Smokylies.org

I am a smoker! I spoke about six cigarrettes a day. I have a cold and I’m continuing to smoke. Can this be part of the reason why my cold wont go away? Read more…

Health

These series of attacks and remissions make a diagnosis of MS difficult to pin down. Often, early in the disease, a person has one or more of these puzzling symptoms but doesn’t bring it to the attention of a physician because it simply goes away on its own. Read more…

Conditions and Diseases disease, insulation, neurologic

The day came for us to view our daughter. I was terrified and frightened. I did not want to go. The viewing would only make things real. It couldn’t be real! Would I allow my children to see their sister, dead? Could I bare to see them go through that? I couldn’t make that decision for them. I wouldn’t make that decision for them. They said they didn’t want to go. Could I blame them? I didn’t want to go. Read more…

Health body, pain, pictures

Decompression illness is a serious illness, which should be taken very seriously and treated in a timely manner to avoid complications. Read more…

Health hospitalization, symptoms, treatment

The term “isometric exercise” means tensing a muscle and holding it in a stationary position while maintaining the tension. Isometrics are strengthening exercises that can be used to build up individual muscles significantly. In some patients with severe OA involvement in the knee, exercise can actually move the patella slightly so that it tracks a little differently and uses a slightly different area of the cartilage, thus relieving some of the pain. Read more…

Conditions and Diseases isometric exercise, muscle, pain

The instinct of an arthritis patient in pain is to protect the joint by not moving it. But movement is essential to preserving joint range and function. Although the type of exercise varies from patient to patient, some form of exercise is definitely recommended for almost anyone with arthritis. Read more…

Conditions and Diseases arthritis, exercise, medications

NAHOF volunteers and other community based AIDS outreach groups are trying to pierce this fog of ignorance and denial. At conferences, workshops, and senior community centers, educators are alerting older adults to their risk, giving them the facts about how HIV is transmitted, teaching them how to negotiate with partners to practice safe sex and how to ask questions of their health providers, urging them to get tested, and handing out free condoms. Read more…

Conditions and Diseases HIV infection, immune system, safe sex

When you think of HIV infection, risky sexual behaviors, and AIDS, the image of your 62-year-old grandmother doesn t pop immediately to mind.

And that s a problem.

The number of older Americans infected with the human immunodeficiency virus is rising dramatically, even as the rate of HIV infection among younger people drops. Read more…

Conditions and Diseases HIV infection, immunodeficiency virus, sexual behaviors

The Canadian researchers were interested in learning how wearing supportive shoes alone and using either soft orthoses or semi-rigid orthoses inside such shoes affected the pain, swelling and foot functioning of patients with RA erosion in their MTP joints.

After almost a year of studying 24 men and women with metatarsalgia caused by rheumatoid arthritis, Chalmers’ team found that patients achieved significant pain relief only by wearing both supportive shoes and semi-rigid orthoses at the same time.

Supportive shoes worn by themselves or soft orthoses worn by themselves did not provide metatarsalgia pain relief.

The research also pointed out that none of the combinations of shoes and orthoses effectively reduced MTP joint swelling or improved joint function, even when pain relief occurred.

Richard Berenter, D.P.M., podiatrist and professor of biomechanics at California College of Podiatric Medicine, strongly endorsed the Canadian team’s findings. “Supportive shoes and the right orthoses are essential to foot pain relief,” he said. “In our extensive clinical experience with arthritic foot pain at the college, we have found it’s like a marriage — you have to have both aspects well-matched to each other for either to work.”

Supportive Shoes Not Your Style?
In a recent interview discussing his team’s research, Chalmers noted that the first thing individuals with metatarsalgia pain should know is:

“The shoes you wear are very important!”

Ignore visions of feet encased in ugly, black, lace-up oxfords, Chalmers says. Support shoes aren’t necessarily bulky or unsightly; they are traditional, functional, attractive leather shoes that provide appropriate support for aching feet.

“Shopping for shoes is a part of the orthotic work we do with all our metatarsalgia patients,” Chalmers explained. “We take them to look for shoes that are commercially available and give support to their feet. We look for ordinary, everyday shoes that are suited to each patient’s tastes, support needs and feet. What’s most important is that they are supportive in the heel and toe, with sufficient depth and width for the individual’s foot size and shape, and a firm enough sole to support an orthotic insert.”

As his team’s research concluded, even the best supportive shoes alone aren’t enough — it’s the addition of the appropriate orthotic inside the shoes that delivers long-term pain relief.

Berenter explained that orthotics work by slowing down motion within the joints of the foot and absorbing shocks that would otherwise be transferred to the metatarsals or toes. “There’s no question that the right orthotic support and cushioning for foot joints provides significant relief from postural fatigue and pain,” he said.

The Right Orthotic
All the orthotics Chalmers’ team tested were custom made, based on patients’ unique foot characteristics. From previous clinical experiences, the researchers knew standardized, off-the-shelf, nonprescription shoe inserts aren’t generally useful. “The products that are commercially available to fit everyone basically don’t fit anyone,” Chalmers pointed out. “They just do not work to provide effective pain relief for the foot joints involved in rheumatoid arthritis.”

For this reason, the orthotics laboratory at Vancouver General Hospital’s Arthritis Center, like many others around the world, fabricates two types of inserts for patients. One is known as a “soft” orthotic; the other is known as a “firm” — or “semi-rigid” — orthotic.

Patients in the Canadian study wore their supportive shoes alone for 12 weeks, their supportive shoes with a custom-made, soft orthotic for 12 weeks, and their supportive shoes with a custom-made, semi-rigid orthotic for another 12 weeks. To make the study stronger, the order in which patients tried each treatment was randomly assigned: Some started with supportive shoes alone, some with soft orthotics in supportive shoes, some with semi-rigid orthotics in supportive shoes.

At the end of the study, pain relief was judged to be superior when the supportive shoes were worn with the semi-rigid orthotic.

According to Chalmers, the study highlights the need to have competent, professional diagnosis and treatment for all aspects of rheumatoid arthritis, including expert guidance about the best footwear and shoe inserts.

He believes for patients with metatarsalgia, supportive footwear and prescription orthoses used together provide a good alternative to sitting down and hoping the pain will pass.

Pain pain, style, team

When arthritic conditions affect the feet, the result is often constant, intense pain: pain in standing, pain in walking, pain in every weight-bearing activity. Read more…

Pain balance, devices, people calls