Chronic pain

Why Is My Arm Throbbing?

In this article: What’s causing the throbbing or pulsing The referred-pain phenomenon Examination and treatment Does your arm feel tight? Do you sometimes see pulsations or little areas that jump around randomly? Although you might think that you have a muscle twitch, it’s most likely caused by the nerves in your neck. When those nerves…read more

Fix the Neck Curve: Surgery Is Not the Answer

The neck curve is the red-headed stepchild of spine care. Thankfully, spine surgeons, after ignoring this issue for many years, are just starting to realize its importance. Regrettably, the surgeries they’re performing to fix the neck curve are for the most part unnecessary and causing more harm than good, but, heck, you can’t have everything. Let’s…read more

Gastrocnemius Recession Recovery? Do NOT Get This Procedure

I spoke to a patient on the phone this week who told me he had a gastrocnemius recession surgery for heel pain. Huh? This is a surgery that involves lengthening the calf muscle for a tight calf, which is like saying your car pulls to the left when you drive so we should lengthen the left axle.…read more

Neck Headache Causes: Your Neck Muscles Are Jacked into Your Brain?

First, the cine MRI of a CCJ (upper neck) injury patient, above, is just plain cool. It shows how the neck structures move in a way that has never been seen before. It also shows a few significant issues, but today we’ll focus on neck headache causes, specifically the myodural bridge. What’s that? The connection between…read more

Her Neck Goes Out All the Time: Definitive Treatment?

Every physician has patients who challenge his or her skills, and it’s the reaction to those patients that determines what kind of doctor that physician is —Chris was one of those patients. She would tell me consistently that “my neck goes out all the time,” but every tool I had to use couldn’t seem to really put…read more

Dural Leak Treatment: Harry’s Story…

Most patients are unaware that there’s fluid around their brain, spinal cord, and nerve roots that literally floats their whole neurologic system. They also don’t realize that the system designed to hold it all can spring a leak and that when it does, all heck can break loose. While we’ve treated many patients with dural…read more

More Tylenol Problems? Tylenol Brain Fog?

Acetaminophen is an over-the-counter and prescription drug used to treat mild pain. In its over-the-counter form, it’s found most commonly in Tylenol and Excedrin. Doctors recommend it for everything from headaches to arthritis pain to cold and flu symptoms to backaches. They even recommend it for babies who get fussy due to spikes in their…read more

Sitting and Sciatica Pain: How I Solved It With a Walk

On this page: What is sciatica? How are sitting and sciatica pain related? How does walking help sciatica pain? I’ve been at a medical conference lecturing all week, basically a sit fest. Despite trying to exercise every day and get up and move as much as feasible, my intermittent sciatica was singing last night at…read more