Home Treatment for Repetitive Stress Injury

Recently we wrote to describe and explain how compression at the thoracic outlet can cause pain, stiffness and problems throughout the arms. The problem remains that many doctors don’t know how to diagnose or remedy the problem. You can help your doctors by learning more about your own condition, pay careful attention to your symptoms, [...]

The thoracic outlet is the region connecting your chest and neck to your shoulder, where bundles of nerves and arteries pass through to supply sensation or blood to your arms. If they get compressed for a few minutes at a time, it won’t affect the blood flow or nerve sensation significantly–but if you spend too [...]

Scar tissue forms around a muscle, tendon or ligament after it’s torn, in order to bind it together and prevent future injuries. Scar tissue often criss-crosses across the normal, healthy tissue, so although it helps the healing process, it can also reduce the flexibility of the area. Most people have experienced some kind of injury, [...]

Any time I feel tense and sore from typing all day, from now on I’m going to step back and stretch and just be thankful I don’t spend the entire day squatting and assembling cars. Auto-maker Honda has recently finished a ten-year project developing a robotic, battery-operated machine that will assist its workers in walking, [...]

The old wisdom of stretching says: Hold a stretch 20-30 seconds, to relax your muscles and be able to work out harder afterward. But these static stretches aren’t really effective and may actually weaken muscles, according to a new study from the University of Nevada: The old presumption that holding a stretch for 20 to [...]

You don’t have to join a gym, lift weights or start running to be good to your body. The best way to stay healthy is find hobbies that get you moving, help you meet new people, and that are just downright FUN. Although this blog most often covers medical treatments, therapies and disorders, the best [...]

Many old farts, some of them esteemed writers, have warned against the doomsday arrival of the Internet and associated technological advances. Despite the pessimistic forecast of writers like Doris Lessing, the 2007 Nobel prize winner for Literature, who warned against the “inanities” of the Internet (and blogging in particular) — the world isn’t going to [...]

Today’s topic is brought to you by the second giant gas tanker melt down in the East Bay Area in two years. Around 6 am this morning, an Acura crashed into a gas tanker carrying 8,600 gallons of gas on South Interstate 880 in downtown Oakland, right near an area so tangled with freeways it’s [...]

Here’s a great vid about how to protect your back, if you’re working at a computer day after day. It’s fun, it’s got animation, silly sound effects and a few too many puns. So click the linky, watch it for fun and to think about how to protect the only back you’ve got. Watch Your [...]

When you’re in pain, being creative and artistic can be like a good dose of Vitamin I (ibuprofen) or therapy–helping you feel better emotionally, and getting your mind off the pain. Art’s also a great way to express how you feel in ways that don’t need words. Some of the greatest artists have suffered crippling [...]