If you’ve been a reader for a while, you know that I’m a long time comic book collector. I used to work as a professional artist for the comics, back in the 70′s for a brief stint and I’ve always maintained a serious interest in the art form, collected original art and kept up friendships with some of the best pros in the business.
 
This, of course, has always been a source of great embarrassment to my wife, who shares the opinion of many, who know no better, that comics are for kids, geeks and retards. I would patiently point out that there is an entire wing in the Louvre dedicated to graphic arts (ie., comic art)and many very highly creative, very wealthy and intelligent men, like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood, to name but a few, have collected original paintings and drawings of some of the best modern illustrators, painters and comics artists. So I feel I’m in good company.
 
Anyway, as soon as I arrived back in town, in Orlando, I went straight over to my local comic shop, ACME SUPERSTORE in Longwood, to pick up the latest issues which had come out during my recent absence. While I was in there, seeing what else had come out that I might want to read, I overheard a middle aged guy talking to Penny, one of the store employees.
 
Penny had had arthroscopic surgery for her own knee in the past, after a number of conservative measures failed to relieve her very significant and disabling knee pain. I had reviewed her preop studies and her intraoperative photographs, and there’s no question she had a defined pathology that needed surgery to fix.
 
This guy knew about her experience and was asking her for advice. So, since she had come to me for advice herself and since I was there, she called me over to meet this man. Sure enough, he had episodes of pain and swelling that would come and go, after what he called a “blowout,” that is, a traumatic injury that ruptured his ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and gave him a torn meniscus.
 
Despite this, though, what bothered him the most was what he described as a sudden “shift” inside his knee and the insecure feeling this gave him. What he was actually feeling was the typical instability that results from a ruptured ACL. Naturally, he was concerned because he didn’t want ACL surgery, if he could avoid it.
 
I pointed out to him that there ARE ways to treat this condition nonsurgically, BUT there is a price to be paid–namely, if he doesn’t have arthritis yet, he soon will. The articular cartilage is damaged every time he experiences that “shift,” which is really a slippage of one bone on the other, that is usually prevented by an intact ACL.
 
However, if he is willing to accept that fact, and if his daily activities are not affected, then a number of conservative conventional treatments, combined with alternative methods, that help to relieve knee pain and resolve inflammation, appropriate bracing and vigorous specialized exercises, especially for the hamstring muscles, may be all he needs. 
 
He was amazed at this information, which was all new to him, and which is revealed in detail in my new healing program, HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY (see here at http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html )
 
He didn’t even realize that CRUCIATE means “crossed” in Latin, or that the cruciate or crossed ligaments, ACL and PCL, hold the interior of the knee together and prevent excessive, abnormal motions, front to back and back to front, between the femur and the tibia.
 
The anatomy and basic functions of these ligaments are presented in my LITTLE GREEN BOOK, together with lots of inside information on the many root causes of knee pain and disability. See what I mean at   http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
So, at the end of my “comic shop consult,” this man realized that he has options he didn’t know he had. I gave him my card and suggested he visit my website  http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html  for more detailed information and advice. Hopefully, he’ll take my advice and get knee pain relief and joint stability back in his life.
 
At that point, I said, “My work here is done!”  Then I grabbed my comics and leaped out into the night…up, up and away……Heh.
 
Have a great weekend, my friend. I’ll be spending mine shooting the DVD version of my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM
 http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html   Til next time, 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, like many other people, I’m sure,  I periodically tuned in to the Olympics on NBC. The other night, I watched as Mariel Zagunis beat a much taller, larger woman, in the sabre fencing competition, with lightning quick stabs. Not quite like the flamboyant displays of Errol Flynn, or more recently, Antonio Bandaras as Zorro, but effective, nonetheless. 

She then went on to beat her own team mate, Sada Jacobsson (ranked world number one) 15-8 in the finals competition to win the gold medal, the first US gold in Beijing. In fact, the USA swept the women’s individual sabre competition.
 
Now, fencing isn’t usually a sport that holds my interest. It just happened to be on the TV when I tuned in. But I was captivated by the jittery, lightning quick moves displayed by the combatants. It certainly was different from what we’ve come to think of as fencing. And I was particularly struck by the role of the knees in executing these lunges.
 
I could easily imagine how strong their legs must be to hold that en guarde position and then rapidly uncoil to lunge forward in the thrust past the opponent’s sword. It all depends on their knees. 

Now imagine how different the results would have been if Mariel Zagunis, or any of the other competitors, had serious knee pain. No contest. They simply couldn’t do it.  Any attempt to lunge forward in that case would cause a quick, stabbing pain in the front of the knee and abort any attack. And of course, if it were real sabres in a real duel, that would result in death.
 
Well, the reason these world class competitors are able to execute these lunges is because the years of exercise have strengthened their knees and stabilized their kneecaps, so they don’t develop chondromalacia patellae, or degenerative disease, which cause the anterior compartment pain in the knee. You can learn more about the various disease that can cause you pain at
http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
Same thing in Women’s soccer, which I watched the next day. The continual conditioning of these athletes is what helps to protect them from injury. Now, soccer, which requires running, sudden changes of direction and rotational movements, like pivoting and twisting, often with all the body weight on one foot, is a sport that subjects it practitioners to a much higher risk of injury than fencing, which involves chiefly linear movements. Like professional American football, soccer players often get torn menisci and ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments(ACL) from these torsional forces.
 
While you can’t play these aggressive competitive sports and not expect that you might be injured, you can minimize the risk by strengthening all the muscles around the knee, especially the VMO. Quarter squats, terminal extensions with resistance, Hindu squats, all are excellent exercises for creating a margin of safety for the athlete. And the same exercises are fundamental in treating knee pain for the long term.
 
After an injury, the initial treatment is aimed at reducing the resultant tissue inflammation. But after the initial swelling, fluid build-up and redness of inflammation have receded, it’s important to rehabilitate the knee with a variety of exercises to enhance stability, ensure central patella tracking and increase strength.
 
These and other specially modified knee exercises, which are designed to prevent or eliminate knee pain, are the core of my popular PAIN-FREE PROGRAM. See it at http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
Choose your own selection from the recommended exercises. Do these exercises at least three times a week, and they will relieve your pain and literally transform your life. Try it and see for yourself.
 
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

As any reader or fan of the popular Harry Potter series knows, the Cruciatus Curse is one of the four “unforgivable curses” of the Dark Arts, used by followers of the Dark Lord, Voldemort, to inflict indescribable agony on the subject. You just point your wand at the target and say “Crucio,”  to magically torture your victim. Of course, if you’re not a fan of J.K. Rowling, or haven’t read her novels about the adventures of the young wizard in training, and all his friends, then you have no idea what I’m raving about.
 
The point is that “The Cruciatus Curse” has an analog in the real world, in the Ruptured Anterior Cruciate Ligament. This injury is very common in the twisting, cutting and sudden hyperextension movements the knee is subject to in a number of sports. And when it is acute, it can be an agonizing injury. Usually, the key sign is a sudden, excruciating swelling of rapid onset, after an injury, and the player is NOT able to return to play, or even bear weight on the affected knee. 

In the normal knee, the ACL prevents excessive forward motion (translation) of the tibia, relative to the femur. It also stabilizes the knee joint in rotation and pivotal motions. It’s indispensable for stability in most running sports. In its absence, the knee is unstable in these activities and untreated, the knee will develop rapid degenerative changes. It’s an injury that is often associated with a torn meniscus, and sometimes with injury to the medial (inner side) collateral ligament, as well.
 
This injury was brought to the fore (you should pardon the pun) by Tiger Woods’ recent knee surgery and the endless speculation about whether or not he can make a full recovery and return to be the force on the professional golf circuit, that he was prior to his injury. Now, in his case, the cruciate rupture was a chronic injury (over 11 months old) and the acute pain he experienced during the Open was due to a double stress fracture in his tibia (shin bone). Just think about that for a minute–the guy WON the U.S. Open, with constant pain from a double fracture, as well as the instability from a chronic ACL rupture. Amazing.
 
Anyway, he underwent an ACL reconstruction by Dr. Thomas Rosenberg and his team in Utah. And he is likely deep into prescribed rehabilitation by this time. As I mentioned a while ago, I sent Tiger a copy of my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM exercises http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise _eliminate.html )   for him to use, after his course of postoperative rehab is complete. It’s great advantage is that these exercises are clinically proven to WORK, based as they are on my nearly quarter century of clinical practice. And I used these exercises myself, after my own knee surgery.
 
Now, not all ACL ruptures require reconstructive surgery. If you’re NOT a competitive athlete and you have NO instability during normal daily activities, you may get by without surgery. That doesn’t mean without treatment, though. But if you would like to try a non-operative appproach, see what measures are available to you in my newest program, HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY, at
 http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html   also available as a full length audio CD.

As if that wasn’t enough, today is the start of my 4th of JULY HALF PRICE SALE! For one week only, ending at MIDNIGHT, on Monday, July 6th, my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM,  and best of all, THE ADVANCED MASTERS’ PROGRAM,  ARE HALF PRICED!!!   http://drbillsclinic.com/half_off.html
 
So, if you’ve been waiting for the price to come down to get one of these outstanding, life-changing, pain-relieving programs, now’s your chance. But it won’t last forever, and supplies are limited, so if you want one of these, ORDER NOW! http://drbillsclinic.com/half_off.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