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Monday 07:00 - 16:00 Tuesday 07:00 - 16:00 Wednesday 07:00 - 16:00 Thursday 07:00 - 16:00 Friday 07:00 - 11:00

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Dr Zelda Smook

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Dr Zelda Smook

"You treat a disease, you win you lose...You treat a PATIENT who has the disease, you win no matter what the outcome" All Medical Aids Accepted, even Keycare.
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For None Medical Aid Consults we offer a Cash or Card facility but the prices differ . If you can't get hold of us, then please send a Whatsapp or SMS on 0662374548 and we'll get back to you ASAP

25/11/2025

Hey there SC peeps 🌞🏖🌊 (Enjoy the read 🤪)

A glimpse into the life of a GP in an AI ruled society...📲🤳 ... How I dream of LIFE BEFORE CELLPHONES WERE DOCTORS 🤪🕰️

Back then, like in Grey's Anatomy, doctors juggled surgeries and symptoms, like pros. I also scratched my head and went through BOOKS 📖... 🏥 No apps...

It used to be just patients spilling their feelings, their symptoms. We’d chat, I’d examine, maybe ask for a blood test or two💉, and...problem solved with good old trust, knowledge and common sense. 📞🗣️ ❤️

Doctoring was as straightforward as unfolding an old paper map...Off you went on your finger traced route, with no adverts popping up 🗺️💪

But oh boy, then the digital avalanche hit...

A day to day example would be for instance using Waze or Google Maps 🟨🛣 :
✅️The one route promises a 45-minute joyride dodging tolls or construction (because of a new pipeline 🤣😝🚧).
✅️The next route looks enticing with an estimate of 38 minutes flat, but with warnings of speed traps lurking like nosy in-laws 👀 👮‍♂️🚔.

Go and tweak your search with "avoid highways" and suddenly there's a brand-new adventure where you find yourself looking for petrol ⛽️ stations or a loo 🚻 🚽....🤣

Let's be real...we all use these "MAP APPS", they are handy if you actually know your destination...but you might end up driving around in circles, arriving cranky and convinced the APP has not been updated😩 😵‍💫

Now, flip this fiasco to AI symptom search...you've got an instant blockbuster that not even Spielberg could dream up...🎬🎥

OVERNIGHT patients have turned into online gurus using there phones like a detective 🫣🤔🤯. You enter "fatigue" and get a diagnoses explosion of Dehydration, Iron-Defiency Anaemia, or some exotic Alaskan Sea Tiger Syndrome (no, that's not real 🤣) 💥😱

This, my dear peeps, is called...
CYBERCHONDRIA...and it's WORSE than that bug 🐛 from China 🚷😷

It is the term that has been given to that sinking anxiety you feel when you find 20 possible diagnosises after the 2nd click...And it's VERY real... 😟 👀😑

But here's the hilarious hitch: AI just parrots 🦜your fear back at you, like an echo from your OWN THOUGHTS 🤔 💭

Put in key words like "one-sided face drop" and it pops up "STROKE" on the first click... 🤯😱

After that, you find yourself scrolling through every AI generated post that says "Read Next" 🤓untill you end nd up finding out that P!nk is running for president (which isn't true 🤣).

But NOWHERE in your search do the most obvious things stand out big enough for you to go "Ahhhhh" there it is...such as:
✅️Sinus Infection,
✅️Bell's palsy (A nerve glitch cured with rest and meds), or
✅️Shingles...crashing the party like an uninvited rash.

A headache? AI will manage to bring your worst nightmare to life, changing your minor pain into a tumor 😱.

Did you really have pain shooting down your entire left side, or did it magically appear after AI played hypochondriac Pacman 🧐🍒?

Back in the good ol' days (yes, I'm nostalgic!), I could predict patient consults like a Gypsy psychic...I'd grab the "YOU" magazine and find the "Thyroid" article. In an instant I'd know what I'd be seeing in my office the following week...😁

Fast-forward to now, and it's a full-blown FBI manhunt 🕵️‍♀️🌀 You stroll in with a list of symptom, copied from AI, and I play spot-the-fake phrases like "persistent fatigue, shifting weight and brittle nails" ....I mean really... WHO SAYS BRITTLE or shifting. It used to be "My nails are breaking" or "I'm just getting fatter by the day💭🤷🏼‍♀️ l??

Suddenly I'm not just a doctor anymore...I've also had to become an BAU profiler and hound dog 🐕 🤷🏼‍♀️🤣

That statin speech you just gave me, because your aunt twice removed, sent you a FB video to watch 📹 by "Dr. AFX" 🤪🙄 Did you fact-check if he's a medical doctor or is he or she maybe a geologist with a PhD, dishing out his opinion like it's medical gold🪨👎?

Lastly, we have the new SERIOUS BREAKOUT called "The Laboratory Apps"!! YOUR OWN RESULTS IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND...weaponised by AI research...!

I might just be out of a job soon... 🤯🫣💥... coz everyone is "dying" after all...😉🤣🤦‍♀️

Suddenly all my patients are turning into Professor Doctor Sherlock. 🔍 Red Cells that are off by 0.02 becomes an instant meltdown and frantic phone calls to Caz and Courtney... because Dr Z missed my diagnosis!!!! 😵‍💫 Yet, I've already reviewed your results, considered everything "in the bigger scheme of things" and made notes that all is normal🤦‍♀️😉🤷🏼‍♀️...coz they actually are.

And then, to top things...in strolls my 55-year-old, 160kg diabetic dude who couldn't give a continental with sugars at 12, grinning like he won the lotto, blind to risks like his kidneys can fail...

Did you ever consider BASIC REAL LIFE culprits behind your problems? 🤷‍♀️

✅️Like, is that headache a muscle spasm from computer-staring marathons for work and exam time or even maybe just life stressing you out? 💻😓
✅️Or hey, maybe you're packing extra kilos because you lovvve that "healthy" whole wheat bread...🍞⚖️
✅️Stiff neck in the morning?? Maybe it's that old pillow, or a soft mattress 🛏️😤 .
✅️"Kidney infection"? Could be plain old backache from a weekend of cleaning and moving furniture. 🧹💪

Honestly now...you are NOT going to double check your Granny's koffie tert 🍮🍰 recipe against AI...are you 😉? So why come into my office with an arsenal of symptoms that you don't really have...

As your GP, I'm asking...cut out the nonsense and go back to basics. AI's meant to simplify life, such as setting reminders...not turn everyone into instant Doctors 😷🚫 !

Ditch the AI detective investigation before your random search lands you in Narnia 🦁🤪🌈

We love you all dearly and with the silly season upon us, we just wanna let you know that we've got your back!! 🥰

Office Hours ⏰️
Monday to Thursday: 07:00 - 16:00
Fridays: 07:00 - 11:00
📱066 237 4548

Love and Health🥰🌈🏖🌊
Dr Z, Caz and Courtney

14/09/2025

🌟💪 Hey there SC peeps!! 🌞 ⛱️

Dr Zee is in the office!!! 🎉🎉

Although my hand 🖐️ hasn’t healed 100% yet (still rocking the 1-armed bandit look 🤠), things are slowly getting better. The stubborn ulnar nerve ⚡ is finally starting to fire. 💥 Long road ahead... but we’re MOVING forward 🚀!

So while I CAN’T do excisions...yet... 🥴🤷‍♀🔪, What I CAN do is: Listen 👂, Diagnose , Treat 💊, Help ❤️ … AND freeze & burn lesions 🔥❄️...But we're in the office and ready to rumble!!

📖 For those who don’t know the story: A taxi 🚖 took an illegal slipway to skip his red light 🚦… crossed in front of me… and my bike 🏍️ hit its side. Bike = PERFECT ✅ … Me = not so perfect ❌. Taxi drove over my left wrist 😬 (the ONLY part not protected in full gear 🦺)...resulting in a Crush fracture Left Wrist💥, Compartment Syndrome 😖, Nerve damage Left hand ⚡ … and now rehab with playdough 🍥 & Lego 🧩 (yes, really 😂). But… step by step… claw by claw 🦀… I’m getting there!

So I used to be called Iron Man 🦾 … but after allll the steel plates, I think I’ll step away from bikes...🫣🏍️. One of my BESTIES spotted an "Alien" 👽 hiding in the images of my CT Scan... soooo I’ve now officially been UPGRADED to GROOT 🌱🌳 (WAHAHAHA!!) …

Yip, I’ve gone from Avenger to Guardian of the Galaxy! 🌌💫👩🏼‍⚕🥼

Honestly… WERE IT NOT for the below mentioned INCREDIBLE TEAM as well as my AMAZING wife ❤️ Caz, Courtney 🌸, my Dad 👨‍🦳, my friends, my children, my 4-legged kids 🐾🐶🐱…and all the love, messages and support from YOU guys... I would NOT be here today.

💥 As for my EPIC TEAM 💥 please remember:
👩‍⚕️ Dani-Leigh (Occupational Therapist) — Getting your body back on track after strokes, injuries & life’s curveballs 🏃‍♀️
👩‍⚕️ Kivani (Physio Queen) — Busting spasms, powering up limbs 💪 and setting you on your comeback journey 🚀
🧑‍⚕️ Christo (Manual Practitioner) — Hands-on healing magic 👐
👩‍⚕️ Deneo Sekese (Psychologist Extraordinaire) — Gets into your head 🧩 and helps you meet your best self ✨

🌟 SUPER EXCITED to treat you all again!!! 🌟

📅 Hours:
Mon – Thurs ⏰ 07:00 – 15:00
Fri ⏰ 07:00 – 11:00
🚫 Closed Weekends & Public Holidays
📱 066 237 4548

See you soon SC fam!!! 🥳💚 GROOT hugs all round 🤗🌱

20/08/2025

🌦️🌦️ Hey there SC Peeps!! ⛱️

With this gorgeous 🤣🫣 weather we’re having, I bet a whole bunch of you are walking around feeling like a creaky old pirate ship ⚓— and no, I’m not talking about rusty door hinges… I’m talking about our joints!

Every week I have people come in saying: “Doc, my osteoporosis is killing me, my joints are so sore…” And then I have to say: “Wait…do you mean Osteoarthritis?” 🤔😅
So today let’s clear up this confusion once and for all and dive into the 3️⃣ big baddies that affect BONES & JOINTS:

1️⃣ OSTEOPOROSIS – “The Silent Thief of Bones” 🦴🧀

What it is: Your bones literally become weaker, with tiny holes forming inside, making them fragile like Emmenthal cheese 🧀 or wood eaten by termites 🐜.

Important: Osteoporosis does NOT cause pain by itself (unless you actually fracture a bone). That’s why it’s often called the silent disease.

How do we detect it?

Bone Density Scan (the gold standard)

Sometimes picked up accidentally on an X-ray

How do we prevent/manage it?
✅ Calcium: Milk 🥛, almonds, leafy greens 🥬, yogurt, salmon 🎣, cheese 🧀
✅ Vitamin D: From sunlight ☀️, but after 50 you should supplement. My favorite = Calciferol 50 000 IU (just 1 capsule per week!).
✅ Exercise: Walking, swimming, resistance training. Motion = bone strength.
✅ Healthy weight: Carrying too much = strain on bones & joints, carrying too little = weak bones. Balance is key.

👉 I recently had a patient whose bone density actually improved after starting Vit D + lifestyle changes. YES, it can be done! 🎉🙌

2️⃣ OSTEOARTHRITIS – “The Wear and Tear One” ⚙️🦵

What it is: A degenerative disease (aka age + time + strain). Joints lose their cushioning, space narrows, and bones rub on bones.

How do we notice it?

Stiffness (especially mornings or after sitting too long)

Pain in knees, hips, hands, spine 💪🏻🦵🦴

Knobbly “extra bone” around finger joints

X-rays show loss of joint space & bony spurs (osteophytes).

Risk factors: Age, obesity, previous injuries, joint deformities (“knock knees”), family history.

Treatment / Relief:
✅ Anti-inflammatories 💊
✅ Maintaining a NORMAL body weight ⚖️ (huge difference in pain control!)
✅ Exercise: Low impact (walking, swimming, cycling)
✅ Supportive aids if needed: braces, physio, walking sticks
✅ In severe cases: joint injections or replacement surgery

👉 Think of Osteoarthritis as your body saying: “Too much mileage, not enough servicing!”

3️⃣ RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (RA) – “The Sneaky Autoimmune One” 🧬🔥

What it is: Your immune system goes rogue and attacks your own joints. It’s not just “wear and tear” — it’s inflammation + destruction.

How do we spot it?

Swelling & pain, especially small joints (fingers, wrists, toes)

Morning stiffness > 30 min

Fingers drifting sideways (classic RA sign 🖐➡️)

Fatigue, low mood, sometimes fevers

Tests:

Blood test 💉: Rheumatoid Factor (+/- Anti-CCP)

X-rays: Show joint erosion over time

Treatment:
✅ More than just painkillers!
✅ Cortisone (short-term)
✅ Disease-modifying drugs: Methotrexate, Salazopyrine, Plasmoquine, etc.
✅ Biologic therapies for severe cases
✅ Lifestyle support: physio, occupational therapy, diet

👉 RA can also affect other organs (lungs, heart, eyes), unlike Osteoarthritis which usually sticks to joints.

⚖️ Summary of the 3:

1️⃣ Osteoporosis = Weak, holey bones → risk of fracture. Silent till you break.

2️⃣ Osteoarthritis = Wear & tear → pain, stiffness, grating joints.

3️⃣ Rheumatoid Arthritis = Autoimmune attack → swollen, deformed, painful joints + systemic effects.

💡 Golden Advice from Doc Zee:
👉 Don’t rely on Dr Google 🐇— it will drag you down a rabbit hole you’ll never come back from 🤯
👉 Motion is Lotion, Rest is Rust 💃🕺
👉 Prevention is always better than a hip replacement 😜

📞 So if you’re stiff, sore, or unsure — come see us at the rooms.
We’ll help diagnose properly and get you on the right plan BEFORE things spiral.

❤️ With love & creak-free wishes,
Dr Zee, Caz & Courtney

☎️ Bookings / WhatsApps: 066 237 4548
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Crn Reveille And Bugle Road
Shelly Beach
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Tuesday	07:00 - 16:00
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Thursday	07:00 - 16:00
Friday	07:00 - 11:00

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To Vaccinate or not to Vaccinate..? That is the question...!

(Please note that this article is just MY opinion based on the research I did, and is definitely not the be all and end all of medical articles. Please discuss any options I might have voiced here, with your personal doctor.)

With yet another year flying past and Christmas having come and gone, followed by New Year and school starting, valentines coming up, we have the NEXT winter hovering on our doorsteps.

So now we all start wondering do you go to your nearest pharmacy or doctor and get that vaccination...or don’t you?

Here’s the short and sweet about the flu vaccine…

The flu vaccine is DEFINITELY advised in people medically “defined” as “immunocompromised”

Pregnant patients

Anybody under the age of 5 or over the age of 65

Patients with chronic conditions such as Diabetes, Cancer, HIV, Lupus, etc.

These groups of people are at a higher risk of contracting the more serious versions of the “flu” and ending up in hospital due to added on complications (added on complications might often rather be referred to by your doctor as secondary complications).

If you fall outside of these groups then it’s still relevant that you get the vaccination, but it’s pretty much a case of, the ball being in your court. I would discuss it with my doctor if I were you, as each patient is unique.

The fact is this, there are VARIOUS kinds of different flu viruses. Flu, is not just ONE specific virus, hence why people COULD get the flu vaccine yet STILL get sick. Seasonal flu vaccine protects us against the “big” viruses that have been identified by researchers for THAT specific season.

And THIS is the important part.

PLEASE NOTE that the flu vaccine does NOT protect us against ALL viruses that COULD cause flu-like symptoms, such as the Rhinovirus and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). RSV is the most common cause of lung disease in children and adults over the age of 65.

In the years when they correctly predicted the virus and matched the vaccine, ending up in hospital was reduced by 43%...but in other years, where their magic 8 ball was not so accurate, the vaccine only reduced hospitalization by 14%.

The fact of the matter, in my OPINION, is that in both cases there was still a REDUCTION.

So if you were to post the question to ME, would I vaccinate or not, based on statistics, I would suggest you do get the vaccine...

BUT...

The body is not a modern machine you could connect to a computer and get the exact answer or the perfect calculation and just order a new part...it’s a HUMAN BODY and every day, every person, every gene holds its own secret code that we’ll never COMPLETELY crack!!

Till the next time…

...Just keep breathing, keep on breathing!!

Dr Zee