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BUTT PAIN
"Bottom line...sit and occasionally stand like a man."
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NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS
What do the viral pandemic and New Years Resolutions have in common? Believe it or not, they both result in visits to your local orthopedic surgeon! There was a brief period, early on after the onset of the viral pandemic, when most physician offices closed down, and only emergency services were provided. We geared up for telemedicine. A lot of medical services are elective, meaning you won’t die or lose a limb if you don’t have access to medical care. Orthopedic conditions run the gamut from life and limb threatening (like malignant tumors and hip fractures), to elective conditions, (like hammer toes, carpal tunnel syndrome and even ACL tears). And…
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BONE AND JOINT PAIN IN WOMEN
Some orthopedic conditions are experienced almost exclusively by women, and there’s a tendency to ignore them, partly because society tells us not to complain and to cowboy up. But if not addressed early, these conditions take a long time to resolve. So here goes, literally from the bottom down! Tailbone pain, or coccydynia. If you suddenly experience pain at the tip of your tailbone*, for no good reason, I want you to run, not walk, to the nearest drug store or go to Amazon and purchase a coccyx relief pillow. Or you should start sitting straight up in your chair instead of a slumped position. When you sit in a…
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WHAT I DO: SOCKS
Do you find the overabundance of socks in stores a little confusing? Besides fashion socks, there are all sorts of sports socks, with different kinds of cushioning, different degrees of support in key areas, different materials, and a special sock for every activity. There are some which wick away moisture… A lot of my patients are wearing compression socks. Originally, they were used to decrease swelling, or to prevent blog clots after surgery. But now I see them used for pain and tired legs. For those who really need them, there is a science to the selection of these socks. But do we always need compression? No. In fact,…
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WHAT I DO: DON’T SIT ON MY FOOT AND ANKLE
Last week I had a couple of female patients tell me they felt a twinge in their knee when they sat down on their bent knee. Women do this all the time, and I honestly believe it’s built into our ancestral neuromuscular memory, because almost all of us do it, and it’s hard to stop unless you have a stiff knee or hip. You know what I’m talking about. You go to sit down on a couch, and like a giraffe, your leg comes up under you as you dump your weight down into that cushion. You’re getting in bed, and here comes that leg. Why do we do this?…
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PART 12: STAYING PAIN-FREE DURING COVID-19: BACK PAIN
Back pain. Most of us get it. I just hope you don’t get it during the viral pandemic. It is harder and harder to get treatment for back pain any time, virus or no. There just aren’t enough docs out there to take care of the huge number of patients who suffer from this pain. When I think of back pain, I divide it into a few groupings, and I’ll try to break it down and keep it simple. There is acute back trauma. I’m not covering that in this series. If you injure your back in a car accident, you’ll be directed to the ER by the EMS experts…
