Q I leak urine when I sneeze, cough, lift heavy objects, exercise. Can this be helped or cured?

What you describe is called as stress incontinence in medical terms. It can be either due to weakness in pelvic muscle or due to disorder related with nerves. Exact cause needs to be find out in order to plan the treatment. Initially you can make following changes: cut down your fluid intake, if you are on the overweight side, try and lose some weight. Avoid alcohol and caffeine rich drinks. Practice kegel exercise to tone your pelvic muscles. If all these dont help than consult a gynecologist for the medication. Surgery will be required if everything else fails.

Q Should my child drink alcohol?

Absolutely not. No person under the age of 18 should be allowed to drink alcohol.

Q Do walker and jumper help toddlers to learn walking quicker?

Though walker and baby-buggy are in fashion today, studies say that babies using walker learn to walk late! Walker facilitates babies to move around even before they are ready for it physically. This can lead to unusual patterns of movements and delayed muscle control. Walker and jumper restrict babys movements and do not allow the baby to move around and explore the things surrounding. Baby learns to move quickly when baby is on the floor on his belly, than when he is placed on high chair, walker or baby-buggy.

Q After what age children can drink coffee?

Children under 12 are generally recommended to avoid caffeine or to limit its intake. Because, Caffeine is absorbed very quickly into the body and then passes into the central nervous system. In low doses caffeine can affect the body causing decreased appetite, increased urination, hyperactive behaviour and difficulty sleeping. The harmful effects may occur when a child consumes more than 4.5 mg of caffeine per pound of body weight.

Q What do you mean by Social Phobia? How it is expressed?

Social phobia is a strong fear of being judged by others, and of being embarrassed. This fear can be so strong that person start worrying about the things he is going to do in front of others weeks before, or it may restrict him from going into public places/school/work etc. Person will have overwhelmed fear that others will judge him wrongly or make fun of him. He might be afraid of eating or drinking in front of others, using public restrooms, going in social functions, performing anything in front of a crowd etc. This may end up with staying away from such situations or completely avoiding them. For some, it is a problem only in few situations, but some may have this fear constantly. This fear can express itself in the form of difficulty in getting acknowledged with others, talking with other people, high level of self-consciousness when in public, worries excessively before weeks or days of any upcoming social function, difficulties in making friends and becoming friendly with others, physical symptoms of fear may appear like sweating, trembling, blushing, palpitations, nausea, etc.

Q Is it possible that you catch any disease from this minimally invasive surgery - I assume all tools used - needles, scalpels etc are clean/new - should I be worried? I had 2 very small hair transplants and both surgeries were completely clean and very modern - just am concerned over the cleanliness of tools used - should I worry?

Almost all the standard institute for hair transplant follow all the necessary aseptic precautions while doing any kind of procedure. Hence you should not worry.

Q My 22 months old boy still has anterior fontanelle open. Is it a concern

In most cases anterior fontanelle closes between the age of 7-19 months. Delay in closure can be due to causes like premature birth, intrauterine growth retardation, downs syndrome, etc. I would suggest that you get your child examined by a pediatrician to rule any abnormality.

Q Can kissing catch thrush from a female partner?

Yes. You can catch oral thrush by kissing from a female partner. The fungus causing the disease is present in the oral cavity of the patient and can easily spread to other during kissing.

Q How can I tell when Im ovulating?

Ovulation usually occurs 12-15 days before your period starts. So if your periods are regular, you can easily determine your ovulation period by subtracting 14 days from the expected date of the next menstrual cycle. One in 5 women experience mild abdominal cramps when they are ovulating. You can also use a basal body thermometer to check your basal body temperature which shows the lowest reading followed by a sudden rise when you ovulate. During ovulation, your cervix becomes softer and gives out more discharge (mucus) than normal. You can also buy ovulation kit available in chemist to determine your ovulation.

Q how to do anal sex? does it creat any problem?

Anal sex is practiced by many heterosexuals, as well as homosexual couples. The anal area has many erotic nerve endings in both men and women. Because of this, many couples (heterosexual or homosexual) can derive pleasure from some form of bottom stimulation. Anal sex should be avoided by couples in which one of the partners has been diagnosed with an STI until the treatment has proven to be effective. In order to make anal sex safer, the couple must ensure that the anal area is clean and the bowel empty and the partner on whom anal penetration occurs should be able to relax. Regardless of whether anal penetration occurs by using a finger or the penis, the condom is the best barrier method to prevent transmission of STI. Since the rectum can be easily damaged, the use of lubricants is highly recommended even when penetration occurs by using the finger. Especially for beginners, using a condom on the finger is both a protection measure against STI and a lubricant source. Most condoms are lubricated and they allow less painful and easier penetration. Anal stimulation with a sex toy requires similar safety measures to anal penetration with a penis, in this case using a condom on the sex toy in a similar way. It is important that the man washes and cleans his penis after anal intercourse if he intends to penetrate the vagina. Bacteria from the rectum are easily transferred to the vagina, which may cause vaginal infections. When anal-oral cos ntact occurs, protection is required since this is a risky sexual behavior in which illnesses as Hepatitis A or STIs can be easily transmitted, as well as enteric infections. The dental dam or the plastic wrap[citation needed] are effective protection means whenever anilingus is performed. Anal sex has a number of health risks. Anal intercourse is the riskiest form of sexual activity for several reasons, including the following: The anus lacks the natural lubrication the vagina has. Penetration can tear the tissue inside the anus, allowing bacteria and viruses to enter the bloodstream. This can result in the spread of sexually transmitted infections including HIV. Exposure to the human papillomavirus (HPV) may also lead to the development of anal warts and anal cancer. Using lubricants can help some, but doesnt completely prevent tearing. The tissue inside the anus is not as well protected as the skin outside theanus. Our external tissue has layers of dead cells that serve as a protective barrier against infection. The tissue inside the anus does not have this natural protection, which leaves it vulnerable to tearing and the spread of infection. The anus was designed to hold in feces. Repetitive anal sex may lead to weakening of the anal sphincter, making it difficult to hold in feces until you can get to the toilet. The anus is full of bacteria. Even if both partners do not have a sexually-transmitted infection or disease, bacteria normally in the anus can potentially infect the giving partner. Practicing vaginal sex after anal sex can also lead to vaginal and urinary tract infections.