SEPTEMBER 2017 Newsletter
Falling into Fall
As we head into the fall and winter months, it is important to remember that washing your hands is one of the best ways to prevent getting sick. Normal soap and water are the best to use at home. Antibacterial soaps do not provide any additional benefit and have some downsides.
With that said, it's hard to keep your kiddo's hands clean at all times, and it's even harder telling your 6 month old to cover his or her mouth when coughing.
Probiotics are always a great thing to use on a daily basis, regardless of the season. If you ever have any questions about probiotics, feel free to call our triage line for more information.
For kids 12 months to 2 years of age, they can receive 1 tablet of 500mg of vitamin C for 5 days starting at the first sign of an illness. For kids 2 years and up, you can do 1000mg of vitamin C for 5 days.
Another supplement to help boost immune systems if Vitamin D. Breastfeeding mothers can take around 6400 units per day to help pass along appropriate supplementation to their children. Otherwise, you can give 800 units of vitamin D daily, for kids over a year, to help boost up immunity heading into the winter.
Elderberry is another immune booster that is appropriate for kids 1 year and up. This is different from the Eldertussin/Elderberry cough remedy that we recommend, as it is just Elderberry extract for kids to use as daily immune support. Nature's Way makes a Kids Sambucus syrup or for kids 2 and up you can give one tablet per day of the Natures Way Elderberry extract.
Flu is another complication heading into the winter. Flu shots are available for kids 6 month and up. If this is your child's first eligible flu season, he or she may need a booster flu shot one month after the first dose was given.
Our flu vaccine clinics have begun, and we will run those clinics through Thanksgiving. Flu clinics are Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as every other Saturday. Please call our office to schedule a time to have your child get a flu shot!
Flu shots for parents are not available this early on in the season. We will keep you posted on when and if we will have flu shots available for parents.
Click here for more information on this year's Flu Shot recommendations,
Welcome Dr. Natalie Penn
Please join us in welcoming our new provider, Dr. Natalie Penn! We are very excited to have her join the HIP family. She has a strong interest in integrative medicine and will be taking newborn patients starting next week. Check back to see her bio on our website soon.
We will be making some changes to our hours heading into the Fall and Winter months. We will have some extended hours until 6pm with at least one doctor on each day of the week. Furthermore, triage will be able to take calls until 5:30pm each day of the week.
We are excited about these changes. As with anything that is new, we hope this transition goes as smoothly as possible.
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Parking Help
As our practice begins to grow, we realize that at times we can run out of parking spaces. To ensure that kids can be unloaded safely, we ask that only one car per family is parked in our lot. Thank you for your understanding and patience! |
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MONTHLY DONATIONS
In July, we donated to There With Care. Whose mission is to provide a wide range of thoughtful and fundamental services to children and families during the critical phase of a medical crisis. We serve families referred by medical agencies, by building a network of services and people who ease the burden of life’s day-to-day obligations with compassion and care.
August's donation went to the MS Society. They work to improve the quality of life for people affected by MS in and raise funds for critical MS research. Join the movement toward a world free of MS.
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Coming Soon...Scheduling with MyChart
If you are not already signed up with MyChart, we will be adding another useful feature that may make it worthwhile. In the coming months we will be adding some scheduling options for Well Care visits through MyChart along with scheduling reminders when our schedules open up 3 months in advance.
MyChart is the secure online patient portal that we use. By signing up you will have access to lab results and visit summaries. It also gives you the ability to upload forms for us to fill out and send email questions and pictures.
For more information on activating MyChart, call our office and press option 1 to speak with our front desk team! |
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WEBSITE UPDATES
Our website now features a "Page your Doctor" button. This button will allow you to page our on call doctor after hours when you and your family are in need of urgent advice. The button appears at all times, but is only functional after hours.
We hope that this medium will be a helpful tool for getting urgent advice from a nurse or provider after hours.
As always, we are here to help with whatever we can whenever we can. Please use this button for urgent questions regarding your child or children.
SUNSCREEN RECOMMENDATIONS
As we enter into the summer months, sun protection is always recommended for you and your children. When it comes to sunscreen, we recommend using mineral based sunscreens whose only active ingredients are zinc and titanium. Brands we recommend include, but are not limited to: Babyganics, Badger Balm, Alba California, and The Honest Company.
One thing to keep in mind with mineral based sunscreen is that they are not as waterproof, and tend to wear off when in water or when a kid is active during the day. Reapplication is recommended. For a great review on sunscreen ingredients check out this article from The Environmental Working Group
If you tend to prefer sunscreens that have better protection from sweat and water, make sure those sunscreens do not contain OxyBenzone as one of their listed ingredients.
Furthermore, keeping kids protected from the sun goes beyond sunscreen. Covered heads and light breathable clothing that provides good coverage to arms and legs is always recommended, especially for our young children.
As always, please feel free to give us a call if you have any questions about sun protection.
ACUPUNCTURE FOR KIDS with Brittany Lark, L.Ac., Dipl.Ac
Fridays
Acupuncture is great for allergies, anxiety, asthma, ADHD, cough, tummy aches, constipation, diarrhea, ear infections, eczema, headaches, and body aches.
Treatments are tailored for each child’s needs. Many children start with non-needle techniques that involve gentle massage or tapping on the surface of the skin. Shonishin, a non-needle Japanese technique, is frequently used for children under 7 years old.
Call (303) 883-0878 or email Brittany to schedule an appointment.
FORMS
As a reminder we do ask you give us at least 48 hours to complete any forms for school, daycare, camp or any other institution that may require you to submit General Health Appraisal Forms or Immunization Records.
We try and complete these forms in a timely manner, and appreciate your help.
We can submit these forms via fax, via MyChart, or having you pick them up at our front desk upon completion.
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