Balance Your Health

Prevent Blisters

 If you have ever sat at poolside you already know that not all feet look alike. Feet are structurally different and the way your feet are made may place extra pressure on weight-bearing areas. Sometimes this pressure produces blisters but

only during certain activities such as running but not walking.

If you find that you are one of those who develops blisters in specific areas, you may require special custom-made insoles to prevent a recurrence. This is a very good reason to make an appointment with a podiatrist, particularly if you have a chronic disease such as diabetes. You don't need the problem of open sores that don't heal, especially when blisters can be prevented.

Another way to get a blister is to purchase new shoes that may not fit exactly. There is nothing worse than a blister, a red, burning sore, puffed up and filled with fluid that appeared because the shoe rubbed your skin the wrong way.

The fact is most blisters are preventable if you wear shoes that fit correctly with a sock that cushions. This is very important if you bought those new shoes for your revise goal to exercise more often.

However, if you tend to get blisters whenever you are

breaking in new shoes, even when you are wearing

socks, try these steps to prevent blisters:

·     Put petroleum jelly or foot powder on the

most sensitive spots on your feet including

the backs of your heels, the balls of your feet,

and tops and sides of your toes.

·     Cushion these spots by inserting moleskin

pads in your shoes.

To your success for healthy feet.

Ruthan Brodsky

Reducing Chronic Pain Without Using Drugs

For years we all have been using prescriptions, injections, over-the-counter drugs. The good news is that you have more choices. Indeed, the research shows that there are a several non-surgical and non-pharmaceutical approaches that can affectively reduce and even eliminate chronic pain.

The pain reduction methods range from simple, short-term approaches such as using ice or heat to long-term approaches that may include diet, exercise, acupuncture,

Let's look at the two therapies that most of us know.

Cryotherapy is applying cold to a painful area of the body. Cold applications can reduce inflammation, muscle spasms, and the rate of metabolic activity. Blood vessels exposed to cold will constrict which minimizes bleeding and swelling. Ice tends to deaden the painful area and lets you move easier.

If you've ever injured yourself on a bike, at a tennis course, playing football or hockey you already know that the first rule is to apply ice packs for the first 48-72 hours following a pain flare up. You also know the ice doesn't go directly on your skin and that you should use it if pain limits motion. If stiffness limits motion then use heat. Finally, apply ice for 10-30 minutes three or four times a day.

Heat, on the other hand, increases the flow of blood, and oxygen to a specific area. Heat usually feels good but it can cause swelling. It is very useful in relieving back and neck pain. It can also reduce pain and stiffness in the knees. Moist heat is sometimes more effective because it penetrates the area more deeply than dry heat.

More in my next post in which I'll write about exercise (physical therapy), nutrition, acupuncture, yoga and tai chi. If you have ideas about other solutions we'd like to know about them. Scroll down to comments and type your ideas in the blank window.

Always looking forward to helping you live an active life,

Ruthan Brodsky

PS Check out the radio programs I hosted that focused on our changing brain.  You can listen on your computer.

 

Recovering from a Sports Injury

 

You jog, you play tennis and golf, you ski and you have a torn medial meniscus in your left knee. You get the meniscus tear repaired and the doctors told you it would be four to six months before you were completely healed.

 

Now what?

 

Depending upon whether you listen to your physician or not, you will be completely healed in 6 months.

 

The people who continue to have problems with their knees usually return to their sports and fitness schedule too soon and take on too much. Surgery, even meniscus repair surgery has an impact on your body. And no matter how good the shape you were in before the surgery, it still will take time for your body to heal.

 

You have to give your body a rest and chance to recovery. You are most vulnerable when you first come back to play. If your result is that you're swinging late in tennis because you're not as fast, you may be overloading your elbow resulting in elbow problems.  Or you may injure your knee even more because you're dealing with scar tissue.

 

That doesn't mean you stop moving and become a couch potato. You can still keep up your cardiovascular fitness and strength training. You can do water aerobic exercises in the pool.

 

Whatever you do start back slowly and get your plans okayed by your physician or physical therapist.  Taking the time to heal from the beginning will save you months, even years of aggravation and pain later.

 

Do you have stories about your recvery from an injury. What did you do right and what did you do wrong. Scroll down to Comments and type your story in the blank window.

 

To your success at  balancing your health.

 

Ruthan Brodsky

Preventing Bunion Pain

I personally know one man and two women who had bunion surgery a few months ago. Their goal was to have the surgery early enough so that they would feel better and be without pain for the holidays. One of the women was in her mid forties, and the other two were in their mid fifties. I tell you this so you won't think bunion pain only happens to older people.

At any rate, their surgery worked – for the most part.

The surgery to correct the misaligned joint and remove the bump that causes all the pain really isn't that bad. The recovery time, however, takes two to three months!

A bunion is an abnormal, bony bump that forms on the joint at the base of your big toe. Your big toe joint becomes enlarged and pushes against your other toes. This puts pressure on your big toe joint, pushing it outward beyond the normal profile of your foot which results in pain.

The most common cause for bunions is your foot structure – so you can blame your parents. However, it's not all heredity. If two people have the same abnormal foot bone structure and one wears narrow and poorly fitting shoes like high heels and pointed toes, pushing toes into an abnormal position and putting pressure on toe joints, the person NOT wearing those kinds of shoes is not likely to develop bunion pain. Simple enough.

The point is shoes don't cause a bunion but they can speed up the process and make a bunion worse.

You can prevent pain by making sure your shoes fit properly. Trade in narrow shoes or shoes with heels or very flat with wider toe boxes and more support like a pair of sneakers.

Also make sure you are wearing the correct size. Your feet do grow as adults because with time your ligaments loosen and your arches flatten.

Visit a podiatrist. Your doctor may prescribe custom orthotics that fit into the shoes and prevent over pronating. That's because bunions frequently occur in feet that pronate, their ankles rotating internally as the forefoot rotates externally. Some insurance plans cover orthotics which cost anywhere from $300 to $500. Medicare doesn't cover the cost.

You may also want to take an over the counter anti-inflammatory drug such as ibuprofen. Sometimes a steroid injection is prescribed.

Surgery is also an option. The surgery will relieve bunion pain but bunions can grow back especially if you wear shoes that don't fit.

I would love to hear about your experiences with bunions, any secrets you have to prevent pain, and your experience with surgery. Scroll down to comments and type your short story in the blank window.

To the best of your health.

Ruthan Brodsky

The Latest and the Greatest in Rotator-Cuff Surgery

I found this rather lengthy article entitled, “New Techniques Tackle Rotator-Cuff Injuries” in this week’s Wall Street Journal, the Wednesday issue of the Personal Journal.

Having lived through the procedure with my husband, I think it was last June, I thought I knew all I needed to know – or all I wanted to know. What I learned from this story is that no matter how cutting edge the technique for the surgery, and no matter how well the patient responds, there’s still a moderate to better than slight chance that another tear will take place.

Terrific! Not what I wanted to know.

Even so, the story had some interesting details one of which is that in the past few years there’s been a 20 percent increase in the number of rotator cuff surgeries. It seems that this generation of baby boomers and beyond, isn’t willing to give up their active lifestyle of golf or tennis and not have surgery.

Another interesting detail, something like 75 percent of the surgeries are done with the less invasive arthroscopic method which requires only three puncture wounds in the skin. It’s through those tiny incisions that surgeons, using TV cameras, insert their instruments and repair tears and drill tiny holes in bones to reattach tendons that have torn away with sutures and anchors.

This type of surgery is usually performed as an outpatient procedure.

There’s also been a bigger emphasis on patient education to reduce the incidence of retears. The importance of rehabilitation, such as physical therapy, is also emphasized more and longer lengths of rehab are often prescribed.

Signs of rotator cuff injury are:
· An injury that causes sudden acute pain and immediate weakness of the arm.
· Gradual weakening of the muscles around the shoulder over time.
· Pain when lifting the arm.
· Weakness when lifting or rotating the arm.
· Cracking sensation when moving the shoulder a certain way.
· Pain when lying on the affected side at night.

My advice is to pay attention to your symptoms. We were told several times, and the WSJ says the same thing- the longer someone waits to undergo the surgery, once torn muscles start to deteriorate and the worse the outcome is likely to be.

Warmly,
Ruthan Brodsky
Source: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons