Communication is one of the very first skills we learn in order to navigate the world. As infants, we are quick to begin communicating our needs and respond to those around us. However, babies who are born with hearing disorders and children who lose their sense of hearing face a very different communication landscape—one that now involves technology and strategies to help them to communicate with the wider world.

Blood clots pose a medical dichotomy: They save lives when they form on cuts or wounds, protecting underlying tissue and enabling healing; yet they threaten lives when they form in blood vessels, blocking necessary blood flow to vital organs. So while we rely on our blood to clot in circumstances of traumatic injury, we want to guard against the propensity for internal arterial or venous blood clots.

About one in seven people experiences a random nosebleed at some point in his or her life, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology. Children and people older than 50 are the most likely to have a sudden nosebleed, and the trigger can be as minor as blowing one’s nose too hard or as serious as a clotting disorder.

With a background as a flight attendant, Terri Tatum’s current career as an esthetician might not have been the obvious choice, but it’s one she’s glad she made. “I’ve always loved helping people feel better about themselves,” she says. And as a consultant in the Renewal Room at Soft Surroundings, she does that every day. We asked her for insights on how to look and feel your best.

LN also gathered a group of professional counselors who shared their advice for families undergoing trauma and tragedy in their lives.

Some diseases are obvious. Others are much harder to discern. Consider this: during the past month, about three in every 100 Americans experienced ‘serious psychological distress,’ according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Statistics. More than 58 million people per year seek outpatient medical care for mental disorders. And yet almost 37,000, about 12 in every 100,000 people, take their own lives.

Story: The Great Depression has millions of Americans out of work. Even most of those who are employed live hard lives, including the denizens of Zion, Indiana, where farmer Basil Bennett relies on the ability of neighbor Buddy Layman to find much-needed water for his crops with the aid of a ‘divining’ stick. Despite the skepticism of Basil’s wife Luella, the young man does indeed have a penchant for locating moisture in the ground.

The summer golf season is filled with tournaments, championships and qualifiers. Here are the latest achievements and news coming out of our local golf scene.

Glaucoma has been called ‘the silent thief of sight’—an apt moniker, says Dr. J. Daniel Friederich of Vision Care Consultants. The routine puff of air on the eyeball—a common eye pressure screening test—can indicate when pressure is elevated, but not all cases of glaucoma are related to increased eye pressure, and the disease has no symptoms until permanent damage has been done.

What do all those technical terms mean when it comes to our bodies and the procedures that can transform them? Although by no means an exhaustive list, the following may help decipher some alien terminology—and help you become more aware of your options.

Not only are these doctors saving lives here in St. Louis, but they are investing time, money and effort into helping people around the world.

I am not sure why all of our maladies have such long names that are difficult to pronounce. Some diseases and disease processes I learned about when famed veterinarian/writer James Herriot and I went to school have changed names three to five times over the years. But there may be one dog malady that has more names than any other: Wobbler’s syndrome (layman’s term) or cervical spondylomyel opathy (professional term) are among the terms for cervical vertebral (neck spine) instability.

At the base of your hand, there is a narrow passage of ligament and bone where the median nerve finds its way from your arm to the palm of your hand. The passage is your carpal tunnel, and when the nerve runs through it without difficulty, you don’t even think about it. But if the tunnel narrows due to inflammation or trauma, the nerve can be compressed, and the numbness, tingling and pain in your wrist, hand or fingers will let you know there’s a problem: carpal tunnel syndrome.

Moneta Group principal, JIM BLAIR (1) joined the Missouri Department of Conservation Commission.

A generation ago, braces were a cross that some unfortunate kids had to bear. ‘Metalmouth’ was an insult, and kids who wore the dreaded ‘headgear’ were doubly cursed. All that has changed. For many of today’s youngsters, braces are a fashion statement and a rite of passage with little or no trauma attached. Modern braces address a variety of issues related to cosmetic and functional concerns. The age at which a child is fitted with braces depends largely upon the braces’ purpose.

Summer is a time for fun: vacations, swimming, ball games, picnics and trips to the emergency room. WAIT! Let’s work on avoiding the latter. This summer, almost 3 million children will visit the ER for treatment of trauma and almost 2,000 of them will die from their injuries. Simple preventive measures and close supervision can reduce this number. Think safety whenever you and your children are around water, riding in the car, playing sports, out in the sun or around fires.

Located at Mercy St. Louis in Creve Coeur, Oral Facial Surgery Institute & Implant Center is a private practice offering a full scope of treatments and services, ranging from simple ailments to more complicated cases, says Dr. Michael Noble. The facility is a Level 1 Trauma Center, providing all of the facial trauma services for Mercy St. Louis. “We handle patients with facial lacerations or any trauma, including broken facial bones,” says Noble, who is a founding member and serves as director of Oral Facial Surgery Institute, as well as director of its accredited maxillo facial fellowship program, which takes one person from the U.S. each year and provides them with additional training in the specialty.

Story: Garish lights welcome visitors to the seedy confines of “Playland,” a traveling amusement park camped out over the holidays in a village located in the “karoo,” or semi-desert region of South Africa. It’s New Year’s Eve 1989, and Gideon Le Roux arrives at the park intent on welcoming in the new year with fellow revelers. Instead, he spends most of his time debating with Martinus Zoeloe, the watchman for Playland. Martinus tells Gideon that he’s there around the clock, giving up sleep in order to ensure that all is well with the booths and rides that provide fleeting entertainment for the villagers.

There are nose jobs, and then there are nose jobs. Surgical revision of the nose may be purely cosmetic (rhinoplasty) or necessary to correct a functional problem caused by a genetic defect or trauma. And in some cases, the problem is both cosmetic and functional.

Looking for a way to get involved in the community? A good way to start is to get involved in the life of a child.

Almost as soon as we learn to walk, we learn to run; and although running seems like one of the most natural things a person can do, thousands of runners are injured each year. Most runners seek to avoid injury, in part, by donning hightech shoes that claim to account for the runner’s weight, foot structure, pace and gait. But a new trend has runners kicking off their shoes altogether.

Getting kids to eat their veggies is a generations- old battle in many households. Yet what is only a parental nuisance for most can become a much more serious problem for some. “Being a picky eater is a risk factor for developing an eating disorder, but we don’t consider it a true eating disorder unless it has affected a child’s wellbeing,” says Dr. Kimberli McCallum, CEO, medical director and founder of McCallum Place, an eating disorder treatment center for adolescents and adults.

August is National Psoriasis Awareness Month, and local dermatologists want people to know that there are newer, more effective treatments than ever before to help control the red, scaly patches caused by the disease.

In St. Louis, Stray Rescue is making the most unlikely rags-to-riches stories come true. The nonprofit recently received a call about a dog who was on his last legs. “The dog was essentially curled up to die near a maintenance shed at a park in North City,” recalls director of marketing and development Jason Schipkowski. “His body was so cold that he wasn’t even registering a temperature, and he was extremely malnourished and dehydrated.” Stray Rescue volunteers brought him in, and after extensive emergency medical treatment, the dog went on to be adopted by John Davidson, president of the St. Louis Blues, and his wife, Diana. “He went from being hours away from death to living in the lap of luxury!” Schipkowski says.