This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in March of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/4eWPcIRj798 Brad: If you're having knee pain from sprains, arthritis, or other reasons, particularly this is a problem with people who age, maybe over 55, we're going to help you today. Mike: Now, if you have extremely sharp pain, especially if you had a recent fall, it is important to see a doctor before trying any of this to get an X-ray done. Brad: Right, make sure there's no fracture or something that really needs a different treatment. Otherwise, we're going to help you out and show you some nice options. So we're going to show you five options to help get the knee pain under control and also how to get the knee moving and get you back into the swing of things. The first one is our most exciting news. We do have information from a new therapist we've met in the last year or two. His name is Rick Olderman . He is a master physical therapist. He's written a number of books. We're taking information out of this book to adjust knee pain and we'll talk about that a little bit more. So that's our first one, and we have four other options to help you get along. Mike: So this is the most recent book that Bob Schrupp and Rick Olderman have written. It's called " Top 3 Fix. " They look at the top three exercises to help each problem and if you go to Chapter 18, it is specifically on knee pain, and we're going to go over the first stretch you can find in this book. Brad: That's right, so let's go ahead and show how to do it. Rick Olderman suggests the key exercises assess the tightness of your quadricep muscles from the hip to the knee. If they are tight, that can change the mechanics of the knee, causing pain. I'm not going to get into the details, but how you assess it and stretch it is actually in the same position. Mike's going to show you right now. Mike: So if you can find a firm surface, like maybe a table or countertop, if you have a bed, you can certainly do us on the edge of the bed. Just make sure your buttock does not slide off the end. To begin, we're going to start with a double knee-to-chest position like this. The closer my butt is to the edge of the mat, the more stretch I will feel. So what I'm going to do is stretch this left leg first. I'm going to lower it down and then I'm going to bring my right knee up towards my chest. Now this is where you may notice tightness from one side to the other. When I try to flex my knee or bring my heel towards my buttock, I really feel a pull in this quad region here, even a bit in the hip flexor region. Mike: You may notice one side is tighter than the other. You may notice one leg is way up. In comparison, the other one is down. Focus a little bit more on the tight side. I'm going to hold this for 30 seconds. You can do five to six breaths, whatever you're comfortable doing. Once you do that, reset the neutral position and perform on the other side. Brad: Now I do want to emphasize one thing about this stretch. You'll be much more effective if you're not wearing jeans. Mike: Mine are stretchy. I'm fine. Brad: Oh, if you have stretchy jeans, it's okay. But anyway, something loose on your clothes or shorts does allow the stretch to go easier. Make sure you breathe and relax while you stretch. Again, 30 seconds per side and you'll get a nice stretch. You'll feel better. The next option to successfully manage knee pain, at least initially when it's very tender or painful, is the old hot pack or cold pack . Now different people respond differently. If it's really tender or swollen, I typically say to use a cold pack. Simply take a cold pack. I like the ones that are soft. You put it in the freezer and when it comes out, it's still flexible and you can actually get good surface contact with the knee. Now you don't have to buy one. You can actually make these. We have videos on how to make a cold pack very easily with some rubbing alcohol and water and some Ziplocs. They work excellently. Either way, you take your cold pack out of the freezer, and have some cloth over your skin, like just simply your pants. Don't put a cold pack directly on your skin. You actually can frostbite your skin. Obviously, not a good scenario. Put the cold pack over your knee. You see I wrapped it there. Brad: Now it's really critical that you get in a comfortable position. So Mike is lying here on his back. We put a pillow under the knee and put a slight flex in the knee. Typically that's more comfortable. If you're in a recliner or maybe on a couch long sitting, it's still a good idea to support the knee with a nice pillow for sleeping. If it's really swollen, you could put a cold pack underneath. I've done this many times with patients, and at the same time, one over the top so you get a complete cold app, and typically 15 to 20 minutes is all it's going to need. You're going to feel the pain go away. It's going to feel much better. Now, at the same time, I'm going to say if it's chronic knee pain, particularly arthritis, some people respond very well to heat. So heating packs, this particular hot/cold pack is really nice because you can put it in the microwave. It's made to do that. It gives you the time written right on it, and pull it out of the microwave. You have a nice hot pack. That can be used with the same body position and that's going to be on for, again, 15 to 20 minutes. Brad: Now, electrical heating pads, the ones you plug in. Here's a big one. This is actually the Bob and Brad weighted heating pad . It's made for the back, but you can use it for any part of the body you want. Whatever you have, you go ahead and use it and put that over the knee. This one's nice, it's big for the back, but you can wrap it right around the knee, and then you put it on, and adjust the temperature with your hot pack so it feels comfortable. It should not feel hot. Brad: Now, a big warning with electric hot packs is, if you fall asleep with the hot pack on and it's too hot but you don't really realize it, we've had this happen, particularly if there's not enough insulation or clothing between the knee and the skin, you can actually burn the skin if you have it too hot if you fall asleep and it doesn't have an automatic turnoff. So know your hot pack. Just be aware of that. It doesn't happen very often, but it can. So that's a red flag to be aware of. Now there is another type of hot pack that is a big step ahead of a typical hot pack or heating pad, and that is a far infrared . Now the big difference between this and a regular hot pack is this will put heat and comfort deep into the skin. They've actually measured it and you'll have heating 2.36 inches deep into the body tissue. A typical hot pack will go just a couple of millimeters, or it'll be, in other words, skin deep. So that'll get deep. This is a Thermotex. This is one that we've been using. We do recommend it. They're built very well and they have three panels. It's important that you put it on the right way. It comes with the instructions. If you put it on the backside, it will not heat. You have to have it, they call these panels. There are three panels. They're producing far infrared energy into the skin. Brad: That's an option. They are quite a bit more expensive. It's one of those things you'll probably use maybe if you have arthritis and you may use it on different parts of your body for the long term. Now let's go on to the next option. All right, this next exercise is one of those that if it's going to work, it'll work well, and if it doesn't, nothing's lost with it. It's worth trying, particularly if you're having pain while you're walking consistently. And the IT band, which is a ligament from the knee all the way up to the hip, if that tightens up for whatever reason, that can cause the knee to work improperly in regards to the mechanics, causing pain, and it can be pretty severe. Again, typically with walking, not when you're seated. Mike, do you want to show this simple stretch? Mike: So you can do this on the floor. You're probably not going to want to do it on the bed. So if I'm going to stretch my left leg, I'm going to first start by just crossing my ankle over my knee. Then I'm going to get my foot flat on the mat, bringing my knee across my body like this. I'm going to notice my trunk is rotating in this general direction, and you can just hold this stretch. I feel it stretching more in my hip. You might feel it stretching more in your knee. That's where that IT band runs. And you're just going to hold this for 30 seconds. You can either pull like this if that's comfortable or if you have the mobility, you can put your elbow into the crook of your knee there and rotate. Now I'm getting more spine rotation but I'm also stretching that IT band. Brad: Good. So obviously, this is one for someone who's more mobile and maybe a little more flexible and active. But I did want to mention it because it can work very well and it's simple to try. It doesn't take long. If you experience pain with it, do not do it. Or if it's just too aggressive. We'll go to the next one. Now, anytime you have pain around a joint, the muscles around there have a tendency to tighten up to protect that area. It's just a natural tendency that goes along with the body. So you can actually massage the muscles. We can do the quadriceps and you can simply use your hands like I'm demonstrating here. And you know, we're not professional masseuse, we're not trying to teach you professional massaging, but you can get in. You'll feel the muscles tight and if you work them, you find a tight or tender spot, you may want to work over that area for 30 seconds to a minute to get those muscles to relax. When they relax, you have better blood flow, the pain goes better and you have a better range of motion. Brad: So you can work the quadriceps. The hamstrings are oftentimes muscles that tighten up as a result of pain. You can work on those. And there's one spot that Rick Olderman, the therapist that we mentioned earlier, we just learned this in the last couple of years. It's called the popliteus muscle, which is just below the knee in the back and it's a small muscle, but if it tightens up, it actually changes the mechanics of the knee and causes pain. Brad: So we want to get that below-the-knee crease here and it's right in here and we're going to work that and you can massage that. Make sure you do get that one and spend some time there because it may be the answer to your problem, decreasing that pain. Brad: Now, the big problem with massaging like this is your hands get fatigued and your fingers get fatigued, particularly if you have arthritic hands. The option to that is, you know, you may have a massage gun, maybe you don't. Get one from your nephew or uncle or whoever family member. The massage guns that we're going to show here are new on the market in regards to the head. It's a cold and a hot head. It's adjustable, it's amazing, it's electric. You push the button here. So with the massage gun, there are two buttons here. One is for heat, one is for cold. There are two adjustments, low heat, high heat, low cold, and colder. You're going to use that. And one thing about this particular head, and there's other heads that come with this gun, is you do not want to get close to the bone because it will not be effective. It'll hurt and you do not want to do that. So I have this on warm right now and it feels good and so we're going to work around here. Now this would work really well, particularly for the hamstrings, where there's a lot of muscle belly or on the back where we get in that popliteus muscle or on the big muscle belly of the calf. Brad: Okay, the thing that really impressed me with this is when you put it on a cold setting, it feels cold and it doesn't warm up after, you know, using it for a while on your skin, it continues to feel cold. Just the heat or the cold is just like a hot pack or cold pack can relieve the pain. Now Mike's going to show you the other head if you don't have this newer head, and you're going to use another option. Mike: So this is simply a round head. It's more foam and very cushiony. So that way if you do happen to hit some of the bony prominences in your knee joint itself, it's not going to hurt at all. I can go next to it. If I bump it, this doesn't hurt at all. This is the T2 massage gun . Any massage gun you happen to have is fine. But yeah, just kind of massage around the joint, the painful areas. I like this with the popliteus muscle in the back here. Just kind of bend your knee and dig in there. Brad: And there's one other head that comes with all the Bob and Brad massagers is the air-head, and that's actually cushiony. It's even less aggressive than the round head and that can be used as well, particularly when you're getting around those bones. It's very comfortable. Now this next option is probably the easiest option to reduce pain, particularly if the pain is really put on with walking or weight-bearing. All you need to do is decrease the weight bearing through that knee and it's going to help. But this is one that patients really do not want to do, and that's using a cane. Mike: Now, the cane will help take weight off of the painful side. So if you're having pain in your left knee, place it in your right hand. We're not going to do the Dr. House thing where you mimic the same side like this. You're going to actually use the left foot with the right hand when walking. This will help take the pressure off. You don't have to use it all the time, but if you are experiencing pain or have a flare-up, it's important to use it for a while. Brad: That's right, you may only need it for a day or two. And then when the knee gets better, simply put the cane aside. Go to the other exercise or the options, the massage. And it may just be if it's arthritic when it flares up, you use it when it goes away, and hopefully, that's for a period of time you do not need it. Very simple, but people kind of do not like to use it. Don't be shy about it. All right, so work with all these options. I'm sure you're going to find at least one or two of them helpful with your knee pain to help you get back into the groove of things. Now if you're having knee pain, particularly with going up and down steps or with walking, again, Mike, there's some more help for them. Mike: We have a video, " Fast Fix For Knee Pain With Stairs Or Walking! 55 And Older ," and in this one, we do a few more exercises and stretches in this one. So give it a try if these aren't helping. Brad: That's right. Take care. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up System Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener   Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit   Stress Balls   Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store   and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in March of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/_g7bmoHvb40 Mike: As we age, some tasks, like getting out of a chair can become more challenging. Brad: So today, we're going to show you one simple trick that can help you get out of a chair much easier. Mike: Plus, we're going to show you eight additional tips that may help as well if this isn't working for you. Brad: That's right. So getting out of a chair for many people as we age can get more and more difficult. But there's a simple trick that we're going to show you how you can do it much easier. Mike: Now, the main issue often is not getting under your center of gravity when attempting to get out of a chair. If you are going in an upright posture trying to go up, your gravity is backward, which oftentimes wants to throw you back. So Brad, what can they do to counter this? Brad: Well, this is something we've worked with patients over the years, many, many, many times, and it's simply this. I'll give you the procedure that I use, Mike. You can do anything that you have used with patients to make it work better for you. First I'll say, scoot your butt forward a little bit and then take your feet, slide them under the chair a little bit, and lean forward. Brad: We're changing the center of gravity, making everything work around a pivot point, which makes it much easier, needs less leg strength, and balances much better. So again, butt forward, feet under, lean forward, nose over toes. You'll hear that from therapists a lot and all of a sudden it becomes at least half as much energy to get up. Mike, do you have any additions? Mike: That is the best way to get up, the one simple trick we mentioned in the title, but that may not work for everyone. So now we're going to show eight other options depending on what chair you're getting out of. Brad: Eight other options, yes. Nice little tricks you'll want to stick around and see because one of them might be just a big difference for you or a loved one who's having difficulty with this. Number one. Mike: Tip number one is if you can do this, lean forward, but you feel unsteady once you get up, like you're going to tip over forward, what you can do is try to place either a chair or maybe you already use a walker, just put your walker in front of you. That way after you scoot your butt forward, nose over toes, push up, you can grab and hold onto something. We do not recommend trying to pull and push, because oftentimes it's just going to tip back in your lap. So this is just kind of something there to make you feel safe and like you're not going to fall over on your nose. Brad: And if you do feel like you're going to fall over on your nose, but this helps, you probably need a walker anyway, so maybe it's time to make that transition. That can be a big step for a lot of people, but when you are safe and when you feel relaxed getting up, your life is going to feel much better and things go well. Mike: And when you're sitting for a while, if you don't want the walker in front of you, just scoot it to the side, but make sure to bring it back. Too many times I've seen people leave it off to the side here and then they're trying to reach for it once their up and unsteady. Brad: Right, right. Good point, Mike. Now, if getting out of a chair is a problem and you go into a room and there's chairs to pick from, make sure you get the right chair. I do this all the time for my mother. She uses a walker and I pick out a chair that is going to be easy for her to get up. There's a couple things that are important and the biggest one is how high the seat pan or the seat is from the ground. Now if it's low and even one inch lower, it's going to make a big difference on getting out of a chair if you're having problems already. Mike, can you demonstrate? Mike: Another thing to look for is that it actually has armrests because that's going to make it a lot easier. Some people can push up from their legs, and that's okay, but having armrests is going to make it a lot easier. Obviously, you can see this chair I have set lower, it's a computer chair, it's going to be harder to get up versus this type of chair. Obviously if you have bad balance, you probably don't want a chair with wheels. They're less steady, especially when you sit down like this. Brad: Right, so in the case that a chair is too low and then maybe in the person's house, you could simply use a pillow to put under on the chair and even a pillow can make a big difference on that person getting up much easier. What even works better is a firm pad. Something like the Pete's Choice pad , but anything that's a little firmer that'll go one, maybe two inches. Brad: It's amazing how much easier it is to get up when you're elevated just a little bit. If you do not have armrests, it's a problem, particularly if you need them. The best thing you can do is when there's nobody to help, you can put your hands on your thighs, lean forward and kind of use those as the armrests of a chair. It can be very helpful. And yeah, Mike, did we miss anything? Brad: We missed a few of them. Here's another tip, you can also try a staggered arm stand. Some people will use a armrest on one side and then they'll simply use their knee on the other. Sometimes having this different positioning like that can help them stand up. I find it more beneficial if you feel uncomfortable leaning forward because you have that hand in front of you helping as well. Brad: Yeah, and another big red flag is we're using this chair because it's adjustable up and down. But another thing, if the chair does rotate like this one, you know it's going to be a red flag. Don't use a computer chair. So here, we've got the best chair right here. It's solid, it's firm, and it has armrests. Soft, cushy chairs, nice to sit in, but they're very difficult to get out of as well. Mike: Now we were able through five solutions there. We still got three more for you. Now if you find yourself stuck in the chair, no armrest kind of low to the ground, an option you can try if you're able is to turn sideways. Sometimes you can use the seat pan then and then the back of the seat as your armrests to help push up. Some people, that makes it easier. Brad: That's right. Now, another solution. Now, this is more of a long-term solution, is actually strengthening those legs so that the thighs and the glutes are stronger so you can get up with less arm assist. That's something that you can find on our YouTube channel and look up senior leg strengthening , you will find nice exercises to get you those results. Mike: Now, one exercise you can do is simply practicing sit to stands. If you really struggle with this, just simply place a pad like we talked about earlier, I grabbed the extra large one here, but it'll make you that much higher up, making it that much easier to stand up when you want to. So that's a simple solution. Don't get one too big like this though. Brad: The other option is using a lift chair. It's actually a recliner that lifts up with a push of the button. The big thing about lift chairs is it'll get you up very nicely. Easy to get out, but don't go up too high. Make sure you have to work to get up, so that you maintain strength in your legs. That's the only precaution with lift chairs. They do work very nice, they're comfortable. My mom has one and I like to sit in it as well. They're very comfortable. Mike: They also do make a lifting-type seat cushion that has hydraulics in it. So when you start standing up, it'll actually help you push up. Some people I've seen use that before if they're more wheelchair bound because it's hard for them to get out of that low surface as well. Brad: Right, and those chairs or lift seats actually can moved from one chair to another and they're not that heavy. They work quite well actually. Mike: Yep. Brad: All right, so I'm hoping this video was helpful and you're going to find some helpful hints in it. We'd also like to show something that we just came out with. It's this book called " Top 3 Fix ." Bob Schrupp and Rick Olderman , Physical Therapists, both of them and outstanding ones, wrote this book and they show three fixes for different parts of the body in regards to pain. Neck pain, shoulder pain, back pain, ankle pain, knee pain, et cetera. It goes through and it gives you, not only explanations of how to do the exercises, but videos come along with it. Actually, Mike and I are in the video, so you'll certainly like that as well. Brad: All right, we like to, here at Bob and Brad, inform you of some of our products that we promote because we really like them. Now, massage guns are very popular and this gun actually is one of our most popular guns that we sell and we've actually made it better in a big way. Mike, you wanna talk about it a little more? Mike: So this is the C2 massage gun with heat and ice massage gun attachment. Brad is holding it in his hand right now, so it can be set to feel cold like ice or heat, so it can warm up actually, and it stays constantly warm or cold depending upon the setting. Brad: That's right, the cold setting, which I was surprised, it stays cold after it is on your body for any amount of time. It really works well. It also does come with the typical airhead, the round head, the bullet head, and the little field goal head as well. But this separates it from the rest of our products, as well as many other products out there. Now I do have it right now on the cold setting. It does have 10 millimeters of amplitude. In other words, it reciprocates back and forth 10 millimeters, which is nice and deep. You're going to get in deep and again, I can feel that cold. It is really a nice gun and it's gotten better because of this new head. Mike: And it has 44 pounds of stall force, meaning how hard you have to push it to try to actually get the component to stall out. Brad: Boy, I almost got cramps doing it. Mike: So, don't push that hard normally because I wouldn't want to massage myself that hard. Brad: It is a really nice product. If you're looking for a gun, I would consider it as long as you're looking for these options. Enjoy the day, and Mike? Mike: You forgot to talk about the carrying case, rechargeable features, and the five-speed settings. Brad: Yes, all of our products have a beautiful carrying case. You know, they fit in there nicely and you know, it's just great. Got little four on the back, LED lights, it's pretty. Mike: If you want to check out more videos on leg strengthening specifically for seniors, you can check out our video " 3 Leg Strengthening Exercises Every Senior Should Do ," because that again, will help you stand up easier. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up System Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener   Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit   Stress Balls   Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store   and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in March of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/Jufby0_0re0 Brad: So when illness strikes you personally or your family members, it really opens your eyes up. For example, I just learned that one of my close family members had two TIAs. In other words, ministrokes. My mother was just in the emergency room with severe headaches. She was assessed specifically for stroke and myself. Recently, in the last two weeks, I went to urgent care with a severe one-sided headache. I wanted to make sure I was not having a stroke, everything going on. I thought we better make a video addressing strokes and some of the facts about it so that you can be comfortable and make sure that you are going to be okay. Mike: Now, strokes are a very serious matter. They can be fatal or even crippling to some people. So we want to address the five signs of a stroke and discuss it more in depth so you know what to look for. Brad: That's right. Mike: But what we all really want to know is what happened to the three of you? Brad: Well, fortunately, my brother had complete recoveries. He's okay. My mother, her headache was not a stroke. And the same with mine. There are some other details we won't get into, but again, luckily we're all fine. Make sure that you're going to be fine as well. This will be very helpful. First, let's define what a stroke is. Now in the medical community, everyone calls it a CVA. That stands for Cerebral Vascular Accident. There are two different types of CVAs. One is hemorrhagic, and that's where the vessel actually bursts. Now this happens in the brain itself, and blood is not allowed to get to the brain, giving it fresh blood, nutrients, oxygen, et cetera. The other type of CVA is ischemic, and that's where the vessel actually gets plugged up, blocking blood flow. And again, the brain does not get the blood flow that it needs, and you get symptoms. Now, typically what happens is it's ischemic and not hemorrhagic. They're more common. Mike, do you want to talk about a TIA? Mike: A TIA is a Transient Ischemic Attack. This is kind of like a ministroke. Typically, these are shorter in duration, and most of the time people make a full recovery from those. Brad: A lot of times people will have ministrokes. They don't even go to the doctor. They recover within a day or so, and they don't even know they had it. But if you do have some of the symptoms we're going to talk about later, make sure you do get to the doctor. We'll cover it in detail. Mike: So if you possibly had one of those five signs, what should you do? Brad: Well, actually, before we get into it, one way people can remember what those symptoms are is there's an acronym, it's known as FAST, F-A-S-T. It's popular, I actually saw it on billboards driving down the interstate. So what does the acronym stand for? Mike: So "F" stands for face, which we talked about the face drooping. Brad: "A" stands for arm and it could be the arm or the leg that's showing some signs of numbness, tingling, or weakness where it's flaccid, or the arm is dangling, or the leg is dragging. Mike: "S" stands for speech. So oftentimes people have speech issues, maybe they cannot talk at all, or they may have slurred speech. Brad: And "T" stands for time. So if you have any of those symptoms, what you'll need to do is get to the emergency room as soon as possible because they actually have a drug now that if it's administered within three to four hours of initial symptoms, it can greatly reduce the risk of your having long-term problems with it, so time is critical. Mike: Now, the good news is, is 80% of CVAs can be preventable. And that is through proper medication use or lifestyle choices. Brad: That's right, so here are some of the risk factors that can really increase the risks of strokes, and you can have some control over it. Luckily, with a little self-discipline in lifestyle changes, as Mike has mentioned. The first one, if you have high blood pressure, it's a big one. It's the big kahuna. You need to get it under control either by exercise, diet, or medications. Medications work quite well, but I know I can control mine so far, luckily with exercise and diet. Mike: Now, the second risk factors are things like diet, cholesterol, and smoking, which can all have an effect on arteriosclerosis in the brain. Brad: So that means the vein or the arteries in the brain are actually getting clogged up by either one of those factors. That's a big no-no, that can be corrected. Mike: The third risk factor is being more sedentary. This is obviously correlational data, but typically people that are more active are typically healthier and have less risk of developing a CVA. Brad: That's right, and history, or if your family has a history of strokes or arteriosclerosis, you really need to watch it. Now if you have a family history, your parents, aunts, uncles have had strokes or CVAs, that puts you more at risk as well. Mike: And the last risk factor is if you're over the age of 65, obviously strokes can happen at younger ages than that, but typically atherosclerosis takes years to build upon. So they're more common with older age. So what are some things you can do to prevent a stroke from happening? And the first one is if you are a smoker to stop smoking, Brad: Right, that's a big one. The next one is avoid salty foods, processed foods, a lot of sugar, everything that goes along with a good health-based diet. Mike: The next tip is alcohol use. So obviously having some alcohol is okay, but overusing it on a consistent basis can increase your risk. Brad: Right, so they're saying one, or two maximum drinks per day. And that's, as you know, recommended in Wisconsin. That's pretty normal. Mike: One to two 12 packs. Brad: I shouldn't joke about it, but the fact is a fact. Let's go on reduce stress. That's a big one. And that's where exercise can be a really big factor. If you can exercise off that stretch, go for a walk, go out in nature, get away from everything. Let your body relax, breathe naturally, whatever it takes for you to relax and feel good. So if you have one or more of the risk factors we just mentioned, I highly recommend you take action and take care of that. Mike: If you want to check out more videos on stroke prevention, check out our video " The #1 Sign You Are About to Have a Stroke in the Next 12 Months + Risk Factors ." Brad: There you go. That's a nice video for more options. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   EZBack-R Massage with Remote Weighted Heating Pad with Far Infrared Therapy Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Hanging Handles​ Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store   and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

The “tools” we are referring to are exercises, stretches, positions, and educational tips that should help you in your quest to fix your back pain. Use the tools that you feel are helpful and disregard the rest. How do you know if your back pain is getting better? An important point to underscore is generally the more your back is irritated, the further down the leg the symptoms of pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, and/or burning occur. The reverse is also true, as the nerve becomes less irritated the symptoms generally improve in an ascending fashion. That is less pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, and/or burning in the foot or lower leg. This can help you gauge whether your self-treatments are helping or not. Is a tool helpful? Three scenarios: 1. You try a tool in the Bob and Brad toolbox and your back starts feeling immediate pain. STOP using the tool! Period. A slight bit of discomfort at the beginning of a stretch or exercise is acceptable, but outright pain is not. 2. You try a tool in the Bob and Brad toolbox and your back feels fine while performing the stretch or exercise, but overall, the pain is worse immediately after. In that case, cease performing the exercise. However, if the pain is only worse the next day you cannot assume it is from the exercise. You might try it again and see if there is a correlation. 3. You try a tool in the Bob and Brad toolbox and your back feels better while performing the exercise (hurts so good), and it remains better after the exercise. You can continue with the tool. 4. You try a tool in the Bob and Brad toolbox and your back feels better only after performing the exercise. You can continue with the tool. DISCLAIMER We insist that you see a physician before starting this video series. Furthermore, this video series is not designed to replace the treatment of a professional: physician, osteopath, physical therapist, orthopedic surgeon, or chiropractor. It may however serve as an adjunct. Do not go against the advice of your healthcare professional. When under the care of a professional make certain that they approve of all that you try. This information is not intended as a substitute for medical treatment. Any information given about back-related conditions, treatments, and products is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this publication. Before starting an exercise program, consult a physician. Check out the full Back Pain Relief Program series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/back-pain-relief-program

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in March of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/CTmQShidfRA Mike: Do you want a short exercise routine that works your entire body in just 30 seconds and it's not boring? Brad: Well, I'll tell you what, I've been thinking about this for quite a while now and experimenting over the years and I've brought it down to the perfect short routine that does exactly what it says. Whole body exercise, works you well and it does exercises for beginners as well as those people who are advanced and actually overachievers. Mike: Overachievers. Brad: All right, now the five benefits of this routine are as follows. Mike: First, you're going to burn some calories, which could lead to some weight loss. Brad: And it also improves your balance. Mike: It also improves your leg and your arm strength. Brad: And promotes good posture, which is important for everyone. Mike: And Brad said, it's not boring, but I'll be the judge of that. Brad: It's not boring. It's a wonderful routine. You'll love it. Let's get going. All right, now Mike is going to demonstrate this whole routine, it's going to last less than 30 seconds. I'm going to talk you through it so you understand it. This is for beginners, we're going to show intermediate and then the advanced. So face the wall about a foot away, maybe a little bit farther. You'll get a feel for it after you start doing it. The first thing you do is bring your feet, bring them at least shoulder width apart. The next thing you're doing is to get in good posture. Stand up tall, head back. There you go. Now you're prepared for the exercise. Hands on the wall. We're just going to use that for balance right now and the first exercise is simply squats. Go ahead, Mike. Show them how to do it. Mike: I feel like I'm under arrest right now, but, okay. So what you're going to do is squat down. Now, Brad told me I should keep my hands in place. This is actually going to stretch my shoulders as well while I'm doing this. Just go down as far as you're comfortable. If you can only do a partial squat, just start there. You're going to do 10 repetitions of this. Brad: Right. If you want to go on time, do it for 10 seconds watching something or having someone tell you when to stop. So obviously you're working the legs, a lot of below the waist, and stretching the arms. Now the next exercise is going to be... Mike: Mountain climbers. Brad: Mountain climbers and it's simply bringing your knees up or marching. Now, the higher you bring your knees, the more challenging it is, it's going to wear you out a little quicker. Mike: Are we supposed to do 10 on each side? Brad: You could do 10 on each side, or again, go for 10 seconds. Mike: If you're more advanced, you can go faster, but for beginners, just go slow. You're just marching. Brad: That's right. Once you get that done, the last one is going to be... Mike: Pushups. Brad: Wall pushups, right? So we're working arms. Mike: So you're going to bring your arms down a little bit. I can't quite get super close to the wall because my mic is going to hit the wall and make loud noises, but just go as close as you can. Do the range. It's going to be easier doing this way because you're not fighting gravity. Brad: Now, if you do this and it seems way too easy, simply stop, we're going to go to the next session, or if it's semi-challenging, you simply repeat that set until you get fatigued, sit down and rest and then you're done. All right, we're going to the intermediate level. Now the next option is actually to use a countertop. Now, our mat is lower than a countertop. We're going to use the chair. You simply need it for balance for the squats. Go ahead, Mike. You're going to do the same thing as against the wall, except for... Mike: You're going to hold onto a countertop. Now I'm not pushing hard with it, I'm just kind of using the chair for balance. Go down to where you feel comfortable with depth. Do 10 repetitions and then go on to exercise number two. Brad: That's right. So let's go to number two. It's going to be with the countertop. Mike: Oh, I'm doing the countertop now. So we're going to do some marching again, or mountain climbers, depending on what you want to call them. Now I'm more at a 45-degree angle. This makes it a bit more challenging than simply against the wall. Brad: That's right and let's go to the next one. Mike: What is the last one again? Pushups! Brad: How easily we forget, you'll remember after doing this for a couple of days. Mike: So now we're going to get a little bit more upper body movement, working the chest. The closer you go, the easier it'll be. The further out you go, the harder it'll be. Brad: And actually, we're going to go to the next more advanced level, and Mike and I are going to have a little competition so you're going to want to stick around. Mike: They're just going to hear a bunch of heavy breathing. Brad: Okay, now we're going to do the more advanced method. It's in the standing position, but remember, they're all identical. The first thing you do, is get your feet shoulder-width apart, then good posture and maintain that while you're doing it. Now we're going to simply start squats. You can hold onto the cupboard or chair while you do your squats. Again, go down as far as you feel comfortable. You don't want to get down and not be able to get up, that's not the goal of this, the goal is to finish it. Again, 10 seconds or 10 reps, whatever works well for you. Brad: Okay, the next thing we're going to do is mount climbers. Now this, we're actually going to get to the floor in that pushup position, I'll show it a profile, and you simply bring a knee up to the chest and alternate right and left. Take your time with this. This is not a race. We are not trying to compete. Well, maybe we will later, Mike, I don't know. Brad: Now, a couple of things you can do to make this less boring is take your knee and kick out to the side. Kick out to the side and it works your hips a little bit differently, works different muscles, it's better for you, your core's working, your arms are working, your legs are working. This is a complete full-body exercise no matter which one you do. Brad: Sometimes I like to do this and just lift one leg up in the air. Brad: We're going longer than the 10 seconds, just so I can show you the variations that you can do and then simply finish out with pushups as you feel comfortable. When I do them, I do like three and that's it and I start all over. Mike is going to do 35, I imagine. Mike: I'm going faster if that's 35. Brad: Wow. You're a youngster. So again, feet shoulder-width apart, shoulders back, hands on the wall. Mike, you know what to do and squats. Mike: Want me to do 10 reps or 10 seconds? What are we doing here, Brad? Brad: Well, we'll go 10 reps so we don't have to use the timer. People can follow along if they like. Enjoy it. Mike: I've never done synchronized exercise, Brad. Brad: The next one, is mountain climbers. Now, again, work things as you can. It's working wonderfully. He's not cheating, is he? Mike: Cheating? Brad: I can't see what's going on. Now standing, you can kick out to the side as well to rotate the hips, and get those hip joints working well. Sometimes even a circle with the knee. Brad: When we go to the next one, pushups, the farther your feet are away from the wall, the more challenging that pushup is going to be. The big thing is to watch out so your head doesn't bump into the wall. We don't need any concussions going on. There we go. Brad: Now, if you're not tired enough, simply start all over. Are you ready, Mike? Get back up. Here we go, starting over. Okay, shoulders back, feet wide, hands here. We're going to do squats. Mike: I'm coughing here. I'm sweating too. Brad: Keep on going, Mike. Mike: Jeans were a bad idea today. Brad: Again, I'm not having too much of a problem here. Mike: Well, that's nice. Brad: Now we're going to stop and we're going to go to the mountain climbers. Knees up, oh, yes. Remember to breathe while you're exercising. A lot of people kind of hold it in and kind of grunt a little bit. That does nothing more than restrict your body from oxygen. Makes you much more easily fatigued. Now we need to go to, what's the next one? Mike: Pushups. Brad: Pushups. Ooo, yes. How are you doing, Mike? Mike: Well, holding a plank into a pushup is more challenging. Brad: See, he is not ripping him off like he was before, the showoff. Okay, one more time. Up we go. Feet one shoulder width apart, shoulders back, hands on the wall, and squats. Mike: I should have brought my water. Brad: I told you not to wear jeans today. Mike: They're stretchy at least. Brad: Okay, and the next one, we're going to go to the mountain climbers. Mike: Are you doing 10 reps? Brad: Well, no, we're trying to just work things in. After a while, you get a feel for it. I'm kicking in like this because that rotates my hip joints. It's good for the acetabulum in the femoral head, if we're going to get technical. And let's go to the pushups. Oh, yeah. So what are you saying, Mike? Are you having fun yet? Mike: No. I'm bored. Brad: All right. All right. Thank you, Mike. Mike did a heck of a job! Mike: Gimme a towel, I'm sweaty. Brad: All right, now, if you've overdone this, the first or second day you did it and you find you've got sore muscles, these massage guns we're going to go over, they are very popular. We've been selling a lot of them. Brad: You don't have to go out and buy one, your muscles are going to get better with some ibuprofen. If you happen to have one or you want one, we're going to show you. I would recommend for people who are seniors, typically, if you're not really muscle bound, which a lot of seniors aren't, the Bob aan Brad Q2 mini massage gun or the Air 2 mini massage gun . The round head and the soft airhead are the two that I would recommend if you're just starting and simply on the sore muscles, massage those muscles. You don't need to do it long, maybe a minute or so on each leg. You can certainly go longer. You can go straight in for an aggressive massage with the round head. You can go sideways to vary the intensity. The airhead that Mike is using is soft. It's actually airhead because it is a soft air cushion. It works very well and you can get close to your joints and it will not hurt it. Brad: So they're nice options. Let's get back with the program. Mike: So if you want to check out more videos on how to strengthen your legs, in particular for seniors, check out our video " 3-MUST DO-Daily Strength Exercises For Seniors ." It's not as extreme as this video. Brad: Yeah, three must do daily strength exercises for seniors. Mike: I need some water. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   EZBack-R Massage with Remote Weighted Heating Pad with Far Infrared Therapy Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Hanging Handles​ Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store   and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in March of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/IZbmERTOyyE Brad: Oh, my elbow hurts! Mike: Many people are surprised by how severe and how long it can take to recover from tennis elbow or golfer's elbow. Brad: That's right. And today we're going to give you three effective self-treatment options that are going to help speed up your recovery and get you back into action, pain-free. Mike: So elbow pain is often caused by shortening and tension in the deep rotator muscles of the forearm. Brad: That's right. And the easy way to test this is simply sit down. You can do it standing, with your elbow at a 90-degree bend, and both of them out in front of you, you're going to compare supination, or palms up, versus pronation, or palms down. So for example, if I turn my palms up, and one hand goes normal, and the other only can get half as far, that's showing I've got tight muscles on the supinators. Brad: If we go the other direction, and one is normal but the other only goes part of the way you know it's tight. We know we need to address the tightness of these muscles, get them stretched out, relaxed, so that you can get back to normal. Mike: So the first stretch we're going to go through is going to help improve your supination, or turning your palm up towards the ceiling. Oftentimes people will struggle with this the most when dealing with golfer's or tennis elbow. In order to do it, oftentimes, you're going to be limited, and you get kind of stuck. Simply take your good hand, place it on the wrist or your palm, and help turn it gently. This should be pain-free. If it causes any sharp pain, do not force it that hard. Just go gentle over time. After doing this, try to work your grip up your forearm more here and help rotate. Notice my thumb is on one side and my palm is on the other. So I'm helping with that rotation component. Hold it here for roughly three breaths and relax. It's important to do this throughout the day. Brad: Right. Now I do want to give credit where credit is due. We did not come up with this treatment. It's actually from a therapist we work with closely. His name is Rick Olderman . He's developed a whole system throughout the body. This is just for his treatment of elbow pain. And a couple of things I do want to point out. When you're grabbing, think about your hand on the bony landmark on the wrist, the thumb is on a bony landmark. We're not rotating skin, but we're trying to rotate the bones, which are connected to the muscle, to get a good appropriate stretch. And when you go up, there's a little more meat. You have more muscle, more mass there. You really need to feel that. And you can actually work those muscles if they're tight and loosen them up. Anything else, Mike? Mike: It's good to do this while resting your forearm. You can either do it on your lap like Brad was showing, or I'm doing it on a table. Sometimes when your arm is up in the air, it could become more tense, and won't want to stretch as much. Nice relaxed position. Brad: All right, the next important muscle group to address in regards to getting muscles loosened up so that you get that range of motion is the brachioradialis and the radialis. And the way you do this is you simply find the tendon of a bicep below the muscle belly. There's that tendon. You're going to take your two fingers and go on one side just at the elbow, just above the elbow joint. And then the thumb goes on the other side. And we're gonna get underneath and to the side of that bicep muscle down by the joint. And that muscle is deep in by the humerus, or the bone that goes to the elbow joint. And you'll typically find, if you've got a tight muscle, it's going to be a little tender. And then you can work on that and say, my thumb finds a tender spot, it's not so tender on the outside, but inside, I'm going to focus on that muscle, work on it for about two to three minutes or so, and then give it a break. You can do it on the outside if that's tight way as well. Mike, any other input? Mike: Again, you want to have your forearm supported with this, and I just feel this digging in here. It's a little tight even though I don't have these issues. Brad: Right. Well, we all have tightness, Mike. All right, before we go on to some ergonomic changes at the workstation, the computer workstation, you're going to find out, typically, Rick has found out that supination is the tightest motion, but it can be pronation. This side's not going down as far. So anyway, you're going to work that stretch. Brad: Make sure you do it and hold for three breaths, three or four repetitions throughout the day, every hour or so. And again, the bicep tendon, every 30 minutes to an hour, you get in there, massage those muscles, get that loosened up. When you're done with it, you can kind of shake it out a little bit, let it breathe, if you will. Now let's get to that ergonomics with the mouse. It's very critical. Mike: So when you're at your workstation, this is a common cause of having elbow pain for most people. They don't have it set up properly. When you're using a mouse, if your mouse is too far away, this is going to put more strain on the elbow joint. You want to have it closer to your body. Mike: Oftentimes, you want to have it supported. I'm not in a computer chair right now, but having the armrest positioned for support, a nice 90-degree bend in my elbow joint would be optimal for feeling good with this. And you also want to not have too much wrist flexion or extension. Obviously, I'm in a fixed position right now, but some people's desks are just taller than their chairs, or vice versa. Or they have a standing desk. If your wrists are flexed all day, you're going to start developing some issues. Brad: Right, so again, that neutral position. Having the elbow flexed to about 90 degrees by the body, and the weight of the arm being supported by the armrest while you're sitting can be very helpful. Mike: Now all the exercises and stretches that we showed in this video can be found in this book written by Bob Schrupp and Rick Olderman. It is called the "Top Three Fix." Brad: That's right, the nice thing about this book, not only does it tell you how to fix elbow pain, it goes into the wrist, the neck, all the parts of the body, all the major joints. It is a complete book for self-help and keeping yourself active, pain-free, and feeling fantastic. Mike: If you want to check out more videos on how to treat tennis elbow pain, check out " Tennis Elbow? Absolute Best Self-Treatment, Exercises, & Stretches ." Brad: But I don't play tennis. Mike: I play pickleball. Does that count? Brad: Yeah, that's good. Mike: Okay. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   EZBack-R Massage with Remote Weighted Heating Pad with Far Infrared Therapy Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Hanging Handles​ Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store   and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

Shoulder Do's Whenever possible keep your elbows into your sides when lifting or carrying objects. Keep loads as close to your body as possible when lifting or carrying. When using a bag with a carrying strap alternate shoulders frequently or use solely on your nonpainful shoulder. If able to withstand the embarrassment, use a fanny pack. Take frequent breaks from any repetitive activity. When vacuuming or sweeping try moving your entire body and feet along with the vacuum or broom. Do not just move your arms and shoulders. Always practice good posture. Correctly arrange your workstation to reduce stress on your shoulders. Pay close attention to your head, neck, and shoulder posture throughout the day. Alternate arms when you carry a suitcase, a purse, or a briefcase. Shoulder Don’ts Do not place too much weight through your arms when eating, sitting at your desk (workstation), or when lying on your stomach to read. Put your shoulder in an awkward position like reaching into the back seat. Perform Repetitive overhead activities such as painting or pruning a tree. Repetitive activities with the arm level but with your upper back in poor posture. Examples writing on a whiteboard or smart board, painting, or driving a car. Do not partake in forceful pulling. Examples include pulling a weed out of the ground, lifting a suitcase, or pulling on the starter cord for a lawn mower. Wear a bra with the bra strap too far out on the shoulder. This causes increased stress on the shoulder blade, possibly depressing it. Obtain a bra whose straps are closer to the neck. Do not put your body in poor posture while using your arms- including using the computer, eating, or knitting. See video How to Stop Shoulder Pain at a Computer WorkStation Do not sleep in poor positions. See video How to Stop Shoulder Pain in Bed (Sleeping Postures) Do not participate in repetitive overhead sports activities with a sore shoulder. Swimming, tennis, baseball pitching, lifting weights overhead, etc. Do not lift excessively heavy loads. Do not work for more than 15-20 minutes without a rest at a task that is stressful for your shoulders. Do not prop yourself up on your arms while reading or watching T.V. Gradually build up to performing activities involving your shoulders that are new to you. Train to participate. Check out the full Shoulder Pain Relief Program series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/shoulder-pain-relief-program

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in March of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/FhQ4dBx2zN0 Brad: All right this is a very important video about chest pain. I personally have been to the emergency room three separate times because I had chest pain. Now I'm going to tell you and Mike, are going to explain how I got chest pain and more importantly, how I got rid of it. Mike: Now, chest pain can obviously be from the heart, which can be a fatal situation. So it is important to go to your doctor and get a proper diagnosis. Brad: Right, now, once you are certain and a doctor has ruled out that your heart is not the problem, then you can come into this video and we're gonna show you the details and how you can fix it without a big effort. Now, I found out on my third visit that the ER doctor said, "Don't worry, there's at least a 50/50 chance "that it's not your heart." And he said, that's from his experience. And I've looked into it and typically that's what you'll find. Oftentimes it's not the heart, and a good relief. Mike: Now there are three common causes of chest pain you can experience, not heart related, and that is GERD, or also known as heartburn for some people, it is also a musculoskeletal issue, or it can be caused by anxiety of sorts. Brad: Right, now, doctors are good at helping you with anxiety or with GERD, in other words, the heartburn with medications. But musculoskeletal, which was what I was diagnosed with, they really didn't have an answer. And I thought, well, I'm a physical therapist. This should be right up my alley. And I did not have an answer myself. So after doing some research on the internet, we found a physical therapist actually from New Zealand, who actually had the same problem, severe chest pain, really interfering with his life. And it was not from his heart, it was musculoskeletal. And he actually found the cause and more importantly, how to fix it. Mike: So we actually interviewed Steve August in the past to talk about this issue very much in-depth and what tools you can use to help fix it. Brad: That's right. So I'm going to give you the long story short on what causes musculoskeletal pain in your chest right here. Now, when I have it on the right side, it's where the ribs connect to my sternum. That's why we have Sam here. How you doing, big guy? Alright, so here is the source of my pain. It's where the ribs connect and they're actually cartilage. And it's cartilage where it connects to the sternum, and there has to be movement there. Brad: Okay? Not too much. And what actually happens, where the pain comes from is from back here where the ribs connect to the vertebra. Okay? We get a closeup here, Mike is pointing to where the joint is, where the rib connects to the vertebra. Brad: Now when you breathe, the ribs expand and they go down. So there has to be motion and that motion needs to come from that joint. Look at this, so when you breathe in, it goes up and when you breathe out, it goes down. Brad: This motion becomes locked up. What happens is the motion has to come from somewhere so you can breathe and it actually comes from the front. There's some arthritis in this area. When you get that moving, it causes pain and you have pain and it's very tender. Now there's a nice way to help determine if you know you don't have heart pain. In my case, what I do is I start to palpate or push in and see if I can find a sore spot. Now, I've had three or four doctors actually do this to me and they would push around and they really, you know, good doctors, but they weren't real good with assessing this particular diagnosis. I found if I would work in there, there'd be a point about the size of a dime and it would be really tender. If I push on it, that would be the hot spot. And that spot would take the pain and would radiate out. Very clear it's not from the heart, it's from that point. So we need to break this up to take the stress off the front where the rib connects to the sternum and relax it and the pain goes away. It's worked out quite well. Let's show you how it works. Mike: So the condition Brad is talking about is called costochondritis. And in order to treat it, you'll need one of two things. Either a softball, if you have one available, and if that happens to work well, you can get a Backpod , which is created to treat this issue. Brad: Right, so Steve August actually got very involved in creating this specifically for this problem. But the good thing about it is there are other conditions you can treat with it too, SI joint, back pain, hip. So it's not just for costochondritis, but this is what I use. I've been using it for years with great success. Now let's show you how to use it. Now the treatment is actually done lying on the floor on your back, I'm going to show you on Mike, the locations along the rib cage in the back where you actually put the pressure. So if you're using the ball or the Backpod, we're going to start out with Mike on the right side. That's where my pain is so I work the right side, but I also work the left side for maintenance because I want to make sure it's clear throughout. So we'll start out lower. We've got the shoulder blade here where the ball is. We're going to go just below that just to the right of the spine. You do not go on the spine, it's that muscle between the spine and the scapula or the shoulder blade. I'll work it here. Then I'll go up and I'll go up and I actually go four locations and I do the same thing, starting low, two, three, four, on the other side as well. Brad: It takes me about two minutes and I'm done. So let's go down to the floor and get the details. Now, if you're using a tennis or a softball, you could try a baseball. Softball is probably better, it's a little bigger. This can be fairly aggressive. So I'm going to show you with the Backpod, but if you have the ball, it's the same thing. You just replace the Backpod with the ball. Now the first time you do it, I would take a towel, fold it up so there's four to six layers, whatever it takes because it's going to be a little uncomfortable on your back, more than likely, unless you're used to something like this, which most people aren't. The towel on there gives you a little comfort. And now I'm going to go down on the left of the spine, just below the shoulder blade. There we go again, I do it on both sides, although the right side is my involved side and you're going to lean back into it. And then you can work forward and backward. And we're mobilizing that joint where the rib connects to the vertebra. Brad: Now what Steve likes to do, he says, emphasize it with taking your arm and going up over the top of your head. You can do both arms at the same time. It's a little more aggressive. To start out with, you may just want to do one arm, extend and arch and go back and do that a few times. Brad: And after I did this for a couple of weeks, I started to actually go back and forth and it helps mobilize that joint and it actually does some good myofascial stretch. I don't know if that does anything for the costochondritis, but it sure feels good on my back. Brad: So after you do that in all the locations and you're done now, you'll get used to it after a while you can take the towel, set it off to the side, and you'll feel the difference. And this is where it really gets into those joints and helps mobilize it and break that arthritic joint up, get it moving. And again, reach overhead and back. And what I typically do, like I mentioned with Mike, is I'll finish with one after a few repetitions and I'm going to slide down about two inches, get the ribs upwards or towards the neck, and do this. I typically go with one arm, you can go with both. Sometimes I'll really get aggressive and you know, I did not like this at first and actually now I look forward to doing it because it just makes everything feels good. I know Bob has done it. It's great for your posture as well. Brad: I'm going up to my third area. Now, I do go all the way up to my upper trap. Doesn't have anything to do with my costochondritis, but boy does it feel good. And get those muscles relaxed, help the posture and I'll work back and forth. Brad: And that really does a nice job and that area. And then I'll do that on both sides. This is that simple. You need to do it daily. And if you got that costochondritis pain, you should feel relief easily within one to two weeks. So boy, it is a real nasty experience when you have that chest pain and you're wondering, is this a heart attack or is this costochondritis? Get rid of it, use the Backpod, and then you don't have to think about it. That's been my experience and I wish you good luck with it. Mike, do you have anything to say? Mike: If you would like to learn more information about costochondritis, you could check out the interview Bob did with Steve a while ago titled, " Costochondritis? Self-Treatment Advice: Worldwide Expert Steve August ." Brad: That's right. I highly recommend watching that whole interview. Steve is just a wonderful man and he's very sincere about what he does. He actually gives these in services to physicians to educate them. He's way out there in regards of the physical therapy world with this topic. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   EZBack-R Massage with Remote Weighted Heating Pad with Far Infrared Therapy Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Hanging Handles​ Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store   and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in March of 2024. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPFe6m-8WGQ Mike: If you find yourself unable to squat due to limited leg motion or pain, then this is for you. Brad: That's right. Today we're going to take a deep dive in breaking down the mechanics of a squat and showing you a certain method that's going to give you the strength and the ability to do it properly. Alright, so the first thing we need to address is range of motion, particularly in the knees as well as the hips. Brad: If you're going down and your knees are not able to flex without pain or tightness, as well as your hips flexing, that must be addressed. So we're going to talk about how to do it and assess it. Mike: So to check yourself, all you're going to do is take one leg and bring it up as far as you comfortably can. If you're painful and can't lift past 45 degrees, this is going to be a very limiting factor on your squat range of motion. So what you want to do is bring it straight up. Now notice for me personally, I can only flex up so far. I start to get some musculature hitting and I can also feel like I can't push up anymore because the shape of my pelvis and my femur are hitting. But if I simply bring my leg out to the side, look how much more range of motion I have. So when I squat, I want to find a stance that is a little wider out for me and I can probably get more depth. Brad: Another thing to look for with this is not only finding out what works for you like Mike did, make sure you compare one leg to the other and you may find one knee comes up all the way very easily, the other one doesn't so then you're going to focus the stretching on the tight or painful one. Alright, another joint that needs to be assessed for proper adequate range of motion is the ankle. Let's take a look at it. Brad: So when we're standing here, weight bearing and we start to bend forward into the squat, you can see the ankle must, we call that dorsiflexion or go upwards, if you will. If that joint is tight, that can be the sole purpose of being unable to do a squat successfully. So we've got a test that we use against the wall. It's very simple and it's very succinct on how you can test yourself. Mike, let's check it out. Mike: To test to see if you have good ankle mobility, we're going to perform a five inch wall test. So you'll need a wall and to stand five inches away, I have a rule here measured out, ready to go. I'm going to place one foot the toe line there, and I'm going to try to touch my knee to the wall while keeping my heel down. Mike: I have tight ankles, I cannot get all the way there, but I still have somewhat decent mobility when I do a squat. Now if I do the other leg, you may notice a difference too. Mine are both equal, but some people may only be able to get partway with one versus all the way with the other. This is a limitation in your ankle mobility. So we're going to show you a couple stretches that could help with this. Brad: Right and this may be very likely, particularly if you have a history of an ankle injury, serious sprain, something of that nature. So let's show us some stretches on how that can be improved. Mike: So when you're performing the five inch wall test, if you're feeling tightness in the back of the ankle and up the calf, we need to stretch the calves. If you feel tightness or pinching in the front of the ankle, we'll show you a different stretch to do after this. So to stretch the calves, we're just gonna stay at the wall. I'm going to be stretching my left calf here, bringing it back, keep my legs straight, and then I slowly start leaning forward while my heel is still on the floor and I feel a good stretch. Hold this for 15 to 30 seconds, repeat on both sides and notice that my feet are facing straight ahead forward. When you start turning out, you're going to feel a little more stretch in your hip, not as much the calf. So it's important to have good form with this. Brad: Good! So think about relaxing the upper body, breathing relax while you do this, it'll help the stretch. So should we continue on with the, if you feel tightness in the front of the ankle? Mike: I think so. Brad: All right, now if you have that tightness or that pain in the front of the ankle, this may be a good option. Actually, you could do both stretches regardless, and it's going to give benefits or help. So what I like to do on this one is on a firm chair so you have two armrest like this chair to make it safe, you're going to have, you're going to put the foot on, you have to have shoes on. Do not do this with stocking foot or barefoot. Much better with shoes so do it right. Put the four foot here so the ankle has plenty of room. And then I'm going to hold onto the armrest for the chair for stability. And I'm going to just bend the knee. So you actually get knee range of motion and hip with this and the ankle so you get all three in one and use your body weight, relax and breathe, push. And I actually do a little noodling when I'm this with this to help my hip range of motion. So again, this is a multi-unit stretch. Brad: Mike, you have anything else to add on that? You're doing it on the stairs, which I like that as well. Mike: I think you're looking for multi-joint stretch. Brad: Multi-joint, yeah. Mike: So on the stairs, you have a little bit more options of height differential. If you want to go high or up, you certainly can try. But if I really want to work on my ankle, I'm probably going to pick the lower step. Try to get that knee to go over the toe, stretch the hip. When I go up to a higher step, I'm still getting a stretch in the front of the ankle, but I'm getting a little bit more hip and hip flexor on this side. This is also a good stretch to do. Brad: Yes, all right, let's go to number three. Mike: So now we're going to progress to strengthening the hip muscles. If you have a lot of knee pain, this will just kind of isolate the hips more. So we're going to do first is hip abduction. Hold onto a rail or a cane or something for support if you need it. If you don't, you don't have to. We will show a progression of this in a second. So first we're just going to do hip abduction, which is kicking out to the side. Notice my pelvis is staying pretty level with this. I'm not leaning over to kick up higher. Keep your foot facing forward the whole time. Go as far as you comfortably can out and then back in. Try to do 10 to 15 repetitions on one side. Make sure and switch, do the other. Mike: Obviously where I'm at, I don't want to kick the stair so I have to turn around. Now to work the back buttock muscle, you're actually going to kick straight backward. Notice I'm keeping a nice upright posture with this. I'm not teetering over like this to get more range of motion. Feel that gluten hamstring kicking in with this exercise. Again, 10 to 15 repetitions. Brad: Alright, if you want more resistance or you need more resistance, and you have some resistance bands , you can use the band. They usually come with an ankle band that's Velcro. Put that around your ankle. Attach the other end around the leg of a chair, a handrail, something that's very strong and sturdy. I'm using the wall anchor and I'm not actually using this. I'm going to just put it around my ankle like this. It's just another option to get resistance, something for balance. And simply good tall posture mechanics are the same as what Mike mentioned. So we'll work it that way. And naturally, you're going to do the other leg and just turn around and do that. Brad:And as far as doing the glutes for hip extension, face the wall. This is nice. You can use a wall for balance, keep a straight leg. And I'm staying up tall and not bending and doing this compensation, which we don't want. You'll feel that glute muscle kick in very well with resistance. It works really good. Make sure you do both legs with this. So Mike, you have another option if they have the little baby loop bands. Mike: Yes, if you happen to have loop bands and not the exercise bands like that, you can certainly use these for the exercise. You just put it on both sides. You're going to stabilize and kick out to the side. Again, hold on to support if needed. It's going to be a lot more challenging, especially to keep your posture when you have resistance. Again, you're going to go sideways 10 to 15 on each side and then you're going to do backward kicking as well. This is working my balance if I don't hold on to anything like this. Brad: There you go. Another multitasking episode. Now if you can put the loop in up by your knees, that'll reduce the resistance or the intensity and it works fairly well too. Mike: Yep. Just makes it a little bit easier. Brad: Yep. There you go. All right. Mike: Now the final exercise we're going to do is actually a squat with just a shallow mini squat. We're going to show an easier version first and get to a little more advanced. Notice, I have a loop band around my legs again. This is going to help keep good placement and engagement in my buttocks and hip muscles. I have a yoga ball against the wall. This will be the easiest if you happen to have one. You don't need it, you can just do it against the wall as long as your wall isn't too sticky and your shirt slides well. So I'm going to step out a little ways away. I'm going to squat down partly. And while I'm doing this, I'm maintaining this band position. So I actually have to push my legs out. So if I'm actually squatting down to show what I'm doing, I'm pushing out like this and then coming back up, keeping those glutes engaged the whole time. Mike: This can help prevent any issues some people may be having with knee cave because some people might squat down and they come back like this and then it goes up. So if you have something to think to push against that can help with this. So just do five to 10 repetitions. Go down as far as you feel safe. Brad: Yeah, and I would mention you can put a chair or a cane to hold onto next to you. Mike: And you can certainly just do this against a wall. I can slide down fairly well and do this. Just do mini squats. Over time when you feel safe, you can try working on your range of motion and your depth like this. Obviously, if you don't feel safe going down here, you don't have to. Brad: That's right. And now the advanced version, if you don't want to be up against the wall or you don't have a ball and you feel relatively stable, you go up and I actually like to have something to at least hold onto and bring your feet out and we're going to do the same thing. Mike mentioned, all the same mechanics with the knee, up tall and we're squatting down and again, go as far as you feel comfortable. Don't go too far so that you can't get back up. Bad situation. And again, five to 10 reps, I'd like to work up to 10 reps. By the eighth and ninth, 10th reps, you know you're feeling some burns, some muscle fatigue and that's going to get you stronger for your squats. Brad: Alright, now if you don't have any problems with range of motion in your hip knees or ankles, you do not have to do those stretches. If it's just strength that you really need, work the strengthening exercises we just showed. Make sure, again, the goal is 10 repetitions, fatigue by the end. But do not do them every day as hard as you can. You need to let your legs have time to rest and relax. Otherwise you get some pretty sore muscles, particularly if you've been sedentary. But there is an answer and there's one thing we do wanna talk about is how you can deal with sore muscles after aggressive workout. Mike: Yes, we have the Bob and Brad Air Compression Leg Massager so there's not actually needing massage in here. It's more of a compressive force. Brad: Alright, so these leg massagers are nothing new. They've been around for a few years and they actually work by applying pressure systematically to help circulation. And we're going to talk about it in a little bit more detail, Mike. Mike: So these massagers start at the feet, work up to the calves, and then into the thighs. It compresses that way so it'll help bring the fluid back up into the trunk where it needs to be going. It can also help release muscle tension, pain, and soreness, promotes blood flow and can effectively eliminate swelling. Brad: Right and adjust these so it's not overly tight. You can adjust the good ones like we have. They actually feel very good. When you're using, it should feel like a real relaxing and enjoyable experience. However, if you have some medical issues, for example, if you have chronic swelling, edema, lymphedema, heart problems, you need to check it out with your doctor to make sure this type of treatment is okay. If you're healthy and you're exercising well without any problems, it should be just fine. There are some precautions so talk to your doctor if you have any conditions and do that before you would use them. Mike: So this foot massager also comes with a handheld remote which can adjust the intensity of the massage, how much inflation you're feeling and it also has a heat feature and a timer feature with a few different mode options as well. And the girth of the calf range is a 19 inch max and up at the thighs, it's 27 inches max. So you can adjust, you know how tight or loose it feels on you, but that's the maximum measurements. Brad: Alright, so good luck with improving your squats. If you follow these instructions, I'm sure you're going to progress. Mike, anything else or other things to watch? Mike: If you want to check out other videos on leg strengthening check out our video " One Life Changing Exercise For Stronger Legs (50+) ." Brad: Oh good. Nice work. Mike: I'm just going to sit in these for a while. Brad: Yeah. Enjoy Mike. Enjoy. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   EZBack-R Massage with Remote Weighted Heating Pad with Far Infrared Therapy Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Hanging Handles​ Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store   and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

There are two main issues to consider with shoulder pain and lifting weights or resistance training. The first issue is the exercise itself. Is it generally safe for shoulders? What is the risk/reward in performing the exercise? The second is your technique in doing the exercise. Do you understand how to correctly do the exercise? And just as important is your body able to get into the appropriate position to perform the exercise correctly? 10 guidelines for lifting weights with shoulder pain. 1. Avoid machines for chest presses. A fixed position on a machine may force your shoulders and arms into positions they do not want to go. A bar is better. Dumbbells may be better (allow each arm to move freely of the other.) Exercise bands also work fantastic to keep arms moving freely with less chance of injury. Movements should be slow and controlled. 2. Cut movement short for lowering chest presses to prevent extension of the shoulders. Lowering all the way to the chest increases stress on the shoulders Do half-chest presses until the shoulder pain is gone. 3. Avoid abducting shoulders with bench press which puts shoulders at increased risk for impingement. Use dumbbells instead and put arms at more of a diagonal (closer to the body). Incorrect (elbows out) Correct (elbows in) 4. Avoid shoulder presses. Especially behind the neck. Some shoulder presses are acceptable, but most people have poor form and put their shoulders at risk. 5. Avoid abduction on pushups. Keep arms at a diagonal and closer together. Avoid arms and elbows out Elbows in or at a diagonal. 6. Perform shoulder raises to 90 degrees only. 7. Perform shoulder raises in scaption. Arms slightly away from your side before lifting. The arm is more in line with the “socket” of the shoulder. 8. Shoulder raises with less weight. The shoulder muscles are relatively small with long lever arms to move. 9. Strengthen the posture muscles affecting the shoulders. 10. Outright avoid these exercises when you have shoulder pain: A. Chest Flies B. Behind-the-neck pulldowns C. Upright rows D. Behind-the-neck press-ups E. Bench Dips Check out the full Shoulder Pain Relief Program series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/shoulder-pain-relief-program

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/qvga7bCQxLg Brad: You know, being independent as you age, doing daily chores, staying mobile is very important. Particularly as we age and get past sixty, it seems to kick in a little more. Mike: Simple tasks like putting on your shoes, pulling up your pants, or even trying to get your shoulders to take your shirt off can become difficult as we age. Brad: That's right, we're going to show you some daily exercises, very brief that are going to help you get through this and maintain your mobility and independence for years to come. Mike: So Brad and I obviously are not to this point in our lives yet. However, we have worked with thousands of people working on these daily skills. Brad: Well, I'm kind of getting there. I'm telling you, I feel some of the aches and pains that you get over 60 years old. So we're going to show you five common problems people experience in five simple stretches that you can use to eliminate these problems and keep you moving. So one thing that can happen commonly as you grow older, you catch your toe on a crack in the sidewalk or it just doesn't, you don't lift your toe and it catches, causing a potential fall. We need to work with this and address it. It's a easy stretch. Alright, so what we're looking at is something we call foot drop. And that's when your foot swings through, you need to dorsiflex or pull the toes up so they don't catch. And what we need to do is stretch the calf muscle for this. Let's show them how to do it, Mike. Mike: So the first calf stretch we're going to do, just need a wall space. So I'm going to lean against the wall. I'm going to be stretching my left calf here. Make sure your foot is flat on the ground. Do not let your heel pop up. And you should start feeling a stretch in your calf muscles in the back region there. Now if you want to get more of a stretch, I simply lean forward towards the wall and I definitely feel more of a stretch. If you are way up here close, simply bring your leg back and you'll probably feel much more of a stretch. Hold this for roughly 15 to 30 seconds. Make sure to repeat on both sides because you don't want to have one tight calf muscle and the other one loose. Brad: Yeah, you'll walk in circles. Mike: I guess, so just do this stretch here. Do you walk in circles? Brad: Well, I normally only do at home. One thing I do want to look at is bring this foot back again, Mike. Now one common mistake is people will allow their toe to point out and that's going to make the stretch not as effective. Brad: So try and keep it pointed straight ahead, heel down, and get a good effective stretch. What do you say, Mike? Mike: I'm feeling it. Brad: Yep, it's a good stretch. Mike: I have tight calves. Brad: Now with this one, the frequency, do as Mike mentioned, 15 to 30 second stretch on each leg one or two times. But do it three or four times throughout the day. It would only take a minute or so on each stretch. It'll really progress that stretch and range of motion, eliminating that foot drop problem. Brad: Oh, I have to get my foot up to put my shoes on. Brad: So this is a problem a lot of seniors have is a tight hip muscle so that the hip does not allow this motion so you can easily put your shoes and your socks on in a form like this. So we're going to show you a simple stretch to maintain this and we can do it lying down in bed before you get out of bed or in a chair. Mike, show them how to do it before they get out of bed in the morning. Mike: So if you are lying down, typically you want to start laying on your back, bend your knees up a bit. Everyone's going to be different where they can start from. Some people will immediately be able to get their foot up onto their opposite knee. Other people may have to start way down and they might get stuck like this. This is okay, find your starting position. What you want to eventually do is work up to bringing this knee closer. This will stretch it more and then actually pushing down with your hand will get even more of a stretch. This is called a figure four stretch. You can't see it from your point of view, but it looks like a four. You're going to hold this for 15 to 30 seconds. Make sure to repeat on the other side. Brad: Now it's really important that you avoid any sharp pain while you're doing this. If your hip or knee or whatever experiences pain, do not do it, we don't want to get too aggressive. Also, if you've had a hip replacement, you do not want to do this unless you talk to your surgeon first about it and get it cleared. Now in a seated position, simply, either way works good, this is what I do on a daily basis. Every time I get my foot up here to put my socks or shoe on, I automatically push down on my knee. It feels good. I know it's maintaining the range of motion so I can keep this for many years to come. If you're having a hard time, simply come forward in the chair. Slide your foot out and straighten your knee a bit, bring the other foot up, try to get it above the knee cap and hold it there. You can hold here and let the knee go down. Hold here with one hand, push down here. Brad: Again, no pain should be experienced. Just a nice stretch feeling and work that, hold it for 15 to 30 seconds. I personally go pressure on, pressure off, five to 10 repetitions and then do the other leg. It's a great way to really work that so that maintains motion and I guess I can stop talking now. Brad: I think a lot of people experience a tight shoulder or painful shoulder, reaching up into the cupboard to get something as simple as a coffee mug. Brad: So we're going to show you a nice exercise to keep your shoulder mobility and strength so you can continue to do this. Let's do it, Mike. Mike: So before we get into this exercise, I do not condone the use of that packer cup, by the way. Anyway, we're going to do what is called wall walks. So I'm going to start by facing the wall and you're just going to walk your fingers up the wall as high as you comfortably can. If I can only get part way, that's okay. Just try to do 10 wall walks going up, focus on going up. You don't have to worry too much about coming back down. Over time, maybe notice if you can go higher. Mike: You could certainly put some tape on your wall for a measurement or landmark to try to get to over time. Now if you're noticing, this way is really easy, but say facing sideways, I'm just going to switch arm for camera's sake is more challenging. Maybe work on standing sideways because this is going to work slightly different shoulder muscles. Brad: That's right. So again, do not go into any sharp pain with it. Work it over time. A good maintenance program. So it does work strengthening and stretching. So it's a good overall exercise. Mike: Now we're going to get into another stretch that you can try to do as well. Brad: Okay, now if doing the wall walking is not working well for you, this is a great option. You can do it in a seated position. Just get a stick about four or five foot long, a broom handle, a mop. I've got the Booyah Stik , on the floor with it or on the chair works as well. Now you're going to take that stiff shoulder that's not able to reach up and take the other hand and help it get up as far as comfortable, grab a hold of the stick and then if you lean forward, that actually adds a stretch. It puts a fair amount of leverage on there. So be careful, don't get too aggressive. A nice, not painful stretch, just a comfortable stretch in there and just lean forward, stretch and relax. After two or three times, if it feels like it's loose, simply go up another inch or so and stretch. I really cannot emphasize enough that you do not take too much at one time. 'cause we don't want to tear any muscles. We just want to stretch them. Mike, you have anything to add? Mike If you would like to work on going out to the side more, simply place it out to the side, your handle, grab on, I do palm facing away and then you can kind of lean into it as well. And this gets a nice shoulder distraction stretch here. So this is just an alternative option. Also helps kind of with that side movement a little bit more. Brad: That's right, good luck with that. I think one of these will work well for you. Ever have an issue getting your coat on? Brad: This is a real common problem many people experience as you age. Shoulders tighten up. We've got a really nice exercise to keep that motion in gear so you're independent with this. Alright, so this is a general concept of the range we need to exercise and that's this right here, taking the back of your palm and getting it to this area. Brad: You can see my palm is away from the body. And then we want to get this motion as far as we can without pain. That's going to get this whole motion to get the coat on much easier. It works for putting belts on and getting dressed and other areas as well. So how do we do that? There's two things you can use, a belt or you can use a stick like we'd used before. So Mike, should we talk about the belt option? Mike: Yep, so what you're going to do to start is just feed the belt through so you have a little loop. I'm going to put it on my painful side. So we're going to say my left side is my painful side and I'm going to reach behind my back. What I'm going to do is use my good arm, my right arm here to actually help it up. So say I can only lift the here, but it doesn't hurt. I can stretch a little bit more by simply pulling with my right arm. And you can just hold this for 15 to 30 seconds and do it two to three times. Brad: Now I want to emphasize a couple of things. First of all, you know it may not be painful, it's just tight, which is actually preferable because then we just want to stretch the muscle. If it's painful, just be careful you don't go into any sharp pain. Use a belt that's smooth. If you have a nice shiny belt that actually cuts the resistance over your shoulder, and makes it much easier to do. You can see Mike is getting a little further each time. In reality, you probably are not going to gain inches on the first day, you just stretch and then every day, work to stretch one or two times and work it up and down, five to 10 repetitions and then give it a break. If it gets sore the next day, it means you went too aggressively the first time, then wait a day or two and come back to it and then go after it again. Now the other way that I mentioned, if you're going to use a stick, a broomstick, anything like that, you need again something about four feet long. Okay, you could use a mop. This is a little weird. I'm going to actually use the Booyah Stik. It's a little easier, you can see it easier. But everything is the same. We want to get the stick behind our back. Now the way I always teach my patients is I say, put the stick in front of you. Now I want to stretch my left shoulder. So you take your right arm, the one that doesn't need stretching, grab it with your thumb down and simply lift it up and then go around the backside so it ends up here and simply you can, it's kind of like a back scratch or a long back scratcher. You're going to do this motion. Now that's the motion you're going to do. But you take the tight shoulder, grab here so the palm is away from your back. Now this can be a little difficult. You have to grab the stick. There we go, and I'm going to bring up here, grab the stick. This is where the belt, you don't have to do all this. Once you get to here, you simply slide up and down, working that stretch. Brad: Oh, it's tight there, that's enough. You can hold it. Now after you've done this for a while and it starts to feel comfortable and you want to get a little more aggressive, then you simply, I'm going to pull this arm down and watch my shoulder and my arm point of the way. Brad: This way this is more advanced. If you've got a tight shoulder, you will not be able to do this on the first day. It may take a couple, three weeks. We're just going to start again with this, not real aggressive, just so it stretches it gently. Okay, and then you let go. Bring the stick here and around. So, two options. Mike, what do you like to do? Mike: Both of these. Brad: Yeah. Again, work with these. Take your time with it. And you may need someone to help you to get the stick in position or even the belt the first couple times. Brad: Mike, can you give me a piece of tape for this project? Mike: No, my fingers aren't working. Brad: It's pain and stiff. I having the same thing trying to cut this cardboard. And man, these joints are stiff. This is the kind of thing that's very common as we age. You get over 60, lot of people experience it. We're going to show you how to keep those fingers moving and pain-free. Mike: So a simple stretch you can do at home is called a mirror stretch, meaning you are going to mirror one hand to the other. So simply put your fingertips together and then try and touch the whole hand together and lift the elbows up almost like you're doing a prayer here. And then come back out. So out and together, this is going to stretch those digits into extension, especially for those that kind of have arthritic bent hands, this can help with that. Brad: That's right. Now the other option you can do, some people and you only have certain fingers that are tight, other ones are doing fairly well. So you go to the tight finger, mine, my third digit or the middle finger is always the tightest one on both hands for whatever reason. So what I like to do is take just that finger and I'll push it back. I'll take my thumb here and put it right at the joint and I'll stretch it about three or four, five times. I can hold it and you can do the good fingers as well, just to make sure that they're going to stay loose and nimble. You may get your knuckles to crack a little bit, feels good. Brad: Make sure you do both hands. Ooh, this one needs it right now, we're working that. There we go, good. Sometimes you can do all the fingers at once if it's just a general stretch, that works very well. Now we also have something that's a real treat, a hand massager, and it's something you can just put your hand in it, work and it's very comfortable. I'm going to turn it on. It's got an LED light that goes on. Now when I first saw this, I really thought it was not going to be anything we wanted to recommend, but after using it, it really is a nice device. If you have the hands that are curled, it actually works on straightening them out. There's rollers in there that massage the fingers, massage the palm, you can adjust the heat. And here it is, it works very well. You can adjust how deep you put your hand in. You may come out this way to get a different part of the hand massage and stretched as well. It's really a nice device. We've also got another video that's going to help people out with other options. Mike: Yeah, so check out our video " Three Must-Do Daily Strength Exercises for Seniors. " So these are all stretches, those are strengthening exercises. Brad: That's right, it's the full package. 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Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/PGPk6Ulm9Ck Brad: If you want to learn how to strengthen your legs, this is for you. It's great for older people and for beginners. And what else we got to say, Mike? Mike: Plus we're going to show you the two common pitfalls people fall into to not actually strengthen their legs and how to avoid them. Brad: That's right. We got a great example that fits most people. So here's a true story. My sister, who's older than me, she's in her sixties, she's having problems with her leg strength, she's noticing when she's walking that her knee is starting to buckle, obviously very uncomfortable and puts you at potential for falls. So, naturally she came to me, the most famous physical therapy along with Bob and Mike. She said, "Give me some exercises." I gave her a couple of videos I thought were spot on, and about a week later she calls me up and she says, "These exercises aren't working. "I've been doing them very aggressively "for the last seven days "and I actually feel a little sore and weak." Mike: So the biggest mistake she was doing was doing them every day and not letting her legs rest and recover. That is mistake number one. Take breaks in between your exercises. Brad: That's right. Too much, too soon. Now the second mistake that we found with other people is they do the exercises improperly or the mechanics aren't quite right causing some problems, and that's just a matter of us having good videos or giving good instructions. Sometimes there's some misunderstandings, so that way you can simply look at our videos again to make sure you get it right if things don't seem like they're going well. Mike: So the two rules with all these exercises is to not perform them every day. So if you're going to do it Monday through Friday, work out Monday, Wednesday, Friday, take a day off in between. Brad: That's right. And in regards to form, make sure you really focus on the form. And another thing is, as far as intensity, so many people think you have to do the repetitions until your muscles are burning so bad that it is just going to get you stronger with no pain, no gain. Do not do that, especially the first week. Allow the muscles to adapt and rebuild, and you'll have much better success by the second week. Alright, we're going to show four specific exercises. Each one deals with your leg strength a little bit differently. The first one, and I really like to address this, is if you happen to have that weakness in your legs and you feel that leg buckle like, "Oh, wow." And that's quad strength you want to work on. This exercise is very specific for this problem and you're going to need a ball, either a six- or eight-inch ball like Mike or I have. It's really important that it's a squishy ball, not really soft but about like this, a nice kickball. Go down to the park, see what you got laying around. Take that ball. You can do it long-sitting, like Mike is positioned here on the table, or standing. Now if you feel comfortable with doing it standing, that's the best way to do it because it's in a weight-bearing position just like you are when you have the problem, but if this is too aggressive, that's a good way to start. We're going to do the 10 repetitions. Mike, you wanna start showing it in a long-seated position? This is probably not going to work real good on a bed. You could do it, but a carpeted floor is preferred. Mike: So what you're going to do is actually push the back of your knee into the ball pushing it down into the floor. I'm on the mat here, but notice when I'm doing this, I'm keeping my heel down on the mat. It's not popping up and kicking. Brad: Right. Mike: So this is going to work on that little extension bit, activating those quads, it can help prevent that knee buckling. Brad: Good. Excellent. Now if you want to do the method where you're standing, if I'm working my right leg, I'm going to keep most of my weight into my right foot. Put the ball right at the back of the knee, bring your foot in so we got a little bit of a bend in the knee, and, again, I'm weight-bearing through that leg and I'm pushing and squeezing. Now, this I like to just do like 10 repetitions, but I do them slow. I like to hold and push for about a count of two or three and relax. Make sure you breathe between each one, upper body stays relaxed. Focus all the energy down into that leg. Go and relax. Go and relax. Mike, you have any other comments or tricks you like to do? Mike: Sometimes you can use a rolled-up towel instead of a ball if you do not have one. Brad: Sure. Yep. That's a nice option. Alright, let's go to number two. Now, the next one we're going to do is sit-to-stand, which is actually, in my opinion, kind of an earlier beginner's version to doing squats. Use a chair and it works very well. If this is too easy, you can progress to the next one. Go ahead, Mike. Tell them how to do it. Mechanics is really important on this particular one. Mike: So, it's good to get your butt to the edge of the chair before you stand up making it a little easier. Notice I have a slight lean forward. For beginners, if you struggle without using your arms, you can certainly use your arms to push up, stand all the way up, reach back and control yourself on the way down. Do not stand up and flop back down. You're not really strengthening your legs. As your legs become stronger, try to push more with your legs than your hands, maybe just use them for support. If this becomes easy, you can certainly try one arm, and then once that becomes easy, don't use your arms at all. You can cross them over your chest. Go up and then sit back down, try to perform up to 10 repetitions over time. Brad: That's right. And there's even the more advanced version that I've worked with some people. Put your arms up like that and it works your balance. Brad: You need to be just a little more advanced, depends on where you're at, and what we even will tell them in the extra advanced version, do it without touching the chair. Go ahead. So you're going to go down, let your buttocks get within two inches of the chair, and come back up. Then you're actually doing a squat, so you've actually progressed from the beginner level all the way up to the full squat, and eventually, if you don't need the chair, take it away. Mike: You can even touch the chair for a landmark, just don't sit because I'm still engaging my legs. Brad: Do that one more time, Mike. Look how straight he keeps his back. Now Mike does a lot of lifting in the gym. He's very aware, and because he's a therapist, how important this is and he demonstrates it very well. Alright, let's go to number three are we at? Mike: Yep. So exercise number three is called the split squat or it's a variation of a lunge here. So for beginners, you certainly don't have to go all the way down to the ground and back up, you can just do partials. Also, if you're new to this, hold onto support. You can have a cane or a stick in your hand, maybe a countertop next to you, whatever is comfortable for you. What you're going to want to do is maintain a nice proper upright posture with my spine. My right leg is forward. This is the one that I'm going to be working. Left leg is back, and you're simply going to lunge down. If you have sensitive knees, maybe put a pad or a throw pillow on the floor to protect your knees and then you're going to come back up. Try to control it down and control it back up. If you're new and your legs are weak, you can certainly use a countertop or cane to help push up if you get stuck down there. Try to do five to 10 repetitions on one leg and make sure to switch to the other side. Same positioning, one foot forward, one foot back, and a nice lunge like this. You're going to get strengthening here. The back leg is going to get some hip flexor stretching. Just a good overall leg exercise. Brad: A word of warning about this one. If you've never done these before, this is one where you can easily get in trouble for doing too much too soon. It really is a rather difficult exercise if you haven't done it before and if you go too low. Don't even try to get your knee to the floor if you haven't done them before. One other thing, if you're having knee pain, make sure that you're really attentive to the knee in the front. If you find yourself where your knees goes over the toes too far, that stresses this knee a little bit more and it may create pain, but if you keep the knee above the ankle and do it, it may easily get rid of that pain, and that's what you'll want to do. Brad: Some little tricks on how to do these properly and pain-free, which is critical. Now this last exercise I really like because it integrates function, things you do every day, as far as going up and down steps, as well as leg strengthening. You'll see exactly what I mean. Mike, take it away. Mike: So these are just called step-ups. Now do it at a stair. Hold onto both rails if needed. If you only need one rail, that is fine, or no rails if you are strong enough. Now I'm going to start with my right leg. I'm going to place it on a step. I'm going to step up just to that step and then bring my left leg back down keeping my right leg up here. I'm going to try to do five to 10 repetitions on one side before I switch. Notice I'm trying to focus on pushing up with this leg and slowly lower back down. You can push from the back leg if you're too weak, but try to focus on using the leg that is placed up on the step. Nice slow controlled movements. Mike: Make sure to work the other side. If you feel like you get too tired doing too many reps on one leg at once, you could certainly go left leg up, then right leg up, then you feel like you're in a jazzercising class or something. Brad: You would know Mike. Now, there's a couple things that Mike pointed out and I want to reemphasize is the form. He talked about going up and then going down slow with good control. The going down is actually more critical, and you get better strengthening than going up, so make sure you go down slow. The other thing is if you have any knee problems or if you want to avoid having them in the future, is be very cognizant or aware that the knee that's pushing up, the leg that's pushing up, stays directly over the toes. Now watch what happens. This is a tendency for a lot of people is the knee wants to go in and then it comes back up once I get up. That stresses the knee joint quite a bit and you do not want to do that, so really be aware of that. And coming down slow you'll have great success with this and you'll get stronger noticing hill-climbing, steps, and those types of things much easier. Mike: Yes, it's a very functional movement. Good for any age. Brad: You can't go wrong with the step-ups. Alright, so again, remember the two big mistakes and avoid them. Avoid too much too soon, too many reps, too much intensity as well as good form that we talked about. And we've got another video, Mike. Mike: If you want to check out more videos on leg-strengthening exercises for seniors, check out our video " 3 Leg Strengthening Exercises Every Senior Should Do ." Brad: There you go. Visit us on our other social media platforms : YouTube , Website , Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Pinterest , LinkedIn , TikTok , Wimkin , Mewe , Minds , Vero , SteemIt , Peakd , Rumble ,  Snapchat , Clapper , Threads   Bob and Brad also have a Podcast where we share your favorite episodes as well as interviews with health-related experts. For this week’s Giveaway visit :  https://bobandbrad.com/giveaways Bob and Brad’s Products Pain Management: C2 Massage Gun (US) C2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Therapy C2 Plus Massage Gun with Heat Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Q2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Knee Glide   Eye Massager   EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager White EyeOasis 2 Eye Massager Black EyeOasis 2 Plus Eye Massager with Remote T2 Massage Gun   T2 Pro Massage Gun with Heat and Cold Head Air 2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head X6 Pro Massage with Heat-Cold and Metal Head D5 Pro Massage Gun Leg Massager Holy Cowabunga Cream   Uni Massage Gun D6 Pro Massage Gun Back Massager Posture Pad Lite Foot Massager EZBack Massager   Weighted Heating Pad Fitness: Resistance Bands​   Pull Up System Pull Up Bands   Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener   Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit   Stress Balls   Stretching: Booyah Stik   Stretch Strap Bob & Brad Amazon Store   and other products Bob and Brad Love Check out our shirts, mugs, bags, and more in our Bob and Brad merchandise shop ​ Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate Disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced to help you make the best choice for you.