Well, Christmas is just a week from tonight.  Unbelievable. I’ve expounded before about the Stillwell Theory of Seasonal Relativity. 
 
In brief, for the uninitiated, this theory states that time progressively accelerates, relative to an observer’s proximity to the Christmas Holidays.  In other words, time subjectively seems to speed up from around April, through the rest of the year, hitting a peak from August through December. 
 
I mean, once you reach Halloween, you blink, and it’s Thanksgiving. Blink again, it’s Christmas, then New year’s Eve. 
 
Then suddenly, on January first of the New Year, it’s like the brakes were thrown on–time is suddenly slowed to a crawl, not to speed up again until late Spring and Summer. Just look at how long it takes to arrive at Valentine’s Day. Seems like it takes forever.
 
And of course, the older you get, the faster and faster it all seems to go. Well, it seems that way to me, anyway. But math was always my worst subject…. 
 
There really is a scientific explanation for this subjective phenomenon, though. The older you get, the smaller the fraction of your entire life experience is each new experience. That’s why the two month summer vacation you enjoyed as a kid seemed to stretch forever, but it flashes by as an adult. Two months is a whole lot bigger fraction of the whole when you’re only ten years old, than when you’re fifty.
 
But now that we’re in the week before Christmas, it’s all going at warp speed. And it doesn’t help that I’m spending a lot of time running up and down the East Coast, to prepare the Northern Command and transport our cats. I STILL have to get all that last minute shopping done, even though I DID start during the summer.
 
With all the extra stresses of the Holiday Season, many people have emailed me with their complaints of sore backs and aching knees. Not surprising, though, is it? Everyone is running around, on their feet longer, shopping, going to office parties, shopping, and more shopping, despite the economy. 
 
And the physical stress is compounded by the extra mental and emotional stress, which transforms into biological stress. This kind of stress makes any inflammation in the body worse and reduces the body’s immune system, as well.
 
So, what to do? Well, even though it’s very tough this time of year, you have to keep up with your exercises.  If you have knee pain, my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM (click here:  http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html )  is ideal for this, because it provides a MENU of proven, effective exercises, from which you can choose.
 
But when time is of the essence, I’d recommend that you concentrate on HACK SQUATS, with the heaviest weight you can handle, to meet the criteria that I outline, and the specially modified HINDU SQUATS I describe at  http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
You can also do simple isometric QUAD SETS, while standing in line at stores, or at every red light, if driving. If you’re at a train station, lean against the columns and do WALL SITTING–effective, but inconspicuous in public.
 
And to boost your immune system and increase your strength and stability, try the life-enhancing topical cream that increases your own endogenous growth hormone,  safely and within physiological limits, like I do:   http://drbillsclinic.com/trans_d_tropin.html 
 
If you try to do these few things, every day, despite being in the very midst of the Christmas Countdown, you will feel better, be less likely to get colds  and flu, and will relieve your knee pain. Try these methods and see what I mean.
 
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 day after Thanksgiving, often called “Black Friday,” because it is the first time all year that merchants make enough so that they are finally “in the black” (as opposed to being in debt, or ”in the red”). This is supposed to be THE biggest shopping day of the year and, of course, the start of the Christmas Season.
 
I just heard on the radio, this very morning, that one 34 year old guy was KILLED at a Wal-mart here on Greenacres Road in Long Island, when crazed shoppers stampeded through the doors (which they actually BENT) at opening, knocked the poor man onto the floor and trampled him. No joke. He was pronunced DOA at the local ER. Helluva way to start the Holidays.
 
How could this happen? Simple. People are nuts.
 
And, though I don’t KNOW this, I’ll bet that he had weak or trick knees that buckled under him, when hit with a surge of unexpected force. Poor guy was an employee of Wal-mart and couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. A pregnant woman was knocked down too, but she (and her unborn baby) are reportedly OK. I thought we were in a deep recession. Just imagine what would’ve happened had we had a record year in the GNP….
 
You know, one of the things I would tell my patients about their knee pain, during my years in practice, is that it is often not realized just how dangerous a condition it could be. Now, a torn meniscus, or an unstable knee from a chronic ACL deficiency, or a painful kneecap, from quadriceps weakness or patella maltracking, won’t kill you directly. They’re not considered life-threatening injuries or disabilities–that’s why many people put off getting active treatment. They’re not sick; they’re “broken.”  Not as high a priority, as other things going on in their lives.
 
BUT…
 
Now imagine that their knees suddenly give way at the head of a tall flight of stairs; or unexpectedly buckle on the train platform, just as the express flashes by; or crumple beneath them on a curb, causing them to fall forward into the street, right in front of speeding traffic. All of a sudden, these “benign” lesions, that all result in a sudden fall, literally become life-threatening problems.
 
And the worst thing is, that this type of knee instability may or may not be accompanied by pain. In general, people are a whole lot more likely to address something that causes them pain. This is why acute pain is said to be a survival mechanism–it tends to demand attention.
 
But when instability is intermittent, people tend to disregard the warning. They don’t realize the danger. So they put off treatment, sometimes until it’s too late.
 
The Hospital Administrator came to see me for knee pain and giving way, only a few months after I arrived in Smithtown. He snuck in late at night, so no one would see him coming to see the “new kid,” instead of one of the old “warhorses” on his hospital staff. After examining him, I determined that his only problem was weakness of his quadriceps. He could not resist me, when I pushed down on his straightened leg with my  hands. Now, THAT’S abnormal.

The thigh muscles should be stronger than my hands, stronger than ANY hands. If they’re not, then the knee is “hanging in the breeze,” with no dynamic stability. This leads to patella maltracking, which may lead to pain, and knee instability, as that joint cannot maintain a stable stance, if suddenly attacked by an abnormal force, because of muscular weakness.
 
These symptoms have led many to have knee surgery, when it really wasn’t necessary. Once you have knee pain, of course, you DO need to treat the inflammation, the pain and then, the muscular weakness. Measures for eliminating pain and inflammation are detailed in my newest program, HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN. See it here at http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html 
 
Once the pain has been controlled, restoring function becomes the priority. That means exercise, especially exercise to strengthen the quadiceps, such as specially modified Hindu Squats, or my personal favorite, Hack Squats, which are among the best to improve knee pain and are just part of my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM. See it here at http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
BTW, if you get the AVOID KNEE SURGERY program, you DON’T need the PAIN-FREE PROGRAM, as many (but not all) of the exercises are included in that. But you might want to get the LITTLE GREEN BOOK instead,  http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html  to learn about your symptoms and signs, so you know what’s wrong with you.
 
And of course, keeping your weight down will help, as well. After all, if you lose a pound, that’s almost the same as having your muscles grow in strength enough to support, or lift one more pound (It’s a little more complicated than that, but you get the idea).
 
What’s that?  You say you ate too much last night,  ’cause it was Thanksgiving?  Fear not.  I understand.  And as a compassionate orthopaedic authority, who happens to love food as much as you do,  I absolve you all.  Now go and sin no more….:)
 
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