SVMC cardiology

 

 

STRIVING TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE ONE BEAT AT A TIME

You get one life and you get one heart. The board-certified cardiologists and associated practitioners at SVMC Cardiology are committed to helping you make the most of both.

Our patient-centered approach to care and personalized care plans maximize your quality of life while delivering the treatment you need when you need it.

Creating the appropriate treatment plan for your condition begins with a cardiac consultation. Your consultation is a chance for you to share your health history and current concerns with your cardiologist. All necessary exams and tests are conducted on-site by your cardiac care team. The results are shared and discussed directly with you so that you fully understand your condition, treatment options, associated risks, and potential lifestyle changes.

After a heart episode or surgery, there’s nothing our cardiac team and you want more than for you to just get back on your feet and live the life you want. That’s why we begin your rehabilitation program before you even leave the hospital. Through a combination of education and exercise, your personalized program will help you build strength and reduce your risk factors. Using the full range of cardio equipment in our Cardiac Rehab Center and under the watchful eye of our rehab team, you’ll improve your heart’s strength and capacity and get closer to resuming a full and active lifestyle. For more information about Cardiac Rehabilitation, click here.

In order to understand how well your heart is or isn’t functioning, an echocardiogram may be performed. This non-invasive procedure uses sound waves to produce images of your heart. Both of SVMC’s cardiologists are board certified in echocardiography and able to observe how your heart is pumping and identify any abnormalities in the heart muscle or valves. An echocardiogram allows our team to make the most informed and appropriate recommendations for the next steps in your care.

If a standard echocardiogram does not provide a clear image of your heart, your SVMC care team may recommend a transesophageal echocardiogram or TEE. Performed at the hospital, this procedure involves inserting a flexible tube containing a transducer down your throat and into your esophagus. From this closer vantage point, the transducer then uses sound waves to create more detailed images of your heart and allows for better diagnosis.

Before we treat your heart, we need understand how it’s performing. At SVMC we offer a number of non-invasive stress tests that can quickly and easily reveal a number of things including: how well your heart works during increasing levels of activity; how certain medications are impacting blood flow; the effectiveness of procedures done to improve heart performance; and more.

If you have risk factors for heart disease, calcium scoring may may help you learn more about whether you are actually at risk. The non-invasive test uses high-speed CT imaging technology to measure the hardening of the heart’s arteries, a leading indicator of heart disease and heart attacks. Visit the calcium scoring page for complete details. 

A pacemaker is one of the most effective ways to ensure a heart maintains a steady, healthy beat. The SVMC cardiac team is exceptionally skilled and experienced at both pacemaker implantation and monitoring. Considered a minor surgery, implantation takes place at the hospital with most patients returning to normal activity (and a more steadily beating heart) within a few days. Like all medical equipment, pacemakers need a little TLC every now and then. At SVMC our cardiac team can perform routine monitoring, both remotely and in the office, and reprogramming as needed.

One of the most common cardiac diagnostic tools, an EKG is a painless way to check for problems with the electrical activity of your heart. The EKG translates and records your heart’s electrical activity over a period of time and translates it into waves. Your SVMC care provider can use printouts of the waves to detect any patterns that might point to a specific condition and put together a treatment plan that meets your specific needs.

Should your SVMC cardiac care provider want to monitor your heart over a longer period of time than is practical for a standard EKG, you may be given a Holter or event monitor. Worn outside the body and completely painless, monitors are helpful in detecting abnormalities that only happen occasionally and can help your doctor link any abnormalities to specific activities or events in your day.

Carotid ultrasound
At SVMC our goal is to treat your health issues before they become problems. Using our sophisticated carotid ultrasound test, your cardiac care provider can detect blockages in your neck arteries that could lead to a stroke or indicate problems in other parts or your circulatory system.

Education
Because understanding what causes heart problems is essential to resolving them, we offer a variety of educational resources to patients and their families.  Workshops are offered on an ongoing basis throughout the Dartmouth-Hitchcock network, and condition-specific literature is available in our offices. 

SVMC Cardiac Rehab

SVMC Pulmonology

American Heart Association 

Go Red for Women 

American College of Cardiology 

140 Hospital Drive, Suite 211, Bennington, VT 05201
Phone: (802) 442-0800
Fax: (833) 343-1597

Hours:
Monday – Friday:  8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Directions: 
For directions to SVMC Cardiology, click here. 

Parking:
For appointments at SVMC Cardiology, park in parking area P3 or P5.

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    Reduce the Risk of Ski & Snowboard Injuries
    Grace Weatherby
    / Categories: WELLNESS, 2024

    Reduce the Risk of Ski & Snowboard Injuries

    While skiing and snowboarding are enjoyed on the same slopes, the nature of common injuries differs due to the position of your body and how firmly you are—or are not—attached to your equipment.

    Here’s a look at some of the most common injuries that occur in both sports.

    Common ski injuries

    · Tears to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), medial collateral ligament (MCL), or meniscus

    · Broken collarbones or ribs

    · Injuries to the ligaments of the wrist and hands

    Common snowboarding injuries

    · Wrist fractures

    · Strained ligaments on the outside of the talus bone (a.k.a. snowboarder's ankle)

    There’s no way to prevent the possibility of all injuries while skiing and boarding, but there are things you can do to minimize your risk. These include:

    Wear sport-specific protective gear. The most important piece of gear is, of course, a helmet. Head injuries are a leading cause of death in both skiing and snowboarding.

    As for protecting other body parts, make sure your gear fits you properly. If you’re not sure, ask for help in a pro or rental shop. In addition to your helmet and sunglasses or goggles, protective wrist guards with places on the front and back of the hand, elbow guards, and knee pads are also recommended.

    For serious enthusiasts who like to push the limits, you may want to invest in a back guard to protect your spine from hard falls.

    Speaking of falling…

    Learn how to fall. Although falling is never the goal in skiing or snowboarding, it’s worth learning how to fall safely and to practice.

    To begin with, when you feel yourself beginning to fall, crouch down to minimize the distance between you and the ground and lessen the impact.

    If you don’t have time to do that, resist the temptation to try and catch yourself with your hand which can lead to broken bones in your wrist or arms, or torn ligaments in your hands. Bring your arms in close to your body and close your hands into fist. Try to fall so that your bottom, hips or shoulders absorb the impact. If you’re falling straight forward, try to position your forearms so they take the blow rather than your hands or elbows.

    This next tip is counterintuitive but when you feel yourself about to fall, try not to tense up. Keeping your muscles relaxed and loose will help minimize risk of injury.

    If you find yourself sliding, don’t try to use your board and skis as brakes. Catching an edge is an easy way to torque your knee or twist your leg as your lower body stops and your upper body continues sliding. If you’re not sliding toward a lift tower, trees, or dangerous terrain, try to lift your board or skis off the ground and allow yourself to slide to a stop.

    Stretch before hitting the slopes. Before you jump on the lift, take 10 minutes to ready your muscles for what lies ahead through a series of simple stretches. Try this three-position dynamic stretch that fires up and lengthens the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and core—the major muscles used in skiing and riding. Pro Tip: use these same stretches to help with muscle recovery at the end of the day.  

    Again, it’s impossible to prevent all injuries. In the event that you do take a tumble, the first thing to do is determine how bad the situation is. If you’re in severe pain, unable to move or are experiencing numbness, seek immediate medical attention from the ski patrol. If things aren’t that grim, but you’re not ready to navigate down the hill, use the snow around you to create an ice pack on the injured area and leave in place for 10-20 minutes. If you can manage to get down the slope safely, do so and apply ice for 10-20 minutes and elevate the injured area. You may need to repeat icing and elevation for several days or even weeks until your body heals. If your injury doesn’t heal within three weeks you should make an appointment to see an orthopedist who can assess the damage and recommend treatment.

     

    Patrick Deedy, MS, LAT, ATC is a certified athletic trainer with Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

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