NEWS & DEVELOPMENTS

With a new kind of orthodontic treatment it is no longer necessary to wear braces. Does that sound interesting? It gets even better: the aligners are almost invisible and very comfortable.

The invisible aligners are used for both esthetic and/or functional results. You will wear them 20-22 hours per day and you only remove them when you eat. Every two weeks you change the aligners and during the treatment people will start noticing your changing smile. The treatment is specially indicated for teenagers and adults. We will still refer children to the orthodontist because for them braces are still the best option.

To book a dental appointment, please call (070) 306 5100 and select the Dental Care Department. For information please email us at ihchdental@ezorg.nl. 

Snoring? Waking up not feeling like you’ve slept at all? Struggling to stay awake during meetings in the day? These kind of symptoms are common with a condition call Sleep Apnea. Sleep Apnea is a breathing condition that prevents you getting deep nourishing sleep, so your body is craving it constantly.

Sleep intake
In our Sleep diagnostic department, we will conduct a thorough sleep intake as well as a physical examination of your upper airway structures. We have the means for in-depth sleep diagnostic tests in order to determine the severity of your issue. Once you are diagnosed with Sleep Apnea, our sleep diagnostic team will explain all the various ways in which your condition can be treated.

Treating your sleep apnea can mean feeling years younger, help with losing weight, improving your memory, concentration and motivation and improve your mood substantially. Untreated sleep apnea has many complications including increasing your risk or cardiac disease, cognitive function, diabetes and depression.

To book an appointment with our sleep diagnostic department, please call (070) 306 5100 and select the Polyclinic. For information please email us at ihchpoli@ezorg.nl.

You may have noticed what looks like a vending machine in the small garden around the corner from our main entrance. We know it may not always be possible for you to make it to our pharmacy during our opening times, hence the Pharmaself24 machine. This device is open 24/7, so you can access your prescribed medicine/s at any time. It can be reached via the facade of our building, in the small garden, around the corner from the main entrance.

As soon as your medicines are ready, you will receive a confirmation and pick-up code via email or text message.

How does it work?

As soon as your medicines are ready, we will put them in this dispenser. Immediately afterwards, an email or text message is sent to the customer. This email contains a numeric code that you use to remove the medication from the device. The device has a touchscreen. At the top left you will find the button ‘language’ so that you can change the language to English.

In addition to the code you received by email, the device also asks for the first digits of your date of birth. If you are born on the 4th of July 1966 for example, you have to fill in 0407.

Please ensure we have have your correct email address and telephone number so that you can receive this code. Unfortunately not all medicines are suitable to be dispensed via the Pharmaself24. You will be notified by the pharmacy to pick these up during our opening times at the pharmacy itself if this is the case.

For questions, please contact the pharmacy on 070 306 5122, and they will be happy to assist you.

The Well Child Centre caters for the unique needs of expat parents and their children. We offer periodic growth & development checks with the opportunity for further evaluation if abnormalities are detected. During these checks, we also discuss (additional) vaccinations and make individual vaccination planning adjusted to the needs of the child. We accommodate your concerns regarding safety, development, sleep, toilet training and behaviour, to name a few.

Interested? You can find more information on Well Child Centre 

The ever evolving field of medical technology, especially with regards to early cancer detection, is helping us get closer to the goal of reducing cancer mortality rate. One of these technologies helping us with early skin cancer detection, when the majority of cases are still completely curable, is called mole-mapping. Our dermatologist Dr Houtappel explains “One of the challenges with skin cancer is early detection. Many of us have moles or skin lesions, and although we may check them from time to time, we can’t accurately remember what their exact size, shape or colour was a few months ago, let alone a year ago. Fortunately with technological advances in high-resolution cameras we have found a great solution. It is quick, easy, and completely painless and can help detect cancerous moles that are evolving slowly enough that could go unnoticed.

Here are 5 reasons to get started with mole-mapping:

1. Mole mapping keeps high-resolution images of your moles, and therefore new, changing or growing ones can be identified much earlier than by relying on your or your doctor’s memory.
   
2. The computer-assisted camera flags suspicious moles, which can then be magnified to determine whether it looks cancerous.
3. Mole-mapping can reduce the risk of unnecessarily removing a healthy mole, because the magnified camera and change tracking over time can help determine whether that mole is indeed healthy.
   
4. If you move country, change doctors, or simply would like to check for yourself what your moles looked like at your last appointment, you will be given all the photos on a USB stick to take with you to your next dermatologist or mole mapping facility.
   
5. Mole-mapping is completely painless and still ensures that your dermatologist can focus on moles that look suspicious.

How often do you need to get your moles checked?

We recommend once per year if no suspicious moles were identified at your last check. For suspicious moles, we advise you to get them checked after 3-6 months.

Is mole mapping for everyone?

Mole mapping is particularly suitable if you have an increased risk of skin cancer, defined as:

–          Multiple moles (50 or more) or large moles

–          Personal or family history of skin cancer

–          Pale skin that burns easily in the sun

–          History of severe sunburns or a lot of sun exposure

–          A suppressed immune system 

If you have questions about mole-mapping, or would like to book an appointment, please email our Polyclinic at ihchpoli@ezorg.nl or call 070 306 5100 and select the option for the Polyclinic.