group

Because online medical providers address relatively mild conditions, the examination and interview to diagnose one of these conditions are usually quick affairs. If you think about it, most of the time lost going to a doctor’s appointment is lost in commuting to the doctor’s office and sitting around waiting for a doctor to be available. Neither of these issues comes into play with an online medical provider.

The average consultation for an online medical appointment is fifteen to twenty minutes. Short visit times mean that it’s easy to make an appointment for an online medical assessment even if you are already trying to work around a busy schedule. Online medical appointments are also a good option for those who have a strict sick leave policy at work.

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Telemedicine For Swimmers Ear

Hi Allied! Its #TelemedicineTuesday!

Today Im going to talk about a very common topic for summer Telemedicine consults: Swimmers Ear.

Swimmers Ear is an infection of the external ear canal, caused by bacteria that grow there when the area is moist.

Swimmers Ear is super-easy to diagnose by telemedicine. Its an easy exam to do, and I demonstrate it on myself, and parents easily get the hang of it.

How do I know if its just swimmers ear and not a middle ear infection by telemedicine? If a parent has a Tyto device, I can quickly do an exam with the device to look at the eardrum.

However, most Allied patients dont have a Tyto device, but I can still confidently make a diagnosis of swimmers ear by the exam I have the parents do. If there is a fever, or the patient looks sick to me, or there is accompanying bad cold symptoms, what I normally do is start the patient on the Swimmers Eardrops, and then have them follow up the next day in their Allied office for an in-person exam.

Just last night, I did a consult for a patient with swimmers ear and electronically prescribed the ear drops to a 24 hour CVS. That way, the patient could still attend camp todayjust not go under the water.

After swimmers ear, although I prescribe the drops for 10 days, I tell the parents that the patient can go back under the water when they have had zero ear pain for one day.

Can swimmers ear be prevented?

So, remember, for after-hours urgent care, #ThinkAlliedTelemedicine first.

-Dr. Z

What Does Doctor On Demand Treat

Doctor on Demands services fall under the following categories, urgent care, behavioral health, preventative health, and chronic care. Within these broad categories, you can access care for medical conditions, ranging from short-term ailments like coughs, fever, and sore throats to more chronic problems such as diabetes, anxiety, and vitamin deficiencies.

While the list of conditions is quite broad, the services website does list a number of conditions that cant be treated. These include more severe problems, such as broken bones, serious burns, and ear infections.

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Can I Use Virtual Visits For Covid

Virtual Visits providers are not able to order testing or provide vaccinations for COVID-19. Virtual providers can help answer questions about COVID-19 and can provide many aspects of care for acute conditions, such as COVID-19 symptoms.

Visit the COVID-19 Resource Center or contact your PCP to find COVID-19 testing and vaccine options.

What Is Doctors Care Anywhere

TelaMed Access

Doctors Care Anywhere is a virtual urgent care platform that allows new and existing patients to see one of our qualified providers from a phone, tablet or computer. The visit is fast and secure, and can be used to treat many common ailments. Any prescriptions are sent to your local pharmacy, and youll have access to your visit summary inside the Doctors Care Patient Portal.

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Alternatives To The Emergency Room

We help members understand all of the available options to save time and money

Visiting the ER can be time consuming and expensive for members and employers. According to NEHI, the New England Health Institute, 56% of all ER visits are avoidable. We encourage members to check in with their PCP first whenever they are faced with a situation where care is needed but not life-threatening. We offer coverage for care at other facilities which may help members save money and time.

How Do Virtual Visits Work

Here are the steps youll need to take.

  • Complete a brief medical history anytime at myuhc.com/virtualvisits.
  • Request a visit. For Virtual Primary Care visits, you can schedule for the same day or the following day.
  • Get a diagnosis, advice and guidance on treatment in 20 minutes or less with 24/7 Virtual Visits.
  • Pay $493 or less for a 24/7 Virtual Visit or $99 or less for a Virtual Primary Care visit with your UnitedHealthcare plan. Check your plan details for Virtual therapy costs.
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    About Doctor On Demand

    Founded in 2012, Doctor on Demand is an app-based service that offers medical care from the comfort of your home. It offers urgent care, behavioral healthcare, preventive healthcare and chronic care.

    Behavioral healthcare includes both psychiatry and psychotherapy, covering a variety of conditions, including anxiety, depression, life transitions, relationship and sleep issues, trauma, grief and postpartum depression.

    All appointments are with a licensed professional and accessible exclusively by video chat. To access care, you must download the Doctor on Demand app. The app is free and features a clear and simple interface. And yes, it accepts medical insurance.

    Teletherapy is not for everyone, as some prefer to see a therapist in person. But if youre pressed for time , speaking to a licensed professional from home is hard to beat. Doctor on Demand allows you to experience the benefits of therapy from wherever you arethat is, if you can find some alone time.

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    Convenient & Quality Care

    Medical Myth: Ear Infections Require Antibiotics

    I started using Dr on Demand because my insurance sent me an email that they covered it and I liked the idea of being able to meet with doctors from my living room. Im currently working with a psychologist and a psychiatrist and the quality of care is just as good as being in an office except I dont have to wear pants lol the best part is they are ON TIME. Ive never had to wait beyond our appointment time to start a session. I did have a connectivity issue once but the customer service team had great service and refunded my copay and didnt charge my insurance for the visit. I like that I can read a bio about my doctors before I choose to work with them. Some are available the same day and others dont have appointments available for a few weeks, but I find scheduling options open up a lot more after your initial visit, at least for therapy. Havent needed to use it for a medical visit yet but I would totally use this app if I needed an antibiotic or something like that vs having to go into my normal primary care office and waiting an hour or more.The only downfall to this app is that you cannot get in touch with doctors between appointments. I can imagine why that is, but it would be so awesome if it had a messaging or voicemail service, even if they charged per message or had limitations on how often/what you could use it for.

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    When Should I See A Doctor For An Ear Infection

    Ear infections happen fast, so its important to understand the signs and know what to do in case you need to see a doctor. Its important to get an accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment for ear infections, especially if:

    • Symptoms last for more than 24 hours
    • Symptoms are present in a child less than six months of age
    • Ear pain is severe
    • Your infant or toddler is sleepless or irritable after an upper respiratory infection
    • You see a discharge of clear fluid, pus or bloody fluid from the affected ear

    If you or a loved one is experiencing one or more of these symptoms, please seek immediate medical treatment. Coastal Urgent Care of Baton Rouge is open for walk-ins 7 days a week between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Our team of skilled specialists has experience treating all types and severities of ear infections.

    How Do You Use Doctor On Demand

    Doctor on Demand stays accessible to patients by being available in many different ways. Its website is the first option, where you can register an account, browse its list of services, or set an appointment with a health care provider. Services are also available via the app, which offers the same functionality as the website. Doctor visits take place right on your phone or computer.

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    Causes Of Ear Infection In Babies

    Ear infections are caused by both bacteria and viruses. Its not unusual for a viral upper respiratory infection to precede an ear infection, Dr. Madden says. The fluid left behind from the virus can get infected with bacteria and cause otitis media.

    One of the main reasons babies and young children are so much more susceptible to ear infections is simple: their immune systems arent strong enough yet. A less developed immune system is one of the main reasons babies are at a higher risk for ear infections, says Dr. Madden, as well as the fact that they often arent fully vaccinated yet.

    Another reason lies in their anatomy. The eustachian tubes connect the nasal passages to the back of the nose and are the way that fluid drains out of the ear, Dr. Madden explains. Babies are at risk of getting ear infections due to their eustachian tubes being smaller and at a more horizontal angle than older children and adults.

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    What Research Is Being Done On Middle Ear Infections

    Ear Infections, Antibiotics, and Virginia Beach Chiropractic

    Researchers sponsored by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders are exploring many areas to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of middle ear infections. For example, finding better ways to predict which children are at higher risk of developing an ear infection could lead to successful prevention tactics.

    Another area that needs exploration is why some children have more ear infections than others. For example, Native American and Hispanic children have more infections than do children in other ethnic groups. What kinds of preventive measures could be taken to lower the risks?

    Doctors also are beginning to learn more about what happens in the ears of children who have recurring ear infections. They have identified colonies of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, called biofilms, that are present in the middle ears of most children with chronic ear infections. Understanding how to attack and kill these biofilms would be one way to successfully treat chronic ear infections and avoid surgery.

    Understanding the impact that ear infections have on a childs speech and language development is another important area of study. Creating more accurate methods to diagnose middle ear infections would help doctors prescribe more targeted treatments. Researchers also are evaluating drugs currently being used to treat ear infections, and developing new, more effective and easier ways to administer medicines.

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