11/19/2024
At the time I am writing this, our community recently suffered from Hurricane Helene that DEVASTATED our area to likes most have never seen. If you are reading this, the Lord saw fit to save you on this side of Glory and we have begun picking up the pieces and moving forward. Well, it is now deep into the autumn season and my clinic is typically stocked to the gills with medicines for “fall pollen” sufferers and those who’s sinuses and airways are sensitive to the blessedly welcome lower temperatures.
*Cue the TV Commercial voice: BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE….! My clinic has been incredibly busy, as expected, but not just with my fragile sinus infection gang, no. Many more people, who usually DON’T have issues this time of year are coming in with bronchitis, sinusitis, scratchy pharyngitis, and just flat out hock-a-loogie-itis. What is causing this mini-epidemic??
All aboard Dr. Kirk’s Logic Train, let’s put on thinking caps! You local folks, walk outside. What’s different? Listen closely and I bet you hear chainsaws. Maybe some rumbling of heavy machines, skid-steers and backhoes. Maybe the beep beep beeping of a debris truck backing up. Think hard. Y’all: it’s NOT the fall pollen or the temperature changes only. It’s something call the “particle count.”
That’s right. Our air right now is FILLED with microscopic debris from all the cutting, trimming, clearing, hauling, moving, mulching. To make matters worse, citizens are now emboldened to start burning their debris, Lord save us all. So, here’s the bad news, gang: I don’t see this situation getting any better for the next month or two. There’s SO much to clean up and the time it will take to get our beloved fallen tree and turn them into the char/mulch/etc…. it’s gonna be with us for a while!
So, Dr. Kirk, what can we do?? We do our best. If you are sinus or allergy sensitive, BE CONSISTENT with your allergy meds. Don’t wait til you are sick. Take an antihistamine (Claritin, Zyrtec, etc.) NOW. Everyday. Have a dose of Benadryl before bed if you feel it coming on. And hydrate! If your body is gonna do like God designed and make “junk” when it encounters particles, hydrating will help make that junk loose and coughable, sneezable, hock-a-loogie-able, whatever. Remember: junk that doesn’t move well (whether we’re talking sinuses, lungs, where ever) GETS INFECTED. Keep it moving! Blow your nose, don’t sit there and sniff and snort all day like a daycare baby. Cough it up. Hack it up. Hock it up. Heck, go buy an old metal spittoon and see if you can make a DING sound like a cowboy, I don’t care. *I’m kidding, please be polite, but yeah. **some of you with little ones, MAKE PEACE WITH A PRODUCTIVE COUGH. It's a good thing! (please read that again)
We are in this for the long haul, y’all. So keep in mind, you may not be able to see it, but the “particle count” is super high for the next few months. Some of you, I know I wouldn’t trust with a butter knife around biscuits are happily operating a chainsaw for the first time, so I have bigger worries at the ER right now. Take your medicine.
Yours in Health and Christ, Dr. Kirk
