This afternoon, as I was just sitting down in my office to write an email to all my friends, I heard an important announcement on the TV. It seems that a team of medical researchers has made an amazing breakthrough with the HIV virus, the agent responsible for the world-wide plague of AIDS. HIV has been responsible for thousands of deaths in our own country, and millions around the world, especially throughout Africa, where it seems to be endemic.

One of the major problems with HIV is that the virus is highly mutable, meaning that it changes rapidly and frequently, just enough to make it very difficult to create a vaccine. That’s what makes this breakthrough so major–it may be the key to an eventual vaccine against this dreaded disease. 

Researchers have reportedly identified one stable region within the physical structure of the HIV virus, a region that does not change, but remains stable and constant from variant to variant of the virus. This means that they have identified a reliable, consistent target on the virus for the first time. And this target can be attacked by chemical agents to bind to this this region of the virus. 

Wait. It gets better. They’ve actually developed an agent that does exactly that. And it has proven highly effective in laboratory studies and in animal studies.  This means that they now have the basis for developing a truly effective vaccine. Researchers believe that the findings are so promising that human clinical trials could begin as early as six to nine months.
 
However, the FDA being the way it is, the vaccine that may be developed from this is still perhaps five to ten years away, at best. But still, it’s a beginning.
 
What a great advance that vaccine will be and what a profound effect it will have on the entire world community. But, we must wait for that day. And meanwhile, we need to continue all the known methods for avoiding infection with HIV. That includes common sense safety measures for physical intimacy, avoidance of known high risk behaviors, and known methods of boosting our immune systems, the compromise of which is the main problem in AIDS. 

In my opinion, the immune system will ultimately prove to be the key to cures for a number of currently incurable maladies, like HIV and cancer. We live in a toxic world, beset constantly by environmental hazards, bacteria, viruses, and carcinogens of all kinds. But our bodies were designed to deal with these attacks–that’s the function of the immune system. But with time and increasing age, the immune system becomes progressively weaker, allowing cellular damage that results in aging and disease.
 
So strengthening our immune systems is the best thing we can do to avoid infections, toxins, tumors and other maladies. Known measures to boost the immune system include dietary measures, such as avoiding red meat, nutritional supplements like vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and growth hormone releasing compounds like Trans_D Tropin (which you can get here at http://drbillslcinic.com/trans_d_tropin.html ),  adequate, good quality sleep, and above all, exercise.
 
Exercise is a proven way to combat aging, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, stabilize blood sugar, improve cardiovascular fitness, decrease body weight, increase endogenous GH, increase strength, flexibility, and endurance, and, yes, boost the immune system. And if you have knee pain, as many of us do, you can combine these benefits with an effective method for eliminating knee pain, with my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html 

So, kudos to the researchers. This is great news. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed, and hope and pray for medical breakthroughs. But since they’re likely to take many years to actually reach us, we have to take action NOW, to protect ourselves. We can do this by accepting personal responsibility for ourselves and doing what we know to be effective. Til next time, my friend, be well.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill
 
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to  http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
 
Copyright, 2008 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD
All rights reserved

July 30, 2008

Last January, I wrote to you about a possible source for safe and effective human growth hormone replacement. I realized that there was a great deal of interest in  this, and I’ve had a number of my subscribers email me to ask, “When?”. I promised you, at the time, that when it was ready, I would let you know and give you access. Well, this required some time, but the good news is, the time has finally come. If you’re ready, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/trans_d_tropin.html 

If you’re a newcomer to our ranks, you have no idea what I’m talking about. So here’s a brief synopsis.
 
Somatotropin or human growth hormone (hGH) is a naturally occurring protein substance, made only by exertion (like exercise), sleep, and can be stimulated by oral or IV administration of ARGININE, an amino acid. HGH is naturally secreted at high levels during the growth years, especially puberty, where it stimulates rapid cell growth, but natural release rapidly falls off with advancing age.
 
It’s been known for a while that the level of growth hormone that’s produced by the body’s own pituitary gland is steadily reduced as a person ages. This is, in part, the reason why people age, lose bone mass, muscle mass, energy and immune system strength. 

While hGH is “performance enhancing,” it’s not the same thing as anabolic steroids. Some people use injections of hGH for presumed (but not proven) life extension, and anti-aging effects. Its reported effects include muscle and bone mass increase, strength and endurance enhancement and the power of the immune system is boosted, resulting in reduced inflammation, with reduced aches and pains, improved strength, muscle growth, improved fat burning, better sleep, etc.
 
In short, an increased level of growth hormone seems to ”turn back the clock” on aging. But, because the hormone stimulates increased cell growth, there has been a suspicion that hGH may, at least theoretically, cause an increased incidence of cancer. In addition, the injections must be precsribed and administered by a physician. And they ain’t cheap!
 
During the nineties, while I was in practice, one of my friends and colleagues was a plastic surgeon, who was also a Tae Qwon Do expert and a competitive bodybuilder. In fact, he placed high in the New York State bodybuilding championships, in the over-40 class.  He was an outstanding plastic surgeon, and he was very impressive as a bodybuilder, as well. Turns out, he was injecting himself with hGH (human Growth Hormone), in addition to weight training. He became an advocate of  hGH supplementation and a good portion of his Park Avenue practice evolved into an anti-aging clinic.

 I was interested, but skeptical of his use of hGH, so I asked him about the risks. He said that there were no studies that proved that injected hGH was associated with actual increased cancer rates in humans. He also pointed out that hGH boosted the immune system, which should make it more effective in policing the body for abnormal cells and eliminating them, before they devolved into frank cancers.
 
So the problem has been, how do you gain the benefits of hGH at a reasonable cost, and minimize or eliminate the risks of potential cancer?
 
And finally there’s an answer: Trans-D Tropin.
 
This compound is a revolutionary mixture of amino acids and fatty acids, from non-animal sources, that is rubbed on, and absorbed through the skin. It is a transdermal, growth hormone releasing hormone analog.  In other words, it duplicates the body’s own GH Releasing Hormone, which causes your pituitary to release its own growth hormone into your blood stream.
 
You see, the problem with aging is not that your pituitary quits making the GH. Instead, it’s that it no longer releases the hormone it’s made. So this compound stimulates a natural release to approximate the levels of growth hormone you enjoyed in your teens.  And because it’s your own hormone, you never reach abnormal levels–you just return to the normal levels of your youth. Best of all, this compound REDUCES the levels of IGF (Insulin-like Growth Factor), which are associated with GH and are associated with increased cancer risk, according to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (vol 92:18, 2000).
 
So, with this compound, you can avoid expensive and risky hGH injections, avoid swallowing large numbers of amino acid pills, minimize risks, but still enjoy all these reported benefits by safely returning your own GH levels to the levels you enjoyed as a teenager.  And do it without prescription, at a reasonable cost (far less than injections).
 
Do you think you would like that? I know I do. I use this myself. 

If you’d like to learn more, or order some, to experience these benefits for yourself, click on this link, now:
 http://drbillsclinic.com/trans_d_tropin.html   I think you’ll be glad you did. But remember, though registered with the FDA, Trans-D Tropin is not recommended to treat or cure any disease, condition, etc., etc.;-) Til next time, my friend, be well.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill
 
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to  http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html

P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to  http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
 
Copyright, 2008 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD
All rights reserved

It’s hard to believe, but that time of year has rolled around again: today, I’m twenty-one, again. Yep. It’s my birthday today. I feel like that song from Jethro Tull, “Too Old To Rock ‘n’ Roll, Too Young To Die.”   This is especially poignant, since I’m of that generation that lived the slogan, “Don’t trust anyone over thirty.” Yikes! At that time, I never could’ve imagined that I’d last this long!
 
Given that I was a joint reconstruction specialist, I had more than my share of contact with “seasoned citizens” during my years of orthopaedic practice. One guy in particular stands out in memory. He was a really nice old guy who had a really bad arthitic hip. After evaluating him and determining that he needed a total hip replacement, I don’t remember how we got onto the topic, but I do recall asking him what it was like, being in his mid-eighties.
 
He smiled indulgently, and replied, “Dr. Stillwell, inside, I’m the same guy that I was when I was thirty. But the mind of that young man is trapped in this aging body.” While I accepted that at the time, I didn’t really appreciate what he was telling me, until NOW.  All of a sudden I understand EXACTLY what he was trying to tell me. It’s funny, but even though you hear and comprehend the words, you just can’t really GET IT, until you’re ready to.
 
I’ve reached the stage where, when I think of an old pal, or a former girlfriend, I no longer only think, “I wonder where they are now,” but “I wonder if they’re still alive.” I imagine this will only get worse with each succeeding anniversary of my own birth. This is especially true, since I’ve already lost a few of my old friends from grammar school, high school and medical school (College was so spread out, that it’s hard to keep track of anyone). It’s always shocking to hear that news, or read that obituary, because I remember each face and each personality so vividly, each personal interaction with them, like it was yesterday.  And now, suddenly, not only are they gone, but so is that part of me, with them. And yet, I’m still here, still learning, still striving….and glad to be still alive.
 
Ah well, I imagine that the universe is unfolding as it ought to. Might as well enjoy the ride, as long as it lasts. For me the goal remains, to be the best ME that I can become, what Maswell called, “self actualization.” That’s always been my goal; stated differently, Superare Ut Per Requator Perfectionem (Excellence in Quest of Perfection). I never expect to reach that goal. That’s not the point. It’s the trying that counts. Like the old saying goes, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for.” 

So a birthday’s a good time to pause, take stock of what has gone before and contemplation of what is yet to come; of what has been learned and how I can use that to shape my future and the future of those whose lives I touch. 

For example, now, I’ve experienced knee surgery for myself and I’ve learned, first-hand, how to recover from it, as well as what’s necessary to avoid it. I’ve put these life lessons into my newest program, HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html   So you can take advantage of my experience, as a surgeon and a patient, to relieve your knee pain, without surgery. So, for my birthday, give yourself a gift and order now, at http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
 
Til next time, my friend, be well.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill

P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to   http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to   http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION

Copyright, 2008 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD
All rights reserved

“Everyone…this is Bill.”

 ”Hi, Bill.”

 Just kidding. This has nothing to do with THAT twelve step program. It has to do with one way you can get rid of your chronic knee pain. 

You see, if you’re a boomer, like me, or just a guy or gal who has annoying or even severe anterior knee pain, most likely, it’s because of a kneecap problem. And most kneecap problems are NOT due to injury, but rather to a weakness of the quadriceps muscles in the thigh.
 
Why should this be so? Well, just think about it for a minute. Today, many people live in single story homes, drive everywhere they go, and haven’t been on a bicycle since their early teens. Eventually, this sedentary lifestyle catches up with you and, as you age, the cartilage behind your kneecap begins to soften, or worse. We, in the trade, call that chondromalacia patellae: literally “soft cartilage” in Greek.
 
This is a degenerative disease, kind of a first cousin of arthritis. And, oddly enough, up to a certain point, it’s actually reversible. The key is to reverse the muscular weakness with exercise. Now, I know this is anathema for a whole lot of folks, but it’s hard to overstate the importance of exercise in preventing, or eliminating knee pain.
 
I saw a great example of this in my first year of practice. The Hospital Administrator of St. John’s Episcopal Hospital came in for a late evening appointment. For political reasons, he had to avoid the appearance of favoritism to any single office. But, hey, he had knee pain, did his homework, and decided that I could help him. Hence, the late visit.

He had begun having pain in the front of his knee, as well as giving way. He was afraid that he had torn a meniscus and that he would need surgery. It was enough of a worry for him that he wanted to be treated by the best available surgeon, if that indeed turned out to be necessary (that would be me). So, despite his misgivings, he came in.

After his initial history, I did a thorough examination of his knees. Sure enough, he had temderness under his kneecap, and more diffuse tenderness at his inner (medial) joint line. But most striking of all was quad weakness that was amazing! I mean, he couldn’t even begin to resist my efforts to bend his straightened knee. Anyone’s thigh muscles should be strong enough to resist an examiner’s arm–there’s no comparison in the relative strength of these muscles. I was dumbfounded. I’d never seen that level of weakness in an otherwise healthy, fairly normal, middle aged man. It was bad enough that I actually worried about a potential neurological disease, at first.
 
Turns out that he almost never did any exercise, not even stair climbing. Well, that was better than a neurological disease. At least it was potentially reversible. But, it required a real effort on his part and a real change in behavior. I started him on a course of Physical Therapy, including the exercises that eventually became my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM  http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
In addition to quad setting and straight leg raising, quarter squats and leg extensions, I had him climb stairs. All these exercises helped him strengthen his quadriceps, especially the VMO. And as his strength improved, his pain simply went away. He was amazed and, as you might expect, very, very happy. He had avoided surgery, or even an arthrogram (this was in the early eighties, before MRI’s were available. Naturally, from this point on, I was “golden” with this guy. But the key thing is the importance and the potency of simple exercise in the relief of knee pain.
 
This is a simple test you can try yourself, if you have anterior knee pain. Try climbing a staircase–most have twelve, sometimes thirteen, steps, and do it for repetitions, several times a day. Give it a week or so, and I’ll bet you feel better. Not perfect perhaps, but better. This twelve step program is a good way to strengthen those quads. That’s why I included stair climbing in my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM, which you can see at
 http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html   as well as a number of other excellent exercises to prevent or eliminate your knee pain. Give it a try!
 
Til next time, my friend, be well.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill
 
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to  http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to   http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
 
Copyright, 2008 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD
All rights reserved

Every so often, a sympathetic subscriber emails me to ask how my broken back is doing. If you’re new to our little family, this has to do with the reason I’m not operating any more. In May 2001, I fell through a ten foot ceiling in my home, landing on my butt and slicing open my left wrist and hand and badly spraining my right ankle and bruising both upper arms. But the real injury was a compression fracture of my mid-spine, with crushed discs at four levels.
 
Now, I realize that this sounds unutterably stupid, but you must understand that we had water pouring out of the ceiling and the light fixtures, so the house was in danger of a short circuit and fire. And I DID have a service contract for the air conditioners, that were the source of all the water, but those guys refused to come! “Tied up,” they said–everybody’s in the same boat (we had an unseasonable heat wave at the time). I really had no choice but to try to address the problem, myself (or so I thought at the time). Of course, if I knew what was about to happen, I would have gotten a big barrel under the leak and gone out to dinner. Hindsight is always brilliant.
 
Anyway, persistence of severe back pain led to an MRI (original x-rays were NEGATIVE–didn’t show the fractures) which demonstrated the real extent of my injury. I came THIS CLOSE to spending the rest of my days in a wheelchair. Well, I tried using a lumbar support brace, with a rear rigid plate, to operate (which was what caused me the most pain). It was a little better, but not much. Next, I tried what’s called a Knight-Taylor Brace: a huge, ungainly affair, with long strips of spring steel on either side of my spine, neck to tail bones, combined with elastic panels and cross straps. That was a lot better, and at least I could function, but I was so stiff, I looked like the dead EL CID, strapped to his horse, at the end of the movie. 
 
And finally, after 15 months, despite this brace, the progressive pain was just too much. I felt I was putting my patients at risk, so I stepped down and voluntarily retired from my practice. The answer to the question I’m always asked is–YES, I do miss the surgery, but not the B.S. Hey, I’m grateful. I could have been paralyzed or dead. And I’m pretty happy doing THIS, now….
 
Some folks have asked me why I didn’t, or don’t have surgery on my back. Easy. They can’t make me better than I am now, but they could make me worse.
 
Huh? Yep. If I had severe pain that was say, 8 out of 10 on a visual analog scale, then surgery would make sense to try, because it could improve me to a 2-3 out of 10. It CAN’T make my pain level ZERO.  And I live now with 2-3 out of 10. So, I’m already AT the best level surgery could give me. Therefore, there’s no benefit, but lots of risks and complications.  So, surgery’s not the answer for me, unless my pain gets a whole lot worse, a whole lot more often.
 
The point is, if I had had a better brace, I might have been able to get better pain relief and extend the life of my surgical practice for a while. But at that time, there were no braces that could give me that level of superior support.  But NOW, there’s a pair of new braces that are products of new technology and a new understanding of the spine. And unlike the typical lumbar support, that’s essentially a wide “rubber band,” these braces actually produce an increase in intra-abdominal pressure, together with a mechanical distraction force that literally “lifts” the vertebrae and gently decompresses the discs. Go see them at http://drbillsclinic.com/back_pain.html 

My friend and colleague, Dr. Joe DeNoia, who has been treating back pain of all types for decades, is very excited about these braces. The SYSTEM-LOC LSO (Lumbo-Sacral Orthosis) has a unique back-to-front and front-to-back opposing panel design that “locks” the spinal column, increases core abdominal support and generates a hydrostatic lift for the spine and the surrounding tissues. The CINCH-LOC is similar, but has even more rigid support. Both come in male and female designs, for optimal fit. And both of these braces are available off the shelf, virtually FREE.
 
That’s right–it’s not a misprint.
 
When you have a doctor’s prescription and you have health insurance, the cost of these braces is COVERED by your insurance, EVEN IF YOU HAVE MEDICARE! Why? Because the insurance companies know they WORK! So if you have back pain, click on the link, enter the requested measurements and get relief today. Go to  http://drbill’sclinic.com/back_pain.html
I can tell you, I wish I’d had this back brace, back then. It might’ve made a real difference….
 
Til next time, my friend, be well.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill

P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
 
Copyright, 2008 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD
All rights reserved

Just got back from seeing THE DARK KNIGHT at the regional IMAX theatre and I’ve gotta tell you, it’s just FABULOUS! If you’ve been paying attention, you know that I’m a big comics fan and that for a brief stint, I was a pro artist for the comics. So, I grew up with Batman, Superman and the rest of the superheros. 

I enjoyed the previous Hollywood forays into comics lore: the first two BATMAN movies, with Michael Keaton (an odd choice for this role, but a really good actor), the one with Val Kilmer (eh) and the last one, with George Clooney (that really sucked), the first SUPERMAN film, maybe the second too, with Christpher Reeve (the last two were campy and forgetable) and the most recent SUPERMAN RETURNS. 

Since the attainment of really good, believable CGI, the superhero genre has just exploded: IRON MAN (great film–Robert Downey, Jr. was terrific), the two FANTASTIC FOUR films (pretty good; lots of fun, anyway), the first HULK (I liked it, but critics largely panned it) and the recent one, THE INCREDIBLE HULK (which I haven’t seen, as yet). 

But this was a whole different level of great–the story was great, the script was great, the premises (well, most of them) were believable and the acting, across the board, was deadly earnest and uniformly terrific. Christian Bale, as The Dark Knight himself, Batman/Bruce Wayne, was even better here than in the first film: intense, nuanced, utterly believable. 

But the hype around the performance of the late Heath Ledger, was if anything, understated. He was absolutely brilliant–riveting in his portrayal of an intensely insane and anarchic Joker, a new, daring and unique take on the “Clown Prince of Crime,” an entirely different concept than Jack Nicholson’s more comic interpretation. This Joker’s wild! 

For a change, the buzz doesn’t begin to do the reality justice. This was THE performance of his all too brief career. The speculation about a posthumous Oscar is not unwarranted. What a shame, such a brilliant talent was cut so short.
 
Last week, one of the guys who works in the comics shop I frequent had seen an advanced release of the film, for people in the comics business, on IMAX. He told me that he highly recommended seeing the film in that giant format. He usually knows what he’s talking about, so I decided to take his advice. Yesterday, I got all my writing done, pet chores finished and errands done, then drove downtown to the IMAX theatre, thinking,  “Well, it’s the middle of the week, I should be able to walk right in.” No such luck. The regular format film, yes. But IMAX was sold out all day long! Shoulda known. Well, I got an advance ticket for the first show today, instead. So, today was the day.
 
If you’ve never seen an IMAX film, here’s the deal: the film format is gigantic, with unbelievably refined resolution, projected in amazingly fine detail on an immense screen, 65 feet wide and 80 feet tall. A bank of hi fiedelity speakers is situated behind the screen, with additional speakers all around and behind you. So, you not only hear each sound with incredible clarity, but you FEEL the vibrations of every action on the screen, especially gunshots, explosions, motors, crashes…it’s a complete immersion experience. Nothing else like it!
 
And the visuals are so huge, that you are IN the action.  You actually experience a little vertigo when you’re high atop a skyscraper, with the Batman, and looking into the concrete and glass canyons of the city. Then, as he leaps into space, you can virtually feel the street rushing up at you as he plummets faster and faster…it’s a RUSH! 

My favorite part? One great scene where Batman is holding a crime boss high over a street, hanging him off a fire escape, to get him to talk. The criminal says, “at this height, a fall won’t kill me.” Batman says, as he lets him go, “I’m counting on it.” CRACK! As the guy lands on his feet and falls to the ground in agony, my orthopaedist’s brain is categorizing his injuries: crushed heel bones, fractured tibiae, ruptured ligaments in the knees…pretty painful. He talked. You can learn about the entire panoply of the potential knee injuries he might have suffered in my LITTLE GREEN BOOK FOR ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, which you can see at http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
Of course, if he landed on his HEAD, it might not have worked out so well for Batman. And a few scenes later, he’s walking with just a cane. And this, after a 20 foot fall. Look what happened to me, after only a 10-11 foot fall! In reality, this guy would have had multiple surgeries and been laid up for about six months, at least, but to enjoy these films, you have to employ a little “willing suspension of disbelief” (with apologies to Hillary Clinton). Anyway, if you get the chance, SEE THIS FILM. It’s great fun for a summer afternoon. And the best Batman I’ve ever seen. 

Til next time, my friend, be well.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill
 
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html

P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
 
Copyright, 2008 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD
All rights reserved

Just today, I was driving along in my car, listening, as I usually do, to a talk show on AM radio. The traffic was miserable, the weather was lousy, but the kitties need food, so there I was. Anyway, one caller came on and said, quite emphatically, to the host of the show, “Healthcare is a RIGHT! It’s a disgrace that there are people who are uninsured in this country…We’re the only major industrialized country in the world that doesn’t provide care for everyone…Yada, yada, yada…(with apologies to Seinfeld)”.
 
Like many people who hold this viewpoint, the man who called into the show was long on passion, but short on facts and true knowledge of the problem. Which is to say, he was clueless about the real situation, but he gets points for compassion for his fellow human beings.
 
Here are a few things to consider. First, yes, there are a large number of people who do not have insurance coverage. BUT, and this is a big “but,” for many, this is a CHOICE. I know this seems like heresy, but in this country, people still have the freedom to make some choices. 

A young guy with no dependents, in the full flower of his life and strength, often thinks he’s near invulnerable and feels like he’s immortal. He may choose not to spend his money on an insurance policy (health OR life), because the need for it seems very far away and he’d much rather spend it on something else. 

Now, there are people who need coverage and can’t afford it, or maybe they can afford it but they’re disqualified by a “pre-existing condition.” That last is a real problem in anyone who is younger than Medicare-eligible age. Finally, there are a horde of ILLEGAL ALIENS included in that number of the uninsured–not only can they not afford it, or qualify for it, but they’re NOT supposed to be here, at all! And yet, their every emergency is treated FREE, if necessary, in the local ER, by law. WE pay for that, BTW.
 
Now, I’m not going to say that there aren’t problems with the current system–there are. But politicians are attempting to use this situation to seize control of yet MORE of our freedom and our money by attempting the government takeover of the healthcare industry. 

And underlying all of it is the idea, popular on the left, that health care is a RIGHT. Sorry, but it’s NOT a right. A need, obviously; desirable, certainly; but not a right. Why? Well, any other right guaranteed by our system and our constitution can be freely expressed by an individual and IT DOESN”T IMPOSE A COST ON ANYONE ELSE. That is, if I want to speak my mind and express an opinion, my “right” of free speech, it doesn’t cost anyone else a dime for me to do that. 

It’s true that in at least some of these cases, there is a true need. And that should be addressed. There are ways to deal with that. But NOT by putting the ponderous federal government in charge. These people can’t do anything right! Do you really want to trust your health to a bureaucrat? Think about it–it’s better for their budget if you die.
 
And do you want to stifle the innovation, investment and effciency of the private model? I mean, already a whole lot of physicians are from elsewhere–because our best and brightest, right out of college, have already figured out that they don’t want to be under a government thumb. They’ve gone into other fields, where they can prosper to the limts of their own talents and drive, free from government regulation. And the old dogs (like me), who have decided to retire, rather than put up with ever more regulation, litigation, and decreasing revenues, further decrease the physician pool. 
 
Then there’s convenience. Tear your meniscus? Today, you can see a doc, get an MRI that afternoon, and if needed, get surgery done a day or two later. So you can be back at work or play in a few days to a week or so. Done. Want to give that up, so some government fool can tell you that you have to wait a few months to get the MRI and then, another 6-12 months to get the surgery? I don’t.

Then just think about this: now you have cancer. And some drone tells you, sorry, you’ll have to WAIT to get that CT scan and then WAIT again to get the surgery. And all the while, the cancer is eating you alive, spreading through your system with unseen virulence…while you WAIT. That’s what the future holds if we let this happen.
 
And then, there’s the financial argument. Create a “right” to care and you create an endless demand–which YOU will pay for. Take a look at Europe and Canada. Anywhere this idea has been tried, it has all but bankrupted the country. We can’t afford this. The American taxpayer is not a bottomless well.

There are problems that need to be solved in healthcare. But the government is NOT the solution. It’s part of the problem.
 
So next time you hear someone tell you how healthcare for all is a “right,” you now should know better. Your best bet for your future healthcare is to STAY HEALTHY.
 
This rant has been brought to you by HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY, where you can avail yourself of the latest cutting edge techniques, from across the entire treatment spectrum for eliminating knee pain, without surgery, at
 http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
Thank you.
 
Til next time, my friend, be well.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill
 
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
 
Copyright, 2008 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD
All rights reserved

Let me tell you about my first big joint replacement case. All my surgical cases up to that point had been pretty straightforward closed fractures, hip fractures and minor surgeries. This patient was a big woman named Mabel, who had end stage arthritis of the hip. 

Having just finished my fellowship in joint reconstruction at the New England Baptist Hospital, in Boston, I had been told and I was convinced that I was “hot stuff.” I was the first fellowship trained joint surgeon on Long island, to my knowledge. I had more technical experience in these procedures and had done more of them than everyone in town had EVER done, COMBINED. And I wanted to do a surface replacement, which at that time was the latest development in the field. I had been fully trained and done a bunch of them at the Baptist. So I was ready and wanted to do that procedure in the worst way.
 
So my pal and first assistant, Steve, and I were all set. The patient was anesthetized, positioned, prepped and draped. We were ready to roll. All the other surgeons were drifting past the little window in the door of OR Room 5. Curiosity was running high and about half the guys that were peeking in were kind of hoping that I’d fall flat on my face.
 
No such luck. We started and made the standard exposure of the hip. Then, I brought the femoral head up into the field and started to prepare it with the special head reamers, that work sort of like a hemispherical, concave parmesan cheese grater, to grind away the arthritic surface and reshape the head into a perfect sphere.  Everything was going well, when I noticed that the reamed bone of the head wasn’t bleeding. 

When you see a bone, it’s usually dried out, in a museum or even in a butcher shop, hence the term “dry as a bone.” But in life, bones are anything BUT dry. They are chock full of blood and the rigid bony walls of the bone keep the openings open; they can’t contract like blood vessels in the soft tissues do. So, when they are broken, or cut in surgery, they bleed like crazy. At least they do when the circulation is normal.
 
Problem was, Mabel’s femoral head was reamed and should have been bleeding freely–and it wasn’t. No blood at all. Not good. Turns out she didn’t mention that she had been a heavy drinker for many moons in her history. And heavy drinkers may develop a disease called Avascular Necrosis, which means that the blood supply to the femoral head is blocked. Now I had to reason this out, while we were in surgery, because the patient hadn’t told us about her drinking history.
 
So there we were. All set to do the first surface replacement on Long Island, suspicious guys peeking into the room, and the damn head isn’t bleeding–meaning it’s DEAD, and therefore, will collapse after a while, if we go ahead with the planned surface replacement. Crap. Well, nothing for it, but to change course in midstream. 

I grabbed the power saw and cut off that dead head. We then went ahead with a standard cemented total hip replacement.
 
Everyone was kind of disappointed, but hey, you’ve gotta do what’s right for the patient. Turns out that she was lucky, in a way. Subsequent studies proved that the surface replacement of that period was a flawed design, that often failed and destroyed a lot of bone in the process. The standard total hip, even then, had a success rate in the high nineties. Like I always say, “better lucky than smart.”
 
Mabel, meanwhile, did terrific and went on to a very succesful result for the rest of her life. She died years later, from old age. And she kept her total hip the whole time. 

For years, the standard treatment for a knee injury that suggested a torn meniscus was surgery. But many people don’t want surgery, regardless of objective findings. Most of them will do well with the methods I teach in HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY
 http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html   But, if they fail to improve, and/or they are proven to have irreparable disease, the facts have changed and to continue with non-surgical measures despite them is fruitless. 

So, what did we learn? Well, I think the take home message is that you have to be able to change your mind when circumstances change. You can’t be afraid of being inconsistent. Emerson once said “foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.” I think he was right.
 
Til next time, my friend, be well.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill
 
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
 
Copyright, 2008 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD
All rights reserved

Over the weekend, I was cleaning out some of my old stuff. You have to understand that this activity is contrary to my nature. I’m a pack-rat and I always have been. I collected everything: comics, books (especially first editions; especially signed first editions), original paintings, prints, bronzes, antiques, old orthopaedic implants, guns, photos, slides, you name it. The thing is, after a while, you really don’t own your possessions–they own you.

So, I’m making an efforts to strip away the barnacles and dump all the non-essential memorabilia. I just need to simplify my life and have a whole lot less STUFF, you know? Anyway, as I was going through my stuff, I came across an old photo of me and my old buddy, Steve. Steve was an orthopaedic surgeon who was one of my best friends and colleagues. He was one of the original members of the orthopaedic group that I joined, right out of my fellowship training. But I didn’t meet him right away.

When I showed up for work, Steve was recovering from his first heart surgery–a coronary bypass. It seems he had these really crappy genes for heart disease. His dad died at 40 and his brother at age 42, both from heart disease. So, he had already outlived them both and he wasn’t going without a fight.

While he was recuperating, the other senior members of the group scrubbed and supervised me. When Steve finally returned, he was assigned to me as my supervisor and assistant, to show me the ropes and keep me out of trouble. This is standard procedure whenever a new surgeon begins at a hospital. Privileges are provisional at first, until the new recruit has demonstrated competence. So supervision is required, until the Department Chairman is confident that he/she meets the professional standard.

Steve and I hit it off, right away. He was friendly and funny and had a great way about him. He was a pretty good surgeon, too (so good that I asked him to operate on my mother when she needed a hip replacement) and a terrific diagnostician, who had an innate, intuitive ability to figure out what was wrong with a patient. He was down-to-earth and very straightforward in his bedside manner: patients all loved him. What he lacked in polish, he more than made up for with his acute clinical acumen and compassion. And he had really, really good judgment. Not everybody does.

I can’t begin to tell you how much I learned from him, both what to do and what NOT to do. And there were quite a few times he kept me from screwing up. There was this one time in particular that really demonstrates the nature if his character. Once, when Steve was on vacation (just hanging out at home), I was scheduled to do a total hip on an elderly woman. A new guy, who had just joined the group, was going to assist me, in Steve’s absence. He had informed me that he had to leave for an important meeting at 2:00 PM. This should have been plenty of time, but the OR had many delays, emergencies and such, so they were running behind. Finally, they anesthetized the lady, but at 2:00 o’clock, this guy said, “I told you I had to leave at 2:00.” And with that, he LEFT! With the patient asleep on the OR table! Unbelievable!

Now, I’m a very even tempered guy. It takes a lot to make me angry. But, man, I was in a white heat fury at that time. I couldn’t believe he had walked out on the patient and on me (turns out he was meeting with an accountant!). I was wild. The trouble with anger is that it keeps you from thinking straight.

I was so furious, that I went ahead with the surgery, by myself. I could do it alone! I didn’t need ANYONE! Technically true, but not too smart. You see, there was a rule in force that any major case required an assistant surgeon. And now, I didn’t have one. Uh-oh. The Chairman of Anesthesia was not amused. He told me that I needed an assistant. I told him I didn’t really need one. “Yes. You do,” he said. And he went off to call the Chairman of Surgery (at that time, Orthopaedics was a Section, under General Surgery), ie., my boss. They called all around town–no one else could or would come to assist me. By this time, I had cooled off and I realized that I was in deep doo-doo. It looked like a short end to a promising career….

And then, who should walk in, already scrubbed, with a big grin you could see even under his surgical mask, but Steve. “Hey, STILLWELL…What the F#&% are you DOIN’?” he said. I coulda kissed him. The nurses had called him at home, ON VACATION, and he came in to help the patient and save my bacon. I was never so happy to see anyone. Well, we did the case together, the x-rays looked great, the patient did great and the crisis was averted. Thanks to Steve. And he never threw up to me how foolishly I had behaved. Ever. He just smiled, laughed at me, left and then went home and resumed his vacation. Lucky for me.

That’s just the kind of guy he was. Apart from clinical expertise, “ya gotta have heart”–and he did, in spades!

In later years, after my appointment as Chief, I left the group to go into solo practice. But I remained good friends with Steve. He eventually had a second bypass operation, recovered, but finally retired to a cattle farm in Ocala, Florida. We still stay in touch, now and again, to talk over old times and old friends.

Last time I spoke to him, he had heard about my injury and retirement. I told him all about my new venture, Dr. Bill’s Clinic, and about my very first product, DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK FOR ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN                                         http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html     He loved it! Thought the concept of teaching lay people all about knee problems and their solutions in everyday English was great. Not for the first time, I thanked Steve for all his help over the years. Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to do everything I’ve done, and wouldn’t be here now, to teach you what I know at http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html

Truly a great guy. I’m proud and grateful to call him my friend. Like I said, I was lucky. Til next time, my friend, be well.

Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,

Dr. Bill

P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html

P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html

P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html

FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION

Copyright, 2008 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD
All rights reserved

The phone rang the other night and I almost missed it.  It’s a big house, so if I’m not right next to the phone I have to run to the nearest one, without running the cats underfoot. But, I got it just as the answering machine picked up. Then, I had to wait for the recorded message to finish before I could hear and be heard.
 
It was one of our good friends, who is a female cop. She’s a sweet girl, but she’s one of those people I don’t hear from, until she’s got some medical problem.  I have more than my share of those. But, hey, it’s good to hear from them, regardless of the reason they decided to call.
 
It seems she was playing racket ball and suddenly felt this lancing pain in one of her calves. Because it was this sudden, hot poker sensation, she was a bit scared.  Who could blame her? She had heard of painful clots in the calves that could be dangerous (deep vein thrombosis), so she was pretty anxious.
 
Well, I asked her a few questions, so I could try to figure out what had happened to her. You may not realize this, but it’s tough to diagnose anything, sight unseen, over the phone. Lay folk simply don’t share the same vocabulary with medical people, so it’s hard for them to accurately describe what they feel, or what actually happened, or even what something looks like.  So, pity the poor doc who’s trying to make sense of what he’s being told and trying to make an intelligent diagnosis, based solely on this questionable information.
 
I’ll give you a great example of what I mean. My father-in-law used to tell me that the outer part of his hips (the trochanteric region) felt “numbish.” Now, to a physician, “numbish” indicates a decrease in sensation; that’s what “numb” means to us–a possible neurological problem. What he actually meant was “dull pain,” which indicated a bursitis, but he didn’t know how to accurately describe it to me. Took me a while, and a physical examination, to figure out what he really meant. The point is, I had to interpret what he said into what he really meant. So, when you’re trying to do this over the phone, it just adds another layer of difficulty to a tough situation. 

Anyway, this sharp, hot pain at the back of her calf was familiar to me. I asked her if she felt a “pop” when she felt the pain. “Oh, yeah,” she said, “now that I think about it, I DID kind of feel a “pop,” when it happened.” I also found out that she was able to walk on it, even though it hurt, and that her calf swelled up and was tender. I should mention that she’s in her forties, now, too. 

Assembling all the pieces, I felt pretty confident that she had experienced a rupture of the plantaris tendon. Given her symptoms, her age, the activity she was engaged in and my past experience with these same symptoms, it was most likely that she had popped her plantaris tendon. So, I first reassured her that she most likely didn’t have anything really bad, and she probably wasn’t going to need any surgery (for a discussion of this and other posterior knee conditions that can be treated without an operation, please see my newest healing program         HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY    http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html )

Then, I explained what had happened to her and why.  And then, what to do about it. First, she needed to get over the acute inflammation, and I gave her a host of the conservative mainstream and alternative methods to reduce inflammation and relieve pain, all the most effective treatments from my new program at  http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
 
Once the tenderness and swelling were gone, then she could begin the stretching and strengthening exercises taught in my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM, which you can see at   http://drbillsclinic.com?exercise_eliminate.html   The good news is that she’ll be back in action in a few more weeks with no disablity. And she won’t have any residual weakness. 

Of course, she could still rupture the OTHER one…. But with the proper warm-up before any exercises, and the recommended stretching and strengthening, hopefully, she’ll avoid it.

Well, that’s it for today. Til next time, my friend, be well. And have a great weekend.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill 
 
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
 
Copyright, 2008 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD
All rights reserved