Got Those Vacation Expectation Blues?

Today’s the unofficial beginning of summer vacation season, when job-weary workers dream of getting on a plane and going . . . anywhere.

But, if experience is any teacher, most of us will expect too much from our vacation, feel at least a little disappointed and return to work wondering why life’s not wonderful, psychologists say.

Vacations improve some parts of our lives but have little effect on others, said Linda L. Hoopes, an assistant professor of psychology at Colby College in Waterville, Me., who surveyed 140 vacationers and published the results recently in the Journal of Community Psychology.

Vacations usually increase our overall satisfaction with life at least slightly, but they have special impact on marriage and family relationships, she found. Time off has the least effect, she said, on how we view our jobs and our feelings about our standard of living. Vacationers with troubled family relationships tend to return less satisfied, while those with satisfactory relationships say time off enhances the bonds even more.

Consider Staying Home

Besides believing a vacation will solve most of life’s problems, many of us feel “we’re supposed to go away, preferably to someplace glamorous.” In lieu of living out that stereotype, Hoopes tells people to decide what they need from a vacation. “You may decide on holing up at home and unplugging the telephone.”

Other ways to maximize the benefits of time off, suggested by Hoopes and Kenyon Chan, a West Los Angeles psychologist:

- Before taking family vacations, schedule planning meetings to set up rules and address “style” differences, Chan suggested. Family members should decide in advance, for instance, how they’ll handle differences in driving styles or conflict between the family’s “plan-ahead” and “spontaneous” personalities.

- If a family vacation is longer than two weeks, members need to schedule some time alone, Chan suggested.

- Don’t feel you have to forget about work entirely. “People highly involved in their work in a positive way may not be comfortable abandoning it totally,” Hoopes said. “I don’t think it’s unhealthy to be thinking about work on vacation, or even to call the office occasionally.”

- Don’t try to do too much. Most vacationers overschedule activities and overestimate how many different places they can see, Hoopes said. “People schedule their vacations the way they schedule their work lives.”

- Solo travelers can boost vacation enjoyment by writing about their activities in a diary or sending postcards, Chan said. The activity is a nice substitute for the conversations couples and families enjoy during trips and can make mealtime seem less lonely, he added.

Tests May Be Redone

Los Angeles area women whose Pap tests were analyzed at a Tarzana medical laboratory recently closed by the state may be hearing from their doctors soon. Responding to Department of Health Services demands, Central Diagnostic Laboratory last week sent letters to 15,000 California doctors, advising them that free reanalysis of existing smears is available for their patients who want it.

It will be up to doctors, in turn, to notify patients if they believe rescreening is needed. The laboratory was closed in April after a state inspection found an unacceptably high error rate of 21%--about seven times the error rate of the best labs.

Women who are advised to have their Pap tests reanalyzed should be sure to check back with their doctors about the results within four to six weeks, said Dr. Richard H. Nalick, director of gynecologic oncology at the Hospital of the Good Samaritan and USC clinical associate professor of gynecologic oncology, since the reanalyzed smears could be as much as five years old. Nalick added that women who are advised to have their Pap tests reanalyzed should also undergo new ones, although he concedes not everyone agrees with that recommendation.

Various Risk Factors

Nalick also believes that women with a history of abnormal Pap smears and those with human papillomavirus (HPV)--or genital warts--should have a Pap test every six months, rather than the annual test recommended by many. Other than previous abnormal Pap tests and genital warts, risk factors for cervical cancer include first intercourse before age 18 and multiple sexual partners.

Recent studies suggest that cervical cancer may develop more quickly than experts previously believed. In one study, 37% of women with cervical cancer had a normal Pap test three years before the diagnosis. And the presence of genital warts may speed the development of cervical cancer, Nalick said.

Low-cost Pap testing is now available for $10 at five county Comprehensive Health Centers: Edward R. Roybal, (213) 260-3354; H. Claude Hudson, (213) 744-3672; Hubert H. Humphrey, (213) 235-7215; El Monte, (818) 579-8463; Long Beach, (213) 599-2153.

Tending Toddler Toes

Shoe-shopping parents should ignore traditional advice to buy sturdy leather shoes for toddlers, according to a USC physical therapist.

“Toddlers seem to do better without any shoes or with flexible tennis shoes,” said Michelle Larson, an assistant professor of physical therapy, who bases her recommendation on clinical observations and her recent study of 36 children, ranging in age from 18 to 30 months. In the study she evaluated the children’s stride, step length, angle of foot placement and other indications of gait maturity and general stability. She tested them barefoot and wearing canvas sneakers, leather high-tops with rigid soles, and their own shoes.

Kids performed best while barefoot and in sneakers, said Larson, who emphasizes her finding applies only to healthy children without orthopedic problems. Going barefoot--on safe surfaces--may also help develop the arches, she believes. Outdoors, she recommends low-cut sneakers or high-top sneakers made of soft material.

Such shoes allow free movement of the ankles, important while kids are developing their gait. “Children don’t attain their adult gait until age 3 or 4,” she explained.

Many podiatrists agree with Larson’s recommendations.

“That’s exactly what I tell my patients,” said Herschel Rosenblum, a Glendale podiatrist. “Forget leather shoes. Inexpensive shoes are OK. Athletic-type shoes are preferable for little kids.”

Franklin Kase, a Burbank podiatrist and president of the Los Angeles County Podiatric Medical Society, offered some additional advice for children’s shoe-shopping: “The arch support is not that critical. Look for a shoe that fits well around the heel and that allows freedom of movement in the front of the shoe.” As for length: “A child’s shoe should be one finger width longer than the longest toe.”