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Dr. William Zachary

Wilderness Medicine
ETOWAH, TN
27 years experience

Locations

Office

TN

Address

TN
Directions

Practice website

About

Specialties
Doctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.

Wilderness Medicine

Languages spoken

English

Doctor Q&A

35 Answers
23 Agrees
The number of answers this doctor has agreed with.
A 38-year-old male asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Probably not: A few risks come to mind with your condition and a trip of this nature. First, if the train climbs to high altitudes, you might be more prone to expe... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 36-year-old male asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Do: Do not be timid / nor overly aggressive / steadiness is best.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 39-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Sometimes: Usually mosquito bites only last up to a few days; however, in those people who have a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to them, they can last m... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
A week or so : Chigger bites can be symptomatic from 4 or 5 days up to 2 weeks in the worst cases. Cortisone cream can help. Excessive scratching can lead to skin in... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 36-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Yes and no: Under the right conditions, anyone can get ticks. People in the outdoors where ticks live or who have pets that might carry ticks on their fur are mor... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 44-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
A few days usually: Occasionally, people will have a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to mosquito bites. I am one of those people. The initial redness (relatively ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
No. : If a mosquito is carrying the virus, then one bite from that mosquito might be sufficient to transmit the virus; however, mosquito bites are a very co... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 47-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
It can!: There are numerous drugs available to help prevent malaria when one is traveling to endemic areas. The drugs recommended vary from location to locatio... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 31-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Avoid more bites: If the mosquito was carrying dengue then there is little you can do at this point, except wait. You may or may not have been inoculated, and if you we... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 34-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Serous fluid: This drainage is probably serous fluid; it's usually not a worry and often occurs after intensive scratching. During sleep people will often scratch i... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 46-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Not practical : It's nearly impossible to prevent all mosquito exposures. However, you can minimize exposure. Wear insect repellent, long sleeves and pants; use mosqu... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 66-year-old female asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Hypersensitivity : This sounds like a delayed type hypersensitivity reaction that some people develop to mosquito bites. It behaves much like poison ivy, though less ex... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 28-year-old female asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Possibly: Though zithromax is a good antibiotic to use for empiric therapy of pneumonia, it does not work 100 percent of the time. That said, two days is a bit ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 29-year-old female asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Risky: The trouble is this: even one or two really severe sunburns can predispose people to malignant melanoma, the most aggressive and dangerous form of sk... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 20-year-old female asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Be firm: Once they get one or two really bad sunburns they'll agree to wear it! the trouble is this: even one or two really severe sunburns can predispose peo... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 42-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Usually not: Usually not; this is more commonly see with fire ant bites. However, if local bacterial infection results from the mosquito bite, then yes, a whitehea... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Maybe: If that center is a scab, then it's likely not a big worry. If it is a necrotic area (area of dead tissue), the yes. In this instance it could be a br... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 44-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Yes: While abroad, pay special attention to what goes in your mouth. You do not want any other liver-toxic germs (like hep a, leptospirosis, etc) if you al... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 28-year-old female asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Lots of things: Many potential causes, and i'm sure i'll overlook some. Could be a very early infestation with scabies, exposure to some irritant, seasonal allergies,... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 35-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Many kinds: Many kinds of bites will leave a small dark spot in the center. Usually, this is a small hematoma (bruise) where the stinger or proboscis went into th... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 49-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
No: Squeezing things like this is a good way to introduce infection, or, if infection is already present, it's a good way to push it into deeper tissues. ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
No: Ice packs, maybe some Benadryl (diphenhydramine) for most scorpion stings. In the absence of a true allergy to scorpion venom, pennsylvania doesn't ha... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 50-year-old female asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Maybe: This could be mrsa. It might not be. As long as you've got no fever, there's no penetrating trauma, it's not expanding, and it's not very painful, it... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 45-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
No: The color of the bee does not determine the color of the sting area. A black dot could be: a bit of blood escaped from capillary beds due to trauma an... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Limited space: Though spider, tick or mosquito bites can sometimes cause infection, the vast majority of them will not. A limited local inflammatory response can be ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 31-year-old female asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Face to face is best: Find a good doctorate-level psychologist who practices cognitive behavioral therapy. Avoid psychiatrists and family physicians - you will likely get ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Serous fluid: This drainage is probably serous fluid; it's usually not a worry and often occurs after intensive scratching. During sleep people will often scratch i... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 62-year-old female asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Flora: This sounds like a disruption in the normal gut flora. Probiotics (yogurt, buttermilk, florastor or other capsules) can help restore the normal balanc... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 23-year-old male asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Shoulder or AC: Sounds like acromioclavicluar (ac) joint instability. Did you dislocate your shoulder or ac joint 9 years ago? Many people mistakenly think an ac dis... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 31-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Black widow: Black widows (latrodectus species) are the most painful in the U.S. Though i'm not sure about other parts of the world. Latrotoxin can cause pain, swe... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 28-year-old male asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Yes: I would see a cardiologist. I'd suggest a minimum of a treadmill stress test, and possibly a nuclear stress test. 42 is pretty young for coronary vasc... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
Serous fluid: This drainage is probably serous fluid; it's usually not a worry and often occurs after intensive scratching. During sleep people will often scratch i... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 25-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
A few days usually: Occasionally, people will have a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to mosquito bites. I am one of those people. The initial redness (relatively ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 47-year-old member asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
There should be none: Ideally there should be no throat swelling. Anaphylactic shock can be thought of as a triad of symptoms including hives, respiratory difficulty (exces... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
A 45-year-old male asked:
Dr. William Zachary
27 years experience
I think so...: ...though it may be overkill, or not. Maalox acts very quickly, whereas ranitidine must be absorbed into the bloodstream and then travel through the c... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.

Testimonials
Recommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.

2
Recommendations
38
Thank you notes
HealthTap member
Mar 31, 2015
Dr. Zachary is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
Mar 31, 2015
Dr. Zachary is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
thank you so much.and feel sorry for making you all offended to each other.please make peace thank you
HealthTap member
Thank you, your answer was very helpful!
HealthTap member
Thank you, your answer was very helpful!

Education & Training

Medical/Graduate school

University of Tennessee College of Medicine, TN
Graduated 1996MD

Awards

Top Doctor, Third Place, Knoxville Region, TN - Summer
2013
Thought Leader, Third Place, Knoxville Region, TN - Summer
2013
Top Wilderness Medicine Specialist, First Place, National - Summer
2013
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