HCE Blog

Headaches come in all different horrible shapes and sizes, but it can be hard to tell them apart and determine their cause. Is it stress triggered? Is it too loud or too bright? Is it caused by sinus pressure? It’s easy to confuse one type of headache for another, one of the most common mix-ups being between sinus headaches and migraines. The symptoms between the two are quite similar, though t...

Is your child feeling sick? Well, don’t call the school office just yet! Normal body temperature is 98.6 °F, but everyone’s body temperature (adults and children) fluctuates throughout the day depending on age, activity level, and many other factors. The magic number for a fever in everyone though, no matter the age, is 100.4 °F. It’s important to know that a fever itself isn’t an illness but ...

It happened again. You got the flu. Your body aches, your nose keeps running, you can barely hold food down, and you don’t want to get out of bed. All you want to do is cuddle up with a nice warm cup of chicken soup like your grandma used to make … but you’re out of paid sick time. Should you go to work and risk spreading the virus to your coworkers? Probably not. And should you even eat chicke...

This year, the influenza virus has run rampant throughout the country. Most states in the South— including Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma— have suffered from a high density of outbreaks of the virus. Typically, the strain of influenza encountered at the beginning of the flu season is influenza A. This year, however, more cases of influenza B have been reported. Influenza B is more lik...

It starts off as just an unfortunate case of the flu, but instead of feeling better you start to feel worse. You have violent chills and break out in a cold sweat. Your chest aches with pain each time you cough. Your fever keeps climbing and climbing. 100. 101. It spikes. 104. You feel hot and cold all at the same time, and you didn’t even know that was possible. You can barely breathe. What’s...

Eat a pear a day to keep the doctor away…. Kind of.  Although pears don’t have the same nutritional value as apples, studies show that eating pears regularly can do wonders for your health. Need a health energy booster before a workout? Eat a pear. Want to lose weight? Eat a pear. Having digestive problems? Eat ~two pears~. Because people tend to reach for apples more than pears, the health and...

I’m sure you’ve all heard that once you get chicken pox you’ll never get it again, and while that’s true if you came down with chickenpox in the past it’s possible that you may eventually find yourself with a case of shingles. Shingles is most common in the elderly but can develop in children and young people if they have had chickenpox. The chickenpox virus stays dormant in your body even afte...

Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) falls are the leading cause of accidental deaths and injuries among the elderly population of America? And according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), slips, trips, and falls make up the majority of workplace accidents. Those are some pretty harrowing facts. Elderly people aren’t the o...

Did you know that your “chest cold” could actually be something a little more serious? Acute bronchitis, to be precise. Bronchitis often starts off as a simple common cold, but if the cold goes untreated it can worsen into this lower respiratory infection. Bronchitis is more common in fall and winter than in other seasons. The symptoms of bronchitis are similar to those of the common cold, but ...