DR JEFF FOSTER is The Sun on Sunday’s new resident doctor and is here to help YOU.
Dr Jeff, 43, splits his time between working as a GP in Leamington Spa, Warks, and running his clinic, H3 Health, which is the first of its kind in the UK to look at hormonal issues for both men and women.
Dr Jeff Foster is The Sun on Sunday’s new resident doctor and is here to help you
See h3health.co.uk and email at [email protected].
Q) I’M a 46-year-old married woman. I keep getting thrush and I don’t know why.
I haven’t been on antibiotics, I eat a healthy diet and take supplements.
Every time I get rid of it, it’s back again within a couple of weeks.
Lena Crally, Brighton
A) Thrush is caused by a fungus known as candida albicans.
We all have it at low levels, usually in the mouth and gut and the vagina in women.
Thrush is not sexually transmitted and cannot be spread from one person to another.
Vaginal thrush is a really common problem that most people can treat via their pharmacist, but if symptoms persist, a visit to the GP might be needed.
We commonly think of antibiotics and diet being a cause but most women develop vaginal thrush for less obvious reasons, such as a change to the natural bacteria of your vagina, maybe from new vaginal creams or products.
Pregnancy is also something to consider, although less common at 46.
If these have all been excluded, then the next step would be getting a blood test via your doctor to look at your immune system, general health and risk of diabetes.
It is important we check for these problems with patients with persistent thrush, but it isn’t a common presenting symptom of diabetes.
Some women just have stubborn symptoms that require either a tablet or a more prolonged course of treatment.
Q) MY dad is 80 and had an accident that led to him needing a hip replacement.
Following this he developed heterotopic ossification so he can no longer bend his leg at the hip.
He used to be very active so this is really getting him down. Is there any treatment available?
Laura Greenhalgh, Gerrards Cross, Bucks
A) Heterotopic ossification is the formation of new bone outside of where it should be.
It forms within the soft tissues that are close to the skeleton and this can then lead to a reduction in mobility and pain and swelling in affected areas.
It can be very difficult to treat as bone is solid.
Despite much research, we do not know exactly why heterotopic ossification occurs.
Almost one in three patients who have a hip replacement will have some degree of heterotopic ossification, although most will not have symptoms.
Generally, treatment involves radiotherapy to try to suppress or kill off the abnormally growing tissue, but this has to be done through your orthopaedic surgeon, who will be able to assess the severity of the condition and look at the risks of treatment versus benefit