summer Archives | Carson Tahoe Health

Your Joint Pain Doesn’t Mean the End of Summer Fun

This summer, don’t let hip and knee pain hold you back. A multitude of things can affect how your joints feel, including the seasons. If your joint pain seems to fluctuate with the weather, it’s not just your imagination. It’s possible that warmer weather can help alleviate joint pain, while in contrast, cold rainy days might make joint pain worse.  “Warmer weather tends to lead to increased blood flow through increased blood vessel dilation known as vasodilation,” explains Paul Bindert, DPT, ATC, Physical Therapist at Carson Tahoe Health. “This can alleviate joint inflammation and reduce pain.” But why can your joints feel an oncoming storm? Research is still ongoing, but it may have something to do with changes in barometric …


Summer Cold or Simply Summer Allergies?

Summer is the time for sunning, swimming, and grilling — not for being miserable with a cold. Here’s how to tell if you have a summer cold or summer allergies, along with tips to cope. No matter what the season, a virus finds the weather perfect to invade your respiratory tract — leaving you sneezing, coughing, and down with a cold. A cold is a cold is a cold, regardless of when one suffers from it. But in the summer months, when the winter doldrums and associated illnesses seem ages away, it’s easy to write off a cold as just summer allergies. The two are very different conditions — and if you pay close attention to your symptoms, you can …


Spectacular (and Lighter) ‘Sand Pudding’ Recipe

You may have seen the social media buzz about the ‘sand pudding’ recipe. As the ‘healthy recipe police,’ we were inspired to ask our dieticians to offer a healthy twist on this delicious favorite, without losing out on the flavor to satisfy our sweet-tooth. Enjoy this amazing, dietician-approved dessert! Ingredients: • 1 container (4 oz.) ready-to-eat vanilla pudding snack (this could be substituted with vanilla yogurt) • 1 square HONEY MAID Honey Graham, crushed • 3 TEDDY GRAHAMS Honey Graham Snacks • 2 ring-shaped chewy fruit snacks Instructions • TOP pudding snack with graham crumbs for the sand. • DECORATE with graham snacks and fruit snacks. • GARNISH with a paper umbrella, if desired.


Summer Sips: Healthy, Kid-Friendly Drink Recipes for Hot Summer Days

Looking for a way to beat the heat? These refreshing summer sips will quench your thirst and please your palate. Prepare them for an outdoor party, a day in the backyard with the kids, or after mowing the lawn! Strawberry Watermelon Lemonade Slushy Ingredients – 2 to 3 cups seedless watermelon – 2 tablespoons honey (more if you like things sweet) – ¼ cup lemon juice – 2 cups frozen strawberries As many ice cubes as you can squish on the top and still get the lid on Directions 1. Layer watermelon, followed by lemon concentrate, honey, frozen strawberries and ice in the pitcher of the blender. 2. Blend until well mixed (2 to 3 minutes approx) 3. Serve & …


EYEssential Information: How to Choose the Best Sunglasses

Sunglasses can give you instant James Dean cool, Audrey Hepburn glamor, or the rock star hipness of Bono. But they are much more than a fashion accessory. Sunglasses are an essential tool in safeguarding the health of your eyes and the surrounding tissue. Here’s what you need to know about what sunglasses can do for you (apart from style) and how to choose them. Eye on UV Risks Just as the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays can damage skin, they can also harm the lens and cornea of the eyes. UV radiation increases your odds of getting cataracts, which cloud the eye’s lens and lead to diminished eyesight. It has also been linked to macular degeneration, a treatable, but an incurable …