Doctor-Reviewed Health Guides: Conditions, Procedures & Health News

Antibiotics are medicines that fight bacterial infections by killing bacteria or stopping them from multiplying. They treat infections such as strep throat, urinary tract infections and bacterial pneumonia. They don't work on viruses, so they won't help a cold or the flu. Take them exactly as prescribed. Using antibiotics when they aren't needed fuels antibiotic resistance.

Appetite suppressants are weight-loss medicines that make you feel less hungry or full sooner, so you eat fewer calories. They're for adults with obesity (BMI of 30 or higher) or a BMI over 27 plus a weight-related condition, when diet and exercise alone haven't been enough. They work best with a healthy eating plan and regular activity.

Cryotherapy is a treatment that uses extreme cold, usually liquid nitrogen or argon gas, to freeze and destroy abnormal tissue. It treats skin problems such as warts, skin tags and precancerous patches, some early skin cancers and precancerous cervical cells. It usually causes less pain and bleeding than surgery. Treated skin heals in one to three weeks.

LASIK eye surgery (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) uses a laser to reshape the cornea so the eye focuses light correctly. It treats nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. About 9 in 10 people get 20/20 vision. Dry eye is the most common side effect. You need to be over 18 with a stable prescription.

Vaccines train the immune system to recognize and fight a germ before it makes you sick. They protect you and the people around you, including babies and people who can't be vaccinated. Common side effects are a sore arm and mild fever; serious reactions are rare. Vaccines don't cause autism and can't change your DNA.

The morning-after pill is emergency contraception taken after unprotected sex to lower the chance of pregnancy. It works mainly by preventing or delaying ovulation and doesn't end an existing pregnancy. Levonorgestrel is sold over the counter and taken within 72 hours; ulipristal acetate needs a prescription and works up to 120 hours. Take it as soon as possible.

The shingles vaccine lowers the risk of shingles, a painful rash caused by the chickenpox virus waking up years later, and of the long-lasting nerve pain that can follow it. In the U.S., the only one available is Shingrix. It's recommended for adults 50 and older and given as two doses, two to six months apart.

Birth control pills (oral contraceptives) are daily pills that use hormones to prevent pregnancy. Taken every day as prescribed, the pill is 99% effective, but with everyday use about 9 in 100 people get pregnant each year, mostly from missed pills. Combination pills carry a small risk of blood clots, and the pill doesn't protect against STIs.

Cataract surgery removes the cloudy lens of the eye and replaces it with a clear artificial lens called an intraocular lens (IOL). It's the only proven treatment for adult cataracts. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes, and you go home the same day. It improves vision for about 97% of people. Serious complications are rare.

A urinary catheter is a thin, flexible tube that drains urine from the bladder when you can't urinate on your own. It's used for urinary retention, incontinence, an enlarged prostate, nerve conditions and during and after surgery. The main types are intermittent, indwelling (Foley) and suprapubic catheters. The most common problem is a urinary tract infection.

A sitz bath is a warm, shallow bath you sit in to ease pain, burning or itching in the perineum, the area between the anus and the genitals. It's used for hemorrhoids, anal fissures and soreness after childbirth. Soak in 3 to 4 inches of water for 15 to 20 minutes, up to three or four times a day.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are targeted cancer medicines, taken as pills or liquid, that block tyrosine kinase enzymes cancer cells use to grow and divide. They treat cancers such as chronic myeloid leukemia, non-small cell lung cancer, HER2-positive breast cancer and kidney cancer. TKIs cannot cure cancer, but they can bring long-term remission and longer life.

Tympanostomy is a short outpatient surgery in which an ear, nose and throat surgeon places a tiny hollow tube in the eardrum to drain trapped fluid and let air into the middle ear. Children usually get ear tubes for repeated ear infections or fluid lasting over three months; adults mainly for barotrauma. Most people recover within one to two days.

The tripod position is a breathing position in which you lean your chest slightly forward and support your upper body with your hands, arms or a table. It lets the chest expand and brings in extra breathing muscles. Relief is temporary, so the cause still needs treatment, and severe breathing trouble needs emergency care.

Triple bypass surgery is an operation that reroutes blood around three blocked areas in the coronary arteries using blood vessels taken from the chest, arm or leg. It treats coronary artery disease with multiple blockages when angioplasty is unsuitable or has failed. The operation takes three to six hours, and home recovery usually takes about six weeks.

Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) is a procedure that replaces a faulty mitral valve with a new valve delivered through a thin catheter, usually through an incision in the groin or chest. It treats mitral valve regurgitation or stenosis in people who are not good candidates for open-heart surgery, and usually takes two to three hours.

A trigger point injection is an in-office treatment for myofascial pain in which a provider places a thin needle into a painful muscle knot, called a trigger point, and injects a numbing medicine, sometimes with a steroid or botulinum toxin. It is generally safe, relief usually begins within 24 to 72 hours, and it lasts about a month.

Tympanoplasty is surgery that repairs a hole in the eardrum using a small graft of the person's own tissue or synthetic material. It is usually advised when a perforation has not healed after two to three months. Most people go home the same day, recover in about two weeks and regain full hearing over three months or more.

Turbinate reduction is a same-day surgery that shrinks or removes swollen tissue on the turbinates, small bony structures inside the nose, to improve airflow in people with chronic nasal congestion. It is usually considered when steroid sprays or antihistamines fail. Most people return to routine within a day to a week, and the success rate is about 82%.

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy is a one-time cancer immunotherapy that collects immune cells from a patient's own tumor, multiplies them into billions in a lab and returns them through an IV. It treats advanced melanoma that has not responded to standard treatment, and the full process takes about 10 weeks.

Tubal ligation reversal is a surgery that reopens or reconnects the fallopian tubes after tubal ligation so conception can happen again. It takes two to three hours under general anesthesia, usually with same-day discharge. Between 5 and 8 in 10 women become pregnant afterward, though about 4 to 8 in 100 women have an ectopic pregnancy.

Chemoembolization (transarterial chemoembolization, or TACE) is a minimally invasive liver cancer treatment that delivers chemotherapy straight into the artery feeding a tumor, then blocks that artery with an embolic agent. It treats hepatocellular carcinoma and cancers that have spread to the liver, stops tumor growth in about 70% of patients, and usually needs a one- to two-day hospital stay.

A tunneled catheter is a central venous catheter that runs a short distance under the skin before entering a large vein, with its tip resting near or in the heart. It can stay in place for months or years, giving access for medicines, fluids, blood draws, dialysis and IV nutrition without new needle sticks. Report fever or site redness promptly.

A tummy tuck scar is the healed line left where the belly was cut and closed during a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty). It is usually thin and may be raised, recessed, pink or lighter than nearby skin. It can't be fully prevented, but wound care, sun protection and treatments like silicone, injections, laser or revision surgery can soften its look.