SaveYourself.ca • Sensible advice for aches, pains & injuries
This page is a complete directory to all site content — and there’s a lot of it. For some ideas about the best places to start, or for specific pain problems, try the Reading Guide for Patients. There's also a guide for pros.
The 10 newest and most recently updated articles:
| date / words | |
| Tai Chi Helps Fibromyalgia, but It’s Not “Alternative” Medicine • Despite a high profile boost from the New England Journal of Medicine, it’s still just gentle, elegant, and pleasant exercise | May 23 850 |
| Applied Kinesiology | May 22 250 |
| The Power of Barking | May 22 150 |
| Therapeutic Touch | May 22 275 |
| The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) • The popular screening system for athletes failed to detect recent injuries in a new study | May 21 3,000 |
| You Might Just Be Weird • The clinical significance of normal — and not so normal — anatomical variation | May 21 1,900 |
| The “Impress Me” Test • Most controversial therapies are fighting over scraps of scientific evidence | May 15 450 |
| Does Fascia Matter? • A detailed critical analysis of the clinical relevance of fascia science and fascia properties | May 15 11,000 |
| The Runner’s Knee Diagnostic Stand-Off • How to tell the difference between the two most common knee pain problems in runners, IT band syndrome and patellofemoral pain | May 14 1,000 |
| Icing for Injuries, Tendinitis, and Inflammation • Become a cryotherapy master | May 7 4,000 |
News and nuggets of interesting information related to whatever I’m working on — often the things that amuse me. The microblog is a way for me to promote the site and show that “the lights are on and somebody’s home” while I continue to do the important work: writing and updating feature articles. You can always find the latest micro-posts here, the home page, and, because it’s 2013, they are all shared on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. There are also complete archives.
Reader C.W. wrote with a good correction: it’s “taijiquan,” not “taiqi,” as I have often carelessly written on this website, despite practicing taijiquan for most of my life. This has been in my mental “need to get clear about that” file for the entire time. I’m a language enthusiast (as a writer should be), and I knew that I didn’t have this down, but just had never gotten around to looking it up. I’ve now fixed this in a few places on SaveYourself.ca.
For a gold star, always use either taiji or, even better, taijiquan — that’s the modern Pinyin transliteration. But the older Wade-Giles version, t’ai chi or t’ai chi ch’uan, is still common, and the simplified tai chi is acceptable and common. Just don’t mix up your chi with your ch’i. Ji and chi are not the same thing as ch’i and qi — almost everyone makes this mistake (including me, for many years). Ji/chi is a philosophical concept, a really deep thought, hard to define and translate, but “pole” or “ultimate” will do. Qi/ch’i refers to breath or life energy, like the western concept of vis vitalis (vital force) or the Greek pneuma (breath, spirit, soul). So t’ai chi really is not tai ch’i — moving the apostrophe changes the meaning.
This information added to the article Tai Chi Helps Fibromyalgia, but It’s Not “Alternative” Medicine (and it’s no accident that title uses “tai chi” — for search engines, you’ve got to stick to the most popular spellings).
www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/progressive-mythologyJust because a published paper presents a statistically significant result does not mean it necessarily has a biologically meaningful effect.
Science Left Behind: Feel-Good Fallacies and the Rise of the Anti-Scientific Left, Alex Berezow & Hank Campbell
Utterly unsurprising: injecting your own blood doesn’t help tendinitis. Nice to have a decent new trial about this over-hyped therapy though.
The administration of two unguided peritendinous autologous blood injections one month apart, in addition to a standardised eccentric training programme, provides no additional benefit in the treatment of mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy.
Not many good treatment ideas work as well in practice as they do in theory. The null hypothesis is super reliable.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3629924Ever run much farther than you thought you could? I haven’t done more than 5km in ages, and I often only do 2km at a time (I’ve never been much for distance as a runner, I like sprinting) … and then suddenly a pair of big 13km runs around Stanley Park in a week! The first run was a total shock, and probably an unwise spike in pavement pounding — honestly, I’m amazed I didn’t hurt myself, prone as I am to RSIs. But I got away with it just fine.
And the 2nd run? I had to see if the 1st was a fluke! I guess it wasn’t — I did just fine again. I’ll be danged.
Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.
George Washington, 1790
This is great! A nicely written reality check on the antibiotics for back pain hype, from PubMed. Great stuff.
Back pain is one of the richest myth mines in all of medicine. An extremely common, often serious, and usually mysterious pain problem = absolutely maximum fertility for bullshit to grow in. There are a great many books about low back pain, and many are garbage, selling snake oil and hype and false hope instead of good information. There are also some fine myth-busting books about low back pain … and mine is one of them.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/behind —SNIP— back-pain
Several SaveYourself.ca tutorials are by far the most detailed information available on the topic, and book-length. Remember, there is also a separate reading guide for patients that lists all pain problems covered on the website.
| date / words | |
| Save Yourself from Low Back Pain! • Low back pain myths debunked and all your treatment options reviewed | Apr 4 84,000 |
| Save Yourself from Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome! • Patellofemoral pain syndrome (aka runner’s knee) explained and discussed in great detail, including every imaginable self-treatment option and all the available scientific evidence | May 2 52,000 |
| Save Yourself from Neck Pain! • All your treatment and self-help options for a crick in the neck explained and reviewed | Oct 2012 51,000 |
| Save Yourself from Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain Syndrome • A guide to the science of muscle pain, with reviews of every possible self-treatment and therapy option, even for the most difficult cases | Mar 29 120,000 |
| Save Yourself from Plantar Fasciitis! • Plantar fasciitis explained and discussed in great detail, including every possible treatment option, and all supported by recent scientific research | Mar 29 35,000 |
| Save Yourself from Shin Splints! • Causes and treatment options for shin splints explained and discussed in great detail, especially shin pain caused by myofascial trigger points, compartment syndrome, medial tibial stress syndrome, and stress fracture | Mar 29 21,000 |
| Save Yourself from IT Band Syndrome! • All your treatment options for Iliotibial Band Syndrome reviewed in great detail, with clear explanations of recent scientific research supporting every key point | Mar 29 49,000 |
| Save Yourself from Muscle Strain! • Muscle strain (pulled muscle) and muscle pain explained and discussed in great detail, plus every imaginable treatment option | Mar 29 16,000 |
| Save Yourself from Tension Headaches! • Simple advice on healing from chronic tension headaches, also known as fibrositic headaches | Aug 2009 1,200 |
| Save Yourself from Tennis Elbow! • Straight-talking advice on healing from this common tendinitis (lateral epicondylitis) … which doesn't just affect tennis players | Mar 2010 2,000 |
| Save Yourself from Insomnia! • Serious tips from a veteran of the insomnia wars | Jan 24 5,500 |
| Repetitive Strain Injuries Tutorial • Five surprising and important facts about repetitive strain injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, or iliotibial band syndrome | Jul 2012 11,000 |
| Save Yourself From Sciatica! • A basic tutorial about buttock and leg pain | Apr 2011 4,250 |
Many treatments for pain are unproved or disproved. I deflate dogma, hinder hype, and critique quackery.
| date / words | |
| There Is Only One Health Care • Either health is cared for or it is not cared for, whether we call it “alternative” or “mainstream” | Jun 2009 900 |
| SSRI Antidepressants Are Not Medicine • Frightening side effects, cover-ups on the record, and no reason to believe they do what they are supposed to | Feb 14 3,000 |
| Extraordinary Claims • A guide to critical thinking, skepticism and smart reading about health care on the web | Aug 2004 2,500 |
| Does Massage Therapy Work? • A review of the science of massage therapy … such as it is | May 3 11,000 |
| (Almost) Never Use Ice on Low Back Pain! • An important exception to conventional wisdom about icing and heating | Oct 2012 3,500 |
| Quite a Stretch • Stretching research clearly shows that a stretching habit isn’t good for much of anything that people think it is | Mar 1 9,500 |
| The Humble Therapist • Why you need to be skeptical when your massage therapist, physiotherapist or chiropractor tells you where the pain is really coming from | Jun 2011 2,500 |
| Water Fever and the Fear of Chronic Dehydration • Do we really need eight glasses of water per day? | Oct 2012 2,500 |
| Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) • The mysteries of muscle fever, nature’s little tax on exercise | Dec 19 5,500 |
| Does Chiropractic Work? • An introduction to chiropractic controversies | Jan 25 4,250 |
| Do You Believe in Qi? • How to embrace a central concept of Eastern mysticism without being a flake | May 2011 700 |
| Do Epsom Salts Work? • There is no good reason to believe that Epsom salt baths aid recovery from muscle pain, soreness or injury | Jan 16 8,000 |
| Stretching for Trigger Points • Is “muscle knot” release a good reason to stretch? | Feb 25 1,700 |
| Alternative to What? • “Alternative” health care professionals need to decide what they are really the alternative to | Jan 2011 3,500 |
| Be Careful What You Pay Attention To • A kinda spooky paradox in rehabilitation | May 2007 425 |
| Review of Inside Chiropractic: A Patient’s Guide, a book by Samuel Homola • An essential guide for anyone who likes a good spine crunch, but is concerned that the chiropractic profession might be imperfect | Jan 2010 1,500 |
| Does “Lose the Back Pain” Actually Help Low Back Pain? • A review of the popular low back pain treatment system | Mar 2012 95 |
| Your Back Is Not “Out” and Your Leg Length is Fine • The story of the obsession with crookedness in physical therapy and treatment for chronic pain | Apr 9 10,000 |
| Canadian Running Magazine Gets ITBS All Wrong • Another running magazine spreads myths about iliotibial band syndrome | Jul 2008 650 |
| Does Craniosacral Therapy Work? • Craniosacral therapists make big promises, but can’t agree on diagnoses and have failed to pass fair scientific tests of efficacy | Dec 2011 1,400 |
| The Unstretchables • Eleven major muscles you can’t stretch, no matter how hard you try | Oct 2012 1,800 |
| Review of Trigger Point Performance Therapy Website • Products like the “TP Massage Ball” and the “TP Hip Dysfunction Kit” are not as special as claimed, and are presented with poor quality information about trigger point therapy | Nov 2008 900 |
| Does Arnica Cream Work for Pain? • A detailed review of popular homeopathic (diluted) herbal creams like Traumeel, used for muscle pain, joint pain, sports injuries, bruising, and post-surgical inflammation | Oct 2012 9,000 |
| The Power of Avogadro Compels You! • James Randi and Alexa Ray Joel try to poison themselves — one of them deliberately and the other accidentally making homeopathy look 10X sillier than it already did | Aug 2011 1,800 |
| Does Acupuncture Work for Pain? • A review of modern acupuncture evidence and myths, particularly with regards to treating low back pain and other common pain problems | Nov 2012 6,000 |
| Healer Syndrome • Therapists who think they are God’s gift to therapy | Feb 2009 650 |
| Bogus Citations • References to “scientific evidence” are routinely misleading and scammy | Mar 2012 1,900 |
| Does Hip Strengthening Work for IT Band Syndrome? • Despite its popularity, “weak hips” is a weak theory, and there is no compelling evidence that hip strengthening can treat or prevent running overuse injuries of leg | Dec 2010 4,250 |
| Why “Science”-Based Instead of “Evidence”-Based? • The rationale for making medicine more science-based | Apr 1 2,200 |
| The “Impress Me” Test • Most controversial therapies are fighting over scraps of scientific evidence | May 15 450 |
| Modality Empires • A tradition of ego-driven treatment methods in manual therapy | May 3 1,400 |
| Runner’s World magazine cites me as an expert on stretching in an article about challenging conventional wisdom • … but gives a boost to a new myth at the same time | Aug 2009 650 |
| Thixotropy is Nifty, but It’s Not Therapy • A curious property of connective tissue is often claimed as a therapy | Feb 19 750 |
| Psoas, So What? • Massage therapy for the psoas major and iliacus (iliopsoas) muscles is not that big a deal | Mar 2010 550 |
| Should You Drink Water After Massage? • Only if you’re thirsty! Hydration and massage are not detoxification treatments | Nov 2012 4,000 |
| Ioannidis: Making Medical Science Look Bad Since 2005 • A famous and excellent scientific paper … with a dangerously misleading title | May 2012 2,400 |
| Do “Nutraceuticals” Help Arthritis and other Aches and Pains? • Debunkery and analysis of supplements and food-like medicines (nutraceuticals), especially glucosamine, chondroitin, and creatine | Apr 3 4,000 |
| You’re Really Tight • The three most common words in massage therapy are pointless | Jul 2012 1,600 |
| Spinal Nerve Roots Do Not Hook Up to Organs! • One of the key “selling points” for chiropractic care is the anatomically impossible premise that your spinal nerve roots are important to your general health | May 2012 2,300 |
| The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) • The popular screening system for athletes failed to detect recent injuries in a new study | May 21 3,000 |
| A Stretching Experiment • What happens when you stretch your hamstrings intensely for several minutes a day in a steam room? | Nov 2011 3,750 |
| Massage reduces inflammation and promotes mitochondria? • The making of a new massage myth from a high-tech study of muscle samples after intense exercise | Feb 2012 4,000 |
| The Three D’s of Quackery • Beware of the many Dubious, Dangerous and Distracting treatments for aches and pains | May 2012 1,700 |
| Trigger Point Doubts • Is there really such a thing as a muscle “knot”? | May 2 6,000 |
| Popular but Weird and Dangerous Cures • The most dangerous, strange and yet popular snake oils and “treatments” in history, and why anecdotes and testimonials cannot be trusted | Dec 19 650 |
| Poisoned by Massage • Rather than being “detoxifying,” massage may cause a modestly toxic situation in the body | Jul 2012 4,500 |
| Does Fascia Matter? • A detailed critical analysis of the clinical relevance of fascia science and fascia properties | May 15 11,000 |
Empower yourself with basics and principles of self-treatment — a “teach a man to fish” approach.
| date / words | |
| Massage Therapy for Tension Headaches • Perfect Spot No. 1, in the suboccipital muscles of the neck | Oct 2012 1,500 |
| Massage Therapy for Low Back Pain • Perfect Spot No. 2, in the thoracolumbar corner | Jun 2012 650 |
| Massage Therapy for Shin Splints • Perfect Spot No. 3, in the tibialis anterior muscle of the shin | Oct 2012 1,500 |
| Massage Therapy for Neck Pain, Chest Pain, Arm Pain, and Upper Back Pain • Perfect Spot No. 4, an area of common trigger points in the peculiar scalene muscle group of the throat | Jun 2012 2,400 |
| Massage Therapy for Tennis Elbow and Wrist Pain • Perfect Spot No. 5, in the common extensor tendon of the forearm | Jun 2012 1,300 |
| Massage Therapy for Back Pain, Hip Pain, and Sciatica • Perfect Spot No. 6, an area of common trigger points in the gluteus medius and minimus muscles of the hip | Jun 2012 1,100 |
| Massage Therapy for Bruxism, Jaw Clenching, and TMJ Syndrome • Perfect Spot No. 7, the masseter muscle of the jaw | Jun 2012 2,400 |
| Massage Therapy for Your Quads • Perfect Spot No. 8, another one for runners, the distal vastus lateralis of the quadriceps group | Oct 2012 1,500 |
| Massage Therapy for Your Pectorals • Perfect Spot No. 9, in the pectoralis major muscle of the chest | Jun 2012 750 |
| Massage Therapy for Tired Feet (and Plantar Fasciitis!) • Perfect Spot No. 10, in the arch muscles of the foot | Oct 2012 1,000 |
| Massage Therapy for Upper Back Pain • Perfect Area No. 11, the erector spinae muscle group of the upper back | Oct 2012 1,000 |
| Massage Therapy for Low Back Pain (So Low That It’s Not In the Back) • Perfect Spot No. 12, a common (almost universal) trigger point in the superolateral origin of the gluteus maximus muscle | Jun 2012 2,100 |
| Massage Therapy for Low Back Pain (Again) • Perfect Spot No. 13, The Most Classic Low Back Pain Trigger Point | Jun 2012 700 |
| Pain & Injury Survival Tips • Dozens of ideas for evidence-based rehabilitation and self-treatment for common pain problems and injuries | Mar 29 9,500 |
| A Better Hot Bath • Tips for getting the most out of the oldest form of therapy | Aug 2012 2,500 |
| Contrast Hydrotherapy • Exercising tissues with quick temperature changes for injury recovery, especially repetitive strain injuries | Oct 2012 2,500 |
| Five Ways To Prevent Sports Injuries • Get warm, co-ordinated, relaxed, smart and mobilized! | Oct 2010 475 |
| Deep Friction Massage Therapy for Tendonitis • A guide to a simple self-massage technique sometimes helpful in treating common tendonitis injuries like tennis elbow or Achilles tendonitis | Nov 2012 2,400 |
| Hydrotherapy • An introduction to healing with water | Mar 2010 800 |
| Icing for Injuries, Tendinitis, and Inflammation • Become a cryotherapy master | May 7 4,000 |
| Mobilize! • Dynamic joint mobility drills are an alternative to stretching that “massages you with movement” | Apr 2012 5,500 |
| (Almost) Never Use Ice on Low Back Pain! • An important exception to conventional wisdom about icing and heating | Oct 2012 3,500 |
| Does Posture Matter? • Posture exercises & strategies for improving posture … and some reasons not to bother | Mar 18 12,000 |
| Tennis Ball Massage for Myofascial Pain Syndrome • Some creative tips on using an ordinary tennis ball and other massage tools to self-treat muscle knots and myofascial trigger points | Aug 2010 1,100 |
| Unconventional Ergonomics • Five creative ergonomics tips you don’t hear as much about as the usual stuff | Nov 2012 1,100 |
| Wobble Cushion Technique • Instructions for chair warriors on the best usage of Disc ‘O’ Sit, Balance Fit or Sissel wobble cushions | May 2010 1,100 |
| The ‘Use It Or Lose It’ Principle • The importance of stimulation and movement in healing | Jul 2012 1,100 |
| Basic Self-Massage Tips for Myofascial Trigger Points • Learn how to massage your own trigger points (muscle knots) | Oct 2012 1,700 |
| The Art of Rest • The finer points of resting for injury & pain rehabilitation (hint: it’s a bit trickier than you might think) | Feb 2012 4,000 |
| Endurance Training for Injury Rehabilitation • What to do when your usual strength training workout isn’t working … or isn’t an option | Nov 2006 1,200 |
| Collateral and Re-Injury Prevention • Don’t underestimate the importance of prevention … even after you’ve already been injured! | Nov 2006 850 |
| Stretching for Trigger Points • Is “muscle knot” release a good reason to stretch? | Feb 25 1,700 |
| Strength Training Surprises • Why building muscle is easier, better, and more important than you thought, and its vital role in injury rehabilitation | May 2011 4,250 |
| Microbreaking • Prevent low back pain and neck cricks with lots of little breaks | Sep 2011 1,600 |
| Pain is an Opinion • What recent pain science can do for your chronic pain right now | May 1 6,000 |
| Progressive Training • How to take “baby steps” to recovery from an injury or pain problem | Feb 2012 1,900 |
| Using Heat for Pain Problems • When and how to apply heat for therapy … and when not to! | Jul 2010 1,700 |
| The Tyranny of Yoga and Meditation! • Do you really need to try them? How much do they matter for recovery from conditions like low back pain? | Apr 2012 1,800 |
| The Great Ice vs. Heat Confusion Debacle • A quick guide that explains when to ice, when to heat, when not to, and why | Jul 2010 600 |
| The Bath Trick for Trigger Point Release • A clever way of combining self-treatment techniques to self-treat your trigger points (muscle knots) | Aug 2010 600 |
| Review of the ShiatsuBag and ShiatsuBalls • A “bag of balls” is an interesting and useful self-massage tool | Apr 2009 850 |
| Water Yoga • 6 unusual ways to use a swimming pool for therapeutic exercise | May 2012 1,400 |
| Voltaren® Gel • A useful rub-on anti-inflammatory medication | Mar 29 2,200 |
| The Trigger Point Symptom Checker • An interview with creator Jeff Lutz about a unique online visual database of common muscular trigger points (muscle “knots”) | May 2010 1,700 |
| Less is Not Less • Go to the gym much less frequently and still gain strength just as fast (or so close it really doesn’t matter to anyone but bodybuilders) | May 7 6,500 |
| The Safety of Vitamin D for Pain • Is it still safe and reasonable for chronic pain patients to take higher doses of Vitamin D? And just how high is safe? | May 2011 1,500 |
| Massage reduces inflammation and promotes mitochondria? • The making of a new massage myth from a high-tech study of muscle samples after intense exercise | Feb 2012 4,000 |
Critical analysis of popular therapies, and other options you may not have considered.
| date / words | |
| Massage therapy is teamwork • There is only so much that massage therapy can do without your help | May 2007 275 |
| Massage Therapy for Tension Headaches • Perfect Spot No. 1, in the suboccipital muscles of the neck | Oct 2012 1,500 |
| Massage Therapy for Low Back Pain • Perfect Spot No. 2, in the thoracolumbar corner | Jun 2012 650 |
| Massage Therapy for Shin Splints • Perfect Spot No. 3, in the tibialis anterior muscle of the shin | Oct 2012 1,500 |
| Massage Therapy for Neck Pain, Chest Pain, Arm Pain, and Upper Back Pain • Perfect Spot No. 4, an area of common trigger points in the peculiar scalene muscle group of the throat | Jun 2012 2,400 |
| Massage Therapy for Tennis Elbow and Wrist Pain • Perfect Spot No. 5, in the common extensor tendon of the forearm | Jun 2012 1,300 |
| Massage Therapy for Back Pain, Hip Pain, and Sciatica • Perfect Spot No. 6, an area of common trigger points in the gluteus medius and minimus muscles of the hip | Jun 2012 1,100 |
| Massage Therapy for Bruxism, Jaw Clenching, and TMJ Syndrome • Perfect Spot No. 7, the masseter muscle of the jaw | Jun 2012 2,400 |
| Massage Therapy for Your Quads • Perfect Spot No. 8, another one for runners, the distal vastus lateralis of the quadriceps group | Oct 2012 1,500 |
| Massage Therapy for Your Pectorals • Perfect Spot No. 9, in the pectoralis major muscle of the chest | Jun 2012 750 |
| Massage Therapy for Tired Feet (and Plantar Fasciitis!) • Perfect Spot No. 10, in the arch muscles of the foot | Oct 2012 1,000 |
| Massage Therapy for Upper Back Pain • Perfect Area No. 11, the erector spinae muscle group of the upper back | Oct 2012 1,000 |
| Massage Therapy for Low Back Pain (So Low That It’s Not In the Back) • Perfect Spot No. 12, a common (almost universal) trigger point in the superolateral origin of the gluteus maximus muscle | Jun 2012 2,100 |
| Massage Therapy for Low Back Pain (Again) • Perfect Spot No. 13, The Most Classic Low Back Pain Trigger Point | Jun 2012 700 |
| An Open and Closed Case • An explanation for a strange duality of muscle sensation observed in massage therapy | Jul 2005 2,000 |
| Deep Friction Massage Therapy for Tendonitis • A guide to a simple self-massage technique sometimes helpful in treating common tendonitis injuries like tennis elbow or Achilles tendonitis | Nov 2012 2,400 |
| How Many Muscles? • A (slightly tongue-in-cheek) tally of the body’s many muscles | Jan 2012 750 |
| I See Muscle • Shining light on the muscle tissue blind spot | Apr 2005 475 |
| Does Massage Therapy Work? • A review of the science of massage therapy … such as it is | May 3 11,000 |
| Tennis Ball Massage for Myofascial Pain Syndrome • Some creative tips on using an ordinary tennis ball and other massage tools to self-treat muscle knots and myofascial trigger points | Aug 2010 1,100 |
| The Body Remembers • How your body can “store” emotional experience in your tissues, and experience them again during massage therapy | Oct 2005 550 |
| The Humble Therapist • Why you need to be skeptical when your massage therapist, physiotherapist or chiropractor tells you where the pain is really coming from | Jun 2011 2,500 |
| Why Massage Makes You Tingle • The physiology of sensation in muscle tissue | Jun 2004 900 |
| Why Massage Therapy? • An attempt to explain the magic of touch therapy, and why I decided to become an Registered Massage Therapist | Apr 2011 3,000 |
| Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) • The mysteries of muscle fever, nature’s little tax on exercise | Dec 19 5,500 |
| Basic Self-Massage Tips for Myofascial Trigger Points • Learn how to massage your own trigger points (muscle knots) | Oct 2012 1,700 |
| Measuring Progress in Massage Therapy • How do you know whether or not massage therapy is working for you? | Sep 2008 1,300 |
| Every little thing a nice therapist does is magic • Loyalty to a physical therapist is often misguided and has little or nothing to do with how well treatment is actually working | Nov 2010 650 |
| The Pressure Question in Massage Therapy • What’s the right amount of pressure to apply to your muscles in massage therapy and self-massage? | Aug 2011 3,000 |
| Do you know a good massage therapist in _______? • Three quick ways to find decent medical massage or trigger point therapy in your own area | May 2010 800 |
| “But I’ve Already Tried Massage Therapy …” • The delicate issue of trying to find skilful treatment for myofascial trigger points (muscle knots) | Sep 2008 2,300 |
| Getting On Your Nerves • Can you damage your nerves when self-massaging? | Apr 2012 600 |
| Will Therapy Work? • The fool’s errand of trying to guess the effectiveness of a therapeutic approach to a pain problem before you’ve tried it | Jan 2008 850 |
| Bad Therapy Journal • A diary of disappointing therapy experiences with massage therapists, physiotherapists and chiropractors | Sep 2011 1,800 |
| Review of the Backnobber II & Knobble II • Plus four other massage tools from the Pressure Positive Company: the Index Knobber, Jacknobber, Orbit Massager and Tiger Tail | Nov 2011 1,700 |
| What could go wrong with massage? • Rare but real adverse effects of massage therapy, especially “deep” massage | Jul 2012 1,700 |
| The Trigger Point Symptom Checker • An interview with creator Jeff Lutz about a unique online visual database of common muscular trigger points (muscle “knots”) | May 2010 1,700 |
| Massage reduces inflammation and promotes mitochondria? • The making of a new massage myth from a high-tech study of muscle samples after intense exercise | Feb 2012 4,000 |
| Poisoned by Massage • Rather than being “detoxifying,” massage may cause a modestly toxic situation in the body | Jul 2012 4,500 |
| The Humble Therapist • Why you need to be skeptical when your massage therapist, physiotherapist or chiropractor tells you where the pain is really coming from | Jun 2011 2,500 |
| Does Chiropractic Work? • An introduction to chiropractic controversies | Jan 25 4,250 |
| Every little thing a nice therapist does is magic • Loyalty to a physical therapist is often misguided and has little or nothing to do with how well treatment is actually working | Nov 2010 650 |
| Review of Inside Chiropractic: A Patient’s Guide, a book by Samuel Homola • An essential guide for anyone who likes a good spine crunch, but is concerned that the chiropractic profession might be imperfect | Jan 2010 1,500 |
| Your Back Is Not “Out” and Your Leg Length is Fine • The story of the obsession with crookedness in physical therapy and treatment for chronic pain | Apr 9 10,000 |
| Will Therapy Work? • The fool’s errand of trying to guess the effectiveness of a therapeutic approach to a pain problem before you’ve tried it | Jan 2008 850 |
| Spinal Nerve Roots Do Not Hook Up to Organs! • One of the key “selling points” for chiropractic care is the anatomically impossible premise that your spinal nerve roots are important to your general health | May 2012 2,300 |
| Does Acupuncture Work for Pain? • A review of modern acupuncture evidence and myths, particularly with regards to treating low back pain and other common pain problems | Nov 2012 6,000 |
The most satisfying and therapeutically significant places on the human body to massage. (Detailed spot index included in each article.)
| date / words | |
| Massage Therapy for Tension Headaches • Perfect Spot No. 1, in the suboccipital muscles of the neck | Oct 2012 1,500 |
| Massage Therapy for Low Back Pain • Perfect Spot No. 2, in the thoracolumbar corner | Jun 2012 650 |
| Massage Therapy for Shin Splints • Perfect Spot No. 3, in the tibialis anterior muscle of the shin | Oct 2012 1,500 |
| Massage Therapy for Neck Pain, Chest Pain, Arm Pain, and Upper Back Pain • Perfect Spot No. 4, an area of common trigger points in the peculiar scalene muscle group of the throat | Jun 2012 2,400 |
| Massage Therapy for Tennis Elbow and Wrist Pain • Perfect Spot No. 5, in the common extensor tendon of the forearm | Jun 2012 1,300 |
| Massage Therapy for Back Pain, Hip Pain, and Sciatica • Perfect Spot No. 6, an area of common trigger points in the gluteus medius and minimus muscles of the hip | Jun 2012 1,100 |
| Massage Therapy for Bruxism, Jaw Clenching, and TMJ Syndrome • Perfect Spot No. 7, the masseter muscle of the jaw | Jun 2012 2,400 |
| Massage Therapy for Your Quads • Perfect Spot No. 8, another one for runners, the distal vastus lateralis of the quadriceps group | Oct 2012 1,500 |
| Massage Therapy for Your Pectorals • Perfect Spot No. 9, in the pectoralis major muscle of the chest | Jun 2012 750 |
| Massage Therapy for Tired Feet (and Plantar Fasciitis!) • Perfect Spot No. 10, in the arch muscles of the foot | Oct 2012 1,000 |
| Massage Therapy for Upper Back Pain • Perfect Area No. 11, the erector spinae muscle group of the upper back | Oct 2012 1,000 |
| Massage Therapy for Low Back Pain (So Low That It’s Not In the Back) • Perfect Spot No. 12, a common (almost universal) trigger point in the superolateral origin of the gluteus maximus muscle | Jun 2012 2,100 |
| Massage Therapy for Low Back Pain (Again) • Perfect Spot No. 13, The Most Classic Low Back Pain Trigger Point | Jun 2012 700 |
An unusual blend of ideas about therapeutic exercise and rehabilitation.
| date / words | |
| Pain & Injury Survival Tips • Dozens of ideas for evidence-based rehabilitation and self-treatment for common pain problems and injuries | Mar 29 9,500 |
| Always Running the Same Way • The trouble with running on concrete and asphalt | Mar 2012 1,800 |
| Another Kind of Exercise • Alternatives to jogging and pumping iron | Feb 2007 500 |
| Five Ways To Prevent Sports Injuries • Get warm, co-ordinated, relaxed, smart and mobilized! | Oct 2010 475 |
| Good Vibrations for Stress and Tension • How to shake your way to relief from stress, tension and more | Jun 2004 425 |
| Mobilize! • Dynamic joint mobility drills are an alternative to stretching that “massages you with movement” | Apr 2012 5,500 |
| Does Posture Matter? • Posture exercises & strategies for improving posture … and some reasons not to bother | Mar 18 12,000 |
| Quite a Stretch • Stretching research clearly shows that a stretching habit isn’t good for much of anything that people think it is | Mar 1 9,500 |
| The Art of Bioenergetic Breathing • A powerful tool for personal growth and transformation | Jun 2011 2,200 |
| The Still Life • The trouble with a lifestyle of inactivity | Jun 2004 650 |
| The ‘Use It Or Lose It’ Principle • The importance of stimulation and movement in healing | Jul 2012 1,100 |
| Dance of the Sarcomeres • A mental picture of muscle knot physiology explains four familiar features of muscle pain | Apr 2011 1,400 |
| The Art of Rest • The finer points of resting for injury & pain rehabilitation (hint: it’s a bit trickier than you might think) | Feb 2012 4,000 |
| Endurance Training for Injury Rehabilitation • What to do when your usual strength training workout isn’t working … or isn’t an option | Nov 2006 1,200 |
| PF-ROM Exercises • ‘Pain-free range of motion’ or early mobilization exercises can help you heal | Nov 2006 1,100 |
| Stretching for Trigger Points • Is “muscle knot” release a good reason to stretch? | Feb 25 1,700 |
| Strength Training Surprises • Why building muscle is easier, better, and more important than you thought, and its vital role in injury rehabilitation | May 2011 4,250 |
| Microbreaking • Prevent low back pain and neck cricks with lots of little breaks | Sep 2011 1,600 |
| Progressive Training • How to take “baby steps” to recovery from an injury or pain problem | Feb 2012 1,900 |
| Eccentric Contraction • A peculiar bit of muscle physiology | Jun 2012 700 |
| Consider endurance training for back pain instead of strengthening • New evidence that back muscle endurance matters more than strength | Aug 2007 325 |
| Stiffness, tightness and limited range of motion are not always the same thing • An interesting little thing to understand about your body | Oct 2007 500 |
| Review of Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the conventional wisdom on diet, weight control, and disease • Solid science journalism on a subject that desperately needs it | Jul 2008 2,100 |
| Canadian Running Magazine Gets ITBS All Wrong • Another running magazine spreads myths about iliotibial band syndrome | Jul 2008 650 |
| The Unstretchables • Eleven major muscles you can’t stretch, no matter how hard you try | Oct 2012 1,800 |
| 7 Reasons Older Adults Don’t Stay in Exercise Classes • And 7 Reasons Why they Should | Nov 2008 3,000 |
| Q: What Happens to Sprinting if You Stretch First? • A: All other things being equal, the athlete who didn’t stretch is going to leave you behind! | Jan 2009 400 |
| Water Yoga • 6 unusual ways to use a swimming pool for therapeutic exercise | May 2012 1,400 |
| Safe athletic training tips • Getting into shape without doing damage | Apr 2009 600 |
| Does Hip Strengthening Work for IT Band Syndrome? • Despite its popularity, “weak hips” is a weak theory, and there is no compelling evidence that hip strengthening can treat or prevent running overuse injuries of leg | Dec 2010 4,250 |
| Runner’s World magazine cites me as an expert on stretching in an article about challenging conventional wisdom • … but gives a boost to a new myth at the same time | Aug 2009 650 |
| Tai Chi Helps Fibromyalgia, but It’s Not “Alternative” Medicine • Despite a high profile boost from the New England Journal of Medicine, it’s still just gentle, elegant, and pleasant exercise | May 23 850 |
| Less is Not Less • Go to the gym much less frequently and still gain strength just as fast (or so close it really doesn’t matter to anyone but bodybuilders) | May 7 6,500 |
| The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) • The popular screening system for athletes failed to detect recent injuries in a new study | May 21 3,000 |
| A Stretching Experiment • What happens when you stretch your hamstrings intensely for several minutes a day in a steam room? | Nov 2011 3,750 |
| Massage reduces inflammation and promotes mitochondria? • The making of a new massage myth from a high-tech study of muscle samples after intense exercise | Feb 2012 4,000 |
As educational as possible without losing a sense of humour.
| date / words | |
| Review of Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine, a book by Randolph M. Nesse and George C. Williams • Evolutionary medicine answers some nagging questions | Oct 2006 250 |
| An Introduction to Biological Literacy • Why you need to know more about your body | Aug 2004 1,100 |
| An Open and Closed Case • An explanation for a strange duality of muscle sensation observed in massage therapy | Jul 2005 2,000 |
| From Atoms to Elvis • A wide-angle look at the foundations of biology | Aug 2004 500 |
| How Many Muscles? • A (slightly tongue-in-cheek) tally of the body’s many muscles | Jan 2012 750 |
| Natural Imperfection • Evolution doesn’t care if you have back pain … just as long as you can breed | Nov 2012 4,000 |
| Singing, Breath and Scalenes • Connections between singing, breathing and a strange group of muscles | Jun 2004 1,800 |
| Something in the Air • A fascinating relationship between biology and the Schumman resonance | Jun 2004 500 |
| Ten Trillion Cells Walked Into a Bar • A humourous and unusual perspective on how, exactly, a person is even able to stand up, let alone walk into a bar | Jan 2012 1,900 |
| The Body Remembers • How your body can “store” emotional experience in your tissues, and experience them again during massage therapy | Oct 2005 550 |
| The Respiration Connection • How dysfunctional breathing might be a root cause of a variety of common upper body pain problems and injuries | May 2012 6,500 |
| The Sixth Sense • Proprioception, the vital but mysterious sensation of position and movement | May 2006 550 |
| Ugly Bags of Mostly Water • The chemical composition of human biology | Aug 2004 1,500 |
| We Are Full of Critters • The human body is a colony of ten trillion co-operating cells | Oct 2011 600 |
| What Hurts You • The strange science of pain perception | Jun 2004 700 |
| Why Do We Get Sick? • The connections between poor health and the lives we lead | Dec 2011 1,900 |
| Why Massage Makes You Tingle • The physiology of sensation in muscle tissue | Jun 2004 900 |
| The ‘Use It Or Lose It’ Principle • The importance of stimulation and movement in healing | Jul 2012 1,100 |
| Review of The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life, by Robert O. Becker, MD, and Gary Selden • A doctor’s fascinating story of being drawn into a denigrated area of research | Oct 2006 550 |
| Review of Molecules of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine, a book by Candace B. Pert • An important book that helps to explain exactly what it means that the mind and body are connected | Oct 2006 550 |
| Dance of the Sarcomeres • A mental picture of muscle knot physiology explains four familiar features of muscle pain | Apr 2011 1,400 |
| Eccentric Contraction • A peculiar bit of muscle physiology | Jun 2012 700 |
| It’s the homeostasis, stupid • Vindication for an unconventional view of knee pain, and probably a lot of other common aches and pains | Jun 2007 1,000 |
| When To Worry About Shortness of Breath … and When Not To • Some common, minor & treatable causes of a scary symptom explained | Oct 2012 3,000 |
| Stiffness, tightness and limited range of motion are not always the same thing • An interesting little thing to understand about your body | Oct 2007 500 |
| Getting On Your Nerves • Can you damage your nerves when self-massaging? | Apr 2012 600 |
| 7 Reasons Older Adults Don’t Stay in Exercise Classes • And 7 Reasons Why they Should | Nov 2008 3,000 |
| Oh, a flow-induced system of mechanotransduction! Of course! • A century-old mystery of bone biology was solved just a little while ago | Apr 2012 475 |
| You Might Just Be Weird • The clinical significance of normal — and not so normal — anatomical variation | May 21 1,900 |
| Spinal Nerve Roots Do Not Hook Up to Organs! • One of the key “selling points” for chiropractic care is the anatomically impossible premise that your spinal nerve roots are important to your general health | May 2012 2,300 |
| Why Does Pain Hurt So Much? • How an evolutionary wrong turn led to a biological glitch that condemned the animal kingdom — you included — to much louder, longer pain | Dec 2011 4,750 |
Everyone seems to agree nowadays that “you can’t separate the mind from the body” — but what does that mean, exactly?
| date / words | |
| Pain & Injury Survival Tips • Dozens of ideas for evidence-based rehabilitation and self-treatment for common pain problems and injuries | Mar 29 9,500 |
| A Better Hot Bath • Tips for getting the most out of the oldest form of therapy | Aug 2012 2,500 |
| An Open and Closed Case • An explanation for a strange duality of muscle sensation observed in massage therapy | Jul 2005 2,000 |
| Civilization Survival Tips • Coping with stress and anxiety in the modern world (without drugs) | Apr 2011 2,500 |
| Good Vibrations for Stress and Tension • How to shake your way to relief from stress, tension and more | Jun 2004 425 |
| Help for Anxiety • Anxiety doesn’t respond to logic and reason, so what does it respond to? | Feb 14 2,500 |
| The Art of Healing by Growing Up • Pain relief through the pursuit of emotional intelligence, life balance, and peacefulness | Sep 2011 1,600 |
| Save Yourself from Insomnia! • Serious tips from a veteran of the insomnia wars | Jan 24 5,500 |
| Singing, Breath and Scalenes • Connections between singing, breathing and a strange group of muscles | Jun 2004 1,800 |
| The Anatomy of Vitality • What makes life tick? A poetic romp through the substance of vitality | Jun 2009 2,500 |
| The Art of Bioenergetic Breathing • A powerful tool for personal growth and transformation | Jun 2011 2,200 |
| The Body Remembers • How your body can “store” emotional experience in your tissues, and experience them again during massage therapy | Oct 2005 550 |
| The Respiration Connection • How dysfunctional breathing might be a root cause of a variety of common upper body pain problems and injuries | May 2012 6,500 |
| Review of John Sarno’s Books about Low Back Pain • Essential reading for low back pain sufferers and most health care professionals | Apr 2011 1,500 |
| Review of Molecules of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine, a book by Candace B. Pert • An important book that helps to explain exactly what it means that the mind and body are connected | Oct 2006 550 |
| Do You Believe in Qi? • How to embrace a central concept of Eastern mysticism without being a flake | May 2011 700 |
| Pain is an Opinion • What recent pain science can do for your chronic pain right now | May 1 6,000 |
| Not Much Of A Connection • Many alleged mind-body connections are oversimplified | Mar 2007 650 |
| “All in your head” is history • Disease always has physical and psychological dimensions | Mar 2007 475 |
| The Tyranny of Yoga and Meditation! • Do you really need to try them? How much do they matter for recovery from conditions like low back pain? | Apr 2012 1,800 |
| The Mind Game In Low Back Pain • How back pain is powered by fear and loathing, and greatly aided or cured by rational confidence | Nov 2011 1,000 |
| Be Careful What You Pay Attention To • A kinda spooky paradox in rehabilitation | May 2007 425 |
| 9 Surprising Ways to Hurt • Understanding pain when there is no obvious explanation | Mar 2008 1,400 |
| The Gentle Art of Pain Acceptance • An important concept in leveraging mind-body connections to deal with chronic pain | Nov 2007 750 |
| Insomnia Until it Hurts • The role of sleep deprivation in muscle pain and other kinds of chronic pain | Oct 2012 2,750 |
| Does Acupuncture Work for Pain? • A review of modern acupuncture evidence and myths, particularly with regards to treating low back pain and other common pain problems | Nov 2012 6,000 |
| Why Does Pain Hurt So Much? • How an evolutionary wrong turn led to a biological glitch that condemned the animal kingdom — you included — to much louder, longer pain | Dec 2011 4,750 |
Short summaries, 300 words or less, of well-defined topics or key points that tend to come up when discussing pain and therapy science. This is a new category, and I’ll be adding to it steadily.
| date / words | |
| Typos & Nitpicking Hypocrisy | Jun 2012 190 |
| Toxins, Schmoxins! | Jul 2012 275 |
| “Reductionism” Is Not an Insult | Jun 2012 190 |
| Healing Time | Jun 2012 210 |
| Homeopathy | Jun 2012 190 |
| Medical Training Wins | Jul 2012 100 |
| Confirmation Bias | Jun 2012 180 |
| The Medical Blind Spot for Aches and Pains | Jun 2012 275 |
| Missing Serious Symptoms | Jun 2012 120 |
| The Simon Singh Story and British Libel Reform | Jun 2012 275 |
| Chiropractic Subluxation | Jun 2012 240 |
| Masking Symptoms Is Under-Rated | Jul 2012 250 |
| Facts First | Sep 2012 190 |
| Applied Kinesiology | May 22 250 |
| The Power of Barking | May 22 150 |
| Therapeutic Touch | May 22 275 |
Th-th-thaat’s all, folks!
If you want more, please send me a bag of money, and I will write more and dedicate it to you.
