December 17, 2009

Recently, I was part of a marketing seminar, where I go periodically, to learn to present my information and products to the widest possible audience. As part of that training, we all participate in an early exercise session. I mean EARLY, as in 5:30 AM. 
 
The instructor put us through a series of gentle exercises, which are designed to generate internal power and flexibility. Then, we moved to a series of stretches, designed to promote greater range of joint motion and flexibility.
 
Oh my…I realized as I struggled to straighten my knee, while holding my foot, that my strength is still pretty good, but my flexibility needs some work.
 
And I’m not alone.
 
You know, in Nature, anything you don’t use on a regular basis, is lost. This is always true, but you see it on an accelerated basis after surgery.
 
I saw this phenomenon many times in my patients, after surgeries that I had done to replace their arthritic joints. I noticed that it was easier to regain motion, after a hip replacement, than it was after a knee replacement. Same thing, if I had done an extensive open knee surgery, to realign the kneecap, or reconstruct ruptured ligaments.
 
Why is that? Well, if you think about it, you eventually HAVE to go to the bathroom, and sit on a toilet, to answer Nature’s call, man or woman. This is even truer for women, who sit to urinate, as well. And every time you sit, you’re stretching your hip joint into flexion.
 
But you can sit without deeply flexing your knees, especially if the surgery only involved one knee. So, it’s not uncommon for patients with a relatively low pain threshhold (those who are more sensitive to pain) to resist bending the operative knee. In a very short time, adhesions form, which subsequently tighten and make motion even more restricted and painful.
 
Then, there’s the opposite problem–knee extension, or stretching straight out. This results in the inability to full straighten the knee joint, what we call a fixed flexion contracture, or deformity. This is even worse than lacking full flexion. Why?
 
Well, you can walk with a fully straight, but stiff knee. But a knee fixed in flexion functions shorter and lacks the strength and stability of a fully extended knee.
 
Here’s a very simple, but very effective way to achieve full extension. You simply have to sit on the floor, or some other firm surface, with a pillow under your heel. Then press down on your thigh, above the knee. You’ll feel the tightness in the back of the joint. Deep breathing, with consistent pressure, will gradually stretch out the capsule of the knee and all the hamstring tendons, until it is fully straight.
 
Naturally, there are many other, more sophisticated stretches that you can do, to achieve this end. For that matter, there are a number of gentle, but effective stretches for knee flexion, as well. I teach them all in detail in my new, completely revamped and expanded PAIN-FREE PROGRAM, which you can order here:  http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
Stretching is as important as strengthening for relieving knee pain, realigning the kneecap, and restoring full function. I can see I have to start doing more stretching myself, if I want to keep up with the youngsters in the group.
 
One way to help is to increase my intake of omega 3 fatty acids, like those in my POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA http://www.favoriteformulas.com   The natural anti-inflammatory properties of this ultra pure, enteric coated, pharmaceutical grade fish oil are proven to reduce or eliminate joint pain of arthritis, or other inflammatory conditions, in addition to a long list of proven heart and brain healthy benefits, including reduced risk of heart attacks and strokes, cardiac arrhythmias, blood pressure, some cancers, and platelet adhesiveness, resulting in a lower risk of clots. It’s the best, simplest thing you can do for your health.
 
The combination of fish oil and the stretching and strengthening exercises I teach is a good way to resolve that nagging knee pain, once and for all. Try it yourself and see. 
 
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 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, 2009 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD, FACS
All rights reserved

 I’m back in Southampton, having flown in yesterday. So this past morning, we drove to the airport to pick up my father-in-law and his wife. We thought it might be nice to gather at the new house for Thanksgiving and to see in the new Christmas Season. 
 
And to be honest, there’s something bizarre about having Thanksgiving and the Christmas Holidays in 70-80 degree temperatures in Florida, when you’ve grown up associating them with the cooler weather of Fall in the Temperate Zone. You know, the whole “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” thing rings truer when “Jack Frost is nipping at your nose.” When it’s perrenial summer, not so much.

So, to prepare for the Season, my wife got us tickets to Winter Wonderland in New York for later this afternoon. True, the Rockerfeller Center Christmas Tree won’t be lit yet; the official Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony won’t be for a couple of weeks– I think it’s December 4th. But all the other Lights and Christmas Decorations will be up and well worth seeing. 
 
So, I was prepared for cooler weather and looking forward to it. But last night, my wife and I went out shopping, and man, it was COLD! Late last night, it was down into the twenties. I guess I’ve been in Florida too long. I was looking forward to the cooler weather but here I am, freezing in Southampton!
 
Well, hopefully, it will warm up a little later. Brrrrrrrrrrr! This part of New York I didn’t miss.
 
Funny thing about cold weather is that, like damp weather, it can make your joints ache when you have any degenerative joint disease. Among the things that can make you feel better and provide a little relief are supplements and joint wraps.
 
I’ve mentioned before that if you improve the balance of Omega 3 Fatty Acids in your diet, by avoiding red meat, saturated fats and other sources of Omega 6 Fatty Acids and then taking fish oil and other sources of Omega 3′s, you can reduce inflammation and therefore, relieve joint pain.
 
You can also keep your joints warm, too. Ways to do this range from simple elastic or neoprene knee sleeves, to far infrared capturing KENKO wraps and magnetic knee wraps that generate  internal heat within the joint tissues (both are available from your nearest NIKKEN distributor). 

These and a number of other methods for relieving knee pain are described in greater detail in my newest healing program, HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY. See it at http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html 
 
In addition, I list a number of other methods, from across the entire health care spectrum, to relieve knee pain and restore knee function–conventional, alternative and complimentary. And I include a Baker’s dozen of the most effective exercises to prevent and eliminate knee pain, for long term relief. See them at   http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
 
Gotta go! Til next time, my friend, be well. And stay warm….
 
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

Today is September 11, 2008, now seven years and counting since that terrible day in 2001. Say whatever you like about Bush’s policies, at least we’re here to complain. At least he protected us from an attack on our home soil again–and they WERE trying, with all the help they got from some in Congress and the Media.
 
I have a good friend who was once highly placed in the FBI and who now owns his own nationwide security firm. He still maintains his contacts in the highest echelons of the law enforcement and intelligence communities, and is on a first name basis with the Director of the FBI. He knows Kerrick and Bratton used to work for him. 
 
So what this guy tells me, I believe, because unlike most of the media and political pundits, who assume they know something, or just pull stuff out of their asses, through prism of their particular ideology, this guy really KNOWS. And what he told me is that the public has NO IDEA how close to disaster we have been, several times. These maniacs have been trying to kill us. But thanks to good luck, good intelligence and good police work, against all odds and the American Left, as well as the screw-ups of the Administration, they’ve still managed to keep us all safe.
 
Say what you will, that’s a singular accomplishment, perhaps the most important accomplishment. Every year at this time and again, when the Ball drops in Times Square on New Eve, I always wonder, “Will THIS be the time they get us?” 
 
During the Ground Zero Ceremonies every year, I always think back to that time and remember exactly what I was doing when the Islamofascist fanatics brought down the Twin Towers and brought the “War on Terror” to our home soil.
 
I was in the OR, with my good friend and Assistant, Izhar (ironically, a very devout Muslim and a man I respect for his devotion, who has taught me everything I know about Islam) and Bruce, also a good friend and my Surgical Technician. We were doing a revision surgery on a patient of mine, on whom I had previously done a Total Hip Replacement, years before. She had done well, until she fell and fractured the cement mantle around her femoral stem, causing it to loosen and become very painful. We were there to remove the old stem, excise the fractured cement and replace it with a new, bigger cementless stem. And change the plastic liner of her socket, too, as long as we were there.
 
We had just started the case and we were down to the implants, just beginning to remove the stem from the femur, and chatting about everything other than the surgery, as we usually did, when an announcement came over the radio. I was well known for playing music on the radio, or on CD’s, during surgery.  I hated the quiet OR the constant beeping of the EKG monitor, like you see on TV. My OR always resembled a MASH unit a bit more: Lots of laughs, and often surprisingly deep discussions on a host of topics, while we did truly outstanding precision work. What can I say? That’s how I worked best.  And my team was the best.
 
Anyway, there we were, when the announcement came over the radio that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center. I heard it peripherally and I remember commenting that it was probably some drunken fool in a Piper Cub in restricted air space. Then, the radio guy said it was a 767. “Wait a minute,”  I thought, “that’s a JET! That can’t be right.” 
 
Then, they said a SECOND plane had hit the other Tower. “What?! What the hell is going on?” I said.  Meanwhile, we kept doing the surgery. I mean, it wasn’t like we could stop, you know? Finally, they announced that a plane had blown up the Pentagon and United Flight93 was still in air.  ”My God,” I said to Izhar, “We’re at WAR!” because I couldn’t fathom what else would explain these bizarre sequential events. And, in a way, I was right. 
 
With that, one of the male nurses ran into the OR and said “You’ve gotta see this!” and proceeded to tell us of the images of the first Tower collapsing into a mountain of rubble, burying and burning our countrymen, and our sense of national invulnerability, forever. Of course, we were in surgery. The last place I wanted to be was there and my mind was totally disengaged from the procedure. Luckily, my hands knew what to do from long years of practice….
 
Finally, it ended and the patient went into the Recovery Room. I got my first look at the TV and the events that had transpired barely 50 miles away, while we were in the OR. The image that burned into my memory, the one I will NEVER forget, was the haunted look in the faces of the people, that we could see in the long windows of the doomed Tower, above the burning floors, deciding how they would die. That and those who chose to jump, rather than burn…. The horror of that, the pathos of that, and the rage for vengeance it kindled in my soul, I will NEVER forget. I was enraged, but helpless. I wanted to strike back, but was powerless to do so, like everyone else. I still remember. I always will.
 
And as for that hateful perversion of a major religion that celebrates the slaughter of innocents, I stand with Thomas Jefferson: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
 
Today, if you are so inclined, to kneel and remember the fallen, but have pain with kneeling, try this: in a place of worship, lean back on the seat, with your upper shins against the kneeler. If there is no kneeler, then put a small pillow, or article of clothing below your knees, so pressure on the kneecaps is relieved. For other practical tips on relieving knee pain, see LITTLE GREEN BOOK FOR ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN at    http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.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