January 2004
Ask Dr. Marks: 01/04
Subscribers Only I hear more and more about lumbar stenosis being a common problem with seniors. What exactly is it and what is the suggested therapy or cure if one exists? Lumbar spinal stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal canal, which is usually the result of spinal arthritis. The spinal canal contains both the spinal cord and nerve roots, and narrowing of the spinal canal can compress these nerve roots, resulting in pain. With an aging U.S.…
Kitchen Helpers
Subscribers Only In coping with arthritis, it’s best to keep your body as strong as possible by trying to do things yourself. But when you’re in pain, assistive devices can help you do tasks faster and more efficiently. Nowhere is this more true than in the kitchen, where an abundance of tasks—slicing, dicing, handling pots, opening cans, jars, boxes and bottles—faces you. …
Knees: TLC For An Overworked Joint
Subscribers Only Your knee is a mechanical wonder, enabling this largest of weight-bearing joints to roll, glide, and rotate. Unfortunately, it’s also the most used and abused of joints, too often injured by sudden trauma or long-term wear and tear. To help protect these most complex of joints from premature breakdown, you need to keep the supporting muscles and ligaments strong and flexible. Here are four exercises that will help. Some may not be appropriate if you…
Arthritis And Your Eyes
Subscribers Only While you might think of arthritis only in relation to your joints, inflammation associated with arthritis and related diseases can also affect your eyes. Other eye complications may be caused by medications used to treat arthritic conditions. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) RA, an autoimmune disease resulting in painful inflammation of the joints, can also cause scleritis, an inflammation of the sclera, or coating of the eye. Scleritis starts at the outer layers of the sclera and moves…
Pain And The Power Of Positive Thinking
Subscribers Only Has a well-intentioned friend ever told you that your arthritic pain is a product of your imagination—that it’s “all in your mind”? Well, your friend was probably wrong. Pain can, indeed, be real. Anchored soundly in your physiology, it can play a valuable role in drawing your attention to the parts of your body that have gone haywire and need fixing. …
In the News: 01/04
Subscribers Only Write The Pain Away An arthritis flare-up can be brought on by any number of factors—extreme stress, a disturbing event, personal loss or conflict—each of which can impact the immune system. One not-so-traditional way to lessen the pain of flare-ups is described in The Writing Cure: How Expressive Writing Promotes Health and Emotional Well-Being (American Psychological Association). Co-editors Joshua Smyth, Ph.D., and Stephen Lepore, Ph.D., and their colleagues explored the effects of supervised journal writing…
Bracing For a Pain Fix?
Subscribers Only Braces have come a long way since Joe Namath wore them to protect his ailing knees in the 1969 Super Bowl. Today, braces come in a bewildering array of shapes and sizes, from simple elastic sleeves you can buy at the drug store for a few dollars, to highly customized and multi-hinged designs costing thousands. …