While it isn’t widely known, in 2005, I had an arthroscopic surgery of my left knee. You may recall that I had fallen through a ceiling in 2001, breaking my mid back, but also injuring my knees and right ankle.

Take it from me, even if you have air conditioner trouble…stay OUT of the attic.

It’s actually not as stupid as it sounds-I did call the service guys, but they refused to come. And we did have a major water leak, through the ceiling light fixtures…putting the whole house in danger from a possible short-caused fire. It seemed like a good idea at the time….

Though the back was my major limiting factor, the knees continued to give me trouble, even after the ankle sprain had healed, without any residual effects. We had moved to Florida, thinking that the heat might make my back feel better (it did) and I spent hours, walking daily to drop any excess weight.

I also tried everything I could to strengthen the left knee, as that was the worse of the two. That included quarter squats and other quadriceps exercises, in an effort to reduce the persistent medial (inner side) joint line pain. But despite my best efforts, the pain was getting worse, even using fish oil and anti-inflammatory drugs, as needed.

So I got an MRI scan and lo and behold, there it was-a torn medial meniscus. After weighing my options and exhausting all the alternative and conventional conservative treatments, I finally decided to get it fixed.

So I went to one of my colleagues, a great guy (whose technical skills were as good as my own. Well…almost J). And on Tax Day, 2005, I had the procedure done, under conscious sedation (ie., with I.V. Versed and local anesthesia). He took lots of photos of the inside of my knee during the surgery and of course, he trimmed the damaged cartilage away, leaving me with a nice, rounded rim of meniscus.

Turns out that I had quite a bit more arthritis in there than I would have thought. He was surprised, too. There was, in fact, one area of chondromalacia grade 4, which means all the way down to the bare bone. This is indistinguishable from osteoarthritis.

Unbelievable! Who would have guessed that? There were other areas of shredded cartilage as well. And all this, with no other injury than that one fall.

Post op, I had a whole new appreciation for what my own surgical patients had been going through for many years. Of course, I probably gave them more local anesthesia in their knees than my surgeon gave me. Let me tell you, when you lower your leg to hobble to the bathroom on crutches, it hurts.

But I healed rapidly and started range of motion exercises, as soon as the pain permitted me to do it. This was followed by progressive strengthening exercises, like those in my recently updated PAIN-FREE PROGRAM & DVD

http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html /.

In short, I did my own rehabilitation and physical therapy.

It took a couple of months before I was healed enough to walk for exercise, again. And some mild aching continued for over six months. You just can’t get away from it: youth is wasted on the young. Us older guys have to get by, just doin’ the best we can.

Now, if all this is familiar to you, in some respect or another, I just wanted you to know that I understand what you’re going through, first hand. For all my clinical experience, through decades of performing surgery and nearly a quarter century of private practice in orthopaedics, there’s nothing quite like being the patient yourself, to teach you what you really need to know.

And I learned a lot. Even though I did well with the surgery, I learned enough to treat my right knee even more aggressively, with those same knee pain exercises

http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html

and other treatments, so that I’ve been able to avoid surgery on that knee, to this very day. And the odds are good that you can, too. Just click the link and learn what I can teach you about preventing, or getting rid of your knee pain, for good!

Til next time, my friend, be well. And have a great weekend.

Yours for a pain-free tomorrow and your optimal health,

Dr. Bill

“The Wellness Warrior”TM  

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Website: http://www.drbillsclinic.com

                  http://www.favoriteformulas.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was sitting in my home office last evening (which my wife affectionately calls my “rat hole”), as the sun set and darkness crept over the room. I was answering the comments and questions that my recent emails about knee pain engendered.

I got a few from some pretty far flung places around the world, mostly saying “Thanks,” in so many words, for the advice and encouragement they had received from my email tips. No crank mail, this time. That’s always a plus.

Every so often I get some folks who think that I work for them, or who think they know better than I do about my own field. No way I can ever reach those types-they’ve already made up their minds and there’s no more room in there for any new ideas.

I generally suggest that they’d probably be happier elsewhere. (I was known for occasionally doing that, even when I was in practice-I decided early on that I couldn’t make 100% of the people happy, no matter what I did, so why put up with vexation?)

None of that this time, though, which was a blessing.

Then, I came across an email from one of my old patients, who is now a subscriber. He told me that the total hip replacement I did on him over 22 years ago had needed to be revised, but the total knee I had done was still doing well at 21 years… and counting.

Now, this man was very young when I did his surgery, which is normally not done. But he has a particularly nasty form of inflammatory arthritis, which destroyed his hip joint in under six months, from the diagnosis. We had no choice.

But the fact that the hip lasted over 22 years in such a young active man was a major achievement. And his total knee is still surviving and going strong.

That news alone was enough to give me a sense of satisfaction that my skills were proving to be as good as I always believed them to be (Hey, you’ve gotta have mega self confidence, if you’re going to be a surgeon-can’t be tentative or timid and expect excellent results. You have to believe in yourself and your ability!).

But what really made my day was that he told me that he wished he was still my patient, not just my subscriber. He said that he knows he needs to get another orthopaedist, but he doesn’t feel as comfortable with anyone, as he did with me.

Well. That made me feel pretty good, indeed. Made my whole day, in fact. I was really touched and very grateful that he would take the time from his busy day to email me that message.

For me, that’s what it was always all about-helping my patients to get rid of their pain, changing their lives for the better.

I try to do the same thing today.

Nothing makes me happier than to have someone write me that they have “no more knee pains,”as a result of following my advice, or my specially modified knee pain exercises.

http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html

You know, when I broke my back, it ended my surgical career. But I chose to be grateful that I hadn’t been paralyzed, or killed outright (which I certainly could have been). I not only screwed up my back, but my knees, as well.

That’s how I know that these exercises work. They’re the same ones that I’ve used myself, for my own arthritic knees, and the very same ones that I prescribed for my patients, for lo those many moons.

And now, they’ve been completely renovated and updated, with new photographs and a completely new DVD, to show you exactly how to do them, for best results. No need to guess, anymore.

Quadriceps exercises, hamstring exercises, calf exercises and complimentary stretches for the quads, ITB, hamstrings and so on. All modified, so you eliminate pain, not aggravate it, by actually changing the dynamics of the knee joint.

Every exercise is demonstrated for you, so you can get rid of that nagging knee pain, for good!

If you are one of those rare people, like my former patient, who have aggressive, rapidly advancing, end stage joint disease, you might need joint replacement surgery, as he did.

But if you’re one of the great majority who have garden variety arthritis, or an old sports, or work injury, odds are good that you can eliminate that persistent knee pain, on your own, without surgery, with my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM & DVD:

http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html

So if you have knee pain, why continue to suffer?

For only a fraction of the cost of a consultation with a doctor, you can have your own copy of this proven program of effective, pain-relieving knee exercises and stretches. Don’t wait another minute. Click the link and eliminate your pain, NOW! And feel better, FAST.

Til next time, my friend, be well. Talk to you again, soon.

Yours for a pain-free tomorrow and your optimal health,

Dr. Bill

“The Wellness Warrior”            TM

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Website: http://www.drbillsclinic.com

                   http://www.favoriteformulas.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are using a special coupon or promo code, include it here. Or, indicate if the coupon must be printed and presented in person. Is the coupon transferable? If so, encourage recipients to share the offer with friends and family to maximize the viral effect of the coupon. Add a link to your website with more information to drive traffic and to gauge what offers your customers find most appealing.

 

While reading some of my email in my study this morning, I came across an article on a disease that can cause diffuse joint pain, resembling arthritis. Now, it is true that a number of diseases can do that. Even some episodes of flu can cause diffuse joint pain, as part of the complex of symptoms.

Some new cases of rheumatoid arthritis can first present as a swelling of one single joint. I saw this personally happen to my wife’s niece, who developed swelling of her ankle, after a sprain. But the swelling continued long after a simple sprain should have disappeared.

Sure enough, once she was tested, she was found to have a form of inflammatory arthritis called JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis). Fortunately, it’s not too common. But I have seen some cases that are so rapidly destructive that you have the situation of a young girl with multiple joint replacements, before she’s out of her teens.

Obviously, this is not good, as man made parts have a finite life span-they don’t last forever. And their revision is a much more challenging surgery than the initial replacement. It’s a heart breaking condition, no question about it.

However, the condition I’m talking about is endemic to the Northeast of the USA, specifically around New England and parts of Long Island, New York, though it has since spread far and wide.

I’m talking of course about Lyme Disease, a form of arthritis that results from an infection by a spirochete bacterium, related to syphilis, called Borrelia burgdorferi, which is responsible for most of the cases in the US, while Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii (different species of the same genus, Borrelia) cause the disease in Europe. The disease got its name from Lyme, Connecticut, where it was identified in 1975. However, it has since spread all over.

The bacteria are carried by deer ticks, very tiny arachnids, which are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. They are so small that the victim often does not even feel the bite and is unaware that he’s been exposed. The bacteria are passed on to the host (that would be you), when the host is bitten by the tick. They then migrate all over the body and set up shop in your joints, where they cause the pain and swelling.

A single deer can harbor hundreds of ticks and a single female tick can lay a couple of thousands eggs, that become the next generation of ticks.

In the classic case, you may develop a characteristic “bulls-eye” rash at the site of the tick bite, but usually a while after the tiny bite has disappeared, if you ever knew it was there. But sometimes, that diagnostic sign just doesn’t develop, or is unnoticed by the patient.

That makes the disease difficult to identify, so again, the doctor must think of this disease whenever he sees an atypical case of knee pain and swelling, without another obvious cause.

This is just one of the less common causes of knee pain and swelling that I discuss for you in my LITTLE GREEN BOOK FOR ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN:

http://www.drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html

Now, Lyme Disease can be treated and cured, in most cases, by an aggressive and prolonged course of antibiotics. But you have to know that this is the cause of the pain, so you know to treat for it. And that means having a very high index of suspicion, if you’re the examining physician.  

Unfortunately many times, no one thinks of it and the symptoms continue, on and on, tick…tick…tock…and the patient develops a progressive arthritis, often of the knee. Luckily, the old rule in Medicine remains true: “when you hear hoof beats, don’t think of zebras.”  

Standard treatments should be tried first, including rest, local heat, anti-inflammatory medication and/or omega-3 fatty acids, which have a natural anti-inflammatory effect, like those in my premium, enteric coated, deep arctic water, pharmaceutical grade fish oil, POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA and my JOINT HEALTH FORMULA, with its unique Green Lipped Mussel extract.

http://www.favoriteformulas.com

http://www.favoriteformulas.com/jointhealth

They work in conjunction with NSAID medications, but without the adverse side effects. But they are so potent that in Europe, fish oil is a first line treatment for RA. So they are ideal for the treatment of standard knee joint inflammation.

When the pain and swelling recede, it’s time to begin rehabilitation, with strategic knee pain exercises like those in my newly revised PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: DVD & Manual.

http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html

If it’s a garden variety joint inflammation, from injury, or degeneration, it should respond to these conservative measures.

But if it should persist, despite faithful adherence to this proven regimen, then other diagnoses must be entertained: more severe osteoarthritis, inflammatory arthritis (like rheumatoid, or lupus), gout, pseudogout, or a low grade infectious arthritis. (High grade arthritis makes the patient sick as a dog, with a high temperature and the knee is so glowing red, it looks incandescent; so there’s no mistaking that.)

Blood tests will usually tell the story, but sometimes, aspiration (sticking a needle into the joint to draw out fluid, for microscopic examination) is necessary. However, even with the absence of the usual history of a tick bite, or that diagnostic bulls-eye rash, the doctor must think of Lyme Disease, or the diagnosis will often be missed.

If you ever find yourself in this situation, don’t be bashful-ask your doctor if Lyme is a possibility. The doc is only human and it’s YOUR knee, so don’t hesitate to remind him. Something to think about, the next time you see those cute deer munching on your shrubs.

Til next time, my friend, be well.

Yours for a pain-free tomorrow and your optimal health,

Dr. Bill

“The Wellness Warrior”             TM

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Website: http://www.drbillsclinic.com

                   http://www.favoriteformulas.com  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a busy weekend with long road trips back and forth to Clearwater this past weekend, I needed a day to recuperate. So naturally, the bride decided yesterday was the day to take a road trip to visit her father in Palm Coast. So it goes….

We were fortunate that it was a nice day, with only a few sprinkles, coming and going, to mar the drives. Otherwise, it was smooth going the whole way.

We arrived in the early afternoon and everyone was hungry. So we went to a local family restaurant to have dinner. The clientele was older, without many kids in evidence, as you might expect in a retirement community.

There was one couple with so many facial piercings and confluent tattoos that I speculated about how much trouble they must have if they ever travel by air, what with all the metal detectors and all. (Not to mention their various pins, rings and posts locking together when they kiss…but I digress.)

But in looking around at our fellow feasters, there were an inordinate number of extremely heavy people, mostly women. One thing they shared in common was that they all sported excessively tight clothes that did nothing to conceal the various rolls and bulges that overflowed the constraints of their clothes. It was “muffin top madness,” wherever I looked.

As I looked around, I idly took a look at what was on their plates. And it suddenly dawned on me that what I was seeing was the cumulative result of their own daily choices. Without exception, their plates were piled high with carbohydrate laden fare, covered with flour fortified sauces and lots of batter covered fried foods, like Southern Fried Chicken, when clean, moist rotisserie chicken was available right next to the fried fare. Lots of cokes were in evidence and “sweet teas,” too. Very few were drinking plain ice water, or even diluted lemonade.

While I was sitting there, I remembered one such girl in my practice. She was young, just in her twenties, and worked in New York City. She was talented, smart, personable and would have been quite pretty, if her features hadn’t been smothered in too much flesh. She came to see me because of severe persistent knee pain that was literally ruining her life.

Unfortunately, every conservative measure had already been tried and had failed to give her any relief. Though she claimed that she tried, she just couldn’t lose weight and that excess weight applied tremendous forces across her kneecaps whenever she attempted to climb stairs.

This was exacerbated by a tendency for her kneecaps to “jump the track” and slip out of position, sideways. She was born wit very wide hips which made her knees relatively “knocked.” This, in turn, tended to pull her kneecaps laterally (toward the outside of her knees). Combined with all this was profound weakness of her thigh muscles.

This was one of the times when surgery was clearly warranted. But to be sure, I sent her to another knee expert for another opinion. He concurred with my analysis, so, with her permission, we went ahead.

You see, she was so big that nothing bit a dramatic shift in the forces across her knee would help her. And that can only be done by physically moving the tendons that attach the kneecap, to keep it in the midline and restore stability.

Had she not been so heavy, it’s very likely that surgery might have been avoided. There are many non-operative treatments, alternative and conventional, that might have been successful. I present many of them in HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY

http://www.drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html

But every pound above the norm is multiplied by a factor of 3-4 times, just when walking. That jumps to 7 times, climbing stairs and as high as 10 times, when running (though she clearly could not run).

So massive obesity was this girl’s worst enemy. And that doesn’t even take into account the metabolic problems and the increased risks for diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke, arthritis, lung diseases and so on that are a result of excess body weight.

Given her many problems, we simply couldn’t overcome all the adverse forces against her. I finally did formal patella realignments, to stabilize her painful kneecaps, one knee at a time. Postoperatively, she did very well. We used a number of the knee strengthening exercises and stretches that are now demonstrated in my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM DVD & MANUAL

http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html

And as her strength improved, her pain receded and finally disappeared. As her pain resolved, her energy soared and her body weight finally began to drop. Even her appearance improved, as the attractive young woman, that had been buried within, began to emerge and her confidence soared. This was the kind of result that made me proud to be a surgeon.

But the fact remains that had she not gotten so heavy to start with, she probably would not have had to suffer all that pain and all that surgery.

I remembered all that, as I watched another rather large woman, who sat next to me in the restaurant, pile yet another piece of pie onto her plate. In the end, we all are a product of our choices.

Bearing that in mind, I popped another couple of capsules of my POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA into my mouth.

http://www.favoriteformulas.com

This premium, enteric coated, pharmaceutical grade fish oil is my foundation for a healthy lifestyle. It keeps my heart and my brain in peak form and keeps my arthritic back and knees pain-free. Knowing that we ARE a product of our choices, I choose to stay pain-free, well and healthy. How about you?

Til next time, my friend, be well. Talk to you again, soon.

Yours for a pain-free tomorrow and your optimal health,

Dr. Bill

“The Wellness Warrior”      TM

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Website: http://www.drbillsclinic.com

                  http://www.favoriteformulas.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just this past weekend, I was in Clearwater, Florida with a group of friends and fellow internet marketers. A number of us were up early each morning to do sprints on the beach, in an effort to hike up our metabolisms and burn off a little extra fat. Yesterday morning, around 7 AM, we were all out there, but the dark thunderclouds were heavy on the western Gulf horizon and appeared to be heading right for us, as the sun rose behind us.

Amazingly, as threatening as the sky appeared, it didn’t rain for all the time we ran the beach. Truth to tell, this was the first time in nine years that I have been able to run on flat ground, without mid back pain, which has been the case, ever since I fractured my spine in that bad fall, in May of 2001.

After the morning run, a few of us went to breakfast, before our group meeting. As luck would have it, a couple of guys had knee pain-not surprising, since most of us are middle aged and have more than our share of joint aches and pains. One of my friends and business partners, however, is a very fit young man, but he had some knee pain, too.

More than likely, this was the result of this sudden burst of unaccustomed activity. More often than not, that’s the reason these things happen. In any case, while we were at breakfast, he asked me to check his knee. He was understandably concerned and wanted to know what was the source of knee pain. It had come upon him suddenly, during that last run, when he had the knee go so wobbly on him, he nearly fell.

Well, it doesn’t take much for me to check out someone’s knee. If I didn’t want to help people, I never would have become a doctor. So an opportunity like this is a good way for me to keep my hand in, so to speak, and besides, the man is a good friend. If you can’t take care of your friends in need, what good are you?

So, I examined him, right there in the restaurant. I felt around in his knee in the systematic way I have always done, through all those years of private practice in orthopaedics. Luckily, he had no swelling, nor was his kneecap injured. But once I got to the back of his knee, he let me know I was getting “warmer.”

At that point, I felt around more gingerly, for fear of hurting him. Sure enough, he had maximal tenderness in his medial (inner side of the knee) hamstring tendons. But nothing was disrupted. The ligaments were all pretty stable, thank goodness, and there was no real pain in the joint itself. So, it seems my friend has a classic pulled hamstring, or more accurately, a hamstring tenosynovitis.

Now, luckily, he’s already on a good daily dose of my POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA

http://www.favoriteformulas.com

Although he takes it as a measure for good health, to minimize his chances of future heart disease or stroke, the omega-3 fatty acids in this premium, enteric coated, pharmaceutical grade fish oil have powerful anti-inflammatory properties. I recommended that he take an extra dose a day. This will work to help him heal. He should also rest with his leg in the healing position I recommend in my Little Green Book for Eliminating Knee Pain.

http://www.drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html

Once the tendon stops hurting, he can start on the strategic exercises and stretches that I recommend in my newly illustrated PAIN-FREE PROGRAM DVD

http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html

This DVD and the accompanying manual were designed to be companions to the Little Green Book. With these proven knee pain exercises and the great advantage of youth on his side, he should be feeling much better, in almost no time at all.

As one of the older guys in the group, I thought I did OK: Nothing broken, nothing pulled, or bruised and I did manage to keep up with the younger guys and, most important, finish the course. So I had a pretty good feeling of self satisfaction.

And, at least the rain held off until my drive back home to Orlando, last evening. But then, the skies finally opened, in a deluge so heavily that I could barely see the highway. Luckily, no mishaps on the road and I made it home in pretty good time, despite the weather. Better lucky than smart, right?  Well that’s it for today. Til next time, my friend, be well.

Yours for a pain-free tomorrow and your optimal health,

Dr. Bill

“The Wellness Warrior”         TM

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Website: http://www.drbillsclinic.com

                  http://www.favoriteformulas.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I turned fifty, I suddenly developed such severe right shoulder pain that I couldn’t raise my arm. That’s a real problem for an orthopaedic surgeon. Part of my job was to whale on implants, with a 3 pound mallet (hammer), while doing total joint replacements. That’s mighty tough when you can’t even raise your arm without the mallet.

It seemed to come from out of the blue. I had no injury, of which I was aware. I had no gradually progressive pain. It just… appeared, for no apparent reason. Worse, after about two weeks, it started in my other shoulder, too.

It was rough, I can tell you. I was able to operate by using some tricks of body mechanics. I kept my arm closely adherent to my side and swung the mallet from my elbow, rather than my shoulder. Not as powerful, and it did still hurt, but at least I could function, after a fashion.

X-rays showed a surprise: there were small oval calcium deposits in front of both shoulders. No evidence of arthritis, though (Thank God!). So I apparently had a form of capsulitis, inflammation of the fibrous capsule around the shoulder joint.

I took the Cox II inhibitor anti-inflammatory drugs of choice at that time (Celebrex, followed by Vioxx, now removed from the market by the FDA for increasing cardiovascular disease). They helped, but not quickly.

How I wish I had access to my POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA, at that time.

http://www.favoriteformulas.com

Omega-3 fatty acids have potent, natural anti-inflammatory properties, proven as effective as NSAID medication (and often used instead of them in Europe, as a first line treatment), but without those pesky side effects, like gastric reflux, stomach pain, ulcer disease and even frank G.I. bleeding. And, unlike the Cox II inhibitors, fish oil has overtly beneficial effects on the heart.  

It was hard to let it rest, too, because I had to keep working. Solo practice has its benefits, but rest isn’t one of them. So I was undoubtedly aggravating the inflamed shoulder, continually.

And have you ever tried to shower with a bad shoulder? It ain’t easy, friend.

What I did is what’s recommended for any shoulder injury: lean sideways, to the side of the injury, so that gravity pulling on the arm opens your armpit (axilla) enough to get some soap under there.

I also used a shoulder immobilizer, whenever I was NOT in the operating room. This differs from a simple sling in that it prevents rotation of the shoulder, as well as supporting the arm from below. Years ago, before these immobilizers were standard issue in emergency rooms, we had to make our own.

Then, it was called a “sling and swathe.” This was a sling, around the neck and under the bent elbow, and a wrap of a 6 inch wide ACE elastic bandage around and around the arm and body, holding the forearm against the belly and preventing that external rotation movement at the shoulder. Very effective, but a PIA to make. Much easier to pull the immobilizer out of the box. (Wish I’d thought of that!)

Then, there were the physical therapy sessions: gentle motion, electrical stimulation, TENS, gentle massage, hot packs and ultrasound. As the pain resolved, we began to introduce resistance exercises for the shoulders, to build the muscles back up.

Weeks grew into months and I improved. Then, guess what?

The same thing started on my LEFT shoulder! OY! Though the pain came suddenly, it took months to resolve. Fortunately, dealing with the left was easier, because I’m right handed. But it was still annoying, as well as painful.

I assumed I must have aggravated the shoulders with the stresses of my work, which was fairly physical. Gradually, the pain went away completely.

Then, one of my colleagues turned 50 and the same thing happened to him, too. Now, I’ve never seen it written about and technically, this is what’s called anecdotal evidence. But, it may not be coincidence that he is an orthopaedist too.

Maybe the stresses we routinely apply in our surgeries have these painful consequences, when we reach that “magic age.” Who knows?

What I do know is that this same general plan of treatment applies to other joints as well, like knees, for instance:

1.Stop the activity that causes the pain (or compensate for it).

2.Rest and/or immobilize the affected joint.

3.Apply local heat.

4.Take an anti-inflammatory agent.

5.Then, as pain permits, gradually exercise the joint, beginning with motion exercises.  

6.Advance to resistance exercises, as tolerated.

http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html  

Well, I chalked this up to advancing age. But I learned a lot about how to deal with shoulder pain. And I hope you have, now, too.

Have a great weekend, my friend. Til next time, be well.

Yours for a pain-free tomorrow and your optimal health,

Dr. Bill

“The Wellness Warrior”               TM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Website: http://www.drbillsclinic.com

                  http://www.favoriteformulas.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday, we talked about the nature and the pathological stages of osteoarthritis. This is the kind of arthritis most of us will get, as we get older. In brief, the cartilage gets soft, then fragments and shreds, and finally erodes away, exposing the bone.

At that point the bone literally grinds itself away, with even normal motion and activity. This results in increasing joint pain, swelling, fluid build-up and progressive deformity as well as instability and disability.

When the joint is bone-on-bone, which describes its appearance on weight bearing x-rays, it means that there is no remaining cartilage to cushion the joint. And to date, there is no reliable method of re-growing cartilage, once it is completely destroyed.

I pointed out that joint replacement surgery was usually indicated, once the cartilage destruction exposed bare bone.

Joint replacement for end stage arthritis is the same idea as a crown for a tooth with extensive decay-at some point, you replace the decayed surface with a man-made surface, in the form of a crown.

I spent most of my professional life doing just that, for those patients who were in severe pain, without hope of other relief, or who had failed to improve with more conservative options. However, I always explored other options first.

Why? Because as good as joint replacements are, they are not as good as the “original factory equipment.” They have a finite life span and a host of potential complications and risks you must accept to gain their benefits. They are not benign procedures.

So, it is not only ethical to exhaust other possible treatment options first, it just makes sense.

Yesterday, we covered a few of those options. Today, we’ll talk about a few more.

Weight loss, especially fat loss, is very important. You should know that significant fat loss can make all the difference between having severe pain and having virtually none.

And it makes sense, from a mechanical standpoint, when you think about it, doesn’t it? The more weight the diseased joint has to carry, the faster its arthritis is likely to progress and the more it’s going to hurt.

But there’s even more to it. Body fat and foods that make you fat, tend to promote inflammation throughout the body. For example, it’s well known that red meat (high in omega-6 arachidonic acid) can aggravate the pain in an arthritic joint. This is because the arachidonic acid is a chemical precursor of prostaglandins, chemicals that mediate inflammation in the tissues.

If you like the occasional nice juicy steak, at least balance it by taking some omega-3 fatty acids, to compensate for the omega-6 load you’re taking on. The best way to do that is to take some of my POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA,

http://www.favoriteformulas.com

an ultra pure, enteric coated, pharmaceutical grade fish oil, with highly concentrated omega-3 fatty acids. I take this formulation myself and if I miss a dose, I can feel the difference.

In addition, I now take a special formulation designed to combat the pain of arthritis, my JOINT HEALTH FORMULA

http://www.favoriteformulas.com/jointhealth

This is a concentrated marine extract, based on the unique anti-inflammatory properties found in New Zealand Green Lipped Mussel, which works in addition to the omega-3′s found in all nearly all seafood.

Exercise is not only a key element in any weight loss program, but it also helps to reduce insulin secretion. Insulin, among its other properties is a hormone that promotes inflammation. So exercise helps to reduce inflammation, in addition to building muscle (which helps support the joints) and boosting the basal metabolic rate as well as your immune system.

Even walking on a daily basis is good exercise. I also like resistance exercise, designed to build more muscle. Progressive resistance, over time is the key. The idea is to more and more, as your strength improves. My PAIN-FREE PROGRAM & DVD

http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html

use a combination of isometrics, stretches, body weight and free weight/machine exercises in strategic ways to alter the dynamics of the arthritic knee. But it’s a program also useful for general lower body conditioning and weight loss, too.

But I don’t recommend running. There’s too much impact on the weight bearing joints, and spine, which can worsen an arthritic joint, especially as you get older.

Interestingly enough, long distance runners will NOT develop arthritis of the hips, knees and ankles from running… if they have pristine joints. But if they have any pre-existing degenerative changes those will be accelerated by the repetitive impact of running.

In other words, it won’t give you arthritis, but if you already have some arthritis, it will make it much worse, much faster.

And, let’s face it, many of us have areas of early degeneration we know nothing about, until the disease reaches a point of severity that begins to manifest as pain and stiffness, especially in the morning. This is why I do NOT recommend running, as a way to get fit.

There are other things you can do, too. Swimming, elliptical training, “running” on a trampoline, using an exercise bike, all have the benefits of running, but without the impact.

Beyond the issues of weight control, exercise and dietary choices, there are a host of alternative and conventional treatments that can help relieve pain, but stave off the surgeon. I discuss many of your choices in HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY

http://www.drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html  

Treatments like acupuncture, acupressure, prolotherapy, magnetic field therapy, far infrared therapy and a host of others that have one thing in common-they WORK.

If you use these alternatives, in conjunction with the best of conventional, mainstream medicine, you have an excellent chance to get relief. That’s how you can “cure” arthritis pain. Til next time, my friend, be well.

Yours for a pain-free tomorrow and your optimal health,

Dr. Bill

“The Wellness Warrior”             TM

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Website: http://www.drbillsclinic.com

                   http://www.favoriteformulas.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~