About www.AccuWeather.com’s Arthritis Index

I recommend everyone with joint pain view daily www.AccuWeather.com’s Arthritis Index to determine if one’s condition is effected by the indicators listed below.  To help remember one’s reactions to weather, create a Pain Log.  Keep it where you go every day, such as near where you take your shoes off at night, so it is easy to remember and record the day’s joint pain.  Present it to me in the office (610 337 3335) after a few months for guidance.

 

The fact that weather has an effect on how arthritis is felt by its sufferers is well documented, with surveys showing as many as 93% of arthritis sufferers believing that weather affects their pain level, and 68% believing that weather severely affects their pain level. Patients with arthritis often claim they can predict the weather, based upon their pain level, and a number of studies have been conducted to test this hypothesis. While these studies show that the effects of weather can vary from person to person, many show that arthritis pain is increased by a variety of weather factors, which may swell inflamed arthritic joints, stretching the inflamed joint lining and capsule, thereby increasing the pain of arthritis.

Among the types of weather that may increase joint sensitivity and arthritic pain are:
1. Changes in atmospheric pressure, especially falling pressure
2. Changes in temperature, especially lowering temperature
3. High or increasing relative or absolute humidity
4. Relatively low atmospheric pressure
5. Low temperatures
6. Precipitation

Arthritic pain can be especially severe when these conditions are combined, such as during chilly, damp weather when pressure is low and falling.

AccuWeather has developed an index that combines all of the weather factors that may affect arthritis sufferers, and summarizes the most likely severity of weather-related arthritis pain in one easy-to-understand scale, from Low to Extreme for each of several days, so arthritis sufferers can have advanced notice of when they are most likely to have increased pain, allowing them to take appropriate medication and to better plan activities.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

With Health,

Dr. Saracino

Muscle & Fitness Magazine Article: The Squat Exercise

The benefits of the squat exercise (deep knee bends with weights) are so great, it should be performed consistently for the rest of our lives! Just think of how many stairs we climb, get out of bed and walk.  Squats utilize more muscle groups and weight-bearing joints than any other exercise. Doing squats not only adds tremendous strength to the quadriceps and gluteal muscles but adds stability to the knees and ankles and helps prevents low back pain. Whether you are a professional athlete, fitness enthusiast or in exercise rehabilitation, you can benefit from squats.

Read the full-length article by clicking its thumb nail on the home page of www.DrSaracino.com

More on Chiropractic’s Effectiveness for Headaches

…Boline (3) compared the effectiveness of chiropractic manipulation and amitriptyline for chronic tension-type headache. One hundred fifty patients were divided into two groups. One group received spinal manipulative therapy by chiropractic physicians and the other group received amitriptyline medication by a medical physician. Both groups were treated for six weeks. During the treatment period, both groups improved at similar rates in all primary outcomes. In relation to baseline values four weeks after cessation of treatment, the spinal manipulation group showed a reduction of 32 percent in headache intensity, 42 percent in headache frequency, 30 percent in over-the-counter medication usage and a 16 percent improvement in functional health status. By comparison, the amitriptyline group showed no improvement or a slight worsening from baseline values in the same four outcome measures. In addition, the study reported amitriptyline patients (82 percent) reported more side effects including drowsiness, dry mouth and weight gain compared to patients receiving chiropractic care (4.3 percent experienced.

Read more about this topic at http://www.DrSaracino.com:
http://www.drsaracino.com/chiropractic-neurology-health-articles.html
I look forward to hearing from you soon.

 

More on Eye Strain and the Common Headache

…also, an effective and safe remedy can be found in applying cold gel packs to the forehead and back of neck in three repetitions- one minute on and one minute off. Too often we abuse our eyes with poor light. The amount of light on the reading surface should be the same as that which is in the room! This means that the room lights should be turned on, not off, when we watch TV, read or work on the computer. Reading can be just as irritating if the material is too close or too far away. The center of the computer monitor should be at eye-level as one peers horizontally not with the head facing downward, as is often the case. The late Dr. Joseph Janse, a leader in chiropractic research, founder of the Council on Chiropractic Education and past president of my alma mater, was instrumental in correlating eyestrain to headache.

Read more about this topic at http://www.DrSaracino.com: http://www.drsaracino.com/chiropractic-neurology-health-articles.html I look forward to hearing from you soon.