Introduction

Thru this website, I have the opportunity to elaborate on subjects commonly described or asked about in the process of evaluating and treating patients with musculo-skeletal (MS) problems.

If you are a patient of mine, you should recognize that many of these subjects have been discussed during our time together. This web blog allows me opportunity to inform you further and in more detail regarding your condition(s).

If we have not established a Doctor-Patient relationship, I trust that information on this site will be understandable and useful to you.

My Blogs will not be a simple “stream of consciousness”. These Blogs are a natural extension of one of my main goals as a physician: that of educating people about their condition(s). Providing information that is pertinent and useful can help people resolve—or at least better manage—common and various MS conditions, and give perspective that can be beneficial.

I generally have Good News in these Blogs.

One thing I would like to emphasize is that, medically speaking, no one directly dies from what are called MS system problems.

We certainly can develop various “system” problems (circulatory, respiratory, immune, etc.) that can have deadly consequences, yet most serious systemic disease processes are relatively painless and are not directly caused by MS problems. Serious disease processes can indeed eventually cause things to happen that result—acutely or chronically—in organ system failure, and death. Such serious systemic diseases (cardio-vascular, metabolic syndrome/diabetes) are strongly associated with prolonged inactivity (usually decades), which are--especially in industrialized societies--strongly associated with excess body weight.

So, here then is the Bad News: the common circumstances of excess body weight, combined with sedentary lifestyle, tend to be significant contributors to regional spinal dysfunction (low back and neck pain), weight-bearing joint (knee and hip) pain, and/or musculo-tendinous (shoulder and neck) pain. MS pain—when it occurs—can become an obstacle to maintaining an adequate level of physical activity, which results in progressively increasing—and eventually painful—debilitation.

Short-term debilitation is acceptable—and tolerable—to our human physiology. Reduced physical activity allows injuries to adequately heal and tissues to repair, but when inactivity occurs over years and especially decades, the competency of the MS system to handle biomechanical stresses may be compromised such that simple postural stresses (i.e., sitting) and minor physical injuries (fender-bender in a parking lot) are poorly tolerated, resulting in prolonged or recurrent MS pain.

So, the other Bad News is: failure to manage or prevent MS conditions can result in greater MS pain, a poorer Quality of Life, and indirectly cause us to die…

If you wish to know more about things I have said or positions I have taken in my Blogs, a listing of books and specific sources can be found in the Reference tab.

I trust that ideas and information imparted thru this website will help you manage your MS conditions and maintain a higher Quality of Life while we are on this earth together...