LW/Bealth

OMFORTABLE

•

ha.A

WITH A VERY
CARING STAFF.

Beautiful
Nursing Home.
Quiet Setting,
Overlooking Two
Beautiful Lakes.

THE BEST KEPT SECRET
IN OAKLAND COUNTY.

Medicare & Medicaid Approved

Bortz Health Care on Green Lake

6470 Alden Drive • Orchard Lake

248-363-4121

Please call to arrange for our complimentary
limousine to drive you to our elegant
mansion for your personal tour.

Dental Implants

The Other Option

No Unsightly Clasps • No Drilling on Teeth • No Messy Adhesive

Dr. Novetsky, Lukacs
and Associates

5/29
1998

124

„I

P

Call today for an appointment

Implant Group

248453-4740

We accept BUS and Medicare

Don't Be Ai
Drip: 1

Get Your
Faucet Fixed!

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Plumbers
in our i
Marketplace i•
Home and i
Service Guide. •

Dr. Sheldon Kushner and medical assis-
tant Gina Rachal discuss a patient's
records.
remains the same and the ability to
have an ejection is unchanged. Dr.
Kushner's reassuring words to patients
are that if they didn't have a problem
before a vasectomy, they won't have
one afterwards. Sexual activity can
usually begin again two to four days
after the procedure.
Although both the conventional
procedure and the no-scalpel proce-
dure are done in a doctor's office, the
difference between the two is how the
doctor gets to the tubes.
In a conventional vasectomy, the
doctor numbs the scrotum and then
makes an incision with a scalpel. Eac(..-,
tube is lifted out, cut and sealed with
electric current. The incision is then
stitched closed.
For a no-scalpel vasectomy, the
doctor pierces the skin of the numbed
scrotum with a special instrument
that makes a tiny hole. The same
instrument is used to gently stretch
the opening so the tubes can be
reached. The tubes are then blocked '-\
using the same methods as a conven-
tional vasectomy.
'Another advantage of the no-
scalpel technique is that it takes less
time to perform than the convention-
al vasectomy," explains Dr. Kushner.
"And since there's no incision, there's
less pain and I seldom recommend
anything stronger than Tylenol or
Advil for discomfort."
Patients are advised to continue
alternative birth control methods until
sperm counts are checked. Dr. Kushn-
er, who has performed over 1,000 of
these procedures over the last decade,
checks his patients at least twice until
they show a negative sperm count,
which may take six to eight weeks.
Vasectomies are very effective at
preventing pregnancies and should be
considered a permanent form of birth
control. They can be reversed, but it
is a major procedure and doesn't
always work. For example, some men
develop antibodies to their own
sperm or there may be a change in
blood flow.