Try these exercise variations to see if they are more successful: a. BANANA: Place your body in the shape of a banana. See photo. If your pain is down the right leg you should try shifting your shoulder and feet to the right. Your pelvis should shift to the left. If your pain is down the left leg, try shifting your shoulders and feet to the left. Note, your pelvis should shift to the right. Remain in that position for 30 seconds and see if your pain decreases. In the same position you can also try to do mini press-ups. In the end, if this position is effective, continue to do this exercise 5-8 times a day. b. ROAD KILL: Right-sided pain: Lying flat on the ground on your stomach, take your right foot and place it on the side of your left knee. Hold for 15-30 seconds and assess what your pain is doing. If it is improving, try the ELBOW PROP in that position. If pain-free in the ELBOW PROP position, you might try lying for up to two minutes. In the same position you can also try some baby press-ups. Repeat 5-8 times per day. Left-sided pain: Lying flat on your stomach, take your left foot and place it on the side of your right knee. Hold for 15-30 seconds and assess what your pain is doing. If it is improving, try performing the ELBOW PROP in the ROAD KILL position. If pain-free in the ELBOW PROP position, you might try lying for up to two minutes. In the same position you can also try some baby press-ups. In the end, if this position is effective you will continue to do this exercise 5-8 times a day. Roadkill position Roadkill with elbow prop c. TOWEL UNDER PELVIS: Fold a towel in half lengthwise. Fold it in half again to make a square. Place the towel under your pelvis on the side you are experiencing pain. Hold for 15-30 seconds and assess what your pain is doing. If it is improving, try the ELBOW PROP in that position. If pain-free in the ELBOW PROP position, you might try lying for up to two minutes. In the same position, you can also try some baby press-ups. In the end, if this position is effective, continue to do this exercise 5-8 times a day. d. WIGGLE: Place your body in the ELBOW PROP position with your chin resting on your two fists stacked up on one another. Wiggle your buttock up to the ceiling (left side, right side, left side). If it makes your pain worse, STOP. If it helps, continue. e. TWO LEG ROTATION: Lie flat on your back on the bed. If pain is down your right leg, shift your hips slightly to the left. Next, grasp the side of the bed with your left hand. Bring your knees toward your chest and then rotate them to the right, while allowing your bent-up knees to rotate down to the bed. Increasing or decreasing the amount of hip flexion can often eliminate any discomfort. If there is pain, stop it immediately. Perform 3 times total. f. If the pain is down your left leg, lie flat on the bed. Shift your hips slightly to right and grasp the side of the bed with your right hand. Bring your knees toward your chest and then rotate them to the left, allowing your bent-up knees to rotate down to the bed. Increasing or decreasing the amount of hip flexion can often eliminate any discomfort. If there is pain, stop it immediately. Perform 3 times total. The CAT/CAMEL exercise can be attempted if none of the previous exercises are working. It can be performed along with the nerve flossing exercise. Start in the quadruped position (both knees and hands on floor) to perform CAT/CAMEL. Arch your back up and down is one repetition. Repeat 10 times. This exercise should be PAIN-FREE or do not perform. The Windshield Wipers can be attempted if none of the previous exercises are working. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the bed. Gently rotate your knees back and forth. If the movement hurts to perform in one direction (e.g., to the right) avoid the right and just initially perform to the left side. Perform 10 times. This exercise will relax the muscles and get some movement in the spine and hips. **If you are unable to perform these exercises or if they are not effective, try the nerve flossing exercise (described in “How to Perform Nerve Flossing Which Can Help Your Sciatica”) AND start working on reducing pain makers with the proper technique (see “THIS is causing your Sciatica/Back Pain! How to Stop”). 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 January of 2022. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8joiX-7MRU Bob: We’re going to show you how to pick a walker. This could be for you, or it could be for a loved one. But it’s important because if you choose the wrong one, it could cause falls, or they may just not use it. Brad: Right, and that takes away the benefits of it. Bob: Right. So, the first question, we’re going with six questions that you need to answer. The first question is the most important, Brad, and that’s, does the person have to transport the walker? In other words, do they have to take the walker and put it in their car, take it some place. Brad: Get up and down stairs. That’s where you can really have some dangerous falls. Bob: So, we’re running into this with my mother-in-law. The ideal walker for her would have been the OasisSpace Upright Walker because it has the platform attachments, it also has the seat. She could sit down if she gets tired. But she could never lift this into her car. Brad: It’s made so it folds up, but it’s kind of heavy. When you try to fit it through a car door or in the trunk, you must be strong. Bob: Yeah, it has huge wheels. We’ll talk about the benefits of that later. We chose a lighter walker for her. It’s an aluminum walker, but it’s fairly lightweight. She’ll be able to lift this. It folds up by pushing the buttons here. It has decent wheel. We’ll talk about why that’s helpful. But that’s the first question you need to ask. The lightest one would be an aluminum one without any platform attachments. Brad: These are very common. Particularly in hospitals and nursing homes. We’ll talk more about the four wheeled one, which is also common. This is the lightest. Bob: Let’s talk about the second question, Brad. Does the person need to sit down at times? Now, this could be due to fatigue, it could be due to pain, a lot of spinal stenosis. Brad: Right, maybe knee pain, and that’s why they need a walker. Bob: Right, so we like the four-wheel walker. The other thing I like about them is you can get a walker that converts into a wheelchair. We had that one on a program. My mom has that one, so she’ll walk with a family member, she gets tired, we sit her down, it has leg rests on it, and we can just start pushing her like a wheelchair. It works great. Brad: My parents didn’t like it. Bob: Oh, I know, yeah. Brad: It is an individual thing. You need to try it because it’s kind of special. Bob: Why didn’t they like it? Brad: I don’t remember, you know how some people are. Bob: But again, in that case we always have a family member with my mom. Somebody will always transport it for her. They tend to be a little bit wider, wouldn’t you say, Brad? Brad: What, the ones you sit down in? Bob: Yeah. Brad: Well, I don’t know. This is a very common style. It has the seat and whatnot, but the width you do have to make sure like this one, my mother would not be a good candidate for. She’s wider and when she turns around, she wouldn’t fit through there very well. It’s a problem. Bob: Well, like you said, if it’s too narrow, she would try to sit down, it might scoot away from her. Plus, she might have trouble getting out of the chair. Brad: So, we got the next walker up, which was three inches wider, much better. She’s happier, and it works great. These do almost always fold up. This is not easy to get into a car. It’s okay for me, but for an elderly person, it’s a little awkward and it’s a good time for falling. Bob: I want to show one thing as far as going upstairs, Brad. Do you want to grab the aluminum one? Now, walkers in general are not great to take upstairs. Sometimes you do fold them up and if you’re able body, you grab onto the rail and kind of use this. It’s not the greatest. Brad: It’s awkward. Maybe turn it sideways and get it on the steps. Bob: Usually what we do, we recommend is you keep a walker on the second floor permanently. Then you put rails going up so they can hang onto the rails to get to the top, then the walkers there. Brad: Right, so they have a walker upstairs and a walker downstairs. Bob: I know people that have walkers for outdoors, walkers for the car, walkers for downstairs, and walkers for upstairs. Brad: Yep, and they are walking, walking, walking. Bob: Does the person need to get into narrow spaces? There’s a lot of narrow hallways or narrow bathrooms. Again, when you get some of these wheeled walkers, they can be a bit wide because you need to be able to sit down on them. Brad: The neat thing about the aluminum walkers is you can put the wheels on the inside, which makes them about two inches narrower. It’s easy to do, you don’t have to take a bolt or a wrench. Take them like this and put it on the other side and now it’s going to be wider. The nice thing about that, it’s a little more stable, but it’s not a big deal. A lot of times I just put them on the inside so that it protects the woodwork in the house. Bob: Exactly. Let’s go to the next question. Will the person use it outside? Now, if you’re going to use it outside, one thing, if you do have wheels, you want to have larger wheels if possible because some of these walkers come with very small plastic wheels and they just do not roll-on sidewalks or dirt or sand very well. Brad: Even now, these used to be big compared to years ago, but now these are just the average. The wheels one the other one are made for outdoors. Bob: Those are pneumatic, meaning they have air, which means they’re a little bit better shock absorber, I think. Brad: Yeah, that one is probably the best for walking outside. Bob: Now, you may not need wheels at all, we’ll talk about that. In many cases, we prefer wheels because it helps with your balance. The next question, will the person need wheels or gliders or tennis balls? So, a lot of people, if they must lift a walker up, they lose their balance while they’re doing so. So, we prefer that they do use wheels in most cases. Now, the thing is a lot of people think the wheels are going to run away from them. But when they've got two wheels on there and they have gliders on the back, or tennis balls, they don’t. They’re stable. Brad: Right, it’s amazing. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a person have a wheeled walker get away. Well, with the four wheeled walker, that’s a different story. People may say, what are you talking about, tennis balls? The difference is that’s the back two. If you have tennis balls, it makes it quiet on floors and it avoids scratching the floors. Which is a big deal. Bob: It’s a big deal. You could get plastic gliders and they work probably once. Then you take it outside and scratch them up. Then you take them inside and they’ll scratch your floor. Brad: The little piece of dirt can get embedded. We’re talking about the plastic parts. Bob: They look like little skis. Brad: Yeah, they’re about two or three inches long, they’re typically white and you can take the rubber piece off and put them in there with a little screwdriver. They were good for if you’re going to be outside, on concrete, and you don’t have a four-wheeled walker. But then if you bring it inside, like Bob says, there's going to be a scratching problem. Bob: Now, we want to warn you about the tennis balls. A lot of people just take a tennis ball and they’ll cut it themselves. I had two employees that cut their finger trying to do this, I mean, they’re not easy to cut. You can buy pre-cut ones. Brad: Yeah, get someone that’s handy and used to using a utility knife. To put it on, squeeze the ball and shove it on the back leg of the walker. Bob: Just like Pac-Man. I used to cut them, Brad, and then I would grab them and split them apart a little further. Brad: Ooh, you’re strong. Strong like bull. Bob: Anyway, be very careful on that. So, what’s the final question, Brad? Brad: I don’t know. Bob: Does the person need platform attachments? This is not that common that you need these. If you have arthritic hands and you don’t want to put pressure on your hands, this works well because it puts them on your forearms. If you have someone who, again, a family member, she’s really bent over, so we wanted to get her up and this is going to help get her up and standing straight. She can take weight on her forearms for doing so. Brad: People may think, well you just raise it up and what happens if you raise the whole walker up, instead of bringing the person up, usually they just bend their elbows more and it doesn’t change their posture. Bob: Exactly. Now, the OasisSpace Upright came with platforms, right? Brad: Yeah. Bob: This one was designed to have these platforms on here. You can take them off, but the standard front wheeled walker was not designed to have platforms, so you must buy the full platform, it’s a pain in the butt. Brad: Yeah, they connect on here and it works, but it’s difficult. Bob: If you know you’re going to need platforms, buy one that already has them attached. They’re made for it. Brad: I’ve had some people that have a platform on one side and not the other. Either because they have a broken wrist, or one hand is not functional. Then you’ll need that. It’s nice to grab the other side if that’s a good strong hand. Bob: Well, we hope we covered most of the basics of how to choose a walker. Brad: Or maybe we got them thoroughly confused? There are quite a few options, but it’s something you need to be aware of. Bob: A person’s balance will affect which one they want, and we talked a little bit about that. Again, make sure you have front wheels and if you have four wheels, it’s going to glide a lot easier. The four wheeled walkers have breaks by the way, we forgot to mention that. Brad: Another thing is, now that we have people bored out of their skull, the brakes are handy. The brakes will loosen up after a while and they don’t work so you must adjust them. We do have a video on that. Bob: Yeah, tighten the brakes, thanks! Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd , Rumble 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 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 March of 2021. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/LsgOnqBLIE0 . Bob: Today, we’re going to talk about the one exercise that could really help your weight loss. Brad: One exercise? Bob: It’s one set, or kind of exercise. Brad: There you go, it is, it’s all true. Bob: We’re going to talk about weight resistance training! It could be done with body weight, like push-ups. It can be done with resistance bands. We have a couple types, we have loops, and we have bands with handles. You can do it with machines and dumbbells, free weights. Brad: Cables, yup, all those things. Bob: So, the more muscle you build, the more calories your body requires at rest. There’s an after-burn effect where you build up muscle that keep breaking down fats and carbs after you’re done. Brad: For example, if you do aerobic exercises, which I enjoy doing, you burn more calories doing the activity, but the recovery for the next 24 hours, you will burn more after resistance training. Is that right, Bob? Bob: Right, that’s correct, Brad. It’s also effective like running and biking, aerobic training for reducing fat, but they can also reduce muscle. Believe it or not. As you get older, as Brad and I are finding, you must work hard just to stay average, you know what I mean? To keep your strength, you start losing muscle strength. Brad: And, you don’t have the testosterone in your body to build those muscles. Bob: So, what are you saying? Brad: No, it’s just a fact, Bob. When you get older. Bob: This is a family show, remember. Brad: It’s just a hormone, Bob. It’s not a big deal, we’re science based. Let’s carry on. Bob: Anyway, you’re going to want to include some resistance training into your workout. One of the easy ways we found to do so is just using our resistance bands. We have them hooked to the wall anchors. I have it set up nice and tall for me. All right, with these you can work the hamstring and glutes by getting into this position. I’m keeping my back straight. I’m doing kind of a press with my pelvis. Brad: Double check, keep your head up at the very end. Bob: This is good resistance. It really does work those glutes and you can squeeze your buttock together while you’re doing it. Brad: The whole idea with resistance training when you want to burn calories is to use large muscle mass. We’re getting glutes, one of the biggest muscles in your body. Bob: One of the biggest engines in your body is the glutes. You want to make sure you’re working those well. It’s that whole posterior chain they talk about, Brad. Brad: You’re getting thigh in there, the quads, the hamstrings, the glutes, the multifidus up in the back. You’re doing a lot with this one. Bob: This is a full body workout on this one. Why don’t you do the squats, Brad. Brad: For people at home, if you’re not interested in buying a whole lot of iron and weights, if you don’t have room like my workout room is not big enough, plus I’m more attracted to these, the more I work with them, the happier I get with loops. We have a loop set, they usually come with five loops. This is a medium, they have wider ones for more resistance than the thinner ones. This one is a little thinner than I like for squats, but this is how I like to do my squats. So, I’m keeping that posture and I squat down and up. With this one, I’ll add a little arm lift when going up ends to your anterior delts, and that’s just a bonus, you don’t have to do that. By the time you get done with 10 of these, you should feel like you’ve had enough, and you need to break. Bob: Again, you’re working some big muscles there. Therefor, you’re going to burn more calories. That’s why they talk about after lifting, why rest is so important. It’s almost as important as the lifting itself. Get lots of sleep. Brad: Right. As well as between sets, if I do three sets of these squats, I want to take a couple minutes rest between the sets. Bob: Now, this is important that you work on posture. Brad and I harp on this all the time, of course, but this is a great on for doing so, because you’re working your core too a little bit. It’s wanting to pull me forward, especially when you use a heavier one like this. I’m going to go back and then I externally rotate the shoulder and I’m really squeezing those shoulder blades together. Brad: He’s also thinking about bringing those shoulder blades together. We get all these muscles working. Plus, we’re getting a postural effect. We’re getting rotator cuff and the lower back, these core muscles. Bob: And, my abdomen is working too, Brad. I’m trying to stop me from losing my balance. Brad: That’s the beauty of the bands. You’re working balance, you’re working core, and you don’t get that with some weight things like on a bench. Bob: I’ll show you another one where you’re going to really work core and that’s the palloff press. You’re going to step out and now I’m working my core now. Now you can make circles and I’m really working on my right side. Brad: Sure, you can feel it. When Bob starting grunting, you know somethings happening. Bob: You obviously want to go the other way too. Brad: One of the beauties that you could change out, the muscle groups is if he moved the wall anchors down, it’d be a whole different set of muscle fibers. Bob: I can also take one of these bands off too, Brad, and make it easier. It wouldn’t be as hard. Brad: Not so much grunting. Bob: Not as grunting hard, shoot. Brad: You even get down to that squat a little bit. Bob: There’s a lot of different ways, a myriad of ways it can be done. All right, go ahead and do the last one. Brad: This is another one I enjoy doing with the band, with the large loop band. You can do nice lunges, but when you add a little resistance after you’ve done enough lunges where it gets too easy without resistance, you’re doing more than 10, put the resistance on. You can change whatever size band you want, but red works good for me. I go down and touch my knee on the back and I come up and I do these with good control. You can feel that quadricep and you’re getting that glute and that hip all working together, balance is included here. I can feel the burn already, this is fun. Bob: Now, these can come with handles too if you don’t want to grab the loop ends. Brad: Right. Bob: So, Brad, do you feel like the calories are burning off right now as you sit here? Brad: Absolutely. Bob: Me too. I think I lost a pound just while standing here. Brad: I am serious, Bob, because this is three days a week, I have a routine with the bands and the wall anchors, and then I have some weight. Body weight exercises and I am completely exhausted after 45 minutes, I’m very much satisfied. Bob: You’ve toned out, man. Brad: Did you notice? Bob: Yeah, I’ve noticed. Brad: He’s so full of it. Bob: All right. Thanks! Interested in learning about the products mentioned above: 1) Wall Anchor 2) Resistance Bands 3) Pull Up Bands Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd , Rumble 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 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.

Baby press ups Eventually we want you to progress from performing baby press ups to performing full press-ups. CAUTION: You should not experience any significant increase in pain while doing this exercise. If you do experience pain, skip the exercise. Place your hands flat on the floor or bed directly under your shoulders. Use your arms to lift your upper body (like a push-up) while keeping your pelvis or low back on the bed/floor. The pelvis should not be lifted off the floor and the low back should be allowed to sag. If your back is tight, you may only be able to press-up about halfway before the pelvis begins to raise up from the bed. Repeat the press-up 5-10 times. If it becomes painful, stop. If it is not painful, finish the 5-10 repetitions and stop. If pain improves or stays the same, try it again the next day. Correct – pelvis remains on bed or floor Incorrect – pelvis lifts up off bed or floor As stated earlier, you need to be aware if the exercise is effective. The exercise should be causing the pain levels and locations to decrease, shrink, and retreat. Look for improvement in the farthest most aspect of the pain first. For example, if pain, numbness, or tingling extends out into the foot, the symptoms should improve in the foot first. Watch the video entitled #1 Sign Your Sciatica is Getting Better or Getting Worse, what to look for, if you need further clarification. Full press ups Eventually the goal is to be able to fully extend your arms while keeping your pelvis on the bed. Some people will not be able to obtain this goal, but it should still be the end goal. This exercise should be repeated throughout the day. If you are able to, the prone lying or prone prop exercises should be performed as many as 5-8 times a day. We have heard objections to this high frequency, but it should be noted that sciatica can be a serious condition leading to surgery. To give yourself a chance at healing you need to be devoted to the exercises and suggestions provided. If the press-ups do not make your pain worse but they are also failing to make it better, try this movement. You may also try this if you are unable to perform a full press up. To facilitate movement, try press-ups with overpressure. Press-ups with overpressure: Take a sheet and roll it up lengthwise. Place the sheet over your pelvis and use your hands to secure the ends of the sheet with hands flat under your shoulders. Perform press-ups with the sheet providing a counter pressure over the pelvis. Again, this should all be pain-free or don’t do it. If tolerated with no significant increased pain, repeat press-ups with overpressure 5-10 times. If you experience no pain, repeat this 5-8 times per day as able. You can also use a stretch strap or belt 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 November of 2021. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etgT1I1KYGY&t=357s Bob: Today we are going to talk about the Cornish Method to reduce swelling in your legs. Brad: Like a Cornish hen? Bob: No, this is Dr. Cornish. So, I was contacted by Kurtis Cornish, PhD. He was a cardiovascular physiologist and professor at the University of Nebraska. Brad: You can’t go wrong in Nebraska. They have a lot of corn there. Bob: Yeah, Omaha. Brad: It’s kind of interesting, there’s a lot of corn there and his name is Cornish. Take the I-S-H off, that’s probably how he got there. Bob: Yeah, sure. Alright, so he had an anterior hip replacement. He had trouble with swelling in his upper thigh to his knee. Very common. He tried ice and it did nothing. And I agree with this 100%. Brad: Yeah, for edema, I don’t think it’s going to hurt anything. Bob: Well, I think it’ll stop it from getting worse. It constricts your arteries and veins and lymphatics. So, it stops it from getting worse, but it does nothing to remove the fluid. So, with him being a smart guy and knowing what he’s doing, he had an inversion table, I believe. He set it up for 15 degrees. Let me warn you right away, though. I don’t want you doing any of these methods unless you check with your doctor first. There are some people who should not be doing the inversion and we don’t want you to blame us. Brad: Well, we don’t want you to get hurt. And we’re only going 15 degrees. It’s not very much but still, if you’ve got some cardiac problems or some other issues. Bob: Right, you could flood your system. Brad: Yeah, it could be a problem. Bob: He only went 15 degrees though, which was not pressure on his hip either. He was able to tolerate that very well. Brad, why don’t you get into the device right now. We have a Teeter table here. Isn’t that what it’s called? Brad: Yeah, Teeter. Actually, that’s the name of the guy who invented it. He didn’t invent the inversion table, but he produces these. Bob: I find that amazing that a guy named Teeter invented like a teeter-totter. Brad: Yeah, and that’s kind of like what this is. It was meant to be. Bob: So, Brad has locked his legs in place. And now what do you do Brad? Brad: Okay, once you set this up, we’re not going to go through how to set it up. I’ve already adjusted the adjustments here, and once you get it set up you should be able to go back very controllably. Just by changing my hands like this to here, I can change whether or not I want to go up to this position. Bob: Yeah, and he’s got a strap underneath the device here. It’s set at 15 degrees. So, you can see 15 degrees is not very far. So, what Dr. Cornish did was some muscle contraction, but he got bored with that, so he stopped. He lied there for 30 minutes and after 30 minutes, the edema had gone down an inch. Brad: Just from gravity? Bob: Right, just from gravity. So, you know, you can get a table for not that much of an amount. If you’re having trouble with your back and you want to try this for that too. I’m definitely going to be an advocate of this. I don’t know if I’d get this just for edema after a surgery. Brad: No, because you could raise the foot of your bed up and get those 15 degrees, which isn’t a lot. But you’re not going to sleep like that all night long. Bob: So, options! Can you put your legs up on pillows? The problem with that is the lymphedema, the edema has to travel from the leg go all the way up to the chest where it actually goes into the venous system, it goes into the thoracic venous system. It gets caught if your legs are bent. Brad: Yeah, if you just put the pillows underneath your legs, your hips will flex. It creates a dam, so to speak, right in your lymph node area in the femoral crease. Bob: It can stop the edema from travelling all the way up. You could raise the foot of your bed up, put some blocks underneath it. Or you were talking about sine and cosine, don’t know what you’re talking about, but as far as formula for how far you’d put it. Brad: I’m sure you could google it. I would say raise the end. I should’ve figured this out before the video. Probably 6 inches would be enough. Bob: And again, I wouldn’t go past 30 minutes. It’d be a little bit of a hassle. Brad: Yes, you have to set your timer or alarm because if you fall asleep and are there for a couple hours, that’s not desirable. You want to stick to 30 minutes. Bob: Now, if you have complications from chronic edema, this may be something you want to consider. I’m going to read some of the complications of chronic edema, Brad. Brad: Okay. Bob: There’s painful swelling, difficulty walking, stiffness, stretched skin, which can become itchy and uncomfortable. I’ve seen the skin break down, haven’t you? Brad: Yeah, or actually weep. Bob: Yeah, actually your clothes can become all wet. Brad: Yeah, you really have to have a doctor along with you on that. Bob: Scarring between the layers of tissues, decreased blood circulation. He was talking about compartment syndrome. Especially in the lower compartments in your calves. Decreased elasticity of the arteries, veins, joints, and muscles and increased risk of skin ulcers. That’s what you’re talking about. Again, I don’t know if I’d get a table just for after surgery, for an issue like that. But if you have chronic edema, this might be the answer for you. Plus, you can stretch out you’re back a little bit too. Brad: Yeah, I can feel it now. We do have some videos on how to use an inversion table for back pain. Typically, you’d go more than 15 degrees for your back. Bob: Some people go all the way, which I wouldn’t recommend. Brad: I don’t recommend it either, but I know they do it. Bob: Brad did this. He used this table for years, right? Brad: I had it for about a year and a half, two years and it helped initially. Then I wasn’t getting relief. You know, I have spondylolisthesis. Whatever. You’re only going to do this if it feels good. If you have eye problems, you have to be careful because it increases pressure in your eyes and that’s something you need to talk to your doctor about first. Most people, if you’re a healthy person in general, you don’t have a heart problem or any eye problems, you’re probably fine doing it. But don’t invert all the way right away for sure. You really have to work into it slowly. Bob: So, this is an example, again, Brad, where I think it’s really cool where our audience jumped in and participated and gave us some helpful information that we never would’ve found out on our own. Brad: This is one of those things that obviously done by PhD’s, very familiar. Bob: He taught lymphedema. Brad: Right, that was his subject, so this is not out there, I think. It probably will be. Bob: The Cornish Method. We started it right here. Brad: Thank you Dr. Cornish. Bob: Thanks for watching. Yup, thank you Dr. Cornish. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd , Rumble 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 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 February of 2021. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8_JcYAN7eU&t=100s Bob: Today, Brad, we’re going to demonstrate 10 minutes easy exercises for seniors, elderly, and older people. Brad: Right. Bob: I don’t know, I think that’s all the same person. Brad: We fit in there. Bob: We want to include everybody. We’re part of it. All right, Brad, you’re going to do the timing and the workout. Brad: That’s right, Bob. Bob: I’ll do a lot of the description. Brad: Instruction, guidance. Bob: Okay, are you guys all ready? Let’s go. Brad: You must be in your chair upright and tall. Good posture. Yes, do you want me to go right now? Bob: Yes, 30 seconds. Just arm circles. It’s a good warm up. I like to go reverse because that way it works on your posture too. Brad: How long are we going? Bob: 30 seconds. Brad: Did you tell me that already? Bob: I think I told you that already. Brad: Remember to breathe, in your nose, exhale out your mouth. Bob: And relax. Now, I’m going to wait just 15 seconds so that we get on the top for you. Brad: That’s good because I feel it’s easier. Bob: The next one, you’re going to be putting your hands on your neck and you’re going to squeeze your shoulder blades together. So, this is a good posture one. Brad: This is like flying. Bob: Is it? Brad: Well, like a bird flapping it's wings. This feels good on the back. Arch your back and get that posture. Bob: Keep your back straight, keep your neck straight. Breathe like Brad said. Brad: We have seven seconds, Bob. Seven is complete, you know. Bob: You’re going to find this next one a little strange I bet. Brad: And relax. Bob: Okay, the next one. We’re going to start right away. Brad: Well, you get a little break. My gosh, you'll wear these people out. Bob: Bring your ankle to the opposite hand. What I’m trying to work on here, Brad, is getting some hip external rotation. Brad: So, think about bringing that foot up. Bob: Yeah, that foot up, you’re touching the ankle and you’re getting some range and some strength at the same time. Brad: I think about bringing my heel to the other knee and that works that femur in the right direction. Bob: Sure. Brad: All right, Bob, we have seven seconds. Bob: We want to maintain rotation of the hip because it’s really important. Brad: Time! Bob: All right, we’re done already. Okay, fast feet. We’re doing that for a minute. Brad: We’re going to bounce our feet off the floor or keep them elevated? It’s a little harder if you keep them up. Bob: I bounce them off the floor. Brad: If you want more challenge, don’t put your feet on the floor. Bob: I can’t even do that. I’m too tall. Brad: Yeah, too tall Jones, remember him? Bob: Yeah, he was a football player. Brad: We have seven seconds, Bob. Bob: No, it’s a whole minute on this one. Brad: A whole minute? Bob: Yeah, I wanted to make it tough for people. Brad: What the heck, you know. I’m going to have to take a breath, slow down a little bit. Whoa. Bob: This next one. I forgot that we were going to have people use water bottles for strengthening, we have weights though. We’re going to do double rows. You can start the timer, Brad, right now. Brad: Yep, go. Bob: So, for 30 seconds, you’re going to lift and squeeze the shoulder blades together. You can lean forward just slightly. We don’t want to put too much pressure on your back, but we have a lot of them that emphasize posture. It’s so important as we get older to work on that. It’s a constant battle. Bob: We’re on number seven now. Overhead triceps, so, we’re going like this and we’re working up muscles that are behind the arm. We want to get rid of that, what was that the flabby wave? Brad: The triceps flab? Yeah. From when you were in school and the teacher would be writing on the board and you’d see that. Bob: You’d see that thing that was slapping back and forth. Brad: We’re going to get in trouble. Bob: Yeah, we are. Those teachers are going to be mad at us now. By the way, you didn’t need weights for that, you could use water bottles. I’m sorry, I was trying to emphasize to people you don’t need equipment, but I’ll have you use what you have. So, here we’re going to use a belt. We’re going to do curls. Place the belt under your knee and bring your leg up using your arms to lift. Brad: I’ve got a towel roll, but whatever works for you. Bob: So, the leg gives a little bit of resistance. It depends on how much you want to give. You might want to, we’re fifteen seconds into it, you might switch to the other leg because you’re getting a little leg strengthening in here too. Brad: And range of motion on the hip, and a little bit on the knee too. Especially if you get it up in there, I think this is going to be a double winner. Bob: Yeah. You can work that bicep hard if you give a lot of resistance. All right, moving on, Brad. We’re now in pushing up from the chair or from your thigh. Brad: Okay. All the way up or just enough? Bob: Partly, it’s up to you. Brad: If you feel comfortable getting all the way up, you can do that. If you’re feeling good and this is too easy, you could bring your hands across your chest. Bob: Sure, or out in front of you. Brad: Watch your balance though. Bob: Or you can put your hands on your head. Brad: Reach up. Bob: I think that’s about 30 seconds now, Brad. I’ll give it a little rest to people here. They’ve been working hard. Brad: Whew, there’s a lot of muscle groups working there. Bob: All right, next one. Rest time is over. Brad: Kicks. Bob: Just kicks now. These aren’t too hard. These are a great one if you’re having knee pain because not only are you getting some motion to the knee, but you’re also getting a little bit of quad strengthening and that is the muscle that tends to get weak with knee pain. Almost universally, no matter what knee issue you have. Brad: We’ve got eight seconds, Bob. Bob: No, we’re doing this for a minute, Brad. Brad: Oh, a minute. Bob: I like to mix it up a little bit. Brad: And you stretch the hamstring, which is a nice muscle to stretch. Bob: Oh yeah, good point. When you kick up, you could pull the toe toward you too and you stretch the calf a little bit too. Especially since we’re doing this for 60 seconds. Brad: I hope people notice my socks, Bob. I wore these special for today. Bob: Yeah, what do they say on the bottom of there? Brad: It says Sock Guys. Bob: No, on the bottom, it says something. Absolute something. Brad: Oh, this is my Route 66 socks. Bob: Is this a minute now? Brad: No, you said we had four seconds. Bob: Okay. Brad: You said 60 seconds. Bob: Yeah, all right. Brad: You don’t think I’m doing my job? Time! Bob: All right, now calf raises. Now, to make them harder, you provide a little resistance to it. Brad: Oh, push down. We’re just lifting the heel off the floor, keep your toes down. Bob: Provide resistance by putting your hand on your knees and push down. Brad: It may be some people it might be okay just to do this just to get the range of motion if you’re stiff and sore. Bob: And you aren’t going to have much strength. We want to start with that. Brad: Adjust to fit to you. Another 30 seconds, Bob. Bob: Okay, hip openers, Brad. Brad: Oh, like a can opener. Bob: Yep. Brad: That’s a nice one. That’s kind of like that Russian dance, except for the sitting. Bob: This is harder on me because I have long legs. Brad: Yeah. Bob: You have those little, short ones. Brad: I was thinking about it, it must be tough being tall, Bob. Bob: It’s a burden. Brad: Well, you must buy clothes like that. You must wear high waters. Bob: Sure, next one, Brad. Hip togethers now. So, you’re going to squeeze them together. Brad: Squeeze this fist? Bob: Yep. (High voice) one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Brad: You talk at a high pitch that way, Bob. Bob: (Low voice) one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Brad: You could put a pillow between your legs if you have arthritis in your hands and it’s painful. Bob: Good point, Brad. Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Looks like we have seven seconds left. Brad: You could roll a towel as well, that feels a lot better on my hands. Bob: Now, we’re going to do some mid-back stretches, and we call this the hallelujah stretch sometimes. We’re going to stretch back over the chair. Really expand your chest. This works well on a chair that kind of hits you underneath the shoulder blades. These chairs are a little high for us. Brad: You don’t have to go up if your shoulders are painful. Bob: Yeah, however you want to go, but you’re trying to stretch that mid-back. That’s the 30 seconds. Brad: Think about breathing in on that one when you go back. Bob: Half squats. We just did that one. I guess we’ll do it again. Brad: Oh, that’s a good one to work. Bob: Yeah, that’s a good one to do. Brad: Because this is where I see people get weak, is getting out of a chair and that’s where a lot of falls happen. Bob: Right. Brad: You really can’t overdo this one. Bob: Next we're going to do bridging. Make sure the chair doesn’t tip back. You must make sure of that. Brad: If you have armrests and you put your forearms on that, it makes it much easier. Bob: Yeah, that works the best. I still almost tip. All right, go to the edge of the chair and we’re going to do W’s now. Bob: All right, now we’re going to take our thighs and pull them up and down. We’re going to work on hip extension. It’s kind of the belt thing, what we were doing with biceps too. Brad: As if we are pushing down. Bob: Pushing down, right. Pushing down. All right, hands-on neck. We’re going to squeeze the neck again. We’ll finish up with where we started. On posture. Remember, Brad? Brad: Oh yeah. Bob: We’re right back to the beginning. Brad: It’s like going in circles, Bob. It reminds me of my life. Bob: Thanks! Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd , Rumble 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 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.

Prone lying: This exercise is to be done on the floor or bed. If possible, your starting position will be flat on your stomach. If that position is uncomfortable, try placing pillows under your abdomen until it is tolerable. You can place up to 3 pillows under your stomach. If you are comfortable with one or two pillows, start with that number instead. Try lying in that position for 2-3 minutes. If you have increased pain, stop. After 5 minutes try removing one of the pillows. The goal is to eventually be lying flat on your abdomen without a pillow and without increased pain. You may be able to do this day one, or in some cases you may need a few days to reach the flat position. Let your pain levels dictate how fast you move. Once you can lie flat without any pillows, make a fist with your right hand and rest your chin on the fist. If this is comfortable, progress to having the right fist stacked up on to a fist made by the left hand. If neither are comfortable you can try placing a pillow under your head. Try lying for 2-3 minutes in this position several times a day (5-8 times or more). If unable to perform this exercise, try the nerve flossing AND start working on reducing pain makers with the proper technique. Elbow prop Once you can lie on your abdomen with no increased pain, try the following: Get up on to your elbows and just lie there for a minute or two, if pain allows. If pain allows, you may also place your chin on your fists stacked together. Allow your low back to sag to the floor or bed. If pain gets worse, go back to flat. If you’re able to do this exercise pain-free or with improving pain, progress to the video entitled Advancement and Progression of the #1 Sciatica Exercise. 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 October of 2017. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/DmURVRBN29Y. Bob: Today Brad we're going to talk about silent signs that stress is making you sick. We all have stress in our lives Brad and I think sometimes it gets to the point where it's very hard to manage. So, we're going to go over eight signs that are stressing. Sometimes you don't realize that it's stress that's causing these things. When you get older in life, you kind of know it, but I'm going to tell you a couple of stories on some of these where at the time we didn't know that it was stress that caused it. Brad: And it unfolds. Bob: Yeah. Then we're going to show you some things that you can, some possible solutions. Brad: We’ll give you some options. Bob: All right, let's talk about the first stress sign that we see. I've had a lot of employees over the years, in fact at one point I had up to 50 employees working for me and one thing I could see right away is when someone would start to gain weight, I knew something was wrong. If they weren't pregnant. So usually it's a sign of stress in their lives sure and I've seen that quite often. For those of you who are kind of familiar with the situation, stress increases cortisol which affects the metabolism of your fats and proteins and carbs. Brad: Something in your system that your body is producing that effects your system from how you feel to the actual physiology of your body. Bob: In some cases, stress can sometimes cause you to overeat or sometimes under eat. People have lost weight during stressful periods of time, they lose a spouse or something like that. My wife would be out partying in Las Vegas I think after she loses me. Brad: Yeah, well everyone has a different situation there Bob. Bob: Everyone has different ways to handle things. The thing that we are just one little suggestion we're going to make here is, try snacking on nuts. It sounds kind of crazy one, but if there's one food that I think both the plant-based people and the reducing carb people agree on is to eat almonds. This is my stack of almonds here for the day Brad. Brad: Can I have one? They're not even honey-roasted, or there's no chocolate or anything. Bob: So what I did on these is I buy them raw which I can't eat them, and then we microwave them. So I take about half a cup and I put them on a paper plate microwave them for two minutes, and then I let them cool down and I microwave them for another minute a half. That's my recipe. Brad: These help your stress too? Bob: Well it's going to help your weight gain because it keeps you full. You can snack on these throughout the day. Next one we're talking about breaking out in hives. This is one that my wife has. First time we ever saw it my daughter was on a bus trip and the bus got into an accident. We received this call and my wife immediately broke out in hives and we thought it was something she ate and we didn't realize. And my daughter ended up being fine, but she just immediately broke out with hives and obviously stress can do that. Now we see it every time she gets stressful. She breaks out in hives. Brad: Red kind of? Bob: Yeah, red and blotchy. One thing you can try with this is a cool cloth on it and or you can try to antihistamine. We've had to do that with hers, using an antihistamine sometimes. Alright moving on Brad, if you have like a fuzzy brain. Stress is going to cause you not to think as clearly as you should. Again, it's that cortisol. It's just like boy, that's not good stuff is it. It makes it hard to concentrate. It makes it so you have memory problems, anxiety, depression even. So, what we're going to recommend with this now is four seven eight breathing. Brad: I’ve heard you say this before, Bob. I think this one is very similar to other similar breathing techniques, but it might be called something different. Bob: We're not going to get into it a great detail. There's videos on this, but it's really a good technique. I do it in my car quite often like in the morning if I'm feeling anxious, because a lot of times when you're anxious your breathing gets real shallow and you're not breathing. I use it at night sometimes to try to help get to sleep. So, what you're doing is four, seven, eight; you're breathing in for four, you're breathing in through the nose. You want to be obviously in a relaxed position a lot of times laying down would be good. So in through the nose for four seconds, and then you're going to hold your breath for seven seconds. Brad: As long as you don't get dizzy. Bob: That’s right. Usually what they recommend is that you have your tongue right behind the roof of your mouth. Brad: Right where the teeth touch the gum. Bob: So you're breathing in for four, holding it for seven, and then you're breathing out for eight. Kind of blowing out a candle, keeping again the tongue right in the position. Brad: So Bob, correct me if I'm wrong but this is all diaphragmatic breathing so you want the stomach to go out right and not let the chest expand and keep the abdominals tight. So we let the stomach come out and let everything relax, and you're going to get much better exchange. Bob: You can do four or five cycles of this, Brad. What you'll find is it's going to slow your breathing down and it's good for even if you're playing golf and you're stressed out because you're hitting every bad shot. Calm things down. Breathing is really, really important. Alright, how about headache, Brad. A lot of times people will say they get tense and they get in that one position that, especially if they're working on the computer, they tense up and they get a headache. Stress can definitely be causing that. So one we're going to show you a lot of headaches that are coming from stress are what we call neck headaches. They come from the upper cervical spine and so one thing you want to try are some chin tucks. Bob: We've showed this probably seven billion times on the channel already but these chin tucks help relax the back of the neck in the spot where it usually does result from headaches. The headaches we're talking about are the ones that come up from the back of the head, they might go around into the eye. Sometimes they're on one side only. Then the other thing you can try, Brad with that is you can go ahead and just do some massaging. Bob: You can go ahead and put your fingers together and then pull them apart as you're going along the skull line there. Then you can also do little circles and work your way down the spine there. Brad: This is a good way to learn your anatomy as well. Bob: What's good about this one to do, it's easy to do, but it's also good to do before you start feeling the pain. Try to get to the pain before it starts. So, if you're starting to feel a little bit of stress or tight do that one right away. Okay, next one, you'd think this might be for the little kid, I remember my daughter, I won't say which one, but she would have missed every day of school if we would've allowed it because she had a stomach ache every day. Or a sour tummy as they call it. I had to give a speech and it was to all people that were a lot smarter than me, which is always very difficult to do. It was for a class, a master's class and I was sick. I mean, I thought I’d come down with something. So it ended up I gave this speech anyway or the presentation and it all went away. It was all just stress. It was all stress-related, so when you're stressed you produce more digestive acid, you get heartburn, you have slower emptying of the stomach. One thing you want to maybe try with that is, you could take an over-the-counter antacid if you're getting some of that. Or apparently you can drink ginger tea. All right next one, Brad, you and I both must have this, your hair falls out. Brad: I thought there was another reason for that like maybe just getting old. I think it’s just got to be genetics for us, Bob. Bob: My mom had this one. After a personal event in our life. she started losing some hair. Take solace in knowing that it does tend to come back after the stress levels go down. Brad and I are big believers in aerobic activity because you get that natural endorphins and aerobic activity really can decrease your stress levels. You know, fast walking, running, biking, swimming. Brad: You need to get your heart rate up typically for at least 20 minutes is what they recommend. As you do more it gets to be relaxing, and with a lot of people that is their time, they want to expand that and it puts their mind and body back in a positive stance. Bob: So if you're not in that greatest shape and you want to start off slow this is an elliptical machine. Brad: These are good, particularly maybe if you have some knee issues and you're thinking I need something that's not going to stress my knees. You get your ankle movement, knees, hips are moving a little bit here. There's a resistance adjustment you can do on this. Bob: We like this machine they're very durable. We use them in all our clinics and sometimes we take a 2x4 and put it under the front to tip it up because it's kind of a weird angle the way it’s at right now. It was designed to stand on. Brad: For the benefit of the manufacturers, this was designed stand on. Actually this is going to give you a workout as well, and it works your balance knees and hips but it’s much more difficult. Bob: I actually like the other way better. For most people sitting is safer. Next one Brad, is a cold that won't quit. Brad: It drag on and on. Bob: And you're also more likely to get a cold when you're under stress. The researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, they infected volunteers with the cold virus. The ones that had the indicators of having more stress in their life were two times more likely to get a cold. So, you can be exposed to people with a cold and not get it if you are kind of keeping your immune system up. The big one for me is to get more sleep. If you get more sleep, you're going to be able to handle a lot more stress in your life. I know it's hard because you’ve got so much to do. Brad: And then your minds thinking a hundred miles an hour. Bob: That’s when you do the breathing, the four seven eight. And the final one Brad, is if you've maybe been revisiting and getting acne again in your life. That's that cortisol again increasing more oils. You can use topical creams. But my overall approach to stress Brad, is one you’ve got to learn to say no. I mean you’ve got to start cutting things out of your life, and the second thing is you got to take action on things. You're going to feel better if you're not being a passive participant. If there's something like, let's say, you're in debt or something like that and take some action a step every day towards getting out of debt, and you're going to feel better. Brad: Get rid of that stress. Bob: Words of wisdom according to Bob. Brad: So say no more Bob. Bob: Alright. 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 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 Handheld Massager Eye Massager Back and Neck Massager Leg Massager T2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull-Up System Pull Up Bands Exercise Ball Resistance Bands for Legs and Butt​ 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 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 June of 2021. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HRV0y7pRUY&t=430s. Bob: Today we’re going to talk about hip pain arthritis. We got eight strongly recommended treatments by experts. And who are these experts? I’m going to reveal this right away, Brad. Brad: Okay. Bob: It’s physicians from the American College of Rheumatology and Arthritis. So, all these doctors got together and in 2019, they did this. They’ve been doing it for years. They re-update it every so often. They looked through the research, they scanned all the research that’s out there and they figure out what is working and what is not working. Brad: Sure. Bob: They kind of hedge their bet by saying they strongly recommend, just recommend, or strongly recommend against. Brad: Okay, so the pros, what’s going to make it better? What’s going to make it worse? And in between. Bob: So, I picked out only the stuff they strongly recommended for hip arthritis. Brad: Okay, to make it better? Bob: Yes, to make it better. All right, number one, no surprise here. Hip exercise is strongly recommended for patients with hip osteoarthritis. Now when I think of hip exercise, I think of stretching. Because we want to make sure the hip has as much motion as possible. Brad: Right, maintain the motion. Bob: And we have a lot of videos on that. And what else? Brad: We have a program section on that already. Bob: No, I know, but hip strengthening. Brad: Strength, range of motion, stretching and strengthening. We’re therapists, those are cousins or tightly locked. Bob: Yeah, there we go. Just cousins. So, the thing is, as you get pain in a joint you stop using it as much and it becomes weak. It’s important that you do some strengthening exercises. Brad: You’re not going to do them if they create pain, particularly sharp pain. You’re going to find out which exercise are tolerated, and stretches are tolerated well and make it feel better. Then go from there. Bob: Let me just say this too, it can make a huge difference. It can take people from having pain to no pain, even though they have osteoarthritis doesn’t mean you’re going to live with pain. Give this one a try. Number two is again, blatantly obvious, but weight loss is strongly recommended for patients with hip osteoarthritis if they’re overweight or obese. Now I know this is daunting for many of you, but even a loss of 5% of body weight, they found can make a big clinical or mechanistic outcomes. Brad: You don’t have to lose a lot. It’s going to help you out. Bob: Yeah, about 50 pounds. So, give it a shot. Brad: We know that’s difficult. It can be a real challenge for anyone to lose weight. But, you know, it can help. Bob: I’m not sure what this one means, but I’m going to give you my interpretation. So, they strongly recommend self-management programs. I think the idea behind this, is Brad and I have talked about this one a lot with patients and you must feel like you’re in control and that you’re in charge of getting this better. If you’re waiting for somebody else to give you a pill or something to take care of it. You must take the bull by the horns. Right? Brad: Well, a good example is the first two you just mentioned. You must get your exercise, your strengthening, your range of motion and then change your diet and see if that can help lose some weight. Those two things that’s all under you own self-management. You’re in control of it. Bob: Right. I think this is a good time to mention, Brad, they didn’t include this, but physicians are a little bit slow to embrace this, I think, but there are anti-inflammatory foods. Brad: Right, I agree. Bob: You may want to know, I would check that out because you might be able to knock the pain down, just by partaking in some of those. Brad: You’re going to lose some weight, if you happen to have not such a good diet, if you eat a lot of carbs and sugars and that kind of thing. It’s just all part of the problem. Bob: Right. Number four, Tai Chi is strongly recommended. Not surprisingly, because when you have knee or hip arthritis it’s not only slow gentle movements and graceful, but it’s also good breathing and relaxation but you’re getting strength and it’s also helping your balance. So, you’re going to prevent falls. Brad: Right. I’m surprised they didn’t have yoga in there too because they’re similar. I’ve never taken either one. I’m familiar with some of the Tai Chi, but one way or another it’s part of range of motion. Bob: You must be careful with yoga sometimes. Some of them are good, and some of the exercises may not be good for your hip. Brad: In our opinion, of course. Bob: Yeah, sorry yoga people! All right, number five. I was glad they had this one, Brad. In one study I saw where they didn’t recommend it, they recommended use of a cane. I always say to people, I’m not saying that you must use a cane forever. But sometimes, the hip kind of flares up and if you can use the cane to let it calm down and maybe do some strengthening while you use the cane, I think it makes a big difference. If you start, for example, you’re not using the cane and you’re waddling along because of the pain, that makes things worse. People go, “Well I’m not going to use a cane, I’m not that old.” And they’d rather waddle along and really draw attention to themselves as opposed to if they used a cane and walk normally. Brad: It’s one of those things you just have to think of a cane giving you some dignity. Bob: Right, there you go. Or use a single crutch of walking stick or something, it’s a little less obvious. Number six, Oral NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. They’re strongly recommended for people with hip OA. Brad: So, we’re talking like Ibuprofen, Aleve, Tylenol. Bob: No, not Tylenol. Brad: Oh, that’s right. I’m glad you picked that out. Also make sure you are aware, if you’re taking another medication, you should talk to your doctor and find out if there’s any precautions with and NSAID. Bob: Well even with Ibuprofen, you’re only supposed to take a small amount. It can be hard on your stomach; you must take it with food. We’re not doctors, we’re not pharmacists, so get advice from them. Brad: We do have two outstanding videos with a pharmacist talking about these. You’ll get some good information on that. Bob: Number seven and number eight are kind of similar, Brad. They’re both talking about glucocorticoid injections, in other words, steroid injections. They’re both recommended. The one says for the hip, they recommend that you use the ultrasound guided version. Brad: And you don’t have to worry about this. A doctor makes the decision for you. Bob: Well, you want to make sure the doctor’s doing it. You know that he’s not going to just stick in there blindly, because they used to do that. They used to never use an ultrasound to guide it. And they did it in the back too, which I would never get a cortisone shot in my back without it being guided. Brad: In other words, if the doctor doesn’t do it you may want to go to a doctor that does use it, so they can see the needle go in and it goes to the joint or the specific area without near as much guessing. It’s more accurate, so if a doctor says, “Well, I don’t do that because I don’t feel I need it.” then you can say, “Well, maybe I’ll go to someone else who does have it.” Bob: Now, they did say it’s okay, in your knee, to not use the ultrasound. Apparently, it’s just easy to find the spot. Brad: It’s more superficial. Bob: And the same with your hands. But for the hip they think you should be guided by the ultrasound. And this is something that you can’t do too much of because you can’t take too many steroids, but they’ll know that. I think they can usually do two shots a year, maybe three shots a year, so. Brad: Yeah, their putting that needle with the steroids and they try to get it, I believe, right into the capsule. How are you going to see it? Because there’s a lot of soft tissue around that joint. Bob: I have had people that have done well with it, and I’ve had people who didn’t know at all that it’d even helped. It made a difference, so. But it’s enough that the research has shown that it’s worth a try. Strongly recommended. So, there they are. You can look these up yourself. Just look up 2019 the American College of Rheumatology Arthritis guidelines. I think for hip, for osteoarthritis and it’ll pop up. Brad: All right, take care and we hope your hips last a long time. Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd , Rumble 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 Handheld Massager Back and Neck Massager Eye Massager Leg Massager T2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull-Up System Pull Up Bands Exercise Ball Resistance Bands for Legs and Butt​ 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 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.

The following are five goals to keep in mind while doing exercises in the treatment of sciatica: 1. To reshape deformities (especially disc deformities) 2. To strengthen the muscles and improve the endurance of the back and core 3. To stretch the body parts (especially the hips) that will allow us to be in proper positions with spine stability when doing lifts, carries, bends, etc. 4. To floss nerves to allow them to move freely 5. To decompress the spine through spinal traction. Spinal traction causes the vertebra (the bones that form the back) to separate and relieve pressure off the spinal nerves. IMPORTANT: Be sure to ask yourself: is this exercise helping? The goal in performing exercises is to have pain levels improve and shrink. If you are having pain in your back and your leg, we would like to see the leg pain begin to lessen first. Please recall that the more the sciatica nerve is irritated, the further down the leg the symptoms of pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, and/or burning occur. The reverse is also true. As the nerve becomes less irritated, the symptoms generally improve in an ascending fashion. That translates to less pain, numbness, tingling, weakness and/or burning in the foot or lower leg. This can help you gauge whether your self-treatments are helping. 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 September of 2015. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/CnkcOAZ8OSA Bob: Brad, this is a question we get quite often, why does my shoulder pop, snap, crack. You know, snap, crackle, pop. Why is it making noise and is it something I should worry about. Brad: Exactly. Bob: We are going to talk about one of the things that can cause it to make these noises which there’s quite a few of them. After that, we will talk about when you should probably see the doctor and then finally, we’re going to finish up with some exercises that you can do to maybe help stop that. Brad: Old bonehead’s going to help, our skeleton. Bob: We used to call him Napoleon Bonaparte but now he’s calling him Bonehead for some reason. Anyways, the noise in your shoulder is very common. One of the no injury causes is what we call cavitation. So, you have a shoulder here, I’m going to use this one that’s still attached. So, in the shoulder you have a ball and a socket, and this is all covered in a material kind of a tough fibrous material. Within that material there’s actually gases that can form. Brad: Nitrogen? Bob: Nitrogen and carbon dioxide and they can form bubbles and they can pop. It’s like when you crack your knuckles. You’re popping these bad little gas bubbles. That’s number one. Number two is a snapping tendons. Brad’s going to show you this. Especially the bicep right here, the muscle itself, narrows up into a tendon. That tendon is in a groove. It can actually snap out of that groove at times. There’s a test we actually do for that. Brad: We are going to pull this off of here. Here’s the groove that Bob was talking about. This is our mock tendon which you hold it there and that’s that groove that tendon fits in. It’s a really nice model. Maybe people have actually felt this one. You can see the tendon pops back and then you move your arm again and you can feel it pop back. Bob: Yeah, it snaps back and forth. Brad: Snap, snap. Snap, snap. I like this, Bob. Bob: There’s other tendons that can do that but that’s just one example. So, that’s again a non-injury type thing that could happen. Number three is if you have what we call a loose shoulder, like a double-jointed shoulder. Your born with ligaments that are very loose. If you’re one of those people that can take their thumb and put it on their forearm, that probably means your loose ligamented. What’s another one, Brad? Brad: If your elbow bends farther than neutral. Hypermobility. Bob: If your humerus can really slosh around a lot, and it’s not held in there tightly, that’s going to give you a snapping and cracking and popping. That’s going to, unfortunately, wear the shoulder out. So that’s at the end of the video, we are going to show you strengthening exercises you can do for this. Those are the ones that are non-injury. Now, there’s things that we call repetitive stress. If you’re using the shoulder a lot or over time, you can start to wear down the tendons of the rotator cuff. Brad: People that work overhead a lot, that’s a primary reason. Bob: Or even if your bones are not shaped right, they can start wearing down the tendons. That can cause some roughness of the tendons. Again, the muscles narrow up to be tendons and that can give you noise. Especially when you’re up overhead, that can be that grinding, stuff like that. The other repetitive stress injury is just plain old arthritis. Now we’ve got a little bit of covering over the surface of the bone called hyaline cartilage. After a while that starts to wear away and instead of this being nice and smooth, it’s all roughened up. Brad: Like sandpaper. You can just imagine that grinding. Bob: The last one is when you actually have an injury itself. That could be a rotator cuff or a torn labrum. Within the socket, there’s a little round ring of tissue. It helps hold the ball in place. It takes pretty good injury to do it, but you can tear that labrum. Pieces of it can be floating around and it’s not going to be smooth. That one could require surgical repair. It depends on the person. You can also dislocate the shoulder and tear the labrum. Brad: My mother fell down and tore hers, her humerus was way down like this in the x-ray. That was in the ER a half hour after she fell so they had to put it back in place. Bob: Those are the reasons you might be getting to pop and snapping. So, when do you worry about it, Brad? Brad: That’s a good question. Bob: Alright, number one. If there’s pain with it. If there’s no pain, you’re snapping, cracking, popping, it’s fine, let it go. There’s no injury, it’s just part of life, you know. We can show you some things at the end that might help. If you’ve had a recent injury and now, you’re hearing popping and snapping, you may want to see the doctor. Brad: Right. Especially if you’ve had a shoulder surgery and it kind of came up. Especially if it’s painful. But, if it’s not, you might be fine. Bob: The third thing I would say, is if your shoulder always felt stable, and now it doesn’t and you’re hearing popping and snapping and now it feels loose and like it’s sliding all around, I’d probably see the doctor there too. So, those are just three guidelines. So, things to try. I’ll put up a link, some good TheraBand, strengthening exercises. The more you strengthen the shoulder, the more it’s going to help set in place and keep it stable. Brad: Specific exercises for the rotator cuff muscles. Bob: The four muscles that go around the shoulder. The last one, what I want you to do is find a surface like a countertop. I’m going to use the back of this chair. This thing works out really well to set the bone back in place where it is supposed to be. You’re going to put your hand flat on the surface, the table or countertop and you’re going to push it down the whole time and then walk away. Still push down and walk back into it. Do it five times. Brad: It should be relatively pain-free. Bob: Yeah, that’s setting the bone down in the socket, in a better position. You know what I would do, is I would try this and see if there’s less snapping and cracking after. Alright, thanks! Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe, Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd , Rumble 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 Handheld Massager Back and Neck Massager Eye Massager Leg Massager T2 Massage Gun Foot Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Fitness: Resistance Bands​ Pull-Up System Pull Up Bands Exercise Ball Resistance Bands for Legs and Butt​ 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 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 December of 2021. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/zSnELDxFz4E. Brad: Today we’re talking about the dangers of plug-in hot pads, things you must know. Now, Bob, I, and Mike, as physical therapists have been using hot pads in the clinic with patients as long as we’ve been treating. They work very effectively, but there are some dangers that we know, because that’s what we work with. You’ll want to know if you have these or if you want to work with a plug-in hot pad. So first, why heat works. You really want to increase the circulation. You put your hot pack around the injured area, and it’ll allow the muscle to relax. Mike: It increases the blood flow to the area. Your blood carries all your nutrients, helps your healing process occur faster. Brad: And the oxygen, of course. And you get rid of the waste products, the carbon dioxide, the lactic acid, whatever else may be there that needs to get back. Mike: And it just feels nice. Brad: Yeah, it does. Mike: Especially during winter. Brad: It’s one of those things as a therapist, it’s nice to say, “We’ll put your hot pack on now” and the patient says, “Oh thank you.” It’s a good rapport builder right there, versus a cold pack. Sometimes they do not want those. Mike: They don’t like you. They make faces at you. Brad: So, let’s talk about this. We have two different kinds of hot packs here. We have the plugin conduction, this is your standard hot pack. They’ve been around for years. Mike: You can find them anywhere. Brad: They don’t cost too much. They’re about $30-40. Obviously, they plug in, they often have three to four temperature settings. For these to work, they are conduction hot pads. The electricity flows through them, there is resistance that creates heat. That heat gets to your body through contact. If you’re going to heat up your leg, you have to have it touching your leg in order for it to work. Mike: You can use either side with this one. The far infrared, you can only use one side the way that hot pack’s set up. Brad: So, with the far infrared, you can only use one side. Instead of conduction, it uses light rays, far infrared light rays. It works like the sun, or if you’re by a fire, you can feel the heat from a fire. That’s the same principle. So, if I’m going to heat up my leg, I’m going to put it down and wrap it around. I have elastic straps to help it stay on there. They work nice. Now, here is the biggest difference, aside from the cost, but there’s a reason why the far infrared costs more. The depth the heat will penetrate from a conduction hot pack like that is? Mike: One eighth inch. Brad: Right. One eighth inch versus 2.36 inches with far infrared. So, much deeper with the far infrared pad. So, if you put it on your leg, and we have three panels, you’re going to put it on. It’s going to go 2.36 inches in the sides of your legs. That’s going to get deep into the muscle. It’s going to get into the joint, get that synovial fluid, the blood circulating at a depth that that will not compare to. That’s the big difference. Mike: I should say, I’ve used both. Obviously, you have two. The infrared gets nice and warm, but it doesn’t get overly hot. Like, I’ve never had an issue where it feels hot or hot superficially where this one, I’ve had that issue before. Brad: And which brought me up to the question, how hot do these get? Well, I looked it up at Thermotex, they have a nice website, and they said, this get up to 116 or 117 degrees, is what they had. The other one, I didn’t know. This says four different temperature settings. So, what I did is I took a thermometer, made for putting in your meat to see how hot your meat is. Mike: Did you clean it off before you did that? Brad: Of course, I did! Mike: Okay, just checking. Brad: As a matter of fact, I even tested it to make sure it’s accurate by, cleaning it off, put it under my tongue, then I took my oral thermometer that’s made for putting under your tongue and one, the difference was 0.1-degree Fahrenheit, so, I felt that it was going to work out well. Mike: These are the scientific methods at Bob and Brad. Brad: Whatever, I’m using the same thermometer there. This is a digital thermometer. Mike: Still works the same. Brad: What I did with the conduction heating pad is, I folded it over, I put it on the table. I put the thermometer which is about four or five inches long and put the needle in the crease and I left it there for five minutes until the temperature stabilized. Mike: Yep, and it has four settings on here, just FYI. Brad: Thermotex only has on/off. I did the same thing with it. Put it over there and I waited longer. I went 15 minutes on this because far infrared heats up slower. Quite a bit slower. But it goes quite a bit deeper. So, you leave it on longer than you would that standard heating pad. So, here are the temperatures. This is interesting. I thought it was interesting. For the lowest setting on the standard one, it went to…. Mike: 110 degrees. Brad: The next setting up… Mike: Well, that was warm. Low was 124 degrees. Medium was 134 and high was 145 degrees. This has a 15-to-20-minute time limit. Brad: Now, that’s what they recommend. That has an automatic shutoff at two hours. Mike: Oh. Brad: Now, we’re going to talk about precautions. Now you can start to see why maybe you can get burned. You can burn your skin with these temperatures if they’re not used properly. Now, the Thermotex on my thermometer went to 119 degrees and it leveled off there. Again, the factory said 116 and it might be just that my meat thermometer was off a few degrees. Either way, the temperature between the two is quite different because we had the same thermometer and we had 145 to 119. Mike: Yeah. It’s a big difference. Precautions you should follow for either of these is never put them directly on your skin. You should always try to have one layer of clothing and be cautious if you have very fragile or thin skin. Brad: Right. I would say if you had one layer and you have an elderly person or with fragile skin, take a towel, put it over and then put the hot pack on. Mike: It’s different if it’s laying on top or you’re lying on it. The amount of pressure is going to intensify, so you’re going to need more layers if you’re on it. Brad: Right. Not so much with the far infrared, but with the standard electric conduction heater. Number two, never use near your eyes, or there’s no reason to use it around your head. Mike: Like I said earlier, never use it directly on frail skin. We’ve had that with elderly patients before. Be very cautious, they can blister and burn a lot easier or even start weeping. Brad: Right. That’s big because when you have a burn from a hot pack, they go deep, and they don’t heal quickly. Particularly with fragile skin. Never use on abdominal area if pregnant, particularly with the far infrared. Just stay away from that. Mike: Never on skin with poor sensation. So, if you had a stroke, you have neuropathy of sorts, if you can’t have good sensation in the area, you should probably not use it on there because again, you can leave it on too long, get hotter than you think, lead to burns. Brad: Right. Again, the biggest thing is falling asleep. You do not want to fall asleep with these on, that can cause a burn. Now, the far infrared does not get near as hot, but if you fall asleep with this one, and you have frail skin, and you put it directly on your skin or on thin skin, there’s a possibility you could have some problems with it. Be safe, always use some caution. Mike: Yeah, you’re more prone to get burned on a shallow skin area, not a big muscle belly. Just keep that in mind. Brad: Yeah, exactly. Over the kneecap where you have skin and bone directly underneath, that would be a definite hotspot. So again, people who cannot communicate well. Let’s say someone had a stroke or there’s some cognitive issues and it’s hard to get distinct response to" Is this too hot?" And if they cannot come up with a yes or no, it’s not a good person to use a warm pack on. Mike: Yeah, you never know if it’s going to get too hot because the burn doesn’t always appear right away. Sometimes it takes a day to have that happen. Never use by water. Brad: Right. That’s obvious that’s for both. Mike: There are some other precautions like don’t have metal with it. They don’t suggest using it by oxygen. That’s basically about it. Brad: Length of time, you would typically use these. The standard conduction pad, we would go 15-20 minutes max in the clinic. Again, continue to ask the patient or let them know if it feels too warm, put another layer of toweling or some cloth between it. Mike: And you can use it numerous times a day if you want to do it longer just take breaks from it. Don’t use it for like two hours nonstop. Brad: Exactly right. Now with the far infrared, it takes longer to heat up, but you can put more layers of cloth and it’ll go right through the cloth anyways. It’s still going to get you 2.36 inches, minus the cloths. So, put that on. I’ve tried that with winter clothing on and I put it on that to test it. Takes about 5-10 minutes before you feel the heat, but it gets in there and it’s still going to get deep. Then the other thing is just a hygiene issue. Use cloth between the skin. That’s why in the clinic we don’t share one patient to the other and do it directly on skin. Mike: I mean if you have your own at home, it’s fine. Brad: Right. Mike: Also, this standard conduction heating pad is from Walgreens, it comes with all the precautions on the back in case you’re curious. Brad: I needed my reading glasses on, but yeah, they’re covering all the ones we had, plus a few other ones I think were obvious. So again, the far infrared, 45 minutes is what they recommend. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve had this on my back at home, it’s great in wintertime, I sit with it behind my back in my chair and I’ve fallen asleep on it, but I have clothing. I’ve never had any problem with skin burning, but we don’t recommend that, naturally. Thanks! 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