Dr. Steen's November 2013 Newsletter
Introducing our new office mascot… please welcome ‘Daisy’, an eight- week old beagle we recently adopted. Since our Rosie died, I’ve made regular trips to the Teller County Regional Animal Shelter at least every two months. I would say a prayer, donate blankets and thick old towels for the animals, and then take a look at the dogs that were available for adoption. I was seeking that indescribable ‘look’ from a dog, but never found it. After more than a year, I decided I should expand my search by looking in the classifieds and on Craig’s list for dogs in shelters from Falcon to Greeley. In my search, I couldn’t find a breed I liked better than the beagle. Eventually, my husband and I came across a litter of three beagles up in Eaton, CO, so we made the trek up there and found ourselves a sweet, female beagle puppy. Most days, she comes to the office, please feel free to stop by and meet her, even if you don’t have an appointment.
The Christmas holidays are upon us… so here are some gift ideas I’d like to offer, hoping they are things you most likely wouldn’t think of yourself. Most of us probably have one or two people in our lives for whom it can be a bit more challenging to find just the right gift.
My first idea is arch supports for someone you love. Remember we sell four types of supports, all of which provide support for all three arches, while they ‘hug’ the heel for motion stability in the foot and ankle. My second idea is the “world’s most flat” wallet, which greatly helps alleviate pressure on the low back at the sacral iliac joint. Thirdly, if you are considering undertaking a nutritional cleanse to start the new year, you could specifically ask someone to buy you the Standard Process supplements that would be needed for the cleanse. My fourth idea is some topical relief for those painful, achy joints and muscles that we sometimes have after activities like an intense workout, snow shoveling, skiing, etc. We sell several good products: Biofreeze, Elgin, or my ‘not-so-famous’ Dr. Steen’s Pain-Go-Away cream. And last, but certainly not least, gift certificates are always available from the clinic for adjustments or acupuncture treatments. Also, massage therapist Christine Edstrom has gift certificates available for $60 and John Butera has them available for $65 for a stretching and rehabilitation session.
A Minnesota Doctor’s Home Remedies for Common and Uncommon Ailments... is a book by John Eichenlaub, MD, that was first published in 1960 and caught my eye at a used book sale. The very first chapter has several ideas for skeletal (bone-related) aches and pains. In it, I found some information that I think is worth sharing. It occurs to me that those home remedies that can do no harm may become more and more popular again as time goes on, partly as a result of all the possible damaging side effects of prescription drugs.
‘Charley horse’ – a charley horse is a muscle cramp that is so severe that it wrenches some muscle fibers loose, causing bleeding into the muscle between them. This results in irritation and muscle spasm. Following are some recommended treatments.
Cold therapy, using an icepack, is the immediate first aid for a Charley horse, aimed at shrinking blood vessels in order to limit internal bleeding. You can even fill a plastic bag with ice or snow. Heat therapy should only be used in treating a Charley horse after a few minutes have passed. Muscle tissue contains a substance that makes blood vessels seal off almost instantly, so that further seepage into the tissue cannot occur. Hot towels or hot soaks can offer considerable relief. If soreness persists contrast baths can help. Fill one basin or bucket with moderately hot water and another with moderately cold water. Ideal temperatures are 105° and 50°, however, these need not be exact. Soak the affected part in hot water for four minutes, in cold for one minute, than back into hot, repeating this process for about thirty minutes. Always begin and end with the hot soak. Some gentle, kneading massage for ten minutes after heat treatment may help to speed healing too.
Warm flannel wraps can provide some relief from swollen-joint pain. Wrap (or cover) the affected area with two or three layers of warm flannel and cover that loosely with a heating pad set on low. Shift or remove the pad as the flannel becomes cozy warm. Keep the joint lightly warmed for about an hour at a time, three or more times a day.
Diet for arthritis and rheumatism is based on the idea that two of the three common forms of joint disease respond to shifts in diet. The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, which is usually first seen in people under age forty and tends to stiffen the joints, seem to improve somewhat on what is called a low residue diet. This consists of omitting raw vegetables, cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli and bran cereals. The most common cause of red, swollen joints after age forty is gout. The main indicator of this condition is found in the early stages when the joints become severely inflamed, often in the middle of the night. Often the inflammation then subsides completely, without residual stiffness, after a few days or weeks. A low purine diet helps gout, omitting organ meats like liver, navy and similar type beans, and soups or gravies. Symptoms of arthritis can sometimes be successfully treated by eliminating the nightshade vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes and eggplant. Some people get arthritis relief following a strict anti-inflammatory diet, while many have achieved good results and are feeling better just by avoiding sugar and wheat products.
Motion preserving exercises can substantially reduce the chance of later stiffness or crippling. Engage each swollen joint through its entire range of motion, several times a day, immediately following or near the end of the warm flannel wrap treatment. If it is a hinge joint like a finger, elbow or knee, move it all the way one way and then the other. More complex joints need several types of loosening movements. To free up a sore shoulder so that you can raise your arm, move it forward and back and in circles forward and back, starting small then larger.
Diffuse joint trouble. When a patient reported aches all over or pointed to half a dozen different ailing joints, the author of the book, Dr.Eichenlaub, said he would “ask him to build himself a ‘baker.’ The essential features are several light bulbs and sockets, a reflecting surface of metal or foil, and a frame which holds the light bulbs, with the reflector about eighteen inches away from the painful body parts. Most patients make a rod iron and sheet tin or aluminum structure in the shape of a tunnel (like a half a cylinder cut along its length). Then fasten two to four sockets to its under surface for a bank of one hundred to two hundred watt light bulbs. The heat from light bulbs in such a unit is very soothing and much more than available even in a heating pad, or a single unit heat lamp. You can lie with your sore joints underneath the ‘baker’ for thirty to forty-five minutes once or twice each day.”
Expanded insurance… Columbine Health Plan, Cigna, Kaiser Permanente, Denver Health Medical Plan, Aetna, First Health, and Meritain Health are now available at our clinic. Please call them for benefits info.
The Christmas holidays are upon us… so here are some gift ideas I’d like to offer, hoping they are things you most likely wouldn’t think of yourself. Most of us probably have one or two people in our lives for whom it can be a bit more challenging to find just the right gift.
My first idea is arch supports for someone you love. Remember we sell four types of supports, all of which provide support for all three arches, while they ‘hug’ the heel for motion stability in the foot and ankle. My second idea is the “world’s most flat” wallet, which greatly helps alleviate pressure on the low back at the sacral iliac joint. Thirdly, if you are considering undertaking a nutritional cleanse to start the new year, you could specifically ask someone to buy you the Standard Process supplements that would be needed for the cleanse. My fourth idea is some topical relief for those painful, achy joints and muscles that we sometimes have after activities like an intense workout, snow shoveling, skiing, etc. We sell several good products: Biofreeze, Elgin, or my ‘not-so-famous’ Dr. Steen’s Pain-Go-Away cream. And last, but certainly not least, gift certificates are always available from the clinic for adjustments or acupuncture treatments. Also, massage therapist Christine Edstrom has gift certificates available for $60 and John Butera has them available for $65 for a stretching and rehabilitation session.
A Minnesota Doctor’s Home Remedies for Common and Uncommon Ailments... is a book by John Eichenlaub, MD, that was first published in 1960 and caught my eye at a used book sale. The very first chapter has several ideas for skeletal (bone-related) aches and pains. In it, I found some information that I think is worth sharing. It occurs to me that those home remedies that can do no harm may become more and more popular again as time goes on, partly as a result of all the possible damaging side effects of prescription drugs.
‘Charley horse’ – a charley horse is a muscle cramp that is so severe that it wrenches some muscle fibers loose, causing bleeding into the muscle between them. This results in irritation and muscle spasm. Following are some recommended treatments.
Cold therapy, using an icepack, is the immediate first aid for a Charley horse, aimed at shrinking blood vessels in order to limit internal bleeding. You can even fill a plastic bag with ice or snow. Heat therapy should only be used in treating a Charley horse after a few minutes have passed. Muscle tissue contains a substance that makes blood vessels seal off almost instantly, so that further seepage into the tissue cannot occur. Hot towels or hot soaks can offer considerable relief. If soreness persists contrast baths can help. Fill one basin or bucket with moderately hot water and another with moderately cold water. Ideal temperatures are 105° and 50°, however, these need not be exact. Soak the affected part in hot water for four minutes, in cold for one minute, than back into hot, repeating this process for about thirty minutes. Always begin and end with the hot soak. Some gentle, kneading massage for ten minutes after heat treatment may help to speed healing too.
Warm flannel wraps can provide some relief from swollen-joint pain. Wrap (or cover) the affected area with two or three layers of warm flannel and cover that loosely with a heating pad set on low. Shift or remove the pad as the flannel becomes cozy warm. Keep the joint lightly warmed for about an hour at a time, three or more times a day.
Diet for arthritis and rheumatism is based on the idea that two of the three common forms of joint disease respond to shifts in diet. The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, which is usually first seen in people under age forty and tends to stiffen the joints, seem to improve somewhat on what is called a low residue diet. This consists of omitting raw vegetables, cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli and bran cereals. The most common cause of red, swollen joints after age forty is gout. The main indicator of this condition is found in the early stages when the joints become severely inflamed, often in the middle of the night. Often the inflammation then subsides completely, without residual stiffness, after a few days or weeks. A low purine diet helps gout, omitting organ meats like liver, navy and similar type beans, and soups or gravies. Symptoms of arthritis can sometimes be successfully treated by eliminating the nightshade vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes and eggplant. Some people get arthritis relief following a strict anti-inflammatory diet, while many have achieved good results and are feeling better just by avoiding sugar and wheat products.
Motion preserving exercises can substantially reduce the chance of later stiffness or crippling. Engage each swollen joint through its entire range of motion, several times a day, immediately following or near the end of the warm flannel wrap treatment. If it is a hinge joint like a finger, elbow or knee, move it all the way one way and then the other. More complex joints need several types of loosening movements. To free up a sore shoulder so that you can raise your arm, move it forward and back and in circles forward and back, starting small then larger.
Diffuse joint trouble. When a patient reported aches all over or pointed to half a dozen different ailing joints, the author of the book, Dr.Eichenlaub, said he would “ask him to build himself a ‘baker.’ The essential features are several light bulbs and sockets, a reflecting surface of metal or foil, and a frame which holds the light bulbs, with the reflector about eighteen inches away from the painful body parts. Most patients make a rod iron and sheet tin or aluminum structure in the shape of a tunnel (like a half a cylinder cut along its length). Then fasten two to four sockets to its under surface for a bank of one hundred to two hundred watt light bulbs. The heat from light bulbs in such a unit is very soothing and much more than available even in a heating pad, or a single unit heat lamp. You can lie with your sore joints underneath the ‘baker’ for thirty to forty-five minutes once or twice each day.”
Expanded insurance… Columbine Health Plan, Cigna, Kaiser Permanente, Denver Health Medical Plan, Aetna, First Health, and Meritain Health are now available at our clinic. Please call them for benefits info.
