January 8, 2010

As luck would have it, everything seems to break down, or go wrong, all at the same time. Ever notice that? We’ve just finished the stress of the Holidays, gotten past the loss of our oldest cat, Misty, had and dealt with my recovery from recent surgery and… wouldn’t you know it? The toilet breaks down and was running and running and running….and it’s only a week into the New Year.
 
Now these are old toilets, original equipment in this house, which makes them about 19 years old. So even the old bolts are rusted. Because they’re located in guest rooms, on the second floor, they don’t get much use. 
 
We only found out there was a problem when my wife decided to sleep up there, so as not to inadvertantly injure me during sleep, in my postop recovery (belly’s still pretty sore, but getting better, daily). Naturally, with me physically out of action and my wife lacking the physical strength to turn a rusted bolt, or even turn off the water, we had a problem.
 
So, we called our plumber. Normally, he would come right over. But, as we were in the midst of a true “when it rains, it pours” episode, he was tied up installing a massive water heater for a hotel, in which 4,000 people had no hot water. Figures, right?
 
So, he sent over an assistant today. Nice guy. John’s his name. He’s only 28, next month. And he’s making his living as a plumber. We took him up and showed him the problematic toilet.
 
He knelt on the marble floor, while he opened the commode and saw what was what. Turns out that, given the age of the old unit, it would be smarter to simply replace the old appliance with a new one. Figures, right? 
 
He turned off the water, so at least we weren’t still wasting it, by letting it endlessly run. But because he was a young guy and a nice guy, I decided to give him some free advice, that will make a big difference to his future comfort.
 
You see, a plumber, like a bricklayer, roofer, rug layer, or any trade that must kneel on unyielding surfaces to do their work, all have the same problem. They MUST assume that position, but it eventually causes severe knee pain. That’s the plumber’s dilemma. Here’s the solution:
 
Never, NEVER kneel on a hard floor, especially marble, concrete, brick, porcelain tile, or even wood, without a knee pad, of some kind. Here’s why.
 
The knee joint is designed to bear weight from top to bottom, NOT front to back. In other words, the kneecap (patella) is not designed to directly bear the stresses of weight bearing. This has consequences for the protective cartilage coating behind the kneecap, over time.
 
These abnormal forces may lead to degenerative softening of that cartilage coating, leading to knee pain due to chondromalacia patellae. I describe this and what to do about it in great detail in my LITTLE GREEN BOOK FOR ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, which you can get here:  http://www.drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html   and the specific, startegic exercises, that can relieve that knee pain over the long term, are outlined, step by step, in my newly re-written, greatly expanded PAIN-FREE PROGRAM & DVD, which was designed as the perfect companion to the Little Green Book.
 
http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html 
 
In the short term, knee pads are the way to go. The problem is that for some, like this guy, John, the straps of knee pads pinch and bind the backs of their knees, thereby discouraging their use.
 
So, instead, he should use a small pad upon which he can kneel, either cloth, a section of carpet, or a gel pad. In any case, the object is to spread out the body weight over a larger area. This effectively reduces the unit stress on the relatively small kneecaps, same principle as snowshoes, reducing pain and preventing compression damage to the retropatellar cartilage.
 
Simple. Easy. Cheap. And, most important, effective. And likely to keep this young man from developing knee pain and arthritis in the years to come. Keep this in mind, whenever you have a similar home care project, that requires kneeling. 
 
And be sure to take my POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA,   http://www.favoriteformulas.com   an ultra pure, enteric coated, pharmaceutical grade fish oil, with maximal omega-3 fatty acids and potent, proven anti-inflammatory properties, that reduce joint pain, back pain and have numerous heart, brain and blood vessel benefits. I take it, twice a day, every day (at least when I’m not pre-or post-surgery). You should, too.
 
Well, that’s my tip o’ the day, my friend. Have a great weekend and be well. Talk to you again real soon.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow and your optimal health,
 
DR. BILL
 
“The Wellness Warrior” TM 
 
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 conventional and alternative treatments and exercises to relieve knee pain without surgery click on http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html 
 
P.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, 2010 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD, FACS
All rights reserved

My wife and I have recently decided to resurface our pool in Florida. The old Marcasite coating was worn away in over 20 spots, so it was long past due. It’s just one of those things that you tend not to think about, until it’s almost too late to fix.
 
So first, they have to empty the pool. Fortunately, they have a strong professional pump that sucks the water out fast! Then, they sent over one single tile guy, to remove all of the old tile just above the water line. He got most of it off yesterday, and the remainder, today. Then, he laid down a scratch coat over the bottom and sides, in preparation for
the finished DiamondBrite coating that we chose. 

While he was out there, laying a level line for the new tile, I went out to offer him a drink. I noticed that he was wearing knee pads. So, I casually asked him a question.
 
“Say, I notice that you’re wearing rubber kneepads. Do you have a problem, or are you trying to prevent one?”
 
“No. Nothing wrong with me, right now,” he said. “But I’ve seen a lotta older guys who have sore knees, or arthritis now, ’cause they didn’t use them, back when. I don’t wanna be like them.”
 
Hallelujah! I felt like Diogenes who had finally found an an honest man. Only I had found an intelligent young man–usually an oxymoronic phrase. In fact, in all the years of my orthopaedic practice I had never run across anyone who “got it,” the way this young man did. Usually, the very worst offenders were the ones who were the most at risk: bricklayers and masons, pavers, tilemen, flooring men, plumbers, electricans, and my personal favorite, carpet layers.
 
Did you ever see what these guys actually do when they lay a carpet? First, they kneel on a hard wooden subfloor and nail down wooden tack strips around the periphery of the room. These strips have angled sharp tack points to catch the carpet from below. Then, after attaching the carpet to one side of the room, they stretch the expanse of carpet to the other side,
by using a “kicker.” This device is a long, toothed metal “comb” of sorts, with a leather pad at the other end, into which the worker repeatedly BASHES his knee, to progressively tighten the carpet across the room. Not surprisingly, these guys often showed up with severe kneecap problems, but were highly resistant to suggestions that they use knee pads.
 
Now, direct trauma to the kneecap, that’s a part of all these listed jobs, is a great way to develop chondromalacia patellae and eventual arthritis. You can read more about these conditions, and how to avoid them, in my LITTLE GREEN BOOK FOR ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN. To get your own copy, Go to   http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
But the simple use of rubber kneepads is a great way to avoid these consequences. 
 
This young man intuitively understands that; most young men just don’t. They feel immortal and invincible. When they finally begin to develop pain, the damage is done. From that point onward, they can improve, but they can’t ever be normal again.
 
So this one simple thing will have a profound impact on this guy’s life. He won’t develop the pain and degenerative disease that other workers will. Just by the application of a little intelligence–that’s the BEST way to avoid surgery. Good for him.
 
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