ACL surgery efficacy questioned again
A study published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine questions the effectiveness of ACL surgery in restoring health to injured knees. Here’s a brief summary from the New York Times: Over two years, the injured knees were assessed using a comprehensive numerical score that rated pain, function during activity and other measures. At
Make your sleep more restful
Sleep should be a restful period, but for a lot of people with chronic pain, it’s not. For some reason, sleeping actually seems to make pain and fatigue worse. Frustrating? Yes. Incomprehensible? No. When pain is a result of poor posture, sleeping can often exacerbate the pain. Beds often tweak the body in ways that
Wrist pain taught me to stand up straight
I was a student at UCLA. I worked in an on-campus computer lab. One winter, I injured my right shoulder in mid-air while snowboarding. I struggled to figure out how to help my shoulder heal, but nothing was helping. Physical therapy wasn’t helping. Sitting on my butt, chatting online, and updating my friendster profile while
The diction of doom
The way the medical world views pain dooms its victims to failure. What’s shocking is that it stems from a lack of linguistic precision. Think about this example. Your friend is lying in bed, sweating and coughing and complaining of congestion. His temperature is 103 degrees. He feels dizzy and weak and occasionally cold. You
Wisdom comes from failure
I just wanted to share a quick quote that is truly relevant to the way we treat our bodies and how we bring them back to health. We learn wisdom from failure much more than success. We often discover what we will do by finding out what we will not do. ~Samuel Smiles As we
Miserable malalignment can be fixed quickly!
Ever hear of the medical diagnosis “miserable malalignment?” Neither had I, until a client of mine who’s a physical therapist told me she had once been diagnosed with the condition (I still have trouble believing it’s a real diagnosis because it sounds so mean-spirited). What is it? Well, it’s when a bunch of things in
Surgery doesn’t restore function to your shoulder
Surgery to repair torn rotator cuffs is common. I have known several hockey teammates and other friends who have had shoulder surgery. They can all tell you what a recent study at Henry Ford Hospital has concluded: surgery does restore strength or dynamic stability to the shoulder. In super simple terms, that means that after
Are your tires aligned?
One of the best metaphors for the way your body works is one of the car. Let’s say your left front tire keeps going bald. Every seven months, the left front tire is run totally bald — and yet somehow all the other tires seem to be fine. Is the problem the tire, or is
Could your smart phone be hurting your knees?
I love smart phones. I think they’re fantastic for making business happen, for greasing the wheels of every transaction in daily life, and for making life more productive, easier, and fun. But smart phones aren’t always the smartest choice when it comes to your posture!
Want to know why your pain sticks around?
Chronic pain is frustrating precisely because it seems like you’ll never beat it. Everywhere you turn, someone is telling you that pain is just a necessary part of aging and that there’s nothing you can do about it. Doctors are telling you that some injuries just don’t heal, so tough cookies. Have some pills. As
