All Bones, joints & muscles Articles

There’s nothing like a five-hour wait in the emergency room to put a damper on the holiday spirit. Yet each winter thousands of people visit the ER for injuries sustained on snow-packed slopes and icy walkways, from falls taken while trimming the tree or stringing holiday lights. When the pace gets frenzied -- as it often does around the holidays -- it's easy to get careless. So, to get Read more...

There’s nothing like a five-hour wait in the emergency room to put a damper on the holiday spirit. Yet each winter thousands of people spend time in the ER seeking treatment for injuries sustained while skiing, skating, snowboarding, from slipping on icy walkways or mishaps when hanging lights and decorating the house. (Who knew tree trimming could be dangerous?) In the spirit of Read more...

The Cordova great-grandmother knew she was in trouble when she slipped on her attic stairs nearly eight years ago and heard her right ankle snap as she hit the ground. After surgery and a cast, Charlene Bennett's ankle healed, but "I never stopped hurting. I went through a series of boots and braces, but my ankle never stopped hurting." Until earlier this year when Dr. Drew Read more...

This week, we look at swollen ankles and how to reduce them. Oedema is the medical name for fluid that builds up in the skin and tissue of the leg. It occurs when fluid from the blood moves through the walls of the blood vessels and collects in surrounding tissue. This can happen for several reasons -- sitting in a low pressure environment (such as an airplane) is one cause. But the Read more...

Nov. 4 -- On the orderly shelves of Keith Del Prete's pharmacy, there are lotions and treatments made by some of the biggest companies in the United States. But on one shelf stands a package that reads Cramp 911. This is something Del Prete, a pharmacist in Orefield Penn., developed himself. And he has begun marketing the product, competing with the well-known companies whose products Read more...

Nov. 10 -- VICTORVILLE -- For anyone who complains about back pain, you're not alone. It is estimated that 31 million people in the United States have lower-back pain at any given time. The American Chiropractic Association reports that direct and indirect costs associated with back pain is about $50 billion a year. It is a leading cause of disability and lost production in the nation. Read more...

Oct. 29 -- WASHINGTON -- Medical science has learned a great deal about the causes of pain and ways to relieve it, pain experts say, but for a host of reasons, the treatment of pain and suffering has improved hardly at all in recent years. John Seffrin, the president of the American Cancer Society, calls this "a national health-care crisis of under-treated pain." "Nearly Read more...

QUESTION: When I am standing in line, taking my half-mile daily walk or just about anything that involves standing for more than a few minutes, I get a tingling sensation at the bottom of my spinal cord (in the buttocks area). As soon as I feel this. I know I need to find someplace immediately to sit down. If I don't, the sensation goes all the way down to my toes. If I try to walk, it feels as Read more...

Back, neck or shoulder pain could be increasing due to the financial crisis but exercise, talk and sex could bring relief, a U.S. pain specialist says. Dr. Norman Marcus, director of muscle pain research at the New York University School of Medicine, said the financial meltdown is causing millions to worry about losing their jobs, homes and retirement savings and that stress and tension Read more...

ROSEMONT, Ill., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Families will visit pumpkin patches this month and then take pumpkins home to carve them into jack-o-lanterns. While pumpkin carving is as much a part of Halloween as trick-or-treating, the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) has some tips for how to prevent hand injuries so the whole family can safely enjoy the experience. Read more...

Are you taking your back for granted? As sufferers will tell you, back pain can be excruciating -- but at worst it can also be debilitating. Last week was Back Care Awareness Week, when people were asked to think about how to keep their backs in tip-top shape. Here is our guide to keeping your spine healthy. As a chartered physiotherapist, more than half of Paul Nicholls's workload Read more...

Gout is a painful form of arthritis that has long been associated with a rich diet, and a change in that department is just one thing that can make a difference. Gout afflicts as many as 3 million Americans, mostly men, postmenopausal women and people with kidney disease, according to the American College of Rheumatology. Gout attacks are caused by a buildup of a waste product called uric Read more...

Sep. 8, 2008 - CHAPEL HILL- Almost half of all U.S. adults and nearly two-thirds of obese adults will develop painful osteoarthritis of the knee by age 85, a study based at UNC suggests. The study also found that a person's lifetime risk rose as body mass index or BMI increased, with the greatest risk found in those whose weight was normal at age 18 but were overweight or obese at 45 or Read more...

No doubt about it, getting into any physical labor, sports activity, or even sitting too long at a desk, can give boomers a pain in the neck -- or back, or joints, or typing fingers -- you name it. As we age our bodies stiffen up and are more reluctant to get moving. But exercise itself is often the best of all therapies. Don't leave your sore knees in charge, gardeners, a massage Read more...

Q. Are there new methods for controlling the pain of total hip and knee surgery? A. Total joint replacements are some of the most successful procedures in all of medicine. However, many patients with arthritis are concerned about pain after surgery and the pain of recovery. There are newer approaches to limit pain before, during and after surgery:   An exercise program Read more...

Artificial joints have changed incrementally in recent years. But techniques have changed drastically, and people who receive knee or hip replacements are healing faster than ever. Those changes include use of regional rather than general anesthesia, along with nerve blocks, rehab efforts that begin within hours of surgery, and less-invasive surgical techniques, according to Dr. Josh Hickman Read more...

Anne-Marie Kessler has a hard time sitting still -- except when she sinks down into the depths of her reclining massage chair. "I really don't know how to relax," says Kessler, who suffers aches and pains, including arthritis in her back and leg muscles prone to cramping. Also, "I always want to do something, and when I sit down I get bored. "But not in this chair. I Read more...

A long daily commute can cause more than stress and cost more than big bucks for gas -- a U.S. hand therapist says it can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome. Jennifer Valle of Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas says hours behind the wheel in the car can cause carpal tunnel -- a condition where swollen tendons put pressure on the median nerve causing pain and numbness. Repeated, Read more...

Exercises that stretch and strengthen the muscles of your abdomen and spine can help prevent debilitating and painful back problems. Whether dull and constant or sudden and sharp, low-back pain affects eight out of 10 Americans at some point during their lives, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. As millions know, back pain can quickly become Read more...

(Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors [PNET], Ewing's Family of Tumors)Pronounced: YOO-ingz sar-KOH-muh by Diana KohnleDefinitionEwing's sarcoma is a cancerous bone tumor that may occur in any bone in the body and also in soft tissue (the latter of which is termed an extraosseous sarcoma). The most commonly affected areas include the pelvis, thigh, lower leg, upper arm, and rib.The cancer Read more...