Readers have sent in their success stories on understanding how some of the most common musculoskeletal pain occurs so that they can keep it from coming back.
Here are just four letters of success:
1. From Monica in Montana last November:
"Hi Dr. Bookpan, "I've been reading your articles again. It seems reminders were in need. My back seems well (thanks to you!) but when I started having pain on both sides of my hips, I realized I was returning to walking with duck feet to a certain extent - an old habit. It's just enough to cause me problems. I'm working at watching this very much and it is better.
"I thought I was using all of the good bending to pick things up rather than using my back. When (my) knees gave me some issues, I came back to re-read your knee article too. I'm found that I was so tight that I can't get my heels to stay on the floor when I bend, so I wasn't doing good bending. I am getting a plan together of your stretching and strengthening exercises. I'll probably end up with all of your books, with not only now in mind : ). Your information makes me up lifted when it comes to aging, not that I'm old, 43. I spent so much of my youth in pain, so now I try hard to take care of myself in healthy ways and stay out of pain. "Thank You! Monica "
I wrote back with things to do and Monica replied:
"Dear Dr. Bookspan, "Thank you for the reply. "I received your book. I've been taking it in and implementing the methods. I can say it's only been a couple of days and my hip is improving. With this experience of really helping myself I knew I would no longer rely on other people solely for help and thank you for making available tools to very common obviously misunderstood health issues. What you are doing is making a difference. Please do not concern yourself with a reply. I know you will read this and that is good enough for me. Warmest Regards, Monica (Montana)
In April, Monica sent this follow-up:
"I hope you are doing well! With your help I have lost 8 1/2 pounds! For years I've wanted to lose at least 10 minimum. I'm almost there and it's been so easy I have a feeling all that can go, will go. I use to be heavily into bodybuilding. It set up a mentality about getting enough protein. As I grew older and did not work out like I use to I still kept up the protein. Due to reading your book Health & Fitness in Plain English, it put my fears of dwindling muscle due to not enough protein to rest and put them in reality.
The consumption of grains and protein took a dramatic decrease. I have a lot of energy and my body is getting leaner and leaner. Life is so much easier. My back is still doing great. When I hurt my back I looked at all the things that may have contributed to the injury. I am humbly grateful for being able to see (all this)…I am better. I am sleeping again. "
2. Laraine first wrote that her same pain had returned. I replied and asked her to check if she had gone back to the same habits that caused the first pain, and gave her ways to check.
Laraine replied: "Good Morning Dr. Bookspan: "I e-mailed you several times regarding the extrusion in my lower spine (L1 S1) & you were kind enough to respond to each & every e-mail. I know you are busy & you still took the time to answer. I am practicing the body mechanics daily & doing the exercises & I am improving - thank you so much again for your support....
"You replied back asking if I was not just doing the exercises but using them to live and move correctly. Sometimes I didn't. I try to do them exactly the way the book has instructed --- and as you said not to do them as a regiment but incorporate them in daily life.
"I wanted to let you know that I did do the wall test at home yesterday & I noticed that my shoulders were slouching. I guess for the past couple of weeks after I was making progress I went back into the habit of bending forward a little with my shoulders & didn't realize it. Yesterday, you mentioned to check your posture with the wall after the three extension exercises, I concentrated on neutral spine & noticed the pain subsided & I was much better.
"Thank you again for the reinforcement - sometimes after using poor body mechanics for so long, it takes time to change that - we simply find it easy to go back to the old habits of poor posture without realizing & can get discouraged thinking we are not going to get better. I really believe in your book & if I keep doing things the correct way & maintain that, I will eventually heal.
"As I said in my previous e-mails last month, this is the most logical & sensible way to maintain a healthy back. I know it will take time - but as long as I make progress, I will be patient. I guess I lost my moral yesterday & thought I was going backwards. Keep up the good work - you are wonderful... You are an inspiration to all that have pain. Also, thank you for your persistence in making sure that I am doing the stretches & exercise correctly...."
"This back injury had sure been challenging for me. Now I'm better. I'm glad that I found your website." Laraine P"
3. Our own Inspirational Ivy from New Zealand made gains:
"It is now four years since I discovered your website. With your help and advice I was able to overcome debilitating sciatica in my right leg plus foot drop. Since then I have carried on using your methods to keep free of pain.
"In the early hours of Friday morning, I awoke to excruciating sciatic pain down my left leg. I asked myself as to why this has happened, telling myself that I had not been doing any bad bending or similar. OR so I thought. Yes, these past few days I have been rushing here and rushing there which has resulted in me being lax about my movements, in particular, standing at he bench while cooking etc. I always put my spine into the neutral position. Always!!!!!!! I am asking myself. It would appear - not so.
"Yesterday and today, I have stopped rushing about and telling myself every time I move "Think Ivy, think before you do anything." I seem to remember using those very same words four years ago."
I wrote back, to Ivy that I hoped it took more than "a little rushing" to cause such pain. It may sound odd, but I hope it took a lot of bad bending and standing. No one should have so little margin - you need the strength for leeway for unexpected events and still not cause pain. No one should need to live "on eggshells" or reduce activities to prevent pain.
Ivy replied:
"Thank you for you kind words. I have now fully recovered thanks to your help and advice. I could not understand as to why I was not recovering as I THOUGHT I was doing everything correctly. I referred to your book "Fix Your Own Pain Without Drugs or Surgery" and the penny dropped - because I was experiencing pain, I was leaning forward as I walked. Once I rectified my posture, the pain went immediately. Silly me, I was aware of the pain but not of my posture.
"Yesterday, I was watching one of the residents here watering her garden. She is experiencing a severe attack of sciatica. I noted that she not only bent to the side she was also leaning forward. Her back was arched so her butt stuck out. I made a few suggestions in the nicest possible way and this was her reply. Mind you, you have probably heard this one before "It sounds like too much work to me." Needless to say, I walked away.)
"I am now free of pain thanks to your wonderful advice. Thank you Dr Jolie, what would I do without you. "Love and hugs Ivy"
Ivy wrote with several follow-ups that all continued fine. She went on to use good bending after her cataract surgery where bending over is harmful to the recovering surgical site (as well as the back).
4. A special e-mail came in from JayaKrishna (Kris):
"Dear Dr. Jolee ( I am the Indian guy from Jersey who attended one of your seminars in person).
"It has been almost 5 years since I first read your article in the December of 2004.
"After 5 pain free years, it is was only last week when I suddenly felt my lower back tightening up again for the first time. Almost predictably I started feeling severe shoulder pain. But this time I was fully prepared. I went back to the basics. Whom else to seek for help other than St.Jude of the Joints. I pulled all the articles written by you and read them one by one. Thanks to your principles, I then did some deep soul searching and found out that cause was violating of the golden principles outlined by you due to the pressure of work or the strange feeling of invincibility that comes from enjoying good health.
"It is very strange that when we recover and start enjoying life again, we sometime forget and start thinking ourselves to be invincible. Bad habits creep in again.
"As an atonement for my violations I ordered two more books by you from Amazon: which is Healthy Martial Arts, and Stretching Smarter. I took my new year resolution to be always mindful of these golden principles from you. I promised myself a one day sabbatical every year when I would re read your articles and reiterate these golden points.
"I once got this little nugget of wisdom in a party (Most unlikely place). Nursing drinks in our hands, we were all discussing on the secrets success and happiness when one of the drunks said the most profound statement: The one who is punished the most in a particular endeavor or area and is still standing will have the secret to success and knowledge.
"Looking at your life, your education, experiences it is no wonder that you have been chosen to share your treasure trove of knowledge on healthy living. I cant tell you how much I am grateful for your acquaintance. "Regards, Kris Jayakrishnan"
A study of men and women over age 70 found two to three times more bone fractures occurred following a hospital admission compared to not being in a hospital. The risk of new fracture was greatest during the first year after hospitalization and increased with the number of times a patient was hospitalized. This included increased numbers of hip fracture, which leads to a fatality within the year in about 30% of people over 50.
Study authors stated, "Because the risk of fracture is greatest soon after hospital discharge, assessment and interventions to reduce risk should be started during the hospital stay or shortly after discharge. Evaluations should include measurement of bone mineral density, assessment of the risk of falling and vision testing." According to the authors, appropriate treatment for these patients include calcium and vitamin D supplements; bisphosphonate drug treatment, such as alendronate (Fosamax) or risedronate (Actonel); vision correction if needed; and physical therapy, including walking programs and exercises to improve flexibility, strength and balance.
Being in a hospital is often joked about as being unhealthy. It is also a reality:
When people are sick, it is not the time to keep them sedentary, indoors, eating institutional food, out of fresh air and sunlight, and taking medicines that reduce bone density and increase pain syndromes.
Lack of standing and activity quickly reduce bone density.
Several commonly prescribed medicines directly reduce bone density and cause stomach and body pain. Instead of stopping these medicines, others are given, which further depress health, and the mistake of further unneeded and unhealthful drugs.
It is a circular problem when people feel they must reduce activity to prevent falls and injury.
What is needed is the right, carefully supervised, healthy movement to give the physical skills that prevent falls, the stiffness that results in more pain and lack of function, and reduction in bone density, balance, strength, and mobility crucial for basic health.
Doctors Don't Prescribe Effective Back and Neck Pain Therapy - Exercise
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
Studies have confirmed that directed exercise is beneficial for chronic low back and neck pain. Is it being used? In a survey reported in Arthritis Care & Research, of 684 patients with chronic low back or neck pain, only 14.4% were prescribed exercise by their physicians. By contrast, 63.8% of those seeing a physical therapist and 33.1% of those who saw a chiropractor were prescribed exercise.
Other significant predictors of an exercise prescription were being female, having greater than a high school education, and being on workers' compensation.
Primary source: Freburger JK, et al "Exercise prescription for chronic back or neck pain: Who prescribes it? Who gets it? What is prescribed?" Arthritis Care Res 2009; 61(2): 192-200.
My colleague, family medicine physician Dr. Fabrice Czarnecki sent me this:
A study did a review "prospective controlled trials of interventions." These are studies that evaluated effectiveness of various interventions to prevent back pain (BP) in working age adults. In short, after all the math and big words were sifted through, they found that, "only exercise was found effective for preventing self-reported BPs in seven of eight trials. Other interventions were not found to reduce either incidence or severity of BP episodes compared with controls. Negative trials included five trials of education, four of lumbar supports, two of shoe inserts, and four of reduced lifting programs."
Their conclusions: "Twenty high-quality controlled trials found strong, consistent evidence to guide prevention of BP episodes in working-age adults. Trials found exercise interventions effective and other interventions not effective, including stress management, shoe inserts, back supports, ergonomic/back education, and reduced lifting programs. The varied successful exercise approaches suggest possible benefits beyond their intended physiologic goals."
Bigos SJ, Holland J, Holland C, et al. High-quality controlled trials on preventing episodes of back problems: systematic literature review in working-age adults. Spine J. 2009 Feb;9(2):147-68. (Review) PMID: 19185272
Not all exercise fixes pain. Many exercises cause lower back pain, even those commonly used in rehab and PT programs. Prescribing random exercise is not effective.
--- Read success stories of these methods and send your own. See if your answers are already here by clicking labels, links in posts, archives, and The Fitness Fixer Index. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, click "updates via e-mail" upper right. For personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions. Limited Class spaces for personal feedback. Top students may apply for certification throughDrBookspan.com/Academy. Learn more in Dr. Bookspan's Books.
In the article Kneecap Tracking - Don't Miss These Reasons It Doesn't Get Better, I listed common reasons knee pain doesn't resolve, including common bad stretches, bad shoes, treating the wrong thing, treating the right thing but returning to pronated, duckfoot or pigeon-toe gait (letting arches flatten or knees sag inward, and/or walking toe out or in), and omitting functional exercise and use. Fancy "supportive" running shoes, no matter how expensive or engineered often add to knee pain. I wrote that surgery for a tight lateral area isn't needed when you can stretch it. Readers wrote asking why stretch when you can just have surgery and cut it?
One common surgical procedures is an arthroscopic lateral release - surgical cutting of the lateral muscles from the patella (kneecap). The idea of the surgery is to decrease pull and pressure on the underside of the patella.
Studies following up people undergoing the surgery show, "The results are not always predictable or successful and in some cases, the surgery may have no effect on the patient's problem." http://www.arthroscopy.com/sp05032.htm
Another study from the Netherlands confirmed previous studies showing exercise therapy for patellofemoral pain was more effective to reduce pain and increase function than the often used "rest, wait and see." Science Daily.
Surgery often is made to sound like a quick way to get ahead, but numbers now confirm that you are restricted from full activity for enough time that your physical conditioning, flexibility, bone density, aerobic capacity, strength, and enthusiasm diminish. You will often be further behind, rather than quickly fixing a cause and going forward. Often, as much physical therapy is needed for full recovery after surgery as if you didn't go for the surgery. Stories are told of someone who had the surgery then went right back to skiing. I am the one who many of these people come to a year later. They say they are fine, but they still use pain medicine, still can't bend their knee enough to stretch enough to get relief of other tight areas and so on, and often haven't gotten back to previous benchmarks. To me, that is not "fine" enough. They slowly diminish in key areas of their life. They get new pain they don't recognize as related to compensating movement from the old ones. By the time they see me, they are often on several pain medicines, anti-depression medicines, and others that make new problems.
Surgical risks are also becoming better reported. Blood clot incidence is far higher after surgery than previous released. A study of nearly 1 million women tracked for an average of 6.2 years after surgery, showed risk continues for 12 weeks and includes minimally invasive procedures.
Not all patellofemoral pain is a tracking problem. Tracking pain is in the patellorfemoral area (where kneecap and top leg bone meet). However, other conditions besides tracking make patellofemoral pain. People with patellofemoral knee pain may be sent for tracking therapy even surgery, without needing it. Standing and moving allowing the knee to sag or rotate inward can also make rubbing. Surgery and tracking exercises do not address this. They may be done but yield no result. It is not a mystery.
--- Read success stories of these methods and send your own. See if your answers are already here by clicking labels, links in posts, archives, and The Fitness Fixer Index. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, click "updates via e-mail"upper right. For personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions. Limited Class spaces for personal feedback. Top students may apply for certification throughDrBookspan.com/Academy. Learn more in Dr. Bookspan's Books.
Reader Gains Academy Appointment for Making Community Projects Healthy
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
Stuart W first contacted me with dozens of great observations and questions about fixing his injuries, tightness, and tension headaches using methods of healthy mechanics I developed. It was apparent that Stuart would soon be fixing more than himself, the bulging disc of his boss, and the aqua-aerobics class where he lifeguards.
Stuart writes:
"Oh, one more thing, I dearly want to become a certified student or teacher of AFEM. I have a dream of neighborhood groups all working together on community projects using proper mechanics to get free exercise, pain relief, and help beautify their cities. I live in Tucson and there is lots work to be done installing rainwater harvesting works!
"It a local group and they install groundworks in neighborhoods to harvest runoff water for native plants. Yes I would want to teach them to bend and dig correctly (hopefully they will be receptive) I better get to work with them first and lead by example so they know I'm for real. I could take photos for sure, both before and after instruction, possibly with little interviews of pain before and after techniques...
"I would love to travel and teach that would be great, there is an aqua-aerobics class that is full of older women who are in the class for "exercise" but they do improper stretches and I know that they could be helped, after they unsteadily get out of the pool I watch them walk around knock-kneed (and doing quadriceps stretches with lower spines overarched) and my heart goes out to them.
"I would also love to teach kids at schools proper habits because they have all this wonderful flexibility then after a few years cultural habits turn them into tight- hipped hunched teens. I think "fitness as a lifestyle" is such a commonsense and wonderful idea that much of the world adheres to and I think the "fitness" craze in the US is very destructive. So much effort going into (paying for!) bad exercises that could be redirected to health.
"I recently attended a water-harvesting workshop where we dug basins and planted trees I thought it would be difficult to properly bend all day but it was not and I even figured out how to swing a pick-axe without bending badly. I took pictures of the project as well as of the other volunteers who were digging and stooping in harmful ways so that if I get your permission to instruct them I will have before and after photos. Thanks, I hope to hear from you soon!
"Because my friend ( the one who I helped fix back pain) talked about the good your work had done for him with the aquatics supervisor at a recent wellness meeting for city employees, he already knew a little about what I was up to and is going to work with me to incorporate your method into the wellness program to teach employees at district meetings city wide! Wonderful!
"I was just thinking about how I used to pay for chiropractic work which led me nowherrrrrrre, except on a quest for good info, which led me to you!" - Stuart Wood
For his care and interest, I have given Stuart an Academy Appointment for the coming year for Community Health Projects. The idea is that his fun happy projects blossom into years of health for people and the larger community.
JoinTheFun:
We need better titles for our people who work to make things happen. They are not just coordinators or facilitators or directors, they are the brains and muscle too. What can we call these appointments?
Join Stuart in his work, and do the same for your own local world. Send in your own ideas and stories. See my Academy page - www.DrBookspan.com/Academy.
--- Read success stories of these methods and send your own. See if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and The Fitness Fixer Index. Subscribe free, click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. For personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions. Limited Class space for personal feedback. Top students may earn certification throughDrBookspan.com/Academy. Get more in Dr. Bookspan's Books.
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Photo of construction of a 10,000 liter rainwater harvesting and ground well water storage tank, Some Rights Reserved, by Weenhayek
A number of conventional standardized fitness tests, surprisingly, are not accurate. They do not test what they claim to test. To get real answers that you can use, it is important to know if you are doing what you think you are doing.
An example of a test that does not test what it claims is the "Sit and Reach" test. Sit and Reach is assumed to test hamstring flexibility, but is more a measure of how much you can round your spine. Many people can pass the Sit and Reach with little hamstring flexibility and an unhealthful angle at the hip - tilted back (shown by shorts side seam) rather than vertical. The Sit and Reach is required testing for numerous military, corporate, and school fitness programs
Another standard fitness assessment uses crunches or sit ups, supposedly to test abdominal muscle function. Bending or curling forward does not give a predictive measure of how well you can use your abdominal muscles to adjust your spine position for spine health, for sports ability, to prevent back pain, in short, to move in healthy ways in real daily life and work where you need it most.
A test may be reliable, which means it gives the same answer each time you test the same thing. For example, a scale should measure the same item at the same weight each time. A reliable scale may not be accurate. That means, it may be wrong by the same amount each time. But it does give the same answer reliably. Having a reliable test does not mean it will be accurate. Accuracy and reliability are both necessary components of devising tests that are actually helpful.
I worked years researching more prognostic and beneficial tests for several common fitness measures. If your military or police division, school, or industry wants to hire me to train you in simple new reliable and accurate tests, let me know.
Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right.Before asking questions, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and The Fitness Fixer Index. Read success stories of Fitness Fixer methods and send your own. For personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions. Limited Class spaces for personal feedback. Top students may apply for certification throughDrBookspan.com/Academy. Learn more in Dr. Bookspan's Books.
Forward Air Head Syndrome - Doing Sets and Reps and Missing The Point of the Exercise
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
After the article Help Yourself last Monday, I received many notes from readers. Almost a dozen the first few hours. Notes saying that that once they understood how my method changes "doing" exercises into stopping causes of injury, they tried to help their friends who had pain. The friends turned their generous help back into the party line of doing sets and reps of stretches and exercises, then returned to habits that recaused their injury. They missed the greater point of using the retraining after the reps stop - during actual real life.
One reader wrote how he explained to his friend about the cause of degenerating discs and vertebrae of the neck. His friend was constantly jutting the neck forward - a painful posture called a "forward head." The friend protested that he had a disease of the facets, the joints of the vertebrae. The reader explained that damage to the facets was caused by the bad posture called a forward head. The friend insisted he had disc deterioration and bulging. The reader explained the cause was simple bad posture called a forward head. The friend agreed to try my method, did a few stretches mentioned in part of one of my articles, then went back to their forward head posture, and complained that the method didn't work because pain returned. He wanted to know exactly how many and which other exercises to do and how long it would take for the exercises to work.
Check some of the comments to certain Fitness Fixer articles. Some commenters miss the point that the stretches or exercises may help you feel better for the moment (and if they don't then you are doing them wrong) but you must change injurious movement habits. Prevent tilting your hip and use neutral spine instead when you stand and walk, to prevent lower back and SI pain. Stop craning your neck. These are voluntary actions that need your brain to work.
Reader Paul J wrote this accurate assessment:
"The Department for Silly Syndromes has determined that Forward Air Head Syndrome is closely related to Cerebral Detachment Syndrome that occurs in patients that read the writings of Dr. Bookspan.
"The patient knows how to read and understands words; however after reading Dr. Bookspan’s writings, a detachment in the cerebral cortex seems to occur often affecting the patient’s ability to think and type. The patient exhibits some of the following symptoms:
Writing questions to answers already given in the original text,
Writing questions to answers already given in previous articles
Writing questions that are not congruent.
In mild forms, the patient will read some of the information, do some stretches, and expect complete results.
"The recommended treatment for those suffering from CDS is to watch the movie* ‘What About Bob?’ This may not cure CDS however it should temporally delay the effects of CDS."
(*In the movie, a psychiatrist gives his nice but overanxious patient a book, to understand and solve his own problems. Instead, the patient drives the psychiatrist insane with repeated unneeded questions (and did his previous doc in with the same).
Read success stories of these methods and send your own. Before asking questions, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and The Fitness Fixer Index. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. For personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions. Limited Class spaces for personal feedback. Top students may apply for certification throughDrBookspan.com/Academy. Learn more in Dr. Bookspan's Books.
The British Journal of Cancer published a study finding that, "Exercise, including manual labor, cuts colon cancer (the most common kind of bowel cancer) by a quarter."(1)
Another study by the Division of Population Science at the Fox Chase Cancer Center found that, "People who get lots of exercise have a 30 percent to 40 percent lower risk of developing colon cancer" and that "A sedentary lifestyle accounts for as many as 14 percent of all colon cancer cases in the United States." (2)
They stressed in their findings that of 1,932 adults who answered questions about colon cancer risk, 85% did not list physical activity as a method of reducing their risk of colon cancer, and that "not all doctors are informing patients of this simple preventive approach."
According to Dr. Edward Giovannucci, professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, "Sedentary people can greatly benefit from starting a modest exercise program, such as gardening or walking two to three hours a week. Sedentary people should first set such moderate, achievable goals. More benefits could accrue from higher levels and more intense exercise, such as jogging, running or tennis. To some extent, more may be better, but it is important to note that a little is much better than nothing."
1 KY Wolin et al. Physical activity and colon cancer prevention: a meta-analysis. British Journal of Cancer. Volume 100 Issue 4, 2009. 2 Coups EJ, Hay J, Ford JS. Awareness of the role of physical activity in colon cancer prevention. Patient Educ Couns 71(2), 2008.
Key Encouraging Points:
Exercise has definite, positive effect to reduce colon cancer risk
Exercise reduces risk, even if you have a family history, or risk factors for the disease.
Colon cancer is considered a largely preventable disease.
--- Before asking questions, see if your answers are already here - click labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and the Fitness Fixer Index. For answers to personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions. Read and contribute your own success stories of Fitness Fixer methods. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. See Dr. Bookspan's Books, take a Class, get certifiedDrBookspan.com/Academy.
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Image by lantzilla via Flickr, no derivitave works
Is It Health Care to Miss Top Healthy Practice? - Doctors Don't Exercise
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
According to work published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (December 2, 2008 with several follow-ups) a survey of 61 hospital physicians, "found that only 21 percent get the recommended 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least five days a week." The results for physicians was lower than the percentage of the general population. Results for physicians was less than half the percentage "of the overall population in the same age group who claim to meet this goal."
The doctors blamed, "lack of time, lack of motivation, and lack of workout facilities." However, the study checked physicians with a gym at their hospital and found they, "didn’t fare any better than those without."
This is not like someone who knows healthy practices but makes a conscious decision to live their life differently by choice. This is like a mechanic who drives an unsafe car because he has no idea how to keep it in good running condition or has faulty knowledge and performs practices that make it run worse.
The mindset that you must stop your busy day to get exercise is the core of the problem. The idea that you stop your life, then go "do health," then resume your unhealthy life, is not health as a lifestyle, it is not health care, and it results in many people feeling they cannot take time away from their "real life" in order to exercise because health is not their real life. The practice of medicine should not be procedures to "do" to counter poisonous lifestyle. My colleague Dr. Tom Kessler calls that, "committing medicine."
There is no need to go to a gym to get exercise. Healthy lifestyle means how you move and live all day, and would yield much healthy exercise just by changing movement habits of the same bending, lifting, standing, sitting, and other daily life to healthier ways. The following Fitness Fixer resources show how.
Click this for more on the topic, plus links to specific articles how to change to exercise and health as a lifestyle - Trainers Don't Exercise Enough?
--- Read and contribute your own success stories of these methods. Before asking questions, see if your answers are already here - click labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and the Fitness Fixer Index. For answers to personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. See Dr. Bookspan's Books, take a Class, get certifiedDrBookspan.com/Academy.
Prescription Acid-Reducing Drugs Produce Heartburn and Dependency
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
In a study of acid-suppression drugs, healthy adults with no previous symptoms developed
"heartburn, acid regurgitation and dyspepsia" after a course of the drugs. Forty percent of 120 volunteers taking anti-heartburn drugs called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) had a rebound increase in gastric acid secretion, resulting in acid levels above their starting levels.
Study - "Proton-pump inhibitor therapy induces acid-related symptoms in healthy volunteers after withdrawal of therapy." Gastroenterology. 2009 Jul;137(1):80-7, 87.e1. Epub 2009 Apr 10.
Gastroenterology is the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. A comment appearing in the Journal stated there is, "Evidence that proton-pump inhibitor therapy induces the symptoms it is used to treat." Gastroenterology. 2009 Jul;137(1):80-7, 87. McColl KE, Gillen D.
PPI drugs for gastrointestinal symptoms are highly prescribed. Study authors stated, "This might lead to PPI dependency and thus have important implications."
In the previous Thank You to Grand Rounds, I noted that several prescriptions drugs are known to cause increased symptoms, rebound, even the original problem - Thank You Grand Rounds 5.50, Medicine & Technology.
It is becoming known that PPI drugs do not prevent the source of the problem, so may not be needed in the first place. It does not seem necessary to start a course of drugs that perpetuates your symptoms, even causes the problem itself. The Fitness Fixer article Stomach Acid Drugs Increase Osteoporosis and Hip Fractures explains more.
"I had not (previously) successfully implemented healthy movement habits. Your books are allowing me to comprehend the importance of doing so. This knowledge is permitting me to enjoy the benefits that come from less pain. Less pain means a happier Lisa. Moreover, since everyone enjoys happy people, anyone involved with me appreciates my enhanced education.
" You give your readers hope and allow us to strive for healing. You must tire of hearing this from everyone you help.
"I have read many publications regarding stretching and strengthening but none ever caused me to contemplate "living" rather than practicing the "postures." I have stopped many of the exercises and stretches "believed" to be essential to improving back health (they were hurting), and enjoy the exercises and stretches in your books.
"It is enchanting to have the opportunity to thank you for sending me personalized copies of your marvelous publications.
"With Kindest Regards, Lisa H."
There is no need to "live with pain" or try to use varieties of techniques to distract you when it hurts. Instead, fix the source of the pain, then the damage can heal and the pain not return, because you have stopped the daily repeated unhealthy motions that cause them. Healthy movement is for all you do all day - that is fitness as a lifestyle, not doing little repetitions or sets or reps in the gym or during commercials. To get started, click the related posts below. The label "reader inspiring stories" lists reader stories, not as testimonials, but tutorials. Enjoy getting your life back.
--- I make posts from fun mail and success stories. Before asking questions, see if your answers are already here - click labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and the Fitness Fixer Index. Why not try fun stuff, then contribute! Read success stories of these methods and send your own. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. See Dr. Bookspan's Books, take a Class, get certifiedDrBookspan.com/Academy.
Common, Missed Cause of MusculoSkeletal Pain - Your Drugs
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
Three years ago, I started a series of Fitness Fixer posts about the extensive phenomenon of muscle, joint, and body pain occurring from common prescription drugs. The editors at that time asked me to defer writing about it. I have been watching the medical reports grow, substantiating the numbers and secondary problems of chronic pain from common medicines. This is a short summary, with more coming this summer.
Major side effects of body and muscle pain from common prescription drugs are not rare as once thought. Misdiagnosis of this pain is common. Unnecessary treatments, surgeries, and more drugs are often given. Exercises and stretches do not stop body pain from drugs:
Statin drugs for cholesterol are a frequent cause of muscle and joint pain, and sometimes, numbness or tingling in the fingers or toes
Common prescription drugs for anxiety and depression. Even though this class of medicines may be prescribed for nerve pain, they can cause nerve and muscle pain as side effects
Ritalin (methylphenidate hydrochloride) and related drugs
Some prescription allergy medicines such as Allegra (Fexofenadine)
Prescription acid prevention medicines called PPIs - proton pump inhibitors (Nexium, Prilosec, Prevacid, Zoton, Inhibitol, and others). PPIs have also been shown to greatly increase risk of hip fracture
Erectile enhancing drugs
The calcium channel-blocker drug verapamil
The antibiotics erythromycin and clarithromycin
Some HIV medications
Prescription medicine for constipation like Zelnorm (Tegaserod), irritable bowel, and others digestive complaints.
Migraine and headache prescriptions
Medicines for fibromyalgia
Even many medicines for pain, sadly have pain both as direct side effects and rebound pain, increasing drug dependence and pain cycles
There are several more prescription drugs that cause more problems than they relieve. List your additions in the comments below.
Often the need for the original medicine can be stopped with simple healthy changes. Motivated people can address and change the original problem, making their life better and more active than before instead of paying for more medicines and the problems that come with them.
Two of my books teach how to fix pain and mention specific drugs and what to look for:
Fix Your Own Pain Without Drugs or Surgery. Each chapter on each kind of pain gives a list of drugs that are known to cause pain.
Health & Fitness THIRD ed - How to Be Healthy Happy and Fit For The Rest of Your Life. Several chapters include drug information pertinent to the condition covered, plus several chapters on general health, offering many ways to avoid needing the original medications.
--- Questions come in by hundreds. I'm bailing the ocean with a bucket. I make posts from fun mail. Before asking more, see if your answers are already here - click labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and the Fitness Fixer Index. Why not try fun stuff, then contribute! Read success stories of these methods and send your own.
Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. See Dr. Bookspan's Books, take a Class, get certified - DrBookspan.com/Academy.
Fast Fitness - Somebody Please Do My Personal Responsibility For Me!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
A couple was buying a house. The real estate agent told them a problem with the house was that it was near the train, rumbling noisily by every night. It would take the first two weeks to be able to sleep through it. "No problem, said the couple, we'll spend the first two weeks in a hotel."
An opening line of last Friday's Fast Fitness was, "How long does it take to stop slouching, or stop herniating a disc, or stop paying money to eat food that is bad for your health? It takes as long as you want to continue injurious ways."
The letters came in. Some missed the whole point, hoping for magical externals to do it for them: " Can I use a posture brace until it works? … Is it until my shiatsu starts working? … My body worker says it takes 6 weeks for massage to make me aware of my body… My yoga teacher said the pain has to be worked through so I bend wrong to get used to it… OK, bending right does fix my pain, but every time I go back to bending wrong the pain comes back. I do the exercises 10 times. How long until the exercises work?... "
The "martyrs" blamed externals: " It is not possible to control how I stand or sit, I am fat/ weak/ large chested/ too thin to have muscles/ old/ young/ a person of privilege… You're wrong, the slouching just comes back by itself. … You're wrong I have gone to a chiropractor three times a week for years and I have to go or the pain comes back, that proves he is helping me and I can't change the pain…Another blog said to get a thousand dollar mattress and that will fix it… "
Some of the whining was comical: "You can't expect me to actually try to remember that… You're wrong, my body FORCES me to slouch… I have read all your posts and you didn't mention posture or answer readers when they asked (for new readers, you can fall over laughing at that)… Don't you know that it hurts my back to sit at a desk to read your book on fixing pain?..."
Excellent readers sent the brains: "You expect me to actually get free exercise using my muscles to make my own life better?? Congress will hear about this!… I can move my own body? Shocking!… Burn more calories, free, and be healthier and stop disc pain by sitting so that my back does not hurt? I won't, I won't, I WON'T!!!..."
The moment you bend right, you will stop injurious forces on the discs and knees. Keep good habits, and they can heal. Stop tensing your body and it will not be tight and tense any longer. Relax does not mean slouch. The moment you change to healthier sitting habits, you will be able to sit more comfortably.
No exercises, no séances, no pills, no mattresses make you bend right and stand in the kitchen preparing meals with healthful stance, breathing not grunting, shoulders back, not hunched, smiling and contented instead of poisoning your body with stress chemicals that you generate yourself through hurtful behaviors.
The method you choose to fix your injuries depends on your view. If you don't like to have it free, quickly, and in a way that uses your own body to get exercise as part of your life, then of course go to another method and comment there about your pain. It seems to be a 'sign of the times' to do pills and blame. Time for change to something healthier (if you want). This Fitness Fixer and all my other methods are for people who would be embarrassed to whine, and want direct, intelligent ways to get their own life back. Be prepared to have fun and use your brain.
Where to Start (if you want to, no one is making you):
www.DrBookspan.com/books. Read the descriptions if you want the right book for your injury or life goals. Up to you.
--- Read and contribute your own success stories of these methods. Before asking questions, see if your answers are already here - click labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and the Fitness Fixer Index. Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. For answers to personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions. LimitedClass spaces for personal evaluation. Top students may apply for certification -DrBookspan.com/Academy. Learn more with Dr. Bookspan's Books,
Weak Hips on Purpose? Running Injury and Hip Strengthening
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
Who works their hips? Fitness Fixer success story Robert Davis wrote me several
notes that the weightlifters he knew didn't want to exercise their hip because they thought it would take away from the "V shape" they worked for.
Mr. Davis said that using my daily good bending and other functional exercise worked his hip greatly. He was pleased with reduction of stiffness and pain and increase in strength and mobility. No decrease in "V-shape."
The May/June 2009 issue of Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach, published a study based on a literature review, concluding that running injuries to the lower leg may have more to do with weak hip muscles than how many miles run. Lead author Reed Ferber, Assistant Professor and Director of the Running Injury Clinic from the University of Calgary stated ”Hip muscle weakness especially appears to lead to atypical lower extremity mechanics and increases forces on knees and feet while running.” He also stated, "Based on a literature review, it appears that foot pronation (turning the arch and ankle flatter to the ground, and/or the knee inward) and inadequate hip muscle stabilization are the top categories for injury.”
From my own work in this area, I found that strengthening alone won't make you run with good mechanics, prevent pronating, or other injurious habits, you need to retrain them too. Not hard. Stopping your life to do rehab exercises then returning to bad daily movement also isn't so helpful. My work builds-in both strengthening and mechanics to daily life - functional exercise. Robert Davis has been sending in his successes fixing back and other injury using functional fitness.
Robert Davis writes:
"I had made a slight error in my story! I just wanted to let you know.. I had not ordered fix your own pain till only about 4 weeks ago cause I was looking at my expenses and the Amazon one came up!
"So to see how rapidly things change when you take up these habits is even more encouraging.
"Some things I noticed along the way (I did have some slight questions on this!). My hip muscles for one, started to get "sore". I believe this is because of over tightness and overall lack of use. My guess is like every other gym rat they avoid things to make obliques and lower back "too" big because it takes away from the V shape they are after. Everyone seems to fall for this but it is an un-healthy trap I now realize.
"Anyhow I had started to get really sore over the last few weeks in hip muscle areas and even upper buttocks from stretching these areas and working them (using your stuff). When I practiced going into full squats, this really seemed to stretch out areas that began to show signs of weakness/tightness. So it was like working out muscles and getting that "soreness" when your muscles start to adapt. I kinda figure it is as it is just as normal to workout a bicep and for it to "be sore" the next few days.
"The soreness goes away and with each passing week, it becomes more mild - kinda like the body getting used to biceps being sore and you don't get sore anymore.. They do not get sore like they did when I first started your stuff. I was just curious if you had seen this. I am sure it is normal, especially for a group of muscles not used to being used or stretched out.!
"Jeez I do not think most people realize just how tight and weak they can be in areas, mostly because they are never used or people are used to being tight there. People do not believe in the squat (I showed a few people to prove them wrong lol) because they are too tight. I realize how much I am glad I found this out early in life. I get stronger every day in the areas that were weak. I know I will have a much better core, lower back, complete back, and body then before I hurt myself :)
"I put together my "planche/pull up" setup for pictures and to start working on a full planche! That is difficult to do like you do it! Any suggestions? Just keeping trying? Heheh
"Thank you again! Thank you for posting my story."
Mr. Davis, thank you. You are well ahead of the fancy researchers :-)
Read success stories of these methods and send your own. Questions come in by the hundreds. I make posts from fun ones. Before asking more, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, or in the Fitness Fixer Index.
The RSS feed may still be down. Click "updates via e-mail"(under trumpet) upper right. See Dr. Bookspan's Books. Get certified - DrBookspan.com/Academy.
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