December 9, 2009

Eary yesterday, while I was reading my email, I came across an article from News 8 Austin with the provocative title: “Doctors Eliminate Arthritis Without Surgery.” Wow. Who knew? That would be news to me and I should know. So, I clicked on the link and read the article.
 
Talk about your misleading headlines!
 
It was actually a pretty good, if superficial, review of what is known about arthritis: that the most common form is osteoarthritis, it affects more women than men, the hip and knee are the most commonly affected joints, it is made worse by increased body weight (ie., obesity) and in its advanced form, it can result in joint replacement surgery.
 
But as for eliminating arthritis, without surgery? Uhh…No.
 
They also reported that researchers at Tufts University (my old stomping grounds in Boston, where I did my fellowship in joint reconstruction, at the New England Baptist Hospital) had found that older people (above age 65) did better with Tai Chi. They described Tai Chi as a series of slow, rhythmic Chinese exercises. They also found similar benefits with walking, swimming, bike riding and other, comparable low impact exercises.
 
All this is very nice, but it’s old news. Nothing new in the whole thing. 
 
It’s been known for many years that low impact exercise is the thing to do with arthritis. The shock of impact with running, for example, will not cause arthritis. But if there is any pre-existing degenerative change in the cartilage surfaces of the joint (and who of us at, in, or past middle age doesn’t have some form of degeneration in our joints?), the impact will ACCELERATE the arthritis. This is the source of joint pain that seems to come suddenly, “out of the blue.”
 
I’ve been saying for years that low impact exercise is the way to maintain your joint motion, while improving your heart and lung reserves and lowering your blood pressure and blood lipids, like cholesterol and triglycerides. Stretching also helps to improve and maintain your joint motion, an important element in preserving joint function.
 
But, in addition, resistance exercises are needed to increase the mass and tone of the muscles around the joint. Why? Well, stronger muscles help to share the load of body weight borne by the joint surfaces. In addition, they provide increased dynamic joint stability and in the knee, alter the functional dynamics of the kneecap (the source of over 50% of all knee pain, in my experience).
 
These are the same principles I teach in my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM, which you can get here:
 http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
But if you truly want to eliminate the SYMPTOMS of arthritis (not the same thing as eliminating the disease itself, which we cannot do, at present), then you need to add other conservative measures to the exercises. 
 
There are many conventional and alternative treatments which reduce the pain of arthritic inflammation, slow the progress of the disease and help to preserve the cartilage which remains. All of these elements together may prevent, or at least delay, the need for joint replacement surgery.
 
Remember, I spent nearly a quarter century DOING such joint replacement surgeries (total hips, total knees and revisions) and arthroscopies. Who better than a surgeon to teach you how to avoid surgery?
 
That’s the idea behind my newest healing program, HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY, which you can get here:
 http://www.drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
 
One such simple example is the use of fish oil, which contains omega-3 fatty acids, that have natural anti-inflammatory properties, in addition to its known and proven heart and brain healthy effects. My POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA, an ultra pure, highly concentrated, pharmaceutical grade fish oil   http://www.favoriteformulas.com 
 
has even addressed the problem of the fishy aftertaste, or the dreaded “fish burps” by the use of a special enteric coating, which virtually eliminates this problem. That’s why I take it myself, twice a day, every day.
 
So while that headline was misleading, or at least premature in its optimism, there are a LOT of things than CAN be done. You can reduce pain and inflammation, slow or stop the progress of joint destruction, and preserve your function, so you can continue doing what you want to do for many years to come. And, in most cases, you can do it without surgery. Get one of my life changing products 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 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