General health problems such as ear infections, pink eye and influenza affect nearly every person eventually. Dr. Rod Moser, PA, PhD, shares information and advice here on the most common general health disorders, their symptoms, treatments, and prevention.

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• Talk about how you handle being sick on the Cold and Flu Exchange

Don't you love that expression? It is like there is some bacteria going door to door, like rogue salesmen, infecting people at random. When someone tells me that they got the "bug that's going around", I usually agree and say, "Yes, I have seen its work."

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• Talk with others and ask Dr. Moser your questions on the Flu and Cold Exchange

I am one of those millions of people out there with occasional vertigo , especially vertigo triggered by specific motions ( motion sickness ). Many years ago, I suspect that I developed an inner ear infection resulting in some permanent damage – leaving me with tinnitus (ringing) 24/7 and episodic bouts of vertigo.

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• Talk about flu and vaccines on the Cold and Flu Exchange

The dreaded H1N1 pandemic seems to be finally over (looking around for wood to "knock on"). In my own office, I have not seen a case of influenza for several weeks now. Prior to that, I personally treated four or five a day - a total of 40-50 cases in our multiple-provider office. I worry about making this statement for fear that I will jinx it, sort of like commenting on what a slow day it is at the clinic, just before a bus load of patients arrive. The health officials aren't ready to pronounce the pandemic over just yet, but in my own little clinical microcosm, things are quiet. There was a new H1N1 wave predicted, but like the weather, those predictions aren't always accurate - perhaps about as accurate as the Bird Flu predictions a few years ago that was going to do us all in.

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• Talk about baby's cold on the Cold and Flu Exchange

To new parents, colds in infants are highly troublesome. First, they may have little or no experience dealing with colds in babies, and second...they are babies! The first cold may be the first time that parents have to make responsible medical decisions: Is it a cold? Is it allergy? Is it RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) ? Should I take them to the pediatrician, emergency room, post on WebMD, or just call my mother, grandmother, or someone with more kid experience for advice?

"You see sick people all day. How do you keep from becoming ill?" The WebMD Health Exchange

• Talk about colds and coughs on the Cold and Flu Exchange

This is a relatively common question that I get. The simple answer is that I do get sick; perhaps not as often as other people, but I do encounter an unfamiliar bug from time to time that gets me. Being on the primary care front line, I tend to see people when they are the sickest, and most contagious - the first few days of an illness. The vast majority of my patients are children or teenagers, among the most vulnerable of humans to becoming ill (the elderly is also high on the list).

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• Talk about where you get your health care in the Cold and Flu Exchange

The delivery of medicine has rapidly changed. In the past, people would establish themselves with a general practitioner (primary care provider) in their community and stick with them for a long, long time. Because people rarely stay in the same place very long anymore, change jobs, and change insurance coverage, many people are now relying on free-standing medical clinics, popping up in pharmacies, big box stores, and strip malls everywhere.

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edenpictures / CC BY 2.0 I have a strong suspicion that dentists have been secretively stealing children's teeth, putting them under their own pillows at night, and keeping the money. I have discussed my conspiracy theory with dozens of children, many who have had tooth extractions where the dentist failed to give them their teeth.

What are your skills? What have you really learned in life that you use every day? We start early learning different skills and we acquire new skills throughout our lives. Babies learn quickly. They must first learn how to nurse . They are born with a natural instinct to suck, but they hone those skills quite rapidly. I had a mother in the clinic the other day with a three month old. She was concerned that he was not nursing well. He used to spend ten to fifteen minutes on each breast, but now he only spends about five minutes. I looked at this "little" baby - about 14 pounds, huge rolls of fat, no neck, and happy as a pig in mud. He looked like Buddha. I informed the mother that he was getting plenty of nourishment; it is that he is just more efficient getting it. Either that or he is ordering pizzas after everyone goes to bed.

Ever since I started in the Med Biz, I have been treating kids for otitis media (middle ear infections) the traditional way - with oral antibiotics. In the early 1970 (not that long ago), the standard treatment was ampicillin or sulfa drugs. Ampicillin invariably caused diarrhea and a nasty case of baboon butt, and the sulfa drugs would cause some impressive sulfa reactions , like a bright red, generalized rash. We now have a choice of about two dozen antibiotics that area effective (most of the time) to the bugs that cause middle ear infections.