Things to know about the pill and pregnancy

• If you get pregnant while birth control, stop taking the pill immediately.
• If you haven’t had your period for 3 months after quitting birth control, it is worth talking to your Ob/Gyn.
• It is generally recommended that you use a barrier method and allow for a few cycles of normal periods before trying to conceive.

Staying on top of your reproductive health with the help of Ahkami Medical Group

At our office in Passaic, we are dedicated to your reproductive health, including the healthy transition from birth control to conception. If you are interested in quitting your birth control pill for any reason, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today. We will make sure that you leave our office with all questions answered and a clear path forward after quitting the pill.

Tips for sleeping while pregnant

• Exercise, but not right before bed! Movement influences circulation, which is necessary for rest, but exercise also releases adrenaline that can make it difficult to sleep.
• Drink plenty of fluids throughout the day, but not in the hour leading up to bed: this will help prevent the frequency of waking up in order to urinate.
• At the 20 week mark, begin sleeping on your left side. Further tip: support your body while sleeping with a pregnancy body pillow.
• Nap if you need to: if you can’t find the rest you need at night, try taking a nap when you feel tired during the day time.
• Establish consistency: routine helps many people find better sleep.

Pregnancy sleep assistance in Passaic

Sleep is a cornerstone of wellness, and never more so than during pregnancy. It is our duty to do everything in our power to help you find the rest you need to maintain your vitality in order to influence the greatest possible chance of a successful, complication-free delivery. If you are interested in finding out more about our services for pregnancy-related insomnia, give our office in Passaic a call to schedule an appointment today.

Why are women more likely to have insomnia than men?

Women are more likely to suffer from insomnia because of hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle; furthermore, hormonal changes associated with menopause are likely to increase your chance of suffering from insomnia with age. Other conditions that cause insomnia which are more common in women include:

• Pregnancy
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Fibromyalgia

These medical conditions cause secondary insomnia, meaning that your insomnia is actually a side-effect of a different condition; therefore, it is different from primary insomnia, which is its own condition.

What to do about insomnia in Passaic

At Ahkami Medical Group, we recognize the importance of sleep as a cornerstone of wellness. We will do everything in our power to help you sleep better: once you have a diagnosis of primary or secondary insomnia, there are several avenues of treatment available to you. If there is a particular health problem causing your secondary insomnia, we want to detect and set a course to treat that condition first. From here, we offer counseling on lifestyle adjustments which affect your ability to fall and stay asleep, as well as natural methods for finding sleep more easily. We also offer access to sleep-aiding medication if deemed appropriate and can provide referrals to cognitive specialists who provide cognitive behavioral therapy that can help change the way you sleep.

We take into account every detail of the spectrum that contributes to your sleep health, and put together a multi-dimensional plan that will help you find the restful sleep you need in your busy world. If you are interested in getting the sleep you need to function your best, give our office in Passaic a call to schedule an appointment today.

What women can do to promote healthy aging

It’s never too early, nor too late, to start making changes in your lifestyle to account for your health. Here are some of the easiest and fastest ways you can make changes:

• Diet: switch to healthy fats and minimize sugar consumption.
• Exercise: as many as 80% of elderly women struggle with inactivity. We can help you get creative with your physical activity.
• Focus on mental health: many elderly women suffer with depression. We can help you find strategies for minimizing anxiety
• Minimize use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs

What we can do to help promote healthy aging in women

At our office in Passaic, we specialize in women’s preventative healthcare. We provide the following services and screenings to help you keep one step ahead of potential health risks:

• Blood pressure and cholesterol screenings for heart health
• Bone mineral density test
• Thyroid test
• Mammograms and clinical breast exams
• Colorectal exams and diabetes screening
• A full range of reproductive health screenings

We want to help you account for your unique health profile so that you are fully in control of your life as you move forward in age. If you are interested in using our services to promote a healthy aging process, give our office a call to schedule an appointment today.

Why are strong bones so important?

Osteoporosis means, “porous bone,” and the change in structure of bone material is a primary cause for injury and broken bones in elderly populations. This is a serious condition that has the capacity to cause disability and permanent pain. One way to live a healthier, more independent life in old age is to maintain strong bones; at our office in Passaic, we want to help women maintain their bone strength so that they can keep in touch with an active lifestyle, no matter their age.

How we help at Ahkami Medical Group

We begin with a bone mineral density (BMD) test, which compares your bone mass to that of someone with healthy bone density of the same age and sex. At Ahkami Medical Group, we treat osteoporosis by mitigating bone loss through diet and medication, strengthening muscles and focusing on musculoskeletal balance to prevent the kind of lapses in movement that lead to broken bones. If you are interested in using our services to prevent bone loss and stay healthy despite potential bone loss, give our office in Passaic a call to schedule an appointment today.

What exactly is cellulite?

Cellulite is not just unsightly chunks of fat. It is a more complex physiological condition that often results from a combination of factors including hormones and heredity. What’s more, it is thought to affect over 90% of women in the United States at some point in their lifetime. So the first step to overcoming your frustration, and improving your life with cellulite, is to take a deep breath and realize you are not alone.

In normal, some might say, “smooth,” skin, fibrous strands form compartments under the skin that contain fat cells. With cellulite, this subcutaneous fat, as well as lymphatic material, herniates and comes to the surface, while the fibrous strands form indents; the final result is the dimpled appearance most often found on the thighs, hips and pelvic area.

How we treat cellulite at Ahkami Medical Group

Cellulite most often gets worse with age, as hormones change the structure of skin collagen. But you don’t have to accept cellulite as a bygone conclusion: there are many treatment options available to you, and studies show that non-invasive procedures are effective at lowering the grade of your cellulite. We offer counseling on cellulite with the objective of educating you on the condition and how you can use lifestyle decisions to manage its presence. Treatments include:

• Counseling on diet and exercise and the cessation of smoking
• Laser treatment
• Dermal fillers to even out dimples

If you are interested in finding out more about how you can downgrade the severity of your cellulite, give our office in Passaic a call to schedule an appointment today.