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Halloween in a Global Health Pandemic: What You Should Know

Haunt­ed hous­es, ghosts and jack‑o’-lanterns are just a few famil­iar scares asso­ci­at­ed with Hal­loween. In 2020, COVID-19 has added a new lev­el of fear to this hol­i­day. What will the spook­i­est day of the year look like dur­ing a glob­al health pan­dem­ic? Dr. Mali­ni Kumar, a pedi­a­tri­cian with DuPage Med­ical Group, explains how COVID-19 will affect Hal­loween and what you can do to make this annu­al hol­i­day Spook­tac­u­lar’ giv­en the circumstances. 

3 Tips For Maintaining Your Relationship During a Pandemic

Effec­tive inter­per­son­al com­mu­ni­ca­tion is hard. When you add in the chal­lenges and stres­sors of a glob­al pan­dem­ic, it can feel noth­ing short of impos­si­ble. You may find it more dif­fi­cult to respond to stress­ful sit­u­a­tions calm­ly. You may find your­self snap­ping at your part­ner or feel­ing like you just need some time to your­self. You may feel angri­er than nor­mal. Giv­en the unprece­dent­ed and uncer­tain times, that all makes sense. It’s impor­tant to rec­og­nize and val­i­date how you are feel­ing in order to work towards mean­ing­ful change with­in your relationship. 

Tips for Clear and Healthy Skin While Masking

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As you con­tin­ue to wear a face mask in pub­lic to help pre­vent the spread of COVID-19, you may notice some side effects such as break­outs, dry­ness, red­ness or oth­er forms of irri­ta­tion. This is due to the mask cre­at­ing fric­tion against your skin and restrict­ing your air­flow, which caus­es a build-up of humid­i­ty, sweat and bac­te­ria. Our Der­ma­tol­o­gists pro­vide some tips on how to avoid irri­ta­tion from masking.

Seeing Spots: Flashes and Floaters

As you age, it is com­mon to expe­ri­ence changes with your eyes and vision. In fact, between the ages of 45 and 80, most adults will find it increas­ing­ly dif­fi­cult to see things up close, a con­di­tion called pres­by­opia. You may also begin to notice mild visu­al dis­rup­tions such as flash­es and floaters. In some cas­es, they are caused by nor­mal, age-relat­ed changes with­in your eyes. Oth­er times, they may be a symp­tom of a more seri­ous med­ical con­di­tion, requir­ing imme­di­ate atten­tion. Oph­thal­mol­o­gist and reti­na spe­cial­ist, Shan­tan Red­dy, MD, shares symp­toms to watch for and when to seek med­ical care.

Essential Oils and Your Health

Essen­tial oils have become a pop­u­lar way to relax and sup­port your emo­tion­al well-being. While many are drawn to essen­tial oils because they’re con­sid­ered to be nat­ur­al prod­ucts, they’re not always risk-free. Incor­rect or over-use of essen­tial oils can cause an aller­gic reac­tion, espe­cial­ly if you have asth­ma or are prone to envi­ron­men­tal aller­gies. They can also pose health risks for preg­nant women, chil­dren and pets. Aller­gist, Amee Maj­mundar, MD, shares tips on how to enjoy essen­tial oils safely.