Dr. Joanne Young Opens
New Dental Office
Dr. Joanne Young recently moved her dental office to the Valencia area. The well-appointed practice has served the dental needs of adults and children in Santa Clarita for the past 20 years. Visit their new facilities at 28212 Kelly Johnson Parkway, Suite 170, in Valencia; www.dryoungdds.org

Choose Primary & Specialist Care in your Own Neighborhood
Facey Medical Group has been part of Santa Clarita since the 1960s, caring for generations of families as they grow. Facey is a unique medical group that employs both specialists and primary care doctors (such as pediatricians and family practice) at their offices. This provides patients with a level of convenience that can't be matched by the competition.

While other medical groups may send you to a different city for specialist care, Facey provides these services and more at their five convenient Santa Clarita locations. They have more than 35 specialists in 18 different fields - all ready to help when you need care that goes beyond the scope of general medicine.

And since Facey isn't an insurance company, their physicians accept many different health insurance plans. Your insurance may require you to have a referral from a primary care provider before making an appointment with a specialist. If you'd like to see a Facey specialist but aren't sure if you can, simply call any of their offices and their friendly team will be happy to answer your questions.

They're also happy to welcome Facey's newest Board-certified family medicine physician, Dr. Daisy Markley, to the Copper Hill office as of January 1, 2012. Dr. Markley has practiced in California for over 10 years and performed her residency at Stamford hospital in Stamford, Connecticut. For more information or to schedule an appointment with Dr. Markley, just give them a call; 513-2100

Shock Wave Therapy can
Treat Chronic Heal Pain
Extracorporeal shock wave therapy is used to treat chronic heel pain (plantar fasciitis/heel spur syndrome). During this non-invasive surgical procedure, sonic waves are directed at the area of pain using a device similar to that currently used in non-surgical treatment of kidney stones. "Extracorporeal" means "outside of the body," and refers to this non-invasive surgical procedure in which strong sound waves are directed at the area of heel pain. During the usually brief procedure (about 30 minutes), which is performed under local anesthesia and/or "twilight" anesthesia, strong sound waves penetrate the heel area and stimulate a healing response by the body. An overnight hospital stay is not necessary since extracorporeal shock wave therapy is performed on and outpatient basis. This therapy is a safe and effective alternative treatment for heel pain and only requires a very short recovery time, mainly due to the elimination of costly and invasive surgical procedures. Info courtesy of Foot Care Center of Santa Clarita; 253-3668