This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in January of 2020. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugUIwENVI8w&t=345s Bob: Today we're going to talk about is your hip pain actually coming from your back and how to tell. We've got some simple questions and some simple tests that you can try. Brad: Absolutely Bob, because as therapists we know the two can easily be misconstrued. Bob: Misunderstood or mistaken. I don't know, we'll come up with a word. Bob: So yes, hip pain or back pain, it can be very deceptive because sometimes they share the same locations even. Brad: Yep, and similar symptoms. How many times have you had someone come in with a hip pain diagnosis from the doctor and you end up treating the low back and the problem's gone? Bob: Absolutely, this happens all the time. So, the first thing we're going to do is ask three questions. By the way, this information is from the book Treat Your Own Hip, by Robin McKenzie. This man truly was the most famous physical therapist on Earth. Brad: Yeah, he has a whole system that's worldwide. We love him. Bob: So the three questions, number one: do you have pain in your central low back, that means your middle low back? Brad: By the belt line. Bob: And particularly back pain on the same side as the hip pain. So, you're having hip pain, and you're like, "Ah, I always have back pain too along with it." It's on the same side. Two: does coughing or sneezing increase your back pain? Brad: Or your hip pain. Bob: Or your hip pain, right. Brad: Does it create your pain, the problem you're having. Bob: Right, do you have numbness, tingling, pins and needles, or weakness in the knee or foot on the same side as the hip pain? If you answer yes to all three of these, it's more likely that you're having back pain than hip pain. Those are the signs of back pain not hip pain. Brad: But not necessarily, we're just saying, it's more likely. Bob: It's more likely, right. It's not positive but it's more likely. Okay, the second thing you want to look at is pain location. I have used tape and my tape is representing what's more typically hip pain. Hip pain tends to be more in the groin, and also on the side. This is more what we consider the hip. I know a lot of people consider the buttock the hip, but this is really more the hip. Bob: All right, if you're having pain in the areas that Brad has marked off here in the low back, or going down the butt, or maybe even going down the leg all the way, then it's more likely back pain. Brad: Right, right. Bob: Again, not 100%, but your odds are more, if you're a betting man or a betting woman, that's how I would bet. Brad: It's really important to understand that pain location oftentimes is not related to the source of the pain. It refers because of the way the nervous system is in the body. It refers to different locations. You know as therapists we work with it all the time, it just is common knowledge to us. But the layperson may not understand that. Bob: Yeah, it's weird to think your shoulder might be sending pain down the arm or neck pain is sending pain down the arm. Brad: Very similar. Bob: All right, the third thing that I want you to try, is I'm going to have you sit in a chair. And you're going to sit straight up first and see what that does to your pain. You're going to sit on a stool or a chair, and you're going to sit straight up and see what your pain does. Then I want you to slouch, and while you’re slouching, I want you to grab the bottom of the chair and pull up. That's going to put compression on the spine. Pull up. Brad: I think it's pull down? Bob: Pull down with the back, pull up at the arms. Brad: Compress that back a little bit. Bob: Compress the back. I just did this with a patient yesterday because she had a hip replacement, but she seems to be having back pain with it. This caused increased pain. This made her pain worse. So it was more likely her back because your hip is not going to hurt when you do this. Brad: There's no extra stress being put on the hip when that happens. It's clearly more on the back. Bob: So, you can also test it by standing. So you stand and put your hands on your thighs. Then slide down the thighs like this. Again, this is not increasing the stress on the hip to any large extent, it's increasing the stress on the back. If this makes your pain worse, again we're thinking more back pain. Bob: You can do extensions standing. You can extend with your arms up or extend with your hands on your hips. If this makes your pain worse, again more likely to be the back. Brad: Right. Bob: Have I been clear Brad? Brad: Yep, clear as mud. Bob: I had a medical teacher who used to say, "Oh am I as clear as mud?" He'd always say it like that. "Am I clear as mud?" What, it was funny? So that's it, that's the end of the thing there. If you are having back pain, obviously, you want to treat that, because your hip pain is never going to go away if it's actually coming from your back and you're treating your hip. Brad: So the next question our viewers are asking is, well what are we going to do, we want the pain better. Bob: We have videos on what to do, so you can search our channel. Brad: And also this book is written for the layperson. These are usually pretty cheap around the 10-dollar range. It goes through everything we just went through plus treatment. Bob: It'll have all the treatment. All right, remember Brad and I can fix about anything. Brad: Except for... Bob: A broken heart. Brad: But we continue to work on that, and we won't give up until we get there. Bob: We can fix hips though. Brad: Oh yeah, it's pretty close. Bob: All right, thanks. Interested in learning about the products mentioned in today's video: 1) McKenzie Method - Treat Your Own Hip Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat 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) Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Back and Neck Massager Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull-Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Wellness: Bob and Brad Blood Pressure Monitor 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​ The Bob and Brad Community is a place to share your experiences, ask questions and connect with others regarding physical therapy and health topics. 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 in order to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in May of 2022. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmKv9JZI_Pk&t=9s Brad: Today we're going to discuss heart attacks, early signs, and symptoms. We're going to discuss some treatments as well as some variations between male and female symptoms. So, stay tuned, and Chris is going to give you everything you're going to need to know. Chris: All right, so heart attacks, in the United States, and pretty much worldwide, are the number one killer for both males and females. Brad: Wow. Chris: When we have a heart attack, it's not like what we see in the movies where it's like, "Oh my God, I'm having a heart attack, get help." It's not like that. Sometimes they are, 90% of people are going to present with massive crushing chest pain and shortness of breath. Those are the top two symptoms of a heart attack. But there are subtle differences, there are differences between men and women, to a degree, and we'll kind of dive into that a little bit as well. But the symptoms of a heart attack oftentimes ramp up gently, or quietly, before we actually have the actual heart attack. Brad: So you mean over a period of a day or weeks? Chris: Days, weeks, even up to three to four weeks, particularly in women, so we'll touch on that a little bit. But men can have that too, so it's not exactly the same. What can happen is we have little tiny vessels, and basically, the definition of a heart attack is basically there's an occlusion, blood flow is stopped, it doesn't feed the heart muscle and it causes damage. So time is muscle in the world of a cardiologist. Brad: So something gets in the vessel, blocks it like a dam, and there you go, you have no blood. Chris: Exactly, so it's basically a plaque or just a little bit of fat, or junk, goo that's kind of hiding around in the arteries. It plugs it up, and it doesn't give oxygen and rich nutrients to the heart muscle itself. The longer that it's occluded, the more damage is done to the heart, and obviously, the endpoint can be death. So, time is of the essence to recognize these symptoms, and sometimes it's a little bit more simple, and sometimes it's a little bit more complex. Brad: Sure. Chris: Overwhelmingly, males and females present with overwhelming chest pain, it almost feels like an elephant is sitting on your chest and squeezing. You have difficulty breathing. And this is where it kind of starts to break down between men and women. Women may have things that led up to this. So for the last month they just kind of feel fatigued when they're just doing normal household tasks that they do day to day, all of a sudden they're just, "Man, I gotta take a nap, I am just wiped out." Things that just shouldn't crash you, from that standpoint. They may think, "Well, I've been busy at work, I've been chasing the kids around all day." Just lots of running and gunning. Maybe it's just a little stress, little anxiety, and so they kind of bypass that fatigue. They might have a little bit of chest pain, but then it all of a sudden, it seems like, well maybe it was some indigestion. So they delay time to care. And so the problem is if you feel something you want to say something. How do we delineate between, is it a little bit of heartburn? I don't want to run to the doctor every five minutes and think I'm having a heart attack, but at the same time, you don't want to ignore very serious symptoms. That's one of the things that's very crucial. Brad: I want to go back, you said women may experience that more often, but men don't? Chris: Not as often, usually for men, it just seems like it's the chest pain. Which, a guy might think it's a pulled muscle in their chest in a lot of cases, like they're working out, or they did some yard work. And then all of a sudden they're like, "Yeah, I just don't feel right. "I just can't catch my breath," and all of a sudden they may be sweaty, and kind of clammy. Brad: Women don't? Chris: Oh yeah, no, they do, too. Men and women have the same experiences, but women, when they present with a heart attack in a lot of cases describe more symptoms, and in more detail than men. Men, it's pretty simple, for whatever reason. And I don't know if it's because it was often thought of as a male dominant disease, which is 100% wrong. Males and females, it's number one for both of us on the death list. Brad: Okay. Chris: Over time it's become recognized better, but the interesting thing is we're talking about the ramping up so you can get some of that fatigue, shortness of breath, sometimes pain that radiates down the arm up into the neck and jaw. Which seem like traditional things, but sometimes people just blow it off as "Oh, I pulled a muscle in my neck." So one thing that people can do if you think you did have a pulled muscle is if you do a little stretch, it's going to go away. So if it doesn't go away, it is consistently there or gets worse, that is definitely the time to probably be looking at 911. Brad: And oftentimes that feeling will come with increased activity. Chris: Yeah, and that's the other thing I was going to touch on. So if your chest has been hurting you and you're sitting down, you're like, "I'm just going to get a glass of water and see if something helps." And if you get up, and upon exertion, that chest pain is getting worse. That's also another critical sign that probably something more dangerous is going with the heart itself. So it doesn't matter if it's more neck pain, more back pain, more pain down your arm, or even in the right arm which is interesting, because usually, we think our heart's on the left side of the body so if we have right sided pain, that's kind of strange. Or even the right side of your back. So women will present, and be more descriptive, of all those subtler symptoms, which are not the big two, which are chest pain and shortness of breath. So that's where it differs a little bit. Some of that may be due to women having a slightly smaller heart, a little bit faster heart rate, and also smaller blood vessels. And those smaller blood vessels may be what leads to more of the subtler symptoms like the pain down the arm, the neck, or in the back, or even nausea or indigestion kind of symptoms. Brad: Sure. Chris: So for whatever reason, though guys can equally have those in a lot of cases. But it just seems like it's more present and more descriptive with women. Women will present and tell you at least three different symptoms or more, whereas men will just tell you two. You've got the most skilled nurses and doctors helping you right away to try and get through all this, and they go through a litany of things when people are having a heart attack. They have very specific protocols for that. Brad: Correct. Chris: Circulation is everything. And so we want to make sure the sooner that they can get that clog fixed, the sooner you're going to recover and get back to healthy. Brad: So if someone's having these symptoms and they're thinking "Maybe I should go in." What are you going to do, jump in the car and drive? Call 911? Or? Chris: We would recommend calling 911 if it's possible. If you live in a little farm community, and the closest hospital is an hour away, it's kind of a crapshoot. Most doctors and legal experts are going to tell you to call the ambulance because the ambulance can provide the care that you need along the route. If you're having a heart attack, and there's no saying when it's really going to turn bad, like if all of a sudden you have asystole or something, where your heart stops beating. If you're in a car, now you've crashed the car or crashed into another set of people. So, if you can avoid driving yourself to the hospital at all costs. That is most ideal. Number one would be 911, the paramedics on those crews, that's their bread and butter. They know all about how to treat you, get things going, and stabilize you as much as they can so that when you get to the hospital the doctors can go to work right away. Brad: Right and they're communicating, so the doctors know what’s going on. Chris: They're communicating as they go, yes. So yeah, it's very involved, and it's quite intricate, but incredible teamwork. So, for the survival chain, it's pretty impressive. Brad: Now, I didn't know if you wanted to mention this, but you talked about you can self-treat a little bit by taking an aspirin? Chris: Yeah, so if appropriate. I think it would be okay to chew an aspirin, so you don't want the enteric-coated aspirin at this point, you want the plain old white tablets. If you're not on a blood thinner, and you don't have an aspirin allergy, we would recommend chewing one aspirin, just one 325 mg aspirin. Basically, it takes five minutes to get into the system and start helping to improve blood flow. So that five minutes can make a difference in your life or a loved one's life. Brad: So, you're saying if you feel the pain, and you're concerned it is a heart attack, you call 911. And then? Chris: Oftentimes the operators are very skilled to listen for things. They may actually go ahead and tell you to chew an aspirin. So that's one thing. And if all you've got in the house is enteric-coated aspirin, still chew it. Brad: What's this, enteric coating? Chris: Enteric-coated. So, a lot of times, they're orange in color. The coating is designed to protect your stomach from stomach ulceration so it dissolves in your intestines and then it absorbs. Brad: So you can't chew those? Chris: You can, it's just harder to chew. And it can be kind of hard on the teeth. But at the end of the day, I think that's the most important thing. When it comes down to it, what do we do? We want to recognize the symptoms if it's not getting better. The other thing with women to men, it seems like they take 37 minutes longer to report a heart attack than men for some strange reason. Oftentimes it may be that psychology just says, "Well, it's not happening to me, I'm too busy for this,” or, "I've got so many other things going on. I gotta take care of the kids," or “I gotta get the grandkids. I have to pick them up at school." And they're just thinking about all sorts of other things. Brad: Or do they have a higher pain tolerance? Chris: Much higher pain tolerance, too, I think. I think there are not a lot of clear studies that suggest that, but you'll hear, anecdotally, that doctors will say "I just think women are just tougher." And so they just attribute it to, "I'll sleep it off," or "I'll walk it off," so to speak, or "Rub some dirt on it, and it's just going to go away." Brad: Well, I think most physical therapists deal with a lot of pain with treatment, particularly total knees. That's one thing you do try to get pain with, and hands down, I'm working with a woman I can push her harder than I can any man with a total knee. Chris: I think they are, I don't think there's anything about it, I think anybody will tell you that women are tougher than men. I don't care what you say. They have kids, we don't. So I mean it's a pretty simple argument from that standpoint. But all kidding aside, when we're talking about this, if it just doesn't seem like it's getting better if it seems like the pain is getting worse upon just taking a simple walk across the room, it's 911 time. It's something that I can't stress enough. Some people say, "Well I don't want to go, because I don't want to waste their time." "I don't want to be embarrassed if it's just like a stupid case of anxiety." You know those are all wrong. I mean, let the pros search it out. They're highly trained, they are expert medical personnel. They will do what they can to sort out what may not be real, versus what is devastatingly real. Brad: Sure. Chris: That's the one thing that we want to stress more than anything else. Brad: Both Chris and I have been to the ER with heart attack symptoms. They weren't heart attacks, but we were both glad we went because you feel so much better. Then you try and figure out what the problem was. And we both did Chris: Absolutely. At the end of the day, it's like "Whoo, at least it's not that." You can always deal with a muscle pull or anxiety. That's not simple, and that's not to belittle anxiety. The symptoms feel the same, and so that's the thing that's hard. We just can't, as human beings that are not trained in the medical profession really recognize, "Well, is it just indigestion?” "Is it just a pulled muscle in my shoulder, neck, arm, or jaw?" It’s just too hard to tell. Let the pros know, they're going to help you. I think that's the most important takeaway. Brad: All right, so, there you go. Heart attacks, symptoms, signs, don't mess around with it. I thought aspirin, was something I didn't know about, but I think a lot of medical professionals are aware of it. Chris: Absolutely. Oh, it is. Aspirin is important because it helps, flow is everything when it comes to circulations. It thins the blood just a little bit. Just five minutes of getting that in your system versus swallowing, which takes about 12 minutes, so that's why you want to chew it. Brad: Do you wash it down with water? Chris: Well you want to chew it, just chew it and swallow because actually, you really don't want to drink a lot of water because you could regurgitate. So if you can just chew it and swallow it that's best. And I guess really we'd be remiss if we didn't talk about prevention. There are risk factors across the board, whether it's, age, genetics, smoking, not smoking, drinking, or not drinking. So any of the things. Eating well, and getting exercise, are two of the biggest things that you can do. I mean, sometimes you can't outrun genetics but you can certainly do things to change the table. Brad: Right, I think everyone knows smoking is a big no-no. Chris: It's a big no-no, but it's just something that you're on the fence on, if you have the ability to try and quit smoking, please do. Just make sure you get out there and walk, try and stay active, and do active things. Even though it doesn't seem like maybe it's an exercise program, taking a walk every day is a perfect thing to do to help protect that heart. Brad: Right. All right, very good. Enjoy the day and stay healthy. Chris: Thanks, guys. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat 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) Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Back and Neck Massager Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull-Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Wellness: Bob and Brad Blood Pressure Monitor 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​ The Bob and Brad Community is a place to share your experiences, ask questions and connect with others regarding physical therapy and health topics. 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 in order to help you make the best choice for you.

A. Hanging handles B. Teeter C. Saunders table Check out the full Sciatica series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website. 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 health care 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 other 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. Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material of 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 in order to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in May of 2022. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xteF42Ko75g Bob: Do you have back pain? What is the best mattress you could get out there? Brad: According to research, 39 different studies, this is complete Bob. Bob: So as Brad alluded to, this is actually a meta-analysis which is the best kind of study, because it's a study of studies. Brad: Yeah. It really envelopes, not everything, but a lot of information. Bob: So they looked at 39 different studies and it was published by. It was published by Caggiari Et al. Brad: From December of 2021. That is recent. Bob: So they looked at the soft, medium firm, and extra firm mattresses and they found out which one was best for you. Brad: Yeah, boy this is good information. I'm curious to find out the details here. Bob: All right, to the results. So again, they looked at the medium firm, soft, or firm mattresses. And most people think, for back pain, what do they need? A firm mattress. Brad: Well that goes with the thought, sleep on the floor if you have back pain, you know those things. Bob: But you would be wrong. What they found is that a medium firm mattress provided comfort, sleep quality, and spine alignment. Brad: Medium firm? It's kind of like steak. To get medium well, it's one of those in-between things, sorry. But I would agree actually seriously because that's what this is. Bob: Yeah. They have standards. All right, next, we'll give our opinion. Brad: Oh, yes. I jumped the gun. Bob: All right, our opinion Brad. So if you're a slighter person, with very thin hips and thin shoulders, I think you can tolerate a firmer mattress. All right. So this is cultural now. A lot of Japanese sleep on the floor or sleep on the futon. Brad: Is that traditionally or is that up to date? Bob: Traditionally. Brad: Okay. That's what I thought. Bob: They tend to be slighter build. Now, if you are a larger person with ample curves, I think you're going to need a less firm mattress. Brad: So the mattress conforms to the body and offers support throughout. Bob: All right. You can sink in a little bit. Finally, we'll talk about this mattress. Brad: This is a SleepOvation mattress. So you can see how they're made with the cutaway, they have 700 of these. We call them little tiny mattresses. And the benefits of that are air channels. So it keeps you cooler. These are special foam that really works well, to help conform to your body. And then on the backside, they have coil springs, which help keep it cool. And it works. Bob: And also provides support. Brad: Support yeah. It's a wonderful system. Bob: So we'll show you, why we like it. Brad: Absolutely. Okay, here we go. On the SleepOvation medium firm mattress, you can see Bob is lying here, supine and he's feeling comfortable. Bob: On my back. Brad: Yep. Now, if we put a line, you can see the line on his pants. If we put a line across his body it stays in that straight neutral position if you will. His heels are sinking in nicely, so there's no pressure there. His bottom is into the mattress. Bob: And my back has complete contact. Brad: That's exactly the first thing I notice is that my lumbar area has support, it actually conforms to that area. Wonderful for back pain. And then all the way up into the shoulders. Bob: What if you're heavier? That's what we're going to show. Brad: Oh, good. This is one of those lifting bags. It's 75 pounds and Bob is 200. Bob: Yeah. 205. So that's 280. Brad: So 280 pounds on this mattress right now. Bob: And I keep straight Brad. Brad: Yes you do. He keeps straight going across there. The whole idea is, does the mattress help conform even with heavier weight on there, and we're doing quite well, Bob, are you feeling comfortable? Bob: I think you and I can attest to the fact that we love our mattresses. Brad: Actually that is easy to say honestly. I am extremely happy with mine. The first day and actually Mike, one of our employees, said exactly the same thing. As soon as he laid down, he felt that lumbar support. And every morning I'm a very happy person. Bob: Do you sleep with 75 pounds on? Brad: Oh yeah. I always have somebody lay on top of me. lol Bob: All right. Thanks for watching. Brad: That was good. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat 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) Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Back and Neck Massager Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull-Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Wellness: Bob and Brad Blood Pressure Monitor 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​ The Bob and Brad Community is a place to share your experiences, ask questions and connect with others regarding physical therapy and health topics. 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 in order to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in June of 2020. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gECNsPHgbc0&t=146s Bob: Today we're going to talk about five exercises all seniors should do daily. By seniors we mean, not seniors in high school. We mean the people that are maybe a little more mature. Brad: Fifty and older perhaps? Bob: Five exercises, I tried to think about which exercises I think people should have. It's essential, Brad. The first exercise, I feel there had to be one posture exercise. Everybody's struggling with posture. We deal with it all day long. We have to think about it all the time. Brad: And as seniors, if your posture gets poor, your balance automatically gets worse. They work together. Bob: Your breathing, your pain levels. I'm going to show different options on different postures ones you can do. Just pick one, but we're going to show you a few options. Brad: So if you get a ball, maybe for your grandkids, a softer one, actually a half flat one works better, it's more comfortable. You know a soccer ball that's blown up or a basketball will not work. So we're going to take that ball and put it behind you. You might need some help, you know if you can reach back. And don't get it too low on your back, between the shoulder blades, or whatever feels good. Everyone's a little different. I'm going to lean back, and stretch so the ball supports that mid-back, and then we're going to think about wrapping your shoulders right around the ball, with your arms in a 'W' position. You can do Bob's patented hallelujah stretch if you'd like to, with your arms up and just stretch and relax. Make sure you breathe, deep breath in, and exhale. Do those three to five times. And just keep the ball handy so you can do that a couple, three times a day. Bob: And you can move the ball up and down to different spots. And by the way, we have to give credit to our cameraman, Mike. He invented this. Mike is a physical therapist assistant. So next one, you can actually do it without a ball too. You can do what we call a chin tuck, and then grab your neck and bring your elbows up, and bring them back. If you don't have the ball with you, you can do a chin tuck, elbows up, and spread them apart. It's like a butterfly opening its wings. Brad: So, then you start to look up at the end a little bit? Bob: You can do that if you want to, sure. Brad: If your shoulders are tight or you have arthritic shoulders and you can't reach back like that, just do the best you can. And it's a good range of motion for them as well. Bob: So either one of those is fine. I'll give you one more. You can do the wall angel. So we're going to go ahead and do a wall angel. This is nice because it gets everything lined up. If you can't get your head all the way back, go back as far as you can, and make note of it. Maybe the next day you'll be able to get further. Brad: Sure. Bob: So you're going to do wall angels. And I'm trying to keep my shoulders up and arms against the wall as long as possible. The left arm is started to come forward. I'm working, struggling to keep this one back. Brad: If any of these create any sharp pain, you don't want to do them, that's for sure. So just that stretch, a stretching feeling is what we're looking for. Bob: All right so those are three variations. You don't have to do all three. We want you to do just one because we're doing five exercises. The next exercise is squats. You need that leg strength. In fact, we find a lot of people have those automatic electric chairs that help them stand up. They get so weak, that they later can't even stand up at all. So it's good to start with a chair. Brad's going to go ahead and jump into it. You can also use the arms of the chair if there are arms. Brad: Yeah, we don't have arms, but you could push off. We are going to show the sit-to-stand version. So I'm not leaning real far forward. You can put your hands on your legs to push up if that's easier for you. If you're strong enough and you can cross your arms in front of you, that is great, but if you're not, hands on the armrests or on your legs. And how many do you feel they should start out with? Bob: Well, whatever they can tolerate. I'd like to see at least five. Ten would be better. Brad: Right, and you may need to build up to that if you haven't been working out much lately. Bob: Another way to do this, is against the wall. You put the ball against the wall, if you have one of these exercise balls, they are inexpensive. Brad: So this is a little more advanced. Bob: A little more, but I think it's kind of nice because it gives you support. You can keep the legs in the right position. And you can just roll up and down. Brad: Yeah, it's very smooth. A word of warning, though. You have to make sure that your feet, like if you go stocking feet and you're on a smooth surface, your feet will slip out. So make sure your feet are gripping well to the carpet or the floor. Bob: As you said, even on the carpet you can slide. I'm going to show you one more, Brad. We're going to be really complete here today. Posture squats are the ones I do. I get the legs quite far apart, I bring my arms up overhead and I squat down at the same time. So I'm really working all the posture muscles when I'm doing this. Brad: Show them the incorrect one if you go too far forward . Yeah, we don't want that. Think about looking up towards the ceiling. Bob: And really keeping good posture. The back should be nice and straight the whole time. That's the purpose of doing a posture squat. Brad: And don't worry about getting really deep. We don't want you to fall. You're going to get plenty of exercise in a comfortable range. Bob: All right, exercise number three: as you start getting older and this is one that I've started doing, believe it or not when I run, you need to work on some lateral movement. Brad: Oh that's true, very true. Bob: So if you're a little bit older and a little more worried about falling, use a countertop to hold on to, and you're going to work on doing some lateral movements. Brad: So lateral movement means side to side, right to left. Bob: If this is way too much, you could even do behind a chair, just start doing some hip abduction, or kicking out to the side. But I'd really rather have you do the movement. Brad: Doing the movement at a countertop is really a nice option. Bob: If you want to get more advanced, you could do the carioca where you step in front and behind. Brad: If you've had a hip replacement, be careful on this one. Bob: But what I do is, I'll run forward, and then occasionally, I'll just do some quick side-to-side. Believe it or not, this has really helped my balance. Brad: What does your wife say? Bob: No, no, no, I do it out when I'm running outside. Brad: Oh so the neighbors are watching you. Bob: No, I pick the areas where nobody's watching. I'm serious there are spots where I know there is nobody there. Brad: Well that's good. Bob: This has really helped me. Okay next, number four: the ankle. A lot of your balance comes from the ankle so we're going to do heel and toe raises. So grab the back of the chair and I'm going to raise up my heels and raise up my toes. Brad: I would say the ankles are one of the first things to weaken as people get older. I don't know that for sure, but I just know people when they get into their 60s and 70s oftentimes have weak ankles. Bob: Yes, and the proprioception, where they are in space, gets thrown off. Brad: The nervous system's feedback, yes. Ten of those is a good number. Bob: Yes, and you can do them throughout the day if you want. Number five: we have to do at least one exercise because you know when you're working out through the day, you're going to push things, and you have to have some strength. So, I want you to do some wall push-ups, knee push-ups, or full push-ups, depending on what you can do. So first we'll show the wall push-ups. Brad: Yeah, if you're unable to get down, or you know you're not very strong, this is the perfect place to start. Bob: Yeah, keep your elbows in. Don't let them flare out. Keep them into your side. That's how you properly do a pushup. And you know, if you do not have enough strength, you could end up banging your head against the wall. Brad: Yeah, we don't want to wreck the wall. Now the other thing, if you have a countertop or a little lower shelf, that makes it harder. That's how you can progress it. If this gets too easy, you know you're doing 10, 20 of these then you're going to go to the knees. Watch your posture. Bob: I'm keeping my posture. How's that? Brad: Yes. There you go, so he's on his knees now. And there's probably some of these seniors that are really fit, they might do the typically G.I. push-up, I call them. Bob: You have to breathe. Brad: Yeah, make sure you breathe with all your exercises. Bob: How many do you want me to do, Brad? Count them off. Brad: Do 100. You've been a bad boy. No, get up Bob, people are getting bored. All right, so that's it. Bob: That's five exercises. Brad: So we showed options for each one. So pick them out and see how it works for you. These are definitely going to help your balance, and going to help your posture. They're going to help your strength. It's what we need as we continue. Bob: The full package. Thanks for watching. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat 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) Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Back and Neck Massager Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull-Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Wellness: Bob and Brad Blood Pressure Monitor 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​ The Bob and Brad Community is a place to share your experiences, ask questions and connect with others regarding physical therapy and health topics. 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 in order to help you make the best choice for you.

First, do the compression test in the video to determine if compression on your spine increases your pain levels. TEST: Sit on a chair without any arms. Flex or bend your back forward and then grab the seat of the chair and pull up. This puts compression through the spine. Did this make your back pain worse? If compression makes your back pain worse, it is possible that decompression can make your spine feel better. The idea seems to be sound. There are many ways to apply traction with equipment. We will discuss those later in the video entitled: Top 3 Ways to Apply Traction (Decompression) to the Spine (Low Back or Mid Back). For now, we will show you 3 simple ways to apply some decompression to your back without incurring any cost. The studies seem to indicate that you may be able to obtain some short-term relief from pain. The short-term relief may allow you to walk further which in turn can help your back pain and sciatica even more. If any of the techniques provide you with some relief, we believe they are well worth the time. They take less than 60 seconds to apply. Technique 1: Sturdy Park Bench Use a sturdy park bench (preferably one that is cemented into the ground). With your arms straight, place the heels of your hands (palms forward) on the top of the bench or on the edge of a countertop. Lean on to your arms and take the weight of your body. Keep your feet in contact with the floor but try to relax your mid and low back. Feel your back lengthen and monitor your pain. If your pain lessens, continue the decompression for up to a minute or as tolerated. You can also do 3 (20 second) sets of decompression- again if sets are pain free. Technique 2: Countertop Corner You will need to have two kitchen countertops that connect to form a corner. Face the point at which two countertops connect to form a corner. With your arms straight, place the heel of your right hand on the edge of the countertop forming the right side of the corner. The heel of your left hand should be placed on the countertop forming the left side of the corner. Lean on to your arms and take the weight of your body. Keep your feet in contact with the floor but try to relax your mid and low back. Feel your back lengthen and monitor your pain. If your pain lessens, continue the decompression for up to a minute or as tolerated. You can also do 3 (20 sec) sets of decompression, again if sets are pain free. Technique 3: Kneeling between two chairs. Kneel upright on the floor with two solid chairs positioned on each side of you (with the seat of each chair nearest you). With fingers pointed forward, place the palm of each hand on the center portion of the seat of each chair. Lean on to your arms and take the weight of your body. Lift your knees off the floor while keeping your feet on the floor. Try to relax your mid and low back. Feel your back lengthen and monitor your pain. If your pain lessens, continue the decompression for up to a minute or as tolerated. You can also do 3 (20 second) sets of decompression- again if sets are pain free. Check out the full Sciatica series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website. 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 health care 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 other 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. Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material of 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 in order to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in April of 2022. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfuGk3Tc1y4&t=35s Brad: We are going to tell you and explain clearly how inversion tables work for back pain as well as Sciatica. And we're going to help you decide if you should actually buy one and get it to your house as well. Bob: Yes we are. Brad: What do you say, Bob? Let's go to work. This is how I explain it to patients and other people. The inversion table acts like traction. In other words, the weight of your torso from the waist up is hanging upside down and pulls on your lumbar spine. Let's show this model. Bob: It's like decompression. Brad: That's exactly what it is. Bob: I'm applying a force here. Brad: So you're like gravity. And the inversion table would be tipped or inverted. So what's happening is things are getting pulled apart. And the red is the injured disc with the herniation, there is the model and our pulling. Now let's look closely and zoom into there and we've got a model for this. Bob: Let's see what happens. Brad: Now, here it is. This we're going to pretend this cup is L5. So we're looking at this vertebra and here is L4. Okay. This red ball represents the disc. Bob: It's the same color. Brad: Yeah, it is. It's a wonderful thing. Now what happens here is the disc and the vertebra. Now here, the spinal cord actually goes right through the vertebral canal. Imagine that. And then there are the nerve roots that come out of the foramen. Now, what happens when you have a herniated or bulging disc, you can see it's bulging there. Now with the traction that we demonstrated that occurs with the inversion table, the two vertebrae pull apart, and as a result, look what happens to that ball. Bob: It's like it vacuums up. Brad: Yep, it brings it in that pulling apart, decompression brings that back in. Bob: Good demonstration! Brad: Yeah, it was kind of fun, huh? So what we want to do when you're on the inversion table and you're tilted back, that traction occurs and you want to continue that not more than one minute or two minutes, the first time on there. Okay, we have a video with some specific details, on how to set this up in exactly 10 steps. I also want to cover some precautions. In other words, some reasons that you may not be appropriate to use one of these. If you are a healthy person, chances are good. But a couple of examples. If you have blood pressure problems, you may be able to use one, but you need to talk to your physician and get that cleared. Bob: Heart disease. Brad: Heart disease, yup anything with that. If you have got eye problems, like glaucoma. Bob: It decreases the pressure on your eye. So you don't want to do that. Brad: So get that cleared through your doctor. Like if you have a hernia, that can change things and we want to make sure we're safe there. There is actually a whole list of other precautions. We promote Teeter because we like them, they're well built. And you can go to Teeter.com. There are other brands so you can just Google inversion table precautions, you'll get a list of them. The best thing to do is ask your doctor. But if you're a healthy person, you've had no surgeries, no hardware in your back. You're probably able to work with these. Bob: It'd be nice. If you could try one before you bought one. Brad: And that's a good point. Because these Teeters are so well built. This is why we cover these. I used one that wasn't a Teeter and it worked fine. These are just built well, they are FDA registered. They're UL certified. If you don't know what UL means, it's Underwriters Laboratory. If they stamp it, you know the quality is good. It's safe. Now the interesting thing, when you're looking at these, this has smooth plastic support or a backrest which you might think is better if it's cushioned but you don't want it cushioned. You want it smooth. Bob: So, you can slide. Brad: Exactly. You want your body to slide without resistance. So that's another thing to look for. This does have a lumbar support that you can remove, put in, and adjust it. I don't have it here. Bob: You don't like it either. Brad: I don't like it for myself, but you may like it. And some may or may not have that. It's not a big deal. It's just a little benefit. If you will. Traction handles are another accessory. This model of Teeter doesn't actually have them, but you could use these. And that's when you're inverted all the way back or to 60 degrees. You put your hands on them and you push a little bit. Just to get a little manual traction with your arms. Bob: Otherwise, just use your body weight. Brad: Right, typically it's body weight, but that just gives you a little tweak, it's not a big deal. And then make sure they're easily adjustable, which the Teeter is. Again, you don't have to buy a Teeter. If you want to know you're going to get a good one, we recommend the Teeter. Bob: You get what you pay for. Brad: Pretty much, yeah, exactly. I did want to mention should you buy one? Some people say I've got back pain, I'm going to spend a few hundred dollars on one of these. Is it going to work or is it just going to be something you could throw your clothes on? Bob: Right, a laundry catcher. Brad: Exactly. So the best way to know, if these are going to work is to try one. Which presents a little bit of a problem, particularly if you don't have one available. If you have a friend or whatever, that has one go over to their house, and make sure you know how to set it up for yourself. Again, we've got a video on that and try it. And if you get good results, yeah, you should buy one. If you don't have that option, I know Teeter gives you 60 days to assess it. If they don't like it, you can mail it back to them. They'll give you your money back in full. You have to do it within the time period. The other thing about it is to make sure you keep the box. Bob: Right. Brad: If you threw the box away, you could contact them they'll give you a box that it fits in. I do believe the shipping is not covered to get it back to them. I'm not a hundred percent sure about that, but I believe that's the case. Bob: By the way Brad, I want to mention that they have videos too, on this. Brad: Teeter does a great job. As a matter of fact, you know, Roger Teeter the inventor, he just passed away in January of this year. I believe it's his daughter, Riley, I don't know for sure. I believe it's his daughter. She does a lot of videos. Bob: Maybe daughter-in-law. Brad: It could be, I don't know, but she does a really good job of instruction on their products. So good company, you can't go wrong. Okay, and that wraps it up for this. Again, we do have one video out. We're going to put another one out with 10 steps on how to properly and safely use one of these. That's going to be to a point video and work out well. So Bob, what do you say? Bob: I believe you're getting taller, Brad. Brad: We should do a study on how much you actually grow. Bob: If only it would make you smart too. Brad: Well, all those things just not going to happen. Bob: All right, thanks. Brad: Take care. Interested in learning about the products mentioned in today's video: Teeter FitSpine Inversion Table: https://shrsl.com/2e6mo Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat 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) Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Back and Neck Massager Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull-Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Wellness: Bob and Brad Blood Pressure Monitor 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​ The Bob and Brad Community is a place to share your experiences, ask questions and connect with others regarding physical therapy and health topics. 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 in order 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 2022. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfo4bwTQiIk Brad: We've got Chris here. He's done I don't know how much research on this topic with knee replacements and what you need to know if you've got a knee that's questionable. Do you need it replaced or what are the options. It's all going to be answered right here. Chris, I'll let you take it away, I'm going to give some advice on the exercises and stuff I know a lot about, in here too. Chris: All right, well, today we're talking about osteoarthritis of the knee. Brad: Osteoarthritis, that's different than rheumatoid arthritis? Chris: Yeah. Rheumatoid is more of an immune response. That's the one that your immune system is attacking the joint per se. Osteoarthritis is the wear and tear that we all, at some point or another as we age, are going to develop. It's that wear and tear. It's the tissues around the knee, specifically, the cartilage starts to wear down. That's our shock absorber. Brad: So, on the knee, the cartilage, we're looking at, right on the bottom of the femur and the top of the tibia here is where the two bones articulate or that's where they rub together. These surfaces here are nice and white and shiny when they're healthy. With arthritis, it's kind of like they're rusty and they start to develop pits and they're not shiny anymore. When the bones and the joints go together, instead of being nice and smooth, it starts to grind. It makes noises. We call that crepitus. And pain is almost always associated with it. Chris: Yeah, and so then that continually devolves in bad cases of it. So, what do we do? That's the big million-dollar question. Are we all doomed to have knee replacement surgery? And the answer is no. Brad: Right. Chris: So that's the good thing. That's where you come in, Brad, where you're so adept at everything that you can do from an exercise and strengthening aspect. But you know, a lot of it comes down to, what else can we do that is maybe non-drug related? So, it's going to be weight loss. If we've got a BMI over 30, there's a seven times higher chance that you can develop knee osteoarthritis. Brad: So like if you're 5'6" and you weigh 180 pounds, your joints are taking quite a bit more than if you were thinner. Chris: Yes, applied physics. Brad: But you know, weight loss is very hard, very challenging for many people. It's difficult for many reasons. Chris: Correct. And so, what's next? Then it's strengthening that leg so that we can take care of that joint. Brad: And actually, it's a therapist’s point of view, before we get into some of the other options, if you do have arthritis in your knee, it hurts when you walk, it feels better when you sit down, you need to check your range of motion. I'm not going to get into this in too much detail but look at your range of motion. You need to have a full extension. The knee needs to be fully straight. Compare your sore knee to the other knee, hopefully, your other knee is not so bad. If it straightens out all the way and the other one doesn't, it's very common with a painful knee. We have nice videos that show how to stretch the knee and this is one of the exercises. Simply stretch it gently like I'm doing here. Brad: You also want to look at the range of motion and make sure it flexes or bends all the way. Brad: And then when you get that full range of motion, you want to do exercises that keep the joint moving without weight bearing. In other words, a stationary bike. You could just put a towel on the floor and rub it back and forth. There's the Knee Glide made specifically for that, particularly on carpet or you can put it on an angle which makes quite a difference when you have a sore knee. So those are a couple of options. But if you Google Bob and Brad arthritic knee pain or arthritic knee exercises, we've got a number of videos that should come up and you can look at those and it'll go through those exercises in detail and get your knee feeling better or ranged out. And either way before surgery, you definitely want to have that. Pre-op they call that. But if you're just trying to maintain and avoid surgery, you still need to do that. Chris: Yes. Absolutely. Brad: Go ahead. I'm sorry, Chris. Chris: Oh, no, no, no. I think that's important to interject all those things because, at the end of the day, it's really about joint and joint integrity and preservation. You heard me say that not everybody's going to end up with a knee replacement. We can do a lot of different things. We talked about briefly controlling the weight if we can. Otherwise, strengthening exercises, which I think is absolutely paramount and critical. But actually, how we eat and feed ourselves is actually pretty important. So there's a variety of different things and actually, be kind of cool to do a video with Jordan on this. Brad: Oh, sure. Chris: Osteoarthritis diet. But there are a lot of foods out there and please feel free to Google it. You can look at foods that help prevent inflammation and also nourish your cartilage. So we often used to think that cartilage couldn't regenerate itself, but that's really not true. It regenerates very slowly at a glacial pace. So it's not going to be anything quick that can really just go ahead and just "I'm going to eat so well that my cartilage goes back to its normal spongy status." It doesn't really do that, but we can do things to slow it down or kind of regain some of that integrity of it. Brad: So, we probably don't want to get into details of a diet, but in general, are there some rules? Chris: Yeah, it's going to be your fish, like salmon and sardines, because they're going to have the omegas in there. It's going to be your green, leafy vegetables like kale and spinach and broccoli, those types of things. Things like beets and blueberries. They all kind of work together synergistically. So you want to have a very complete diet. That helps to kind of give your body the things that it needs to protect itself to reduce inflammation. When you eat kind of an anti-inflammatory diet, it helps to prolong and nourish those joints, and all of our body not just our knees. But we're talking about the knee today. So, I think that's very important. Brad: And if you eat that way, your joints are going to become healthier and you're probably going to lose some weight. It's a win-win situation. Chris: It is. Yeah, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy in a lot of ways. But there are times where, let's say, you're a runner, or you tweaked it when you're a kid playing football or tennis. There are a lot of reasons why. Genetics withstanding. Male versus female, and I think that's an interesting thing too, is that most osteoarthritis in the knee is 60% female. Brad: Oh, really? Because they work harder. Chris: They definitely work harder and they're totally stronger. But at the end of the day, it's also a little bit of just how their bodies are designed with the hip angle. I don't think we'll get too in-depth in that because that'll put you to sleep. But at least we see that with the statistic. I mean, you're looking at 600,000 knee replacements a year, roughly. That's only 6000,000 people per year. I mean, there are a lot of people that are walking around. Brad: That's just in the States, right? Chris: Yes. That's a US figure. So, with that, what do we do? Well, we move on, we do the physical therapy, we try pain relievers like ibuprofen and Tylenol or Aleve those things are useful. Brad: And those are okay, I'm assuming. Chris: They're okay. Yep. And they definitely help, but again, they begin to run out of gas. So what do we do to try and preserve this, and calm things down? So let's say you got a wedding you need to go to and you don't want to have knee replacement surgery and you want to prolong it, or maybe we can prolong it so that we get healthy so that we don't have to have the surgery. Those are options that are on the table. There are two main things that doctors use in their toolbox and it's going to be your hyaluronic acid shots or your corticosteroid shots, the steroid shots. Brad: Okay. Now I'm just going to say you just said that in you're pharmaceutical terms. What would people recognize that as? Chris: So, a lot of times, I think doctors kind of talk about the rooster shot or the rooster comb shot. One brand name is Synvisc, but there are about five or six other manufacturers out there. Some actually use the rooster comb, but other ones have found different ways to make the medication to minimize poultry allergies and things like that. Brad: And those, I understand, actually try to regenerate the cartilage or add to it. Chris: I think they aren't going to really regenerate it, but it's going to help to lubricate it. So if I had a can of WD-40 and I could spray it in your joint, and that's what these, specifically called viscosupplementation. So, we'll talk about the hyaluronic acid or rooster shot first. That one, it's a mixed bag of nuts. You know, all these shots are really designed for mild to modest osteoarthritis. So when it's severe, you can't do it. If you've got an infection, you can't do it. So there are limiting factors to these things. So, when you are bone on bone, these shots won't do any good. When you still got a little cartilage left, that's hanging on, I mean, hyaluronic acid shots or rooster shots can last up to six months. And it's a series depending upon the product your doctor chooses for you. There's a one, a three, and a five-shot series, so it just kind of depends on the product that's utilized. They're covered by insurance, which is good because they're about 1,200 bucks a pop. Brad: So Medicare in the United States will cover that? Chris: Medicare in the United States covers it. And I would imagine that over in Europe, there's probably a similar type of thing, but I'm not very well versed in that so I don't want to throw words in anybody's healthcare system. Brad: So that really is a conversation between you and your doctor because there are all these little variables. You need to decide, is that right for you. Chris: I think just to keep it organized, the hyaluronic acid or rooster shots, help once they find where they need to put it. They'll do a very extensive workup for you and figure out what's going on. They're going to put it into the knee joint itself. Brad: So they use a needle. Chris: Yep. They use a needle and they squirt it in. It's usually about five, or six milliliters, which is just about a teaspoon full of liquid. So, it's just a teeny tiny amount. So it's not much. A little bit goes a long way. So they place that, and sometimes they'll use ultrasound to show where the needle needs to go and place it. Sometimes that knee can be pretty swollen, so they might pull a little bit of fluid out to make room and put that in. That's twofold because also pulling some of that pressure off actually allows that knee to feel a lot better too. Brad: So they pull fluid out, your bodily fluid out because it's all swollen. Chris: Yeah, it's effusion swelling. Brad: To give it room to put in the medicine. Chris: Yes, so it's an important step. So it's just something so you're mentally aware and you know these steps may be coming. Not everybody has that happen. Sometimes it's not quite that inflamed, so it's not necessary. Again, your doctor is very well-versed. They are so strong in these areas. Brad: Yeah, I agree. Chris: It's above my pay grade. But the reality of it is it's just something that you will have to probably be prepared for, at least mentally. When they inject that in there, depending upon the product that they use, whether it's the one shot, the three, or the five. If you're coming back, it’s every week for three weeks, it's every week for five weeks or the one-time shot. So, your doctor is going to determine which one of those is most appropriate for you given your allergies and withstanding. They're going to place that in there and you have to have rest for two days after this shot. You can't just go out, "I got my shot, I'm all lubed up. I'm ready to run a marathon." It's not happening. So, it's actually very important to listen to your doctor's advice during the healing process to make sure that it sets properly, helps to bathe and nourish the existing cartilage that’s left, and help to create that good lubrication as we saw in the knee joint itself. It can last. The unique thing about the hyaluronic acid or rooster shots is the pain relief, in many cases, is more durable or longer lasting than what you get from the steroid, which is the next drug we're going to talk about. Brad: Right. I just wanted to make mention because I had my mother in, her weight is not healthy. She's got other issues. Surgery's not an option for her. And they talked about this shot and then they talked about the steroid. And after a little discussion, my mom wanted me there because "Oh, the therapist, he'll know what to do," so it was my decision, not hers in her mind. But it was pretty easy in her case, we decided on the next option. The steroid. Chris: Yeah. The steroid shot. It's a corticosteroid. The reason that those are, in many cases, favored over the hyaluronic acid shots is it provides more immediate pain relief early on. The hyaluronic acid shots take a little time to develop like in their wheelhouse maybe. Brad: So you're talking about weeks? Chris: Yeah, like about four weeks, and then it can last up to six months. So, it just kind of depends. Again, it's bathing and nourishing the joint. But for a lot of patients, and a lot of the research suggests, it's inconclusive or inconsistent relief. So, it's not for everybody and it's not for every circumstance and your doctor will recognize that very clearly and give you the options as they did like with your mom. So, the next option that we talk about is the steroid shot or the glucocorticosteroid shot, and that's the one that helps to reduce inflammation. By reducing inflammation, or swelling in there, it calms that down to hopefully allow your body's natural healing processes to take place. But we have to be careful when we're doing a steroid shot in any joint, but we're talking about the knee today because too many of them can actually degrade the tissue, the bone, the cartilage, and even the tendons. So, the example that we always see in a lot of cases, at least with the tendons, is, that we've seen a dry rubber band. So, you know how stretchy and how elastic a nice rubber band is. You can pull it and it goes back. If it were your cartilage, it kind of behaves the same way or if it's tendon, it behaves the same way. But when we use too many of these steroid shots and the magic number is four. You don't want to go more than four in a year. So, you keep three to four months in between those shots to help allow the drug to metabolize out and make sure it doesn't make it brittle. Brad: So, it's like an old rubber band in the sun. Chris: Old rubber band and it just pulls apart and it breaks. It may actually decrease the ability of the body to regenerate its own cartilage and it degenerates on the bone itself. So, questions your doctor will screen you for making sure there's no infection, making sure there are no allergies to certain components. It's kind of funny to be allergic. There are some people that are allergic to steroids, which is a strange irony because people get steroids to treat allergies in a lot of cases. But there are small circumstances. So again, you would be acutely aware of that because you would've experienced something quite negative. So your doctor will screen you to make sure it's appropriate and moving forward, we're going to say you are, they're going to place it again very carefully. You know, they might pull some fluid out, and then they're going to put it into your joint. A lot of times they mix it with a pain reliever called lidocaine and it helps to numb it. So, a lot of times, patients experience almost immediate relief and that's a little bit of a slippery slope because all of a sudden, "Wow, my knee feels really good, doc. I'm going to go mow the lawn." Or whatever. And again, the answer to that is no. You want to take a couple of days off to allow that shot to take place and let some healings begin. And then you can begin to strengthen, exercise, and enjoy. Brad: Right. Chris: So, we have to be really careful with that too. The side effects of both the hyaluronic acid shots or the rooster shots and the steroid shots are almost similar. So you want to report to your doctor if you get a little bit of irritation, or get some redness. Sometimes with the steroid shot, you can get some blanching of the skin if it's placed closer to the surface. So some little tweaky things that people notice from time to time. But generally, very safe, very effective choices to try and help to reduce that inflammation, improve pain and hopefully stave off or even maybe not have surgery. I mean, your mom responded unbelievably well. Brad: She did. She went in, the doctor was very good, he explained it to me and to my mother so we both could understand it. She got the shot. I mean, it wasn't even scheduled. We were just there for knee pain and I thought he was going to say, "Come back next week and we'll give the injection." He did it right there. It was almost pain-free for her. I thought it was one of those things where you kind of bite the bullet while they inject, but it wasn't. Chris: These guys and gals are so skilled. They are so good at what they do and they just understand anatomy and physiology so greatly. I mean, they're there to help heal, that's their job. I think that they utilize the tools in the shed to maximize it. Sometimes the inevitable is going to happen where the damage just is too great, and we have to have the replacement. But you know, there's a lot of people like your mom that are in that quasi-state. The other thing that we have to look at is whether we use the hyaluronic acid shot or the steroid shot, healing can begin. So if we're working on that strengthening, we can prolong or maybe even avoid that surgical result. So I think that's really critical to take home. Brad: In her case, it was last fall, and she got the shot. Within a week, she was feeling better and she hasn't mentioned knee pain since. Chris: Proofs in the pudding. Brad: Yeah, I'm very happy with that. Are we going to cover something else with this? Chris: I don't know that we were. I mean, we could talk about platelet enrichment if you want. Brad: Oh, is that an option? Chris: It's an option, but it's a little bit on the fringes. Brad: So, we're talking about PRP? I just got introduced to that with my shoulder issue and I watched a continuing education course last night about it for hip issues. So, it's like, "Oh, this is new, but it's out there." Chris: It's new. It's out there. The research is kind of all over the map. There are not a lot of consistent ways that doctors have been doing it. So, I think if they can find a more consistent way to deliver it, I think it's got promise. Because of what they do, they centrifuge it out, they oxygenate the blood, and they put the platelets back in. Brad: So, they actually take your own blood out. Chris: They're using your parts and that's what's nice because you're not going to be allergic to yourself. Brad: Sure. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat 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) Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Back and Neck Massager Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull-Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Wellness: Bob and Brad Blood Pressure Monitor 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​ The Bob and Brad Community is a place to share your experiences, ask questions and connect with others regarding physical therapy and health topics. 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 in order to help you make the best choice for you.

Absolutely avoid cutting lawn with a push mower if the activity increases your back pain. You should be attempting to eliminate all the pain-makers from your life in order to get your pain levels down. Who will cut your lawn? The same person who would do it if you had to go in for back surgery- because that may be where you are headed if you continue to injure your back. A. Avoid sweeps of the mower where you first push the mower down a side hill followed up by immediately pulling it up the hill. Your back will be in a bent position and under high loads. B. Keep your back in the locked-in position. C. It is generally helpful to keep your hands near your pelvis and perform movement with your legs and not with your back. D. Every 20 minutes stop and perform some standing back extensions (unless not recommended for you). Check out the full Sciatica series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website. 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 health care 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 other 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. Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material of 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 in order to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in August of 2021. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmpK92juSFo Brad: Today we are going to talk about apple cider vinegar, its use for leg cramps, and more. This is a very interesting video if you have leg cramps, particularly, and if you want to find a nice way to get rid of them. We'll get into detail on that. But before we go any farther, Bob's not here today, obviously. So we're very happy to have Chris joining us. He's very knowledgeable and did a lot of research on this. So we got some anecdotal evidence and some great research. We've done this before. But this is kind of interesting because Chris has cramps. I have them, most everyone has cramps. Chris: Everyone has cramps. Brad: It seems like leg cramps are more prevalent overall. We don't have any research on that, but as a therapist, I worked with a lot of people and tried to help them with how to get rid of their cramps with stretching. I can't think of a time when it wasn't a leg cramp, hamstrings, quads, or calves. Chris: It always seems to be below the waist. But I mean if you think about it, we walk, we stand. We're creatures that move all around. Brad: Right, right. Chris: So I think it stands to reason, at least from a logical standpoint, that it's just day-to-day activity that can lead to cramps, whether it's muscle weakness, whether it's dehydration. There are a lot of things that lead to it, but it's always below the waist. Brad: And it seems to me, that either athletes are more prone to it or older people in their 50s and 60s, perhaps. Chris: Yeah, you bet. Statistically, it's the majority of people that have cramps, 60-year-old ladies. Brad: 60-year-old females? Chris: 60 on up, yep. That's from the research. For whatever reason, don't know why. They probably work harder than us. Bottom line. Brad: Well, that's a given. Chris: Exactly, exactly. Brad: All right, so we have that information. So we've got this bottle of Caleb Treeze Organic Farms Stops Leg & Foot Cramps. This is what happened. This is a true story. My wife saw this bottle at a hardware store in La Crosse, Wisconsin. And it says, "stops leg and foot cramps in about one minute." So she says, "oh, Brad, my husband, the famous physical therapist, might be interested in this." So she brought it home. And I looked at it and I laughed. I thought, yeah that's not going to work in one minute. So anyway and I looked at the ingredients, and Chris, you researched this in detail. Chris: Oh, yeah. Brad: Chris was having cramps consistently. So I happily gave this to Chris, and I said, "you can try this." I think Chris in his head said, " yeah right." Chris: I renamed it the salad dressing treatment. So this happens to be, it says "proven old Amish formula." And I kind of laughed at Brad, just like his take when his wife had mentioned it to him at the hardware store. And I'm like, "there is just no way this is going to work for a leg cramp." We've actually done videos on cramps, and we've done extensive research on cramps. We've personally had cramps, just like all of you have had cramps. And nobody likes cramps. They hurt, they wake you up in the middle of the night, or they happen at the most inopportune time. It's just not a lot of fun. So I really scoffed at Brad's apple cider treatment. Brad: You didn't even use it. You just put it out on the table and he called it the salad dressing because there's actually a little more than apple cider in there. Chris: The actual ingredients here are apple cider vinegar, pure, organic, and unfiltered. It's got the mother, so it's everything you want. But it also has a little bit of ginger and it also has a little bit of garlic. And so in my mind's eye, rationally as a pharmacist, I'm thinking pharmaceutically I can't come up with a reason for any one of those three things to stop a cramp. Brad: Right, and I'm thinking, well, this could be one of those old family remedies that for whatever reason works. I don't care why it works. But Chris, it's nice to know, because he wants to know how it works. Chris: I want to know why, because I like to tell my patients what really works and why, and what we have to be careful with. So to me, it's important. But one night I had a cramp. And I'm like, "well, darn it, I'm going to go down and try it." I had to go all the way downstairs with the cramp to go to the kitchen. Brad: Which location was the cramp? Chris: This one was in the hamstring, mine usually is my hamstring. But I do get lower leg ones, particularly in my feet, usually, when I'm swimming they hit my feet. But when I'm sleeping, it's the hamstrings. But moving on. So I go downstairs, almost fall down. I get to the kitchen and I threw a tablespoon in four ounces of water and drank it down. Brad: You were still cramping at the time? Chris: Yes, cramping at the time. An active cramp for probably five minutes, and it was not comfortable. I'm just thinking to myself, "this is going to work, this better work. I'm going to make fun of Brad if this doesn't work." And like 30 seconds later, I'm walking across the kitchen to go back upstairs, as I was limping, and all of a sudden, it just went away. Brad: The cramp released? Chris: The cramp released. And there is no explicable reason. Gut transit time is 30 to 60 minutes. So you're going to drink this, and it should take time to go from gut to body to create it. And so that raised a lot of questions for me at 2:00 in the morning, which is not the best time to be thinking, but I was. And that's what kind of bred to this video. But the reality of it is, that we looked at different ways why apple cider vinegar may help cramps. And there are studies after studies that existed, like 11 people here, six people there, 12 people there. It's hard to study cramping because unless you do some pretty mean things to people, it's hard to induce one. But they do seem to come when we're sleeping, or at rest, or even during activity. I mean, people and athletes have cramped during games. You'll see football games, you see marathoners, you'll see track runners. Brad: With fatigue and heat, I think. Chris: Yep, which makes sense. Because we can always think about hydration and electrolytes, which are kind of the mainstay. There are big companies like Gatorade and Powerade, that's how they make their bread and butter. But when we looked at some of this and the amount of evidence that is out there that studies hydration and electrolytes, they are anecdotal evidence probably at best. There is just not enough wide body of research on apple cider vinegar. The interesting thing about the vinegar was, that the first two that I found were really eye-opening to me. In the first one, there was a gentleman that actually was talking about it, he said that he felt that apple cider vinegar could promote more production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Which is just something that helps with the muscle's actual potential and makes it work. And I'm like, well, that's fine, but we're drinking this. It takes a long time to get into the system. There's no way that you could possibly raise it enough by doing 15 milliliters of this and some water and drinking it. Brad: How much is 15 milliliters? Chris: A tablespoon full, like the tablespoon you keep in your kitchen. Brad: Put that in with four ounces of water. Chris: Mix it with four ounces of water, and drink. So that would be the dose for anybody for anything with apple cider vinegar. I wouldn't really recommend going beyond that for a variety of reasons, which you can touch on. But I just don't think there's any way we can naturally stimulate creating a neurotransmitter to just build up more and stop the cramp. So I read another article. I actually saw some Swiss research. And they actually said that they think the cramp is actually from just your brain being scrambled. It's a bad message being sent to the muscle, and the muscle doesn't release. So you're in this static state where it's just beating you up and it hurts. Everybody that's had one knows. And so when you take apple cider vinegar, you get relief within 30 to 60 seconds. What they actually believed in their research, whether it was consumed or rinsed in their mouth, and this is why they think it was a nerve problem, is they think the sourness of the apple cider vinegar sends a signal to the brain and it literally just stops off the transmission that is creating the cramp. Brad: So those brain signals saying cramp, cramp, cramp, cramp turn off. Chris: So whether it's dehydration or electrolyte driven, they actually think it's nervous driven. And the fact that even rinsing your mouth creates the same effect as drinking it and having the cramp stop in 30 to 60 seconds, seems to be that it's a lot more neurological in nature. Now, again, this is my opinion. I'd say it's much more anecdotal. But that's the only explanation that I can come up with without more wide burgeoning amounts of research done on that. So if there's a research scientist out there or a university that wants to study cramping and the neurological aspects of it, I really do think that there is probably something to this. So it's interesting. And I have to say, it works. It works well, and I swear by it now. Brad: Yeah, and you even wrote a testimonial. Chris: Yeah, Caleb Treeze is the manufacturer that makes this particular product. I think it's excellent. You can get it online anywhere, Amazon, or you can go directly to their website. But that said, I actually wrote on their site because I think it's fantastic. Brad: Sure, yeah. I thought, "he's never going to take this." I kind of gave it to you as a joke. Chris: Yeah, I tried it, and then my son had the same problem and he's a hockey player. He didn't care for the taste, but outside of that, it worked for him too. Brad: So we do want to caution, one more bridge here is if you're on some medications, there are some medications you do not want to consume apple cider vinegar with. Chris: Yeah, there's a special medication for your heart called Lanoxin or digoxin that helps control your heart rate and rhythm, and that can affect your potassium levels. And that can too with consistent use. I would think for occasional use it's probably fine, but it should be something you discuss with your doctor and your pharmacist. I would believe that most, even pharmacists, probably don't pay a lot of attention to apple cider vinegar. It's not in our wheelhouse. I had to seek out the research, and there's not tons of it. Also, diuretics or water pills, things that basically make you excrete through urine, you can lose electrolytes. And so when we're using things like this, we have to be careful. The last one that we want to be most careful of is, specifically type one diabetics that have diabetic-induced gastroparesis. That's basically where your gut motility doesn't work well. This is why it might work as a weight loss aid, which we'll talk about it in a different video, but that said, it can slow down gut motility. And for people that already have gastroparesis, that can be dangerous, specifically type one diabetics. Brad: So if you're a diabetic, type one, best not to take this, perhaps, or talk to your doctor for sure. Chris: Yeah, I would discourage it because it does affect blood sugar, which can be a positive thing, but in a type one diabetic when you're solely reliant on insulin and certain things, there's the diabetic umbrella, which we've talked about in other videos too. We have to be real careful with that. Brad: Sure, right, right. All right, so very good. Here we've got another positive thing for apple cider vinegar. Chris: Yeah, it's the stuff. Brad: Yeah, who knows what's going to happen with this in the near future? Chris: Well, I think it works, people. I'd say give it a shot. Brad: Yeah, so one tablespoon, and I go a little more than four ounces of water to dilute it a little bit. Chris: One thing I want to touch on too because it's actually acidic, rinse your teeth afterward so you don't ruin the enamel on your teeth. Another big one. Another big one. Brad: Right. All right, very good. Take care. We hope those cramps go away quickly. Chris: We're going to stop cramping, people. Have a great day. Brad: Be careful in all that you do. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd, Rumble, Snapchat 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) Fit Glide Q2 Mini Massage Gun (US) Knee Glide Back and Neck Massager Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Leg Massager Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull-Up System Pull Up Bands Wall Anchor​ Grip and Forearm Strengthener Hanging Handles​ Hand Grip Strengthener Kit Stretching: Booyah Stik Stretch Strap Wellness: Bob and Brad Blood Pressure Monitor 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​ The Bob and Brad Community is a place to share your experiences, ask questions and connect with others regarding physical therapy and health topics. 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 in order 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 2022. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAtTjR1tNHk Bob: We're going to try today to unwrap a mystery. So, if you're female and you're out there and you have long-standing back pain or not even long-standing back pain, but you can't figure it out. We're going to go over some unusual cases here. Actually, it’s not that unusual. Brad: This is not a sexist thing. There's a lot of science in this. Bob: We'll go over the reason this occurs. So I had Dr. Abbasi on a podcast. He's a neurosurgeon, a very smart guy. And he said, they found with research, that 22% of the patients who are coming in with back pain is actually an SI problem. Sacroiliac. Brad: Right there. Bob: So if this is your spine, and this is the sacrum. It's kind of a triangle-shaped bone and it's attached to the sacrum, and it's attached to the iliac. Brad: Yeah. You can see how we're moving. There's a joint there and there. And the problem is these joints become unstable. And they're not really meant to move a lot. Bob: No, they aren't. And because there are nerves that go by it, they can send pain all the way down your leg. That's what throws the doctors off, Brad. Brad: Similar to sciatica. Bob: Yeah. They think sciatic, but they look at the low back and there are no problems. We're going to go over the signs that you might have this. And hopefully, it will help you because it's called the chameleon joint. Because it's like a chameleon. It's weird. So, a typical patient is often female. She often recently gave birth. And that makes sense because when you give birth these ligaments become lax so that the baby can come out of the canal. Brad: Right. Yeah, so then things spread, and there is a movement going on in those cases. That's why this is more of a female issue. Bob: It often hurts going up and down stairs which makes sense. The person often is a runner, which also makes sense, because you've got some pounding. Brad: The impact. Bob: I also just recently had a patient who fit in this category and she was only 17. Obviously, she did not have a baby but she was super flexible. She could easily do the splits, either way, you know, sideways. Brad: Yeah. That's kind of a genetic thing with her. Bob: And her mom who was 47 years old, could still do the splits. Brad: Yeah. So, runs in the family. Bob: So she was lax in that SI joint. She also had pain all the way down her leg. And so the doctors were perplexed and leave it to Bob and Brad to solve the problem. Brad: Yes. Well, there you go again. Bob: So what they do to make sure well, the other thing, Brad, I was going to mention is when you turn in bed, they often have pain. So, the pain could go all the way into the foot. It's actually, now another situation, Brad, where you might see it is in somebody who had a fused back. If their back was fused now, the movement has to come from somewhere. So it goes more into the SI. Brad: So typically, if it's fused as a result of surgery because they had back problems. Not necessarily though, it could be caused by something else. Bob: The number of people who get it then is 43%. So a lot higher. So how can you tell whether or not you have this? Well, first off, if you have any of the history that we just mentioned. I'm going to show you one test you can do. This is a Dr. Abbasi test. He made it up himself actually. Let's say you have pain on the right side, you're going to take that right foot and try to place it onto the right knee. If you can't even do that, that might be a sign that you have SI problems. Brad: Yeah, and test compared to the other side as well. Especially if there's no pain on this side it can give you some information. Bob: So, put the knee up, and then you actually push down and you try to relax while you push it down. Brad: Let me get some good posture here and so gently push down. And it's a positive test if it hurts. Bob: If it recreates the pain that you've been having. Brad: So, it may hurt in the back, and you might feel it go down the leg. It recreates your pain if you want to call it that. Bob: Right. Now there are other tests the doctor can try. But the most conclusive test they do is they actually inject the joint. With usually a little cortisone. And even if it takes away the pain for a couple of days, it's proof that it was the SI. Brad: Yeah. It gets, it specifies that joint. Bob: So, if it is the SI, the cortisone might help. It might actually take it away for good for several years. Or there's actually a surgery they can do where they actually fuse the SI. Brad: There's the conservative way. We do have a book of a therapist who specializes in SI joint and you know, it's oftentimes for women. Bob: So you can look up Bob and Brad SI or sacroiliac joint and we will have some treatments you can try. So Brad, do you have anything else to say? Brad: So for surgery, they inject into the joint? Bob: Right. But for real surgery, they actually fuse. Brad: Oh, really. I thought they injected a compound or medicine that actually in a sense fuses it? Bob: No, no, no. Brad: No? I was misinformed or misunderstood it. Bob: So if you want to go to an expert, see Dr. Abbasi. You can go to his website, inspiredspine.com. He is the man on this. Brad: So he has a private clinic and that's all they do is back treatments. And these really impressive surgeries. Bob: They are less invasive. Brad: Right. Yeah. The spine one was amazing too. Bob: Yeah, and he calls it the magic joint because women would have pain for years. And they'd walk out of that surgery without any pain. Brad: Yeah. That is magic. Bob: That is magic. All right. Thanks.

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