Saturday, April 27, 2013

Kickboxing and MMA Training Require Quality MMA Shin Guards


An MMA fighter uses his feet more than any other body part, whether it be shifting his position for strategic advantages when facing an opponent, dodging punches, or delivering kicks as an offensive move during a fight. One swift kick can knock an opponent off his feet, and the feet and lower legs take quite a bit of abuse in the process. MMA shin guards are designed to protect these crucial areas, preventing injury while allow the fighter to move and use his legs freely without any restrictions.

This is especially true with kick boxing, or Muay Thai as it is often referred to in Thailand, where it is the national sport of choice. Muay Thai involves rigorous training, and there are a number of kicks, knees, and foot thrusts that a fighter uses to weaken and defeat his opponent. This is why Muay Thai shin guards are so important, since a competitor uses the legs so much more than in other types of MMA competition.

These guards protect all areas of the lower leg, including the knees, calves, shins, and ankles, safeguarding them from serious injury or fracture. In the old days, athletes had only straps and buckles to wrap around the hands, knees, and feet for protection. Since then, the technology in manufacturing protective equipment for fighters has come a long way.

Several vendors now offer MMA shin guards that meet UFC standards for protection and performance during championship matches, including Hayabusa Fightwear, Warrior, and Combat Sports. These companies use ergonomics and applied engineering to make functional protective equipment to improve the quality of the sport and help fighters have long-lasting careers.

Combat Sports is one of the better brands that designs top quality Muay Thai shin guards. Several superior models are available, like their Gel Shock Grappling Shin-Instep Guard. An inner gel lining offers maximum protection among other brands and the guard itself even has neoprene support and lining at the back to help the guards stay in place. They also carry youth guards for younger fighters and Ergonomic Shin Guards for a more basic look with dual hook and loop closures.

Hayabusa Fightwear is another quality brand name that always offers professional quality and utilizes the latest technology. Their Pro Shin-Instep Guards not only look sharp, but are shaped to fit well, protect well, and breathe well, while not being too heavy or cumbersome.

Regardless of the design, MMA shin guards should not hamper the individual - rubbing, pinching, or binding are signs of an ill-fitting guard that should be avoided. Concentration in the ring is of utmost importance, and fighters don't have time to worry about equipment that doesn't perform as well as it should or becomes a weakness that an opponent can capitalize on. It pays to pay special attention to these factors when fitting yourself for a pair of these all-important Muay Thai shin guards.

Likewise, if the guards are difficult to get on or off, the convenience factor is lost. Most vendors size their shin guards for the weight of the athlete, usually in either regular or large. A proper fit is paramount, as a competitor doesn't want his guards to shift or slip off during an intense sequence of moves.

Weight Loss Surgery for Teens


Teen obesity is increasing dramatically. The number of dangerously overweight teens is increasing drastically, so do the popularity of weight loss surgery among young population.

Despite the fact that the cost of weight loss surgery is extremely expensive, and insurance companies do not often cover this procedure, more and more men women and teens who have not been able to maintain weight loss through dieting alone are now looking to get rid of their excessive body weight through surgery.

Today, a variety of surgical options to lose weight are available, with many of them offering best possible results. These procedures include lap band, gastric bypass, gastric sleeve and mini gastric bypass.

The Facts for Families data sheet by American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) shows that the number of obese teens in the United States has grown to epidemic proportions in recent years, with 17 percent (or 12.5 million) of all children and adolescents considered obese.

The severely obese teens are at risk for serious medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea, and joint problems. The surging teenage obesity rate has contributed to the weight loss surgery trend around the world.

Does It Works for Teens?
Is weight loss surgery right option for teens? Many studies have billed the surgical ways to lose fat in teens as both safe and effective but many doctors still hesitate to recommend surgical intervention for teens.

While some experts caution that surgery isn't an option for most teenagers, suggesting that teens can achieve ideal weight with the help of changes in lifestyle and diet as well as physical activity and medical treatments, some others believe these non-surgical techniques do not work effectively in aiding weight reduction in the morbidly obese teenagers.

Since several studies have shown some of the benefits of bariatric surgery for morbidly obese adolescents, the weight loss surgery has found acceptance as an effective weight reduction strategy for teen population. However, the surgery is still very rare in this group.

A small percentage of teenagers are considering undergoing the surgery to aid them in their battle to lose a significant amount of their extra body fat.

Surgical Options for Obese Teens
For those abnormally overweight teenagers who have just not been able to lose weight with doctor-approved diet and exercise plan alone, there is weight loss surgery to help them in their fight against the dreaded stomach bulge and enhance their lifestyle. However, the teenagers need to be both physically and emotionally mature before undergoing the operation.

Like adult obese patients, teens can opt any of the two types of weight loss surgery- Restrictive or combined Restrictive and Malabsorptive procedures.

Restrictive form of weight loss surgery is less invasive, limiting the intake of food by shrinking the size of the stomach. This type of surgery makes a patient feel full even after consuming very small amount of food. The restrictive weight loss surgery procedures include the gastric band, the gastric balloon, and the gastric sleeve.

The combined restrictive/malabsorptive procedures could be much more complicated weight loss surgery options for teenagers. The operations in this category, including the Roux-en-Y bypass (long limb or distal gastric bypass), reduce a person's food consumption capacity by reducing absorption of nutrients and calories by the digestive system.

Although in several studies weight loss surgery procedures proved safe and effective in treating obese teens, still it is vital that the prospective patients are closely evaluated to ensure suitability for the surgical intervention.

Family support and a strict dietary regimen for the rest of their lives after the surgery are very important to evade their risk of regaining the weight they lost.

Yogic Cure For Arthritis (Inflammation of Joints)


Arthritis is a disease of the joints. People suffering from this disease have a burning feeling, terrible pain and aching in their affected joints. There is swelling, redness, stiffness, and heat in the joints. It is difficult to explain the root cause of this disease as there are various reasons for it. It may be cause due to lack of proper diet, lack of proper exercise, lack of hygienic care, due to poor health and similar other factors. It affects both male and female of all age groups and the most disheartening aspect of the disease is that it does not get easily cured through medicines when it is in chronic stages. But regular practice of some selected yoga asanas can cures this disease within few months.

The most remarkable aspect of yoga treatment is that it cures the disease without the use of any medicines and it gives a permanent cure.

Yogic treatment:

The arthritic patients have to do three things: regular practice of selected yoga asanas, to take proper diet, and to maintain proper hygienic care.

The arthritics are advised to practice the following asanas:



  1. Suntulan Asana: For doing this asanas one had to stand on one leg at a time. It removes rigidity and brings flexibility to the joints and also normalized the blood circulation in the affected areas and tones up the muscles. This asanas has curative effect upon the knees, ankles, shoulder joints, wrists, palms and fingers.


  2. Trikona Asana: Trikona asana has medical value for curing the pain or any disorder of the neck and the shoulder joints. This asana has good effect upon the spine, the hip joints, the hands and the palms. All the major joints above the waist area are properly activated and their muscles are duly toned up by this asana. The arthritics are advised to practice Santulan asana first and then the Trikona asana. It also develops the visionary power of the eyes; brings flexibility to the spine and provides the quality of mental attentiveness.


  3. Veera Asana: It exercises all the major and minor joints in a single process in a very effective way. The external activation enhances the blood circulation in the joint areas and restores their normal health. This asana has also a good strengthening effect on the lungs and the chest. It tones up the muscles of the thighs, the hip and the arms and takes away the fat from these areas.


  4. Gomukh Asana: It exercises the finger joints, the elbows, the shoulder joints, the toes, the ankles, the knees and the hip joints very effectively. All the muscles and nerves related to various joints are automatically toned up, activated and normalized.


  5. Vriksha Asana: It tones up the muscles of the ankles, toes, knees, hip joints, shoulder joints, elbows, hands and fingers.


  6. Setubandha Asana: It has the main impact on the spine and the hip joints. This asana also cures pain and corrects disorders of the soulders joints, neck, arms and the palms.


  7. Siddha Asana: This asana has a curative effect on all the joints below the waist area. It has a good effect on the nervous system all over the body.


  8. Natraj Asana: For the arthritics it has a great curative effect upon all the joints. It has also a good effect upon the spine. It removes backache, stiffness, and other disorders of the spine.


Proper Diet:

Diet to be followed by the arthritic people are as follows:

1. Stop eating bananas and curd.
2. Quit smoking.
3. Not more than two cups of tea or coffee a day.
4. Eat lots of fruits (except banana), green vegetables, and germinated grams.
5. Avoid excessive use of hot spices.
6. Should drink 10 to 12 glasses of water everyday.
7. Should eat at least two hours prior to retiring time during night.
8. They should eat four times daily.

Hygienic Care:

The most important thing about hygienic care is to bathe regularly and wear clean cloths. Neatness and cleanliness should be maintained in everyday life.

Thus, if the arthritis patients follow the above mentioned system of yoga therapy they should feel assured of getting fully cured from this disease.

Street Fighting Moves - How to Defend Yourself Against a Gun - 3 Secrets You Must Know to Survive


On January 17, 1998, I got the call no father ever wants to get. "Hey man, it's Bern," my brother calls me, but with somber tones, so frightening, that I didn't even want to ask him 'What's up?'

"Hey, Bern," I say, "It's a surprise getting a call from you so early in the morning." An audible sigh over the phone. Followed by a long silence.

"David is dead. He was shot to death by one of 3 guys who broke into his apartment."

At 29, my only son, a Navy veteran of two tours of duty to Iraq comes home on leave and is gunned down by 3 thugs with a long criminal record.

Gun violence is real, and there are 3 things you must know to give yourself a chance to survive.

The 3 Things You Must Do To Survive A Gun Attack:

#1 Thing You Must Know To Survive A Gun Attack - Develop Situational Awareness - Don't walk alone in that alley late at night in a strange neighborhood when you see a suspicious individual standing in a corner behind a trash bind. Avoid situations that don't feel right. Trust your gut.

#2 Thing You Must Know To Survive A Gun Attack - Avoid Any Unnecessary Confrontations With Anyone With A Gun Pointed At You - If they want your wallet--give it to them. If they want your watch--give it to them. There is no material thing worth keeping that is worth giving your life.

#3 Thing You Must Know To Survive A Gun Attack - Defend Yourself Only If You Know He Is About To Pull The Trigger - You have given your wallet and your watch, yet he still won't go. You can sense from that nervous crazed look in his eyes, the rapid change in his speech and the quick and agitated sound of his breathing that now he wants to kill you - then you act - and act quickly.

While your hands begin moving up in the air in the typical palms out "I-surrender" or the "I-don't-want-any-trouble" position - with any one of your hands--you hit the gun-hand either at the wrist or hand area, hitting it to the outside, lean your body to the side to make sure you are not in the line of fire. The gun will discharge at this point, so be ready to hear the crack or the pop of his weapon. You must now quickly grab his gun hand at the hand or wrist--with both of your hands--and you bite. You bite the fleshy part of his thumb. You bite the fingers. You bite. You bite. You bite. You bite on that hand like a hungry pirana until he drops the weapon, as well you can slam the hand holding the weapon against your knee, a table or wall to release the gun from your attacker's hand.

Now you must continue your vicious attack. You knee-stomp his knee at a 45º angle. You are trying to break the knee, and if you do the stomp properly, you shouldn't have any trouble breaking it. You elbow to the side of his face using the tip of your elbow aiming for the tip of his chin in a effort to twist his head in the opposite direction creating the high probability of a knock out blow. (This is close-range combat here.) Nevertheless, you continue your attack. You grab him by the ears--you head butt hard into the bridge of the nose. You bite into the cheeks. You growl into his ear. (Psychologically, this will totally freak him out!)

You continue your attack unleashing all of the fury of hell itself--until he goes down! When he hits the ground, stomp the ankles and the knees various times so that he cannot get up. You stomp the head until he is unconscious. Now pick up your cell phone and call the police. End of story.

A Soft Knee Brace Review - How to Find the Best One - Special Report on Knee Bracing


Are you looking for a soft knee brace?

Maybe you know that you could use a little extra support, but you also do not want one of those more high profile braces that have the metal in them. - This article will discuss what materials a "soft knee brace" is actually made of, so when you are looking for one you will know how to find what you need. - Then at the very end we will also discuss how to get the best one for your needs. - Sound fair?

Hard Knee Braces

When someone has a more severe knee ailment they will need to control their painful knee movements more. Sometimes a person that has severe knee instability has to rely on a brace that has a hinge and metal in them. - These braces can actually can be very effective in helping to reduce pain and add meaningful stability but this does not mean that everyone needs this kind of support.

Soft Knee Braces

When you are looking online you might type in the words "soft knee brace" on Google, or whatever search engine you are on. (Maybe that is how you found your way here... ) In most cases "soft knee brace" are good for people that need a little extra support. Usually you will not look to one of these supports if you have an ACL tear for example. This is an important point to remember.

Soft braces are good if you need a reminder to not make certain painful movements but they do not usually prevent you from making those movements. They can provide gentle compression that can help reduce pain and add some stability and this can be all a person will need sometimes. They can be referred to as elastic, and are actually made from a material called drytex or neoprene usually. Drytex has the reputation of being more breathable in the "brace world".

Secrets To Helping You Find The Brace You Need

1.) Go to a website in which you can either email or call in with any questions. If you can not talk to a human, then move on fast!

2.) Rate your knee pain and instability on a scale 1-10. If the pain or instability is more than a "nominal" rating, then a soft brace may not be the best one for you. This is important to remember. There are many other braces for you to consider that will not cost you an "arm and a leg" either.

Pain Management Doctors


Pain management doctors in most cases happen to be anesthesiologists. Anesthesiologists ensure that you are safe, pain-free and comfortable during and after surgery. They are also at work in the labor and delivery area, or in doctors' chambers where painful medical tests or procedures are performed. But the methods applied by anesthesiologists have now traveled beyond these familiar territories, and led to the development of a new category of medicine known as pain medicine.

In many cases, an anesthesiologist heads a team of other specialists and doctors who work together to alleviate your pain. The anesthesiologist or other pain medicine doctors like neurologists, oncologists, orthopedists, physiatrists and psychiatrists, and non-physician specialists like nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical or rehabilitation therapists and psychologists, join together to assess your condition. After a thorough assessment, this team of specialists develops a treatment plan just for you.

Pain management doctors are specialists at diagnosing the reasons for your pain as well as treating the pain itself. Arthritis, back and neck pain, cancer pain, nerve pain, migraine headaches, shingles, and phantom limb pain for amputees are among the most common pain problems they usually manage.

Pain management doctors also treat acute pain caused by surgery, a debilitating illness or a serious injury. Among such pains is post knee-joint replacement pain, pain during recovery from a car accident, pain following stomach or chest surgery, or pain associated with sickle cell disease. They can treat the patient in the hospital or in an outpatient clinic.

The pain medicine doctor usually works closely with your own physician. They will review your medical records and X-rays as required. To have a clear understanding of the case, they will give you a detailed questionnaire. Your replies will help them to assess how your pain is affecting your daily life. Pain management doctors will also carry out a complete physical examination on you. They may even go for additional tests and review all the results to find the root cause of your pain and determine how the problem can be solved.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Physical Therapy for Knee Replacement - What Patients Should Expect


When you have had a knee replacement, you have not only experienced major surgery, you have completely redone an important part of your physical make up, replacing what is natural with plastic and metal. You should expect this to require many months of recovery and up to a year before your new knee feels completely comfortable. Physical therapy will begin in the hospital on the very day you have surgery. Your leg may be placed in a continuous passive motion machine which will gently move the leg for 4 to 6 hours a day, each day that you are in the hospital. Physical therapy will start on the day after your surgery.

By the time you are released from the hospital, depending on how well you are coping post-surgically, you should be able to walk with the assistance of a walker or crutches, as long as the surface is even, go up 2 or 3 stairs, be able to extend your knee full and be able to bend it at a 90 degree angle. Your physical therapist will teach you to go upstairs leading off with your unaffected leg and go down stairs by leading off with the leg you had surgery on. Remember during the time that you are having physical therapy for knee replacement, it is important that while you do the exercises to improve your knee daily, it is just as important that you do not try to rush the return of your daily routine.

It's important to remember that during healing you not use a pillow under your knee while laying down or sitting to avoid the knee staying in that bent position. Swelling will be common and can be treated by elevating your ankle and knee above your heart and using ice packs. Creams like Ben Gay which are used as analgesics should not be used on your knee. The greatest physical therapy for knee replacement patients is walking. When appropriate, biking and swimming are also encouraged, usually 4-6 weeks after surgery, making sure to take care how you enter and exit a pool or use the bike. Stationary bikes should have no resistance on the pedals.

While physical therapy for knee replacement recover may continue on for several months, other activities can be slowly added back into your schedule. After six weeks, normal physical relations with your partner may resume. If you play golf, this may be resumed after 12 weeks, but activities that cause excessive stress and can wear out a replaced knee quickly include football, jogging, jumping, and other jarring activities that may loosen the hardware. As each knee may only be operated on twice with this type of surgery, it's very important to follow the instructions of your doctors and physical therapists carefully.

Walk a Normal Life With a Knee Joint Replacement Surgery


Athletes are best admired by most of the people because of their amazing strength and stamina. They often undergo rigid trainings for them to acquire the strength they need. Although strict trainings can enhance their ability, their physical characteristics are still one of the contributing factors of their victory. The area or muscle of an athlete which is thoroughly developed depends on the type of his or her sport. Gymnasts are adored because of their flexible bodies, meanwhile runners and soccer players are very much popular with their strong legs. They can run as fast as a horse in times of urgency. The strength and the balance they have are truly remarkable.

Moreover, physical injuries are also one of the hazardous results of being an athlete. Sprain is the most common form of minor physical injury. If you are an athlete who suffers from this kind of problem, all you have to do is relax the affected area of your body. Sprain usually occurs when the affected areas of your body were forced to move beyond its capabilities. It generally affects the muscles in your legs and shoulders. A sudden attack of sprain in the middle of a game or event is very much dangerous for athletes. They often continue moving regardless of the pain they experience just to win the game. This mistake normally results to permanent disability.

Minor physical injuries can be easily treated with the use of first aid medicines. A person with a sprain is advised to rest his or her entire body to avoid any complications. However it is not enough to take a plain form of rest when the case is severe.

Major form of physical injuries includes fractured bones and dislocated joints. It is usually caused by a major type of accident. The fractured and dislocated areas are also prone to infection. A discoloration within the affected area is normally the signs of such problem. It is also accompanied by swelling of muscles and tissues, causing a tremendous pain towards the patient.

Patients with severe cases of fractured bones and dislocated joints are generally required to go through surgery. The knee joint replacement surgery is one of the famous types of surgery because most of the affected parts of the body are the knees. The knee usually receives most of the impact of force during an accident.

A knee joint replacement surgery is a slow process and may take more than an hour or longer. It is performed only by expert surgeons. They medically remove the affected area of the knee and replace it with an inorganic or synthetic bone which resembles the normal knee of their patient. A knee joint replacement surgery must be done with precision and accuracy. Surgeons will carefully choose what size or forms of synthetic knee are they going to use as replacement. It must entirely suit or match the natural bones of the patient to prevent abnormalities. Although your knees might not be as strong as it used to be, you can still walk a normal life by accepting its positive side.

Knee Braces 101


I understand from personal experience that choosing your first knee brace can be a confusing experience. The most important consideration when choosing braces is the type and severity of your injury. If the wrong support is selected you can do more damage to an already injured knee. Consequently it really is advisable to get your medical professional's advice before selecting any knee support. The level of support you need is also an important factor because not enough support might cause more damage and too much support can weaken your body's natural knee support system. The last item to consider in choosing knee supports is the cost. In my opinion if I find a brace that allows me to function as normally as possible, the cost isn't much of an issue. Knee supports may be categorized in many ways, but I like these:

Hinged Knee Braces contain metal or alloy reinforcements on the sides for maximum lateral or medial stability and support. The hinges range from a basic single hinge to more elaborate multiple hinges to deliver more normal knee motion. Other feature may include stop pins to regulate just how much the knee is allowed to flex. The hinged knee support is suitable for moderate to bad knee joint injuries and it is often used in high-impact/ high movement sports. Hinged knee supports can cost from $30 to many hundred dollars based on type of hinge and construction of the brace.

Stabilized Knee Braces don't have solid metal hinges but may have additional features to provide some extra support than just a basic elastic sleeve. On the low end you would have a neoprene knee brace that provides heat and circulation benefits usually having a opening to keep the patella in place and free from pressure. Many stabilized knee supports have flexible steel springs sewn in the material at the side or have elastic straps that may be adjusted for additional support. These braces are popular to treat knee injuries like meniscus tears, tendinitis, bursitis, arthritis or patella problems.

Wrap Around Supports are simple to use because it's not necessary to slide them on the knee. They simply wrap around around your knee and may be easily adjusted for comfort and support. Usually they don't offer same level of support as a sized knee support however they have the benefit of adjustable compression for minor knee sprains, arthritis and patella tracking. Some manufacturers have enhanced the wrap around knee brace support levels significantly so that you get the benefits of a stabilized knee brace with the ease of a wrap around knee brace.

Basic Knee Braces are usually simple elastic sleeves that pull over your knee and provide minimum support. You can find these simple knee braces in any drug or convenience store.The padded knee support versions are primarily used for protection from contact. Magnetic knee supports provides the added advantage of embedded magnets which some think have unique healing powers.

Dealing With Gouty Arthritis


Gouty arthritis refers to a specific kind of degenerative joint disease in which uric acid builds up in certain areas. This involves particle crystallization in certain key joints, which ultimately causes inflammation and pain. Though it is most commonly associated with bones, it can also affect tendons and other tissues that are closely related. Medical specialists indicate that the big toe is most often affected, though all joints can potentially face problems. Uric acid itself has specific properties that irritate tissue and lead to redness and swelling.

There are a number of things that people can do in order to decrease their risk of developing chronic gout. Because excessive uric acid is linked to obesity, losing weight can be an excellent way to deal with the problem. If rheumatoid arthritis is a prominent part of the family history, then people would do well to take up healthy living habits. Men and women who have already had at least one gout attack should talk with their doctors to see what kind of exercise plan they can embark on. Weight should not be lost all at once. Rather, individuals should strive for a slow, gradual process.

Most specialists will diagnosis gouty arthritis by examining joint fluid under a powerful microscope. If crystals are present within the fluid, then the diagnosis can be made. Most patients may also notice that several joints are affected at once. If attacks often occur at night, people should try to stay hydrated as much as possible. By drinking a certain amount of water each day, men and women can keep their tissues in optimal shape. This will help just a bit in avoiding overly long episodes of gout.

Patients may also want to sit down with a team of specialists so that they understand the role of genetics in all types of arthritis. If they have had a family member deal with the disease in the recent past, then they will have some idea of what to expect. Proper nutrition, adequate exercise, and pain medication can all help with the worst of the symptoms.

In the end, men and women should rely on their doctors for a properly devised treatment plan. Once the uric acid reaches certain levels within the body, it will be hard to ignore. Physicians will likely recommend that individuals overhaul their lifestyles so that they can better deal with the condition. If they can work to keep the acid levels as low as possible, they should gain some relief as they continue on through life in the years ahead.

The information contained in this article is provided for informational purposes only and is not, nor is it ever intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice or professional recommendations, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician(s) or other qualified healthcare provider(s).

Total Knee Replacements and Continuous Passive Motion Devices


The use of the CPM otherwise known as continuous passive motion, has been in existence in the field of rehabilitation since 1981. The device itself was developed by a Canadian physician. Whether to use the CPM or not is determined by the orthopedic surgeons protocol after having knee surgery or shoulder surgery.

The idea behind the CPM is to get the surgical knee or shoulder moving as soon as possible after surgery. By having the knee or shoulder moving immediately after surgery it will hopefully prevent or retard the formation of scar tissue or adhesions from forming along with, helping to reduce pain.

To this date there is no hard and fast rules regarding the effectiveness of the CPM. It right now is solely up to the surgeon on whether to use it. In some case you will find where the patient themselves have requested to have a CPM applied after surgery.

The CPM can be effective for some patients if they are unable or unwilling to work on flexing and extending the knee after surgery themselves. Rather then have the knee fuse itself due to the lack of movement and following proper exercise protocol then, the CPM is warranted.

It is generally agreed upon by most rehabilitation professionals that the outcome with knee mobility after surgery is unchanged whether the patient used a CPM or not.

Setting the device up properly will also play a big part in getting results and patient comfort. The device itself takes just minutes to get it properly aligned with the patients knee. Frequent misalignment is noted causing the patient more pain and, the device not getting a true range of motion.

The idea behind the CPM is good however the actual results it gets can be minimal. If the patient will follow their exercise routine that was set forth by their rehabilitation professional the results will just as good if not better.

If You Suspect You Have a Knee Injury See A Specialist As Soon As Possible


The knee is one of the most flexible and strongest parts of the human body. Anytime you experience pain, it can be due to degeneration of the components, injury, infection or some other type of health condition. This part of the human body is susceptible to a large number of rheumatic diseases, which can cause extreme discomfort and limit the movements of the joint. There are a few risk factors that make certain people more prone to knee injury, such as sports, trauma and age. Anytime a knee injury has occurred, it is because some portion of the joint has been traumatized. The ligaments, cartilage and tendons that make up the joint can become damaged and cause great difficulty when it comes to moving the joint in a normal range of motion.

If you feel any stiffness, notice any swelling or discomfort when you are walking or bending, you may want to see a specialist that treats patients who have suffered a knee injury. Failure to get the problem properly treated can end up costing you freedom of movement without discomfort. Sometimes the only indicator you may have of trauma to the joint is a clicking or popping sound. Keep in mind that noises aren't normal and should also be treated to prevent further trauma. It is possible for more than one area of the knee to be hurt and damaged. Many conditions involving trauma can be hard to pinpoint without having an MRI or some other form of x-ray done.

When there is a mild knee injury concerning a ligament, it is possible to receive some relief by placing ice packs on the affected area. The more time you spend resting and not using the joint, the better the ligament can heal. Elevation is also suggested to help facilitate proper blood circulation. If you are unable to avoid placing weight on the affected leg, there are braces, splints, wraps and crutches that will make it easier for you to move around without putting too much weight on the affected leg.

If the damage is too severe and cannot be healed by rest, elevation and immobilization, it may be necessary to have surgery to repair the damage. Surgery can suture torn ligaments, and grafting can be done to further repair any ripped or torn ligaments. In order to find out if surgery is necessary for you to regain full use of your leg, you need to see a knee injury specialist.

The older you get, the more likely you are to incur an injury to this area of the body. Some conditions such as meniscal tears cannot be spotted with a regular x-ray. The only way to properly diagnose this type of damage is to go through arthrography, arthroscopy and an MRI. To help minimize your risk of trauma, you need to make sure to avoid rapid sharp movements, engage in proper exercise and to avoid sudden and improper impact.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

How To Help You Sleep After a Knee Replacement


Once your knee replacement is over and you leave the hospital everyone looks forward to getting home and relaxing. One of the biggest obstacles met by many will be the inability to sleep. Those first couple of weeks when you get home, trying to get a decent nights sleep can be difficult. There are several tips however that will help you sleep during those first two weeks you are home.

1. Take Your Medication As Prescribed. There are individuals I have come across during physical therapy that are trying to get of their pain medication too soon. In the hospital you are medicated differently than you will be at home. Your ability to handle the pain during the evening will not be as good as it was in the hospital. It is strongly recommended that you take your pain medication prior to going to sleep each night. Trying to stop the pain medication too soon will set you up for failure in controlling your pain. If you are having trouble with your pain medication and not handling it well, call your surgeon and get something else. This will be better than going without medication.

2. Use TV Or Radio To Help You Sleep. When getting ready to go to sleep you may want to consider having a TV or radio playing softly in the background. During the night the inability to handle the pain can be due to lack of external stimuli around you. During the day you will have the TV going or listening to the radio in the background. There will be cases where friends and family stop by as well. In these instances you have other things that you are engaged in. Your mind does not focus on the pain therefore you do not have the focus on your knee itself. Sleeping with soft music in the background can be comforting and help with pain relief.

3. Avoid Too Much Activity During The Day. There will be times when you may find yourself getting involved in activities that may be better left for someone else. The first several weeks are critical that you closely monitor your activity level. You generally will not suffer the consequences of overdoing some activity until later that night when you are trying to get some sleep. It is something that everyone will experience from time to time in the initial stages of your recovery.

If you find that you are awaken by your knee during the night, it is generally letting you know to move it. Either pumping your knee while lying down or getting up and walking a little will actually calm the knee down allowing you to fall back to sleep.

Getting a sound nights sleep will be challenging at first when you get home however in time as it heals you will be able to get back to your usual sleeping patterns within two to three weeks.

Osteoarthritis - Signs and Symptoms


Osteoarthritis is a common condition affecting the joints that can affect mobility and quality of life. It can limit daily function such as ability to squat down or carry heavy objects.

This article reviews the signs and symptoms used to diagnose osteoarthritis.

It is a very common; 8.5 million people in the UK have osteoarthritis (Arthritis Care, UK 2002).

Osteoarthritis may first appear between ages 30 and 40, and is present in almost everyone by age 70.

There are several symptoms associated with arthritis and can include:

- Morning stiffness of stiffness after periods of inactivity
- Achy joints
- Pain
- Restriction range of motion/ impaired mobility
- Crepitus or grinding sound on movement

Symptoms are most likely felt in large weight-bearing joints in one or more sites especially the hip, knee, spine and hand.

Osteoarthritis can develop as we age or from other factors, such as injury or being overweight.

It is important that if you experience these symptoms that you consult a suitably qualified health professional for an assessment and diagnosis.

Most people with arthritis or degenerative joint pain have already been to their doctor to get it diagnosed.
In my experience there are some times when you MUST see your physician about your joint pain.

Here is my advice, if you have any of the following:

- joint pain that is causing persistent pins and needles or numbness
- spinal pain with weakness in your arms or legs, pins and needles, or loss of control of bladder and bowel (you need to see your doctor immediately for this one)
- undiagnosed trauma or significant injury that has not been assessed
- joints that lock regularly or give way on you (especially knees)
- unexplained weight loss
- constant unremitting night pain
- unable to weight bear through the joint
- undiagnosed joint pain for more than 2 weeks

Then you MUST consult your physician. Not all joint pain is from arthritis, and an accurate diagnosis is very important.

Your health professional will ask a series of questions to learn more about the symptoms then do an objective assessment.

On examination there may be swelling around the joint, heat, deformity, and pain on manual joint compression.

This could be confirmed by X-ray imaging where your health professional could see any of the following:

- narrowing of the joint space
- bony spurs or osteophytes
- alignment changes of the joint

It is important to know that signs follow symptoms and that in early arthritis you may experience some symptoms of osteoarthritis before the signs. As the condition develops it is more pronounced on X-ray imaging. Your health professional will look at the total clinical picture for the diagnosis.

Once you have received a diagnosis it is important to establish a systemised management plan that you can easily integrate in to your life to proactively manage your osteoarthritis. The earlier and more comprehensive your plan is in the beginning the better for your overall outcome.

An Unstable Knee Joint - Does it Feel Like it Ruins Everything!? - Improve Stability With a Support


What Is An Unstable Knee Joint?

An unstable knee joint can be the result of an injury or an underlying medical condition that causes the knee joint to give out on occasion (or all the time!). Many people refer to this condition as a trick knee. This can be caused by an injured or torn knee ligament, such as a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the knee. The condition can be treated either by wearing a knee brace or surgery.

Symptoms of an Unstable Knee Joint:

1.) Knee giving out from under you when walking or standing
2.) Pain or stiffness in the knee
3.) Cracking sound in the knee

These symptoms of the unstable knee joint can also be symptoms of other problems such as osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, although the knee giving out usually is indicative of an unstable knee joint due to an injured ligament.

How do you get an Unstable Knee Joint?

Trauma, or a sudden turn or twist to the knee can cause a ligament to give out on you. More often than not, a sports injury will "do the trick", but average everyday people can also suffer these injuries in a multitude of ways.

What are the Treatment Options?

Treatment options include total rebuilding of the knee ligament or conservative treatment such as using painkillers when needed, as well as using a knee brace.

Debating the Pros and Cons of the Treatment Options

A.) Knee Surgery: Knee surgery to repair the ligament can be done, although this is an expensive operation and is not 100 percent successful. As is the case with any type of surgery, there is an element of risk, especially since the person must undergo a general anesthetic. The surgery is usually followed by rehabilitation and pain killers. Some people who undergo knee surgery develop an addiction to pain killers that are given after the surgery. (Speak with your physician about medications that you may, or will be taking.)

The positive aspect of the knee surgery is that if successful, the knee will be as good or almost as good as new. A person can resume all of their activities once the knee has completely healed. However, there is an indication that many people who have a problem with a torn ligament are more likely to undergo the same problem again.

B.) Conservative Treatment: Conservative treatment for an unstable knee joint includes wearing a knee brace that will keep the joint stable as well as taking medication for swelling. Rest can also be incorporated into the treatment. Some homeopathic doctors recommend an anti-inflammatory diet, supplements and massage for the condition. For the most part, a knee brace will work well to stabilize the joint and help reduce your pain problems This is not costly and non-invasive. With conservative treatment the risks are usually lower.

The majority of people who have an unstable knee joint opt for conservative treatment whenever possible. The pain that is present can be almost always be managed and when wearing a knee brace an unstable knee joint does not adversely impact their daily life. Nevertheless, you must always exercise caution and wear the brace properly.

If you want to take your knee stability to the next level then it is time you considered using a brace for support. They do not have to be super expensive, or awkward either. Check one out today.

If You Want to Grow Taller, What Are the Options?


Most people would agree that being tall is a valuable attribute in our society. If you aren't sure about this, let me tell you some interesting statistics:


  • If two people who are equally qualified, go for a interview for the same job. The taller person will get the job in 72% of cases. That means the taller person has a three times better chance of getting the job than the short person.

  • In all but 3 of the Presidential elections in the last 110 years, the taller man has won. 

  • Women will tend to rank shorter man as less desirable than taller men. Even if (using objective measures) the taller man is uglier than the shorter man.

  • Shorter men are much less likely to get married (probably as a result of the above point)

  • On first impressions, people tend to attribute positive characteristics to tall people and negative characteristics to short people.

So, it's pretty clear that shortness is a liability. Which leads the logical person to look at how they can deal with this situation? What are the options available to the person that wants to do something about their height (And remember you don't have to be short to benefit from a few extra inches in height.).

In this article I want to talk about the three main methods available to people who want to increase their height.

1. Growth Hormone supplements. 

Growth hormone is sometimes given to children with short stature and can result in reasonable increases in height. Although there is some controversy about this, it is carried out and obviously does have some benefits. 

The issue lies with giving growth hormone to adults to increase height. Growth hormone has recently been touted as an elixir that can reverse aging. It attracts big price tags and is offered at exclusive clinics to customers eager to slow their aging. Whether it truly has "fountain of youth" properties is not clear. We are still waiting for the proof. What is most clear is that giving growth hormone for increasing height is not advisable. Here is why:

When a child is growing, their bones grow at points called growth plates. Giving growth hormone can result in increased bone growth at those growth plates found in the long bones (e.g. in the legs). However, after the growth plates have closed (around the late teens/ early twenties) then growth hormone has no effects on these bones. Therefore you could give lots and lots of growth hormone to someone in their thirties and it would have no effect.

So, growth hormone is useless after a certain age. But it does have other effects. The most obvious one is on your wallet. Growth hormone courses can cost up to $20,000. The other issue is that taking excess quantities of growth hormone can have serious side effects, including bloating, major organ damage, heart failure and even premature death.

So basically, taking growth hormone for height is not only ineffective, it is also expensive and potentially lethal.

2. Height Surgery

Height Surgery is a very effective way of increasing height. Originally it was performed to help people with limbs of different length, but more recently to give height to people with short stature. It originated in Russia, but is now being performed around the world.

The basis of the procedure is to break the long bones and then allow them to heal over a period of several months. By careful mechanics, the new bone that heals is made to be longer than it was before the bones were broken. There can be gains of 3-4 inches with this surgery.

The main issues with this type of surgery are the risks associated with any procedure that requires the patient to be put to sleep. But these risks are very small. There are also risks of infection. The cost of the procedure is very high, around $100,000. The other issue is that the procedure requires long periods in bed (up to 8 months) while the external fixation devices are adjusted and tightened. The procedure can be very painful, but pain relief is given.

So, limb lengthening surgery works very well, but is very expensive, time consuming and as well as pain has some other risks involved like infection and anaesthesia.

3. Natural Methods for Height Increase

Which leaves us with how to grow taller naturally. Natural methods focus on things you can do to help with height increase that don't involve drugs or surgery. Natural methods use a combination of exercises, diet and cosmetic strategies to bring about increases in height. 

Some people appear shorter than they are due to postural problems like slouching, knock-knees, tilted pelvis etc. These postural problems can be improved by doing certain exercises. In addition compression of the inter-vertebral discs can result in height decrease. Exercise to improve the strength of muscles and ligaments supporting the spine can prevent this compression.

In other cases, poor nutrition can contribute to poor bone health which affects stature. There is also a possibility of improving "perceived" stature by sartorial (dressing) techniques.

Using natural methods requires effort and responsibility to be taken by the individual. You will need to apply the system in your life. People who expect things to happen without effort will be disappointed.

So, natural methods are cheaper and safer than other methods, but they require effort and application to make them work. Some people may find this taking responsibility for their height increase difficult to do. Of course it all comes down to how much you want to increase your height.

I hope that has given you a clear overview of the options available for height increase. Increased height can be a real advantage in our society and if you have the motivation to do something about it, then there are definite options available. Good luck!

What a Pain! Joint and Connective Tissue Disorders


Pain is pain and we want to be free from it, no matter the source of it. So often we are quick to treat the pain without taking the time to distinguish the cause. Knowing the cause of some pains can prevent unnecessary medication, mistreatment and prolonged aches and discomfort.

When dealing with joint and connective tissue disorders, the most common causes of pain are due to inflammation, swelling and inflexibility of the joints. When the inflammation is chronic, it inhibits the body's natural ability to heal and maintain joint and connective tissue health. When the joints are swollen and sore, the necessary nutrients needed by the joints to maintain synovial fluid have a hard time penetrating through the inflammation and entering into the cells of the joint tissue.

Examples of joint and connective tissue disorders that cause inflammation of joints include the following:

* Osteoarthritis
* Rheumatoid arthritis
* Lupus
* Gout
* Fibromyalgia

Commonly, suffers of joint arthritis pain, lupus and gout pain try to find relief with over the counter medicines, typically containing acetaminophen. While these products can provide temporary relief, they are usually associated with a variety of side effects such as gastrointestinal issues, dependency and cardiac risks. While these medicines can offer temporary relief, they are only helping to reduce a symptom of the inflammation and momentarily reduce the pain. Many suffers of joint arthritis pain, lupus and gout pain are seeking pain management that comes without so many possible negative effects and works to resolve the cause of the aches, stiffness and inflexibility.

Joint arthritis pain and other connective tissue disorder sufferers are seeking alternative products and dietary supplements to provide relief and hopefully offer pain management that can resolve the cause. While dietary supplements aren't medicines, the natural minerals, nutrients and ingredients replicate the natural healing process of the body. For instance, a combination of chrondroitin, glucosamine and hyaluronic acid has been used in clinical studies for the treatment of pain associated with osteoarthritis of the knee.

These ingredients naturally occur in the body and are needed for healthy joint and connective tissue maintenance. However, there is a catch 22: when joints undergo persistent damage and they need chrondroitin and glucosamine the most, the damage inhibits the production and absorption of these healing ingredients. Researchers have high hopes for supplementation with these ingredients, not only for joint pain relief but also for the possible repair of joint and connective tissue. Studies have not only shown a reduction in pain and an increase in flexibility, they also show improved activity of the cellular membrane in the joints, which hints at the possibility of repair and rebuilding of damaged connective tissue.

While pain management is possible, there are now more natural options to find relief from joint arthritis pain and pain caused by connective tissue disorders. However, with continued study and more research, we might find that there are possibilities beyond just pain management; such studies may prove to find solutions for the actual repair of worn and damaged joints and connective tissue.

Knee Physical Therapy


What is the largest joint in our body? Answer: The Knee.

The knee is the connecting point of a total of three bones in our legs: the lower end of the thigh bone or the femur, the upper end of the shinbone or the tibia, and the knee cap or the patella. Other parts of the knee are the cartilage or the shock absorbing cushions in between muscles, the tendons or the cords connecting muscles to bones, and the ligament or the bands connecting our bones to other bones. Any damage to all of these parts are accounted for by a Knee physical therapy, and just the ligament alone is so vulnerable to pulling, stretching and tearing, and with each knee having four major supporting ligaments: the anterior cruciate ligament or ACL at the center of knee, the posterior cruciate ligament or PCL also at the center, the lateral collateral ligament or LCL at the outer knee, and the medial collateral ligament or MCL at the inner knee - Oh the pains of a sprain! and much more other knee ailments. Knee physical therapy deals with damages to all these bones and parts altogether - so what better reason to take care of it!

Knee physical therapy injury prevention itself does so much in providing a better health for our knees. Being one of the most easily injured joints in the human body, the knee rightly deserves its warm- ups, before it lies fateful to Cartilage Injuries, Chrondromalacia, Tendon Injuries, Iliotibial Band Syndrome, Osgood-Schlatter Disease, Osteochondritis Dissecans, Plica Syndrome, or Arthritis.

If you are already suffering from any of these, then you should be in luck for knee physical therapy. Whether you are lying cooperatively on an injury RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation), or just watching your way for tripping stones, whether you have knee injury or knee pain, recovering from injury, or plainly trying to avoid it - Knee physical therapy can handle it all, as long as you get it immediately.

Yes there are other procedures to hold your back beyond a knee physical therapy, yet should you go that extra mile of surgery, arthroscopy, or knee replacement? Knee physical therapy offers easy access to prevention, emergency, or rehabilitation. Following simpler processes such as evaluation, therapy, education, and aftercare, knee physical therapy can literally make you good to go. Try to jump, stand, run, and pivot - jump for joy if you have a healthy knee!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Flatter Tummy Exercises For a Thinner Waist


It is important that you choose the most effective flatter tummy exercises. What do I mean by effective?

Well most people will knock out crunch after crunch, hoping that this will help to flatten their tummy. While the crunch is a good exercise,it is not the only tummy exercise that you should be focusing on.

You are either looking at trying to lose tummy fat, or getting some abs. The thing that many people tend to overlook, is that while tummy exercises are great for making the stomach stronger, and for shaping the abs, they are not considered to be tummy fat burning exercises.

If you are trying to lose some fat from your stomach, then you can do as many stomach exercises as you want, but not you or anybody else will ever see your abs, until you lose the fat that is covering them.

In order to lose the fat from your tummy, you will have to perform exercises which burn a lot of calories. This means doing some sort of cardio work. The type of cardio exercises that you do is entirely up to you, but choose something that you think you will be able to do on a regular basis.

There is no point going running if you hate running. There are a host of cardio exercises you can do from cycling, rowing, using a stepper aerobic exercise, and so on. Pick something that you think you are going to enjoy, and the bigger the chance that you will stick to it.

Flatter Tummy Exercises

The more the versatility in your tummy exercises, the more impressive the end result will be. Try to hit the stomach area from different angles, so your entire core area gets a good workout.

Seated crunch

This is a great exercise for the entire abdominal area. Sit on the end of a chair with your hands gripping the side of the chair. Lean back a little, keeping your legs together and straight. Now bring your knees up as high as you can, and then straighten your legs, keeping your feet off the floor through the whole movement.

The Plank

A simple but hard tummy exercise, as you will find out when you try it. Place yourself in a push up position, but instead of having your hands on the floor, you will rest on your forearms. So the only thing touching the floor are your feet and your forearms. Keeping your body straight, hold this position for as long as you can. Within minutes you will start to feel it working.

As you can see, the basic crunch or the sit up is not your only option. There are many other very effective flatter tummy exercises that you can do for a thinner waist and a flat tummy.

Knee Pain When Walking - Symptoms and Treatment Options For Your Knees - Special Report on Braces


Knee Pain While Walking - Treatment Options

As you already know, the knee is an exposed joint. Whenever you move, it takes on stress. It does not matter if you are walking, running, jumping etc. Even if you have never had any sort of incident where your knees were hurt, many individuals can suffer from moderate to severe knee discomfort due to wear and tear.

1.) Diagnosing The Cause of The Problem

We do not recommend self diagnosis. Save this job for your doctor. Once you go and see them, a physician will begin with some initial questions and make some observations about your condition... The physician will ask you about:

A.) Your medical history
B.) Your age
C.) They will want to know if you are having pain, and where it is located before, during and after walking
D.) Was their an incident that caused the pain, or did it come on more gradually
E.) When do you feel the pain the worst and what triggers the discomfort

2.) Typical Symptoms Associated to Knee Problems

A.) A locking sensation (Where you can not fully move your knee in a normal range of motion)
B.) A Popping or grinding feeling in the joint
C.) Your knee is unstable and may feel like it will give out
D.) It hurts to either partially weight bear, or pain comes in full weight bearing on the joint
E.) Edema (collection of fluid around the joint)
G.) The pain gets worse as you move in activities of daily living (walking, climbing stairs etc)

3.) Some Possible Reasons Why You Have Knee Discomfort While Walking

A.) Tendonitis - Literally, an inflammation of a tendon. Overuse, swelling in the knee joint, or pain while climbing stairs or when walking or running, may all be symptoms of tendonitis.

B.) Injuries to Your Meniscus - Meniscus injuries are also a common problem for individuals. You have 2 meniscii; one on the inside and outside of your knee joint (unless an abnormality left you with one or less... ) Severe pain, swelling and locking sensation while moving your knee may result with a meniscus injury.

C.) Ligament Tears: If you have ever heard a "pop" or your twisted your knee you may have injured one of your knee ligaments. The ACL, MCL, PCL and LCL are the four major knee ligaments. If injured you may swelling and instability. Sometimes people claim to have a sensation like their knee will give out from underneath them.

4.) Treatment Options

A.) Surgery: If the case is bad enough, you may need surgery. There are several treatment options that your physician will probably try first, to avoid having to go to the operating room.

B.) Rest & Ice: We all have heard of this treatment method. It has worked for many people, but the problem with rest is that it usually takes a while for something to heal, if it is injured. Many of us get restless and want to get active again before the injury may be healed. - Ice is also good for initial pain control and swelling issues. It has its place.

C.) Knee Braces for Support, Pain Reduction & Protection: If you have knee pain while walking you should consider one of these supports. Many people will tell us in a clinical setting that their pain reduces the moment they apply the brace, and their knee feels more secure. They are not bulky or heavy as some people might think. Improved support can mean protection for your internal structures as well.

Duration of Stiffness After Total Knee Replacement - How Long Does it Take to Heal?


The decision to have a full knee replacement operation is usually a long time coming. As you research the surgery itself, preparations you should make and details about recovery, you may find yourself overwhelmed with advice and tips from friends, family and strangers on the internet. To simplify things a bit, here is a generalized sequence of recovery that most patients go through. To answer the question of what the duration of stiffness after total knee replacement surgery is, read on.

Your surgeon may or may not have discussed the actually healing process with you yet. As you heal, your knee will go through three fairly distinct stages of rehabilitation. As a patient undergoing an intensive surgery like full knee replacement, it is critical for you to understand what you can expect once the surgery is in the past and you are doing your best to speed up the healing process. The first phase is undoubtedly the most painful with accurately descriptive words like swelling, throbbing and uncomfortable stiffness. To help decrease the duration of stiffness after total knee replacement, pumping the knee back and forth five or ten times is recommended. It can loosen up the knee and prevent spasms.

The next phase is when you really need to be careful. You may think your knee is ready to handle certain things it truly is not capable of yet. Newfound freedom of walking with a walker or cane can usually be accomplished at this point, but be sure to not overdo it. The final stage is the long-term healing. Your surgeon will probably tell you a year is about the time frame you can expect to be fully healed at. Before this amount of time has passed however, you should be able to perform many basic high-impact activities within reason and the duration of stiffness after total knee replacement should not be a topic of discussion anymore. By the end of this phase, you will have achieved the highest range of motion and lack of stiffness you can expect to get out of your artificial knee.

If you want to decrease the duration of stiffness after total knee replacement to far under the final stage of healing, there are certain things you must incorporate into your everyday life. Exercising methods will increase mobility and decrease recovery time while the right diet will keep your weight down and prevent unneeded stress to be put on your knee as it heals.

A Strict doctor ordered rehabilitation always follows knee replacement surgery. Unfortunately, this rehab is only enough to give you some mobility and get back part of your life. They don't expect people with knee replacements to have the full abilities like they once did, so they don't even try. With the right exercise and routines, though, you can have that life back, despite what the doctors tell you. Take the time to learn about rehabilitation from knee replacement surgery, and how you can ease your fear of living a sedentary life buy taking action.

Knee Ligament Damage


Here we will look at the different kinds of knee ligaments and the damages they can sustain.

Collateral Ligaments

The medial and the lateral collateral ligaments make up this group. The lateral strengthens the outer side of the knee and runs between your thigh bone and the top of your fibula. The medial ligament strengthens the knee joint on the inner side and runs between your femur and tibia. They both resist the side to side movement of the knee and prevent rotation. The lateral ligament is commonly damaged when your knee twists, or you are hit on the inner side of the knee. This is hard to occur on its own and usually happens due to outside forces.

The medial is a more common ligament to injure, and can also happen because of a direct hit to the outside of the knee or twisting of the knee.

Cruciate Ligaments

These basically cross each other and both join your tibia to your femur. The anterior cruciate ligament runs from the front of the tibia, to the base of your femur. It stops your shin bone from moving in front of your thigh bone. A tear in the ACL is quite a common injury amongst athletes, and it can happen when you change direction rapidly, decelerate when running, landing, or from receiving a hit to the knee. This is quite a serious injury as your stability is affected greatly. Surgery is often necessary to repair it.

The posterior cruciate ligament runs from the rear of your tibia to the base of your femur. It stops your shin bone moving backwards in relation to your thigh. It is stronger than the ACL. Tearing it is less common than other ligaments of the knee, and it can occur when your knee is hyper extended, or over flexed and the shin is forced backward. This will often heal with a rehab program and an injury to the PCL alone does not usually require surgery.

Different Grades Of Knee Ligament Damage

Although different ligaments are affected differently, they are graded the same. There are three grades of injuries that will help to classify what has actually occurred to the ligament that is injured. The symptoms and treatments vary according to the different ligament that you have damaged, however this system makes it easier to grade knee ligament damage.

Grade 1: This is a mild injury, and usually the ligaments have been stretched, but not torn at all. This is not a serious injury, and you may not have a lot of pain or swelling, but left untreated and you will be predisposed to a repeat of the injury.

Grade 2: In a grade 2 injury, the specific ligament will have a partial tear. It is common to experience both swelling and bruising, and using and moving the joint through a range of motion can be quite painful.

Grade 3: A grade 3 injury is the most severe, and the ligament will be completely torn. This will cause swelling and often bleeding under the skin. You will find that your joint is very unstable and weight bearing proves very painful.

We will look at and discuss the various treatments for the different knee ligament damages in a later post.

Knee Replacement Surgery for Relieving Knee Pain


Your knees are definitely very important for you. Both knees allow you to squat, walk, kneel and bend. If your knee is injured or suffering from painful conditions such as arthritis, you will have difficulties in performing your day to day activities. The most common types of painful knee conditions include traumatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. These common knee conditions affect the said joints on the legs.

Specific conditions include extreme knee pain that limits your daily activities. The knee pain ranging from moderate to severe could be felt during the day or night. Suffering from knee inflammation which is not relieved with the use of pain medication or rest could result in knee deformity and the stiffening of the knee.

Initially, patients who are suffering from different kinds of arthritis first try traditional treatment approaches. Various treatments will relieve knee pain and will slow knee joint damage. Traditional treatments include pain medications and injections, use of braces, undergoing physical and heat therapy. If these traditional treatments are still not effective, and the desirable response is not met, patients consider surgery as their last option. Knee replacement surgery is their last resort to relieve extreme knee pain.

Before you undergo knee replacement, the decision should be made with your family, the primary healthcare provider, and your orthopedic surgeon. You need to consider many things before subjecting yourself to the surgery. There are some conditions which you must experience for you to become one of the candidates of knee replacement surgery.

After you have decided, your past and present medical history is then evaluated. There is a need to gather all information regarding your overall health, the severity of your limitations and the extent and severity of your knee pain. You will undergo a series of physical examinations. Your surgeon will determine essential information such as your knee strength, alignment, stability, range of motion and several movements which will provoke pain. There is a need also for you to undergo a series of sophisticated tests such as X-rays to assess joint deformity and damage.

Before the surgery takes place, it is essential for you to understand what you should expect about the procedure. You need to know that the ultimate objective of the surgery is to improve the function of your knee. You will have specific restrictions after your surgery. Some restrictions are temporary but there are also permanent restrictions.

Free Your Hamstrings, Improve Your Performance - And Save Your Knees


A surprising number of problems arise from tight hamstrings and, given the frequency of knee injuries among athletes and dancers, it's obvious that the methods used to keep them free could be better. This article presents a more effective way to free your hamstrings, improve your performance, and avoid injury.

A Look at Your Hamstrings

The hamstrings are the muscles that run from behind and below your knees up the backs of your thighs to your "sitbones". Soft tissue injuries, knee pain, torn menisci (the cartilage pads in your knees that cushion the bones), chondromalacia patelli (painful wearing of the cartilage behind the kneecaps), and poor posture often come from tight hamstrings. Tight hamstrings can prevent you from reaching full leg extension or from bending over completely. If you can't touch your toes or if you feel more comfortable slouching than sitting up straight, your hamstrings are probably tight.

There are actually three hamstring muscles on the back of each thigh, two on the inside and one on the outside. They do several things. In addition to bending the knees, they help control the alternate forward-and-backward movements of walking and stability against twisting forces at the knee when you turn a corner or roller skate. They also position the menisci in the knees by means of fibers (of the biceps femoris) that pass into the knee joint.

Tight hamstrings contribute to swayback by pulling the knees behind the body's vertical centerline (i.e., locking the knees). The whole body sways forward, accentuating the spinal curves. If the outer hamstrings are tighter than the inner ones, the lower leg rotates toe-outward. This twist in the knee joint contributes to knee pain, to knee injuries, and to ungainly movement. Finally, when standing, bent knees trigger tension in the muscles on the front of the thigh, the quadriceps muscles, to prevent your knees from buckling. If you keep your knees bent all the time, the patella, or kneecap, which is embedded in the tendon of the quadriceps muscles, continuously grinds against the front surface of the knee joint and may become irritated.

As you can see, hamstring tension has far-reaching effects on movement, balance, and the health of joints.

Why Stretching Doesn't Protect 100% Against Hamstring Pulls and Soft-Tissue Injuries

Knowing all this, athletes and dancers attempt to stretch their hamstrings. "Attempt" is the correct word because stretching produces only limited and temporary effects, which is one reason why so many athletes (and dancers) suffer pulled hamstrings and knee injuries.

As anyone who has had someone stretch their hamstrings for them knows, forcible stretching is also usually a painful ordeal. In addition, stretching the hamstrings disrupts their natural coordination with the quadriceps muscles, which is why ones legs feel shaky after stretching the hamstrings.

Fortunately, there is a more effective way to manage hamstring tension than by stretching. To understand how it works, one must first recognize that hamstrings that need stretching are usually holding tension -- that is, they are actively contracting. In that case, the person is holding them tense by habit, unconsciously. Oddly enough, if one tries to relax them, one is likely to find that one cannot; one may then assume that the muscles are completely relaxed and need stretching. You may not realize that those muscles are contracting "on automatic" due to postural habits stored in your central nervous system. Any attempt to stretch them simply re-triggers the impulse to re-contract them to restore the sense of what is "familiar". That is why hamstrings (and other muscles) tighten up again so soon after stretching or massage. Better results come by changing the person's "set-point" -- their sense of what "relaxed" is.

What Works Better

To change the set-point requires more than stretching or massaging; it requires a learning process that affects the brain, which controls the muscular system. Such a learning process is referred to in some circles as "somatic education". Somatic education systematically uses special coordination patterns to improve awareness and control the tension of the muscular system. Significant results come relatively quickly, and when they do, the benefits are second nature and require no special attention in daily life.

The following coordination pattern, developed by Thomas Hanna, Ph.D., a pioneer in the field of somatic education, will show you. You may want to save this page so that you can try it on your own. Have someone read the instructions to you and follow along.

To learn the coordination pattern:
Get the illustrated version: click here


  1. Sit on the floor with one leg bent and dropped to the side. Its sole rests against the inside of your other leg, which is straight.


  2. Draw your straight leg up enough to permit you to grasp your foot with both hands; your finger tips meet at your sole. Get a firm grip, and you are ready to begin.


  3. Holding your foot firmly, gently push with your leg, so that your arm and shoulder stretch long. Hang your head forward. Work gently to the edge of your flexibility.


  4. Now, gradually relax your push, let your knee bend, and take up the slack by drawing your leg up with your hands. It's a kind of "moving isometric" exercise.


  5. Now, with your leg, push again, maintaining some pull with your hands. Go back and forth within your comfort zone.

You'll notice that with each repetition, you get a little further. You're gaining feeling and control of the muscular tension in your hamstrings. The thing to remember is to move slowly enough and just strongly enough to clearly feel the muscle action.

After about ten slow motion repetitions, stand up and feel the difference between your two legs. Walk. You will notice that you feel looser, and yet secure.

Now, do the other leg.

You can do this coordination pattern in numerous positions:


  • Sitting

  • On your back

  • On your side

  • On your other side

Each position contributes to greater awareness and control.

Regardless of how long you may have had tight hamstrings or how tight they are, you will feel some improvement each time you do it -- until you are naturally loose.

Freeing your hamstrings this way can prevent soft-tissue injuries and preserve joint integrity. Your hamstrings will be stronger because, being relaxed, they will not be partially fatigued all the time. You will be able to run or walk faster and your knees will be more stable. Runners may find this benefit of particular interest.

How to Get More

What you are doing is a special kind of movement maneuver taught in a training method called Hanna Somatic Education® (Google the term). This kind of do-it-yourself functional exercise is one part of the method. Other, more powerful techniques reduce the chronic pains and loss of flexibility caused by aging, injury (including overuse injuries and surgery), and stress.

You will find illustrated instructions for some of the somatic exercises Dr. Hanna devised in his do-it-yourself book, Somatics: Reawakening the Mind's Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health (published by Perseus Books, sold at Amazon.com).

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Great Benefits in Having Lightweight Luggage


Lightweight luggage is very easy to carry and is quite comfortable during long distance travel. Here are some great benefits that light weight luggage can offer you:

Mobility
Having a light luggage gives you more freedom to move around even when carrying it. You can easily engage in a conversation and even carry additional weight whenever required. A lightweight trolley can be easily carried on an airplane as a cabin baggage. This is especially helpful for business passengers who can avoid long queues for check-in baggage.

Airlines Weight Control
Most domestic Airlines have a strict weight limitation of 50 pounds. Carrying more than this weight can get you in trouble with monetary penalties. One way to avoid this penalty is through lightweight luggage. These luggage models can save you some precious weight, which can be further used for other important things that you intend to carry.

Health Problems
Carrying heavy stuff is generally considered to be good exercise and a test of strength and endurance of an individual. However, this is true if you are around your twenties and are physically very fit and athletic. For most people though, carrying heavy load is not a healthy advisable. Especially, for old people and for those who have heart problems, having lightweight models can be helpful in moving around without risking the body to its physical limitations. Arthritis and knee pains can also be sometimes attributed to carrying heavy luggage during travel, providing more incentives to keep the luggage light.

More Things to Carry
The lighter is the luggage, the more room is available so that additional items can be brought. The extra pounds that you save because of lightweight luggage can easily help you to bring more stuff. This is very helpful to people who like to bring travel gifts all the time. A lightweight and durable luggage will surely come in handy to pack presents and gifts for your loved ones back home.

Those are some of the many great benefits that lightweight models can offer. Having one around you, especially when traveling, will surely provide you with the comfort and easiness that you need during traveling. Moreover importantly, choose a luggage wisely. Some people choose luggage which are light however not durable enough to withstand the rough traveling conditions. Others do not choose the correct size for a lightweight cabin baggage. A typical lightweight luggage has soft cover and made up of good synthetic material like nylon.

Out of the Forest of Noise - On Publishing the Literary Short Story


So you'd like to try getting your short story published. Take heart: you can do it. And, if your work is worthy- a question only you can answer- it merits the effort. Like a boat, send it out where it belongs, over the great wide sea. Let it find readers, whoever they may be, on whatever strange shores. Some of your readers may not be born yet. It helps to keep that in mind.

Beginning writers often imagine publishing their short story to be a glamorous event, Hemingwayesque in a wear-your-sunglasses-and-knock-back-the-grappa-as-agents-ring-your-phone-off kind of way. But for most writers it's an experience on par with, say, folding laundry. Unless you make one of the slicks- The New Yorker, Esquire, Atlantic Monthly, Harper's- most likely your payment will be two copies of the magazine. These will arrive in your mailbox in a plain brown envelope. Some editors jot a thankyou note, but most don't bother. Chances are, your friends and family will not have heard of the magazine. Even the best literary journals often manage only a modest circulation- 500 to 5,000- and may not be available for sale except in a very few widely scattered off-beat independents. In short, if you want money, you'd do better to flip burgers, and if you want attention, go fight bulls. Knock back that grappa, heck, wear a spangled pink tutu and splash in the Dupont Circle fountain during lunch hour. Scream obscenities in Swahili. Whatever.

So why try? Because when your story is published it is no longer one copy printed out from your printer, but 1,000 or more. Perhaps one is lying on someone's coffee table in Peterborough, New Hampshire, or on a poet's broad oak desk overlooking the beach at La Jolla, California. Maybe one sits on the shelves at the University of Chicago's Regenstein Library, or on a side table in the lobby at Yaddo. Perhaps a dentist will read your story, or a retired school teacher from Winnetka. Perhaps one day, a hundred years from now, a bizarrely tattooed highschool student will find it on a shelf in the basement of the Reno, Nevada public library, and she will sit down Indian-style on the cold linoleum floor and read it, her eyes wide with wonder. Your story, once published, lives its own life, sinking some deep, strange roots. Potentially forever.

And of course it is validating

(i. e., gives one's ego the warm & fuzzies) to have your work published. It also helps to mention it in your cover letters when you try to get other work published, or apply for grants and fellowships, or to attract the attention of an agent, and so on. Indeed, publishing one's stories in literary journals is (with a very few notable exceptions) y a prerequisite to securing a publisher for a collection.

If you can keep your focus on the story, however, and what the story merits- rather than the warm & fuzzies for your ego- the process will be easier. Expect your ego to take some punches.

First, Rejections

It may appear that we live in a nation of "Leno"watchers, throngs of Gladiator"-goers, Stallone fans, Brad Pitt groupies and the like. From a breezy foray through the local mall's bookstore, one might guess that America reads nothing but brand-name bodice-rippers, shiny red foil paperbacks with nuclear warheads on their covers, or those teensy gifty "books" with angels and cats on them displayed at the cash register alongside the chotchkes and chocolates.

Mais non! Secretly, millions of Americans are scribbling, and bravely (if often furtively) thousands and thousands are sending their work to literary magazines. Yes, thousands and thousands (and say that again, out loud, à la Carl Sagan). The Paris Review receives over 10,000 submissions a year. My own Tameme, a bilingual literary magazine with a mere two issues out, has received over 200 submissions. Most litmags publish only 2-3% of the manuscripts they receive. As for the "slicks"- GQ, Esquire, Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, The New Yorker-getting published in one of these, even for the most outstanding and recognized writers, even National Book Award winners, is like winning the lottery.

In short, you've got some competition. So when you receive the unsigned xeroxed form rejection note that says "Sorry" it could mean your story sucks and you should do yourself a favor and burn it, but it could mean that it's a fine story and they simply didn't have room for it. Or they already had a story about a dying alcoholic gradmother, the heartbreak of losing the family dairy farm, or for that matter, a flying monkey in a business suit. (You'd be amazed.) Equally, it could mean it's one of the best short stories ever written- better than Chekov's "The Lady with the Pet Dog," better than Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find," better than A. Manette Ansay's "Read This and Tell Me What It Says"- and the editor, or more likely some flunkey/ wannabe / slush pile- squeegee, is an aethetically blind/ dispeptic / Philistine / pinhead. Who was probably hung over. Or jealous. Who knows? The point is, the little unsigned xeroxed rejection note means nothing except that this particular magazine's editor at this particular time has chosen not to publish this particular story.

Sometimes editors write personal notes explaining why they didn't take your story. Indeed, anything handwritten and/ or signed by an editor can mean that a distinguished literary personage has taken an interest in your work, and you should, gratefully, with a zing in your heart and Jell-O in your knees, interpret this as both validation and an invitation to send more. It can also mean that an inexperienced graduate student/ assistant/ whomever as yet unacquainted with the toughening rigors of plowing down towering slush piles felt guilty saying no and was merely attempting in a flakey and time-consuming way to be nice.

Thus it behooves you to do your research about the litmags and editors you are sending your work to. A personally signed rejection letter from the Editor-in-Chief of The Kenyon Review, for example, would make my day. On the other hand,even lengthy letters from an assistant of a minor new litmag would no more impress me than the comments of a commuter randomly collared at the bus stop. (Who might be a very perceptive fellow, but who knows? He could be coke-addled lunkhead.) Keep in mind that anyone- yes anyone, including the flying monkey- can found a litmag. Compared to, say, making a feature film, or casting bronze sculpture, publishing a litmag is dirt cheap. All of which is to say, unless they are from the likes of the editor-in-chief of The Kenyon Review, don't take letters from editors too seriously. For that matter, don't take editors themselves too seriously.

So you send again, and again. And again. She who spends for the most postage wins. As does she who does her research.

Research, Research, Research

The most basic level of research is to get an overall feel for the "market" for literary short fiction. You can usually find a reasonably interesting selection at your local library. If you can afford it, however, I recommend you go to a bookstore and buy a bunch - at the Georgetown Barnes & Noble I've spotted Chelsea, Calyx, Witness, The Paris Review, Southwest Review, Tin House, Potomac Review, all of which would be worth your while to read. Read all you can, and read the contributors notes. If you read a story by, say, Bob Doe, that you admire, and you read in Bob Doe's bio that he's also published in Seattle Review, High Plains Review, and DoubleTake- check 'em out! Another good way to spot worthy litmags is to pick up prize-winning short story collections - anything that wins the AWP, Iowa Prize, Flannery O'Connor, Bakeless, National Book Award, etc- and look on the acknowledgments page to see where stories have been previously published.

Then have a look at the web for guidelines. Litmags without a website will usually send guidelines in exchange for a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope). A great place to look for links is on the website of the Council of Literary Magazines and Small Presses, http://www.clmp.org

Reference books like Writers Market can be helpful, but in my experience they are often too quickly out of date. There is no substitute for actually seeing - and reading - a magazine and its guidelines before you submit.

Guidelines not only give an idea of the types of writing the editors are looking for, but reading periods. Many litmags read only during the fall, or during the winter. Some read Sept - May, others Oct -June. Oftentimes litmags have special issues, e.g., "The Body", "Mothers and Daughters", "Love in America", "Overcoming Loss", "Borderlands." Your manuscript will have a better chance if you can aim it at a special issue.

2007 Update: an increasing number of litmags accept on-line (e-mailed) submissions. Nonetheless, many editors refuse to read e-mailed submissions. Be sure to check the submissions guidelines before zapping out that attachment.

Calls for submissions are often listed in the classifieds in Poets & Writers, a publication I strongly recommend that you subscribe to. (For more information go http://www.pw.org) For those of you in the Washington DC metropolitan area, consider joining The Writers Center. Their publication, Writer's Carousel, also inlcudes numerous calls for submission.

Contests can be tricky. These invite you to send a story with an entry fee of anywhere from $5 to $20. The fees are often used to fund the litmag, and/or to pay a judge for her time reading manuscripts. For book contests- especially for poetry, but also for literary short story collection awards such as the AWP, Bakeless, Iowa, Flannery O'Connor, and others- reading fees cover the honoria for the judge, and as such I think they are fair and fine. For individual stories, however, I would not enter a contest that requires a fee unless it includes a subscription or anthology that I would have bought anyway. There are too many litmags that don't request a fee to consider your work, and given your chances, you might as well lay down your bucks on a lottery ticket. In short, be sure you know where and why you are sending before you start writing checks.

The Mechanics of Submission

First, your cover letter. This should have your name, address, tel, and e-mail.

Address the letter to a specific person if you can- "To the Fiction Editor" is a red flag that you don't know the magazine.

Tell them what you're submitting,

e. g., "Please find enclosed for your consideration a short story, "Down the Well"). Do not explain the story, e.g., "this is a story about a young girl who falls down a well," etc. You are not selling a nonfiction article

- the literary short story is art, and you must let it speak for itself. Explaining and introducing is blather, it annoys the editor and it makes you look silly.

Editors are human however, so it helps- if you can do it honestly- to say something about their litmag, e.g., "I bought a copy of ABC at the Bethesda Book Festival and I really admired the story by Bob Doe". If you can't say anything, don't. Brief and business-like is fine.

Include something about yourself- a few sentences, a paragraph at the most, that could be used as your contributor's note if your story is taken. I find them easier to both write and read in the third person. (I put mine at the bottom of the page, under the title "Brief Bio".) This is your opportunity to signal that you're serious-

e. g., "Bob Doe's stories have been published in ABC, PDQ etc" or "Bob Doe was recently awarded a scholarship at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference and is now in his second year at the Johns Hopkins MFA Program". If you don't have literary "credentials," not to worry, a simple note will do, e.g., "Bob Doe is a statistician who lives in Grand Forks, North Dakota with his wife, four children and pack of seven Alpo-guzzling Huskies. He is at work on a novel." Anything more- your five page resume, a previously published poem, a newspaper article about your amazing recovery after being simultaneously hit by a cement truck and an estimated 397 volts of lightning- is clutter. The editor has limited time and attention, so don't take it up with the nonessential. End the cover letter with a "thank you for considering my work" and sign it.

The manuscript itself should have your name, address, tel and e-mail in the upper left hand corner. If you can, include a word count, preferably in the upper right hand corner. Double space the text (or else!). Fasten the whole thing- manuscript, and cover letter- with a paper clip. (Don't staple, because if they do seriously consider your story they may need to make xerox copies for other editorial readers.)

Finally- crucially- enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) for the reply because without it you may not get one. Unless your manuscript is short enough to fit in the 39 c stamped envelope, expect them to (ahem) recycle it.

The Question of Multiple Submissions

A dismaying number of litmag editors say that they either do not accept multiple submissions, or that they insist on being informed. My view is, they're shouting into the wind because so many writers do it anyway. According to my own informal poll, 90% of serious already well published short story writers multiple submit, and without compunction. With the odds so stacked against even the best writers, to expect a one-at-a-time submissions is not only unrealistic but grossly unfair. If you submit your story to one litmag at one at a time, it may take years, toe curling, shoulder sagging years, to find it a home. Even the most distinguished litmags can sometimes take as long as a year to reply. That's right, a year. Rather than get steamed about that, keep in mind that litmag publishing is not a profit generating business, but a labor of love. Most editors are not paid for their time, and if they are, only poorly paid. They're only human, they have to take the kids to the dentist and grade papers and water the lawn and walk the dog and write their own short stories/poems/ novel, and in any case the slush pile is very tall, and growing ever taller what with all these multiple submissions...

If you do have a story accepted, you should immediately inform all of the other editors that you are withdrawing it. A simple postcard will do: "Dear Editor: This is to let you know that I am withdrawing my story "Down the Well". I hope this has not caused any inconvenience. Sincerely, Bob Doe." To do otherwise- to wait in hopes of a bigger bite from, say, The New Yorker- is both dishonorable and unfair to the editor who has taken your story. The literary world is small, and it seems to me that in a somewhat random but inexorable way, what goes around comes around.

I think submitting to three or four litmags or slicks is a good number to start with. With each rejection, send out another. If after three months you haven't received a reply from a given journal, this may mean your story is under serious consideration, although, it may mean your story is sitting behind some junior assistant's couch who still hasn't read it and by the way the cat pissed on it. Who knows? So it's a tough call whether to withdraw the manuscript or not. All I can say is, go with your gut.

Aside from the secretarial hassle and expense of postage, another reason not to send out more than three or four submissions of a given story at a time is that most likely, with a fresh look a few months later, you will want to revise it. You may even want to take it out of circulation. Again, go with your gut.

Keep Learning, Keep Writing

I doubt there are many serious short story writers who don't have a thick file of rejections. It's part of the game, and so don't let them fluster you. Some of the best short stories have five, eight, even fifteen rejections behind them. One prize-winning story by a major contemporary writer racked up 48- that's right, 48- rejections before it was taken. Some genuinely amazing stories are never published- until they show up in a collection.

As writers we must continually work to balance on the razor's edge of arrogance and humility- and we do that with a dose of both: arrogance to continue sending out work when it has been rejected and rejected and rejected; humility to recognize when we need to rewrite, or re-envision, or even (ah well) to discard. Trying to publish can be a discouraging and disorienting experience, like entering a dark forest full of noise. The trick is, keep your chin up but your ego in check, and stay focused on maintaining that balance, and making your writing the best you can.

When your story is accepted for publication, let your ego, for a few private minutes, tingle and shine. When, some months later, your two contributors copies arrive in their plain brown envelope, sit down and read one. Get to know the company your story is in. Write the editors a thank you note. Be generous- if you honestly can- with kind comments about the other contributors' work. Update your resume and bio. Smile wistfully as you wish your story a bon voyage. And then, at last, you can plunk the thing on a shelf and get back to the fun stuff: writing.

Common and Severe Ankylosing Spondylitis Symptoms


Ankylosing spondylitis is swelling mainly of your joints within the spinal column. However it may also include soreness of your eyes, some other joints, particularly all those within the hips, chest, and all over the heels. On some instances, the feet, shoulders, hands, knees and wrists also get sore.. Though it is uncommon, ankylosing spondylitis symptoms are also able to trigger changes such as thickening of the aorta or the major artery as well as the valve inside the heart known as the aortic valve.

When the inflammation persists after some time, it is going to bring about permanent scarring and damage. In several individuals the condition is usually light and advances gradually. The signs and symptoms will never become critical. Some people might have a more intense condition progression.

Whether or not ankylosing spondylitis symptoms become more serious are determined by several factors like the age of when you started to experience the disease, how soon it was clinically determined, and which joints are concerned. It really is too soon to know yet, however specialists believe that fast cure using more recent medications will decrease or lessen the soreness, avoid scar tissue formation, and restrict the advancement of the ailment.

The signs of this disease normally begin with irregular rounds of pain on your lower back area, having both discomfort and tightness getting intense at nighttime, on getting up, or in times of inactivity. On the other hand, indications usually get better through physical exercise. Even though pain is originally centered within the sacroiliac joints that are lying between your spine and pelvis, it could spread out to other sections of your backbone as time passes.

Common and Minor Symptoms

You could encounter ankylosing spondylitis symptoms everyday or occasionally. Sometimes some of these signs and symptoms may be acute:

繚 Fatigue or Tiredness

繚 Lumbar region or sacroiliac pain

繚 Neck pain

繚 Eventual reduction of spinal flexibility

繚 Eventual loss of mobility particularly the range of flexibility within the joint

繚 Hip pain

繚 Stiffness in the spine

繚 Intense pain and tightness along with inactivity

The following are other manifestations of this disease which are less common even during its advance stage. Some people encounter these from time to time.

• Uveitis or inflammation of the eyes

• Heel pain

• Lack of appetite

• Mild fever

• Painful and inflamed shoulder, knee or ankle

• Sudden weight loss

However, there are more serious indications which may reveal a life-threatening situation. This means that immediate medical attention is required. While ankylosing spondylitis is not fatal by itself, the injury to your joints could predispose to bone fracture or even damage to your spine. Below are the serious warnings of this disease.

• Fecal and urinary incontinence

• Numbness and weakness of the extremities

• Acute pain on your joints and lower back

These ankylosing spondylitis symptoms seem to be manageable. However, if any of these gets out of hand or becomes chronic, you need to consult your doctor for proper medical assistance.