This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in March of 2019. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypuqrmnn7Ng&t=69s. Bob: Today, this is interesting, we have a one-minute exercise that predicts your risk of heart disease. It was done by Harvard, and it was over 1100 firemen. They had them do this one exercise and then they followed them for many years after that to see how many of them had cardiovascular events like heart attacks or strokes, some type of cardiovascular disease. They found out that the people that did well at this had less events than the people who didn’t do well. Brad: One exercise! So, if you want to find out what it is, hold on. We’re going to show you. We've got you in suspense. Bob: Okay, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of mortality worldwide. We have a study, Harvard performed a study. 1000 firefighters, they’re trying to predict the risk of heart disease and cardiovascular events such as a heart attack. The one exercise is push-ups. They had these guys do as many push-ups as they could do. They used a metronome for like 80 beats. Brad: Okay. Bob: It turned out to be a minute so, how many push-ups could they do in a minute. They couldn’t rest for more than 3 beats. They couldn’t stop and just hold it, they had to keep going. So, they did this, and they followed the firemen for years after that and they found out that basically, the answer is, the more push-ups you can do, the lower risk you had for cardiovascular disease. It’s no big surprise. For example, for those that did less than 10 compared to those who did more than 40, the people who did more than 40 had a 96% chance less likely to have an incident. Brad: That’s significant. Bob: Yeah. In fact, you virtually had no chance of having an incident if you were able to do 40 push-ups. Brad: 40 in a minute? Bob: Yes, 40 in a minute. So, you know what, Brad, you know I have to try it. I don’t have my equipment here, I’m already making an excuse. I should warm up a little bit. Brad: Did you exercise this morning yet? Bob: Well, I ran this morning. Brad: Well, that’s a little warm up, plus it’s 30 degrees out. Bob: I’m going to count them off but you can count them off too, Brad. Are you ready to go? Brad: I’m ready Bob, are you? Bob: This is pressure. Brad: Pressure? Okay. Let’s see what Bob can do. Up on the toes, G.I. push-ups we’re doing. Bob: 41 Brad: All right, nice work! Bob: I’ll tell you, that is a cardiovascular event though. I mean, it does tax your heart. Brad: It would be interesting to see what your heart rate is right now. Bob: It’s probably 700 right now. So, anyway, it’s a great exercise. It works your core, works your strength, and it works your heart. I can’t say anything else, I’m too tired. Brad: There’s a good testimony to get your heart rate up in a minute. 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 Handheld Massager Back and Neck Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Leg Massager Foot Massager 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 November of 2021. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuI9iDRn0i0&t=58s Bob: Today we’re going to show you how to stop back pain, shoulder pain, and get perfect posture in 30 seconds. Brad: All at the same time? Bob: Are you telling the truth? Brad: Absolutely, Bob. You can treat shoulder pain, back pain, plus address perfect posture in 30 seconds. It’s a wonderful treatment! Both you and I do it already, Bob. We can agree on this. Bob: We’re advocates. Brad: So, correcting posture. If we look at just correcting your posture, your shoulder mechanics are going to get better. So, that’s one thing. You look at decompression of the spine or traction. It’s going to help, not only your posture, but it’s going to help your spine. All at the same time, if we do this with a method that helps impingement with our shoulders, it’s amazing. All three of these are going to be accomplished. We just found out a few years ago about, if you hang with your arms above your head and use your body weight, it’s called brachiating. It does all three of these at once. We’re going to talk about a little more detail, but again, Dr. Kirsch wrote a book "Shoulder Pain? The Solution & Prevention: Fifth Edition Revised and Expanded". Bob: Dr. Kirsch. Former orthopedic surgeon. Brad: He’s from Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Just 30 miles from where I grew up. Bob: This is the fifth edition, which means it’s been selling. Brad: Yeah. He’s a wonderful man. He’s doing this because he really wants to get the word out and we’re helping him. It’s so simple and it does all three of these. So, he doesn’t address all three of the points, but we do because we know it does all three. So, we’re going to talk about hanging. You can hang from anything. Anything that will hold your weight safely. A pull up bar if you have the already. Certainly, welcome to use it. He talks about in the book where people hang on to a tree branch. If you can. Bob: Rafters. Brad: I know at my house, there is a handrail that goes down and I can hang on there, but I use hanging handles because it works better. Bob: Sure. Brad: For posture reasons it works well if you can put your body up against a wall and the hanging handles or whatever you’re holding onto puts you up against the wall. Bob: Then it straightens your back out. Brad: It does. Then you know you’re in perfect posture while you’re doing it. So, my butt’s hitting, my shoulders hitting, and I’m going to bring my head back gently and now that’s all touching the wall. Brad: You need the height. So, when you grab the handles or the bar, your weight-bearing and then you slowly go down, and I’m getting that brachiating, that impingement in the shoulders is being opened, so, that problem is helped. Now, I’m getting my posture help. And, as I take weight off my feet, the number three, the decompression of the spine. You’re literally treating three different areas. Bob: Right, you’re also improving your grip. Brad: There you go, another benefit: strengthening that grip. Now, this is where in Dr. Kirsch’s book for the shoulders specifically, he’ll say, hang for more than 30 seconds. Bob: Less to start. Brad: Yeah, once you get used to it. It might take you a week or two weeks or three weeks before you can. I personally hang for about 20 to 30 seconds. Bob: Right. He also has testimonials in his book. People who had an impingement or a rotator cuff tear or were scheduled for surgery and they got better. A lot of them didn’t hang that long. They would go 10, 20 seconds. I didn’t hear of any that went a minute or anything like that. Brad: Now, there’s that on guy, remember? Bob: Oh, that big, heavy guy. Brad: He had special things for his hands, so he didn’t have to use a grip. He would hang for up to five minutes, I though. Which is extreme. Bob: Well, there was that former weightlifter that was a thick guy. Brad: So, that’s the shoulder issue. Again, the decompression on the spine, my back always feels good when I do this. I have spondylolisthesis. If you have problems or pain when you do this, the shoulders will hurt initially, but after a few days of doing this for short periods of time, you should see the improvement and it should clearly feel better than two days ago. Bob: Well, you say 30 seconds. We mean 30 seconds throughout the day. Right? Brad: Right. Bob: I don’t think we can get rid of your shoulder problem by doing 30 seconds once. Brad: Yeah, but when I had impingement problems with mine, I did it once a day and that was enough. Bob: Oh sure, prove me wrong. Brad: No, well I’m saying I probably should’ve done it more, but I just didn’t have these handles handy. You know, if my shoulders weren’t hurting, I’d kind of forget about it. But again, you can go 30 seconds. As you see, I’m going completely off the ground. I think 30 seconds is more than enough because my hands get tired and it’s not like I don’t do grip strengthening. Bob: Mine got stronger when I first started it, but when I first started, I got 10 seconds and I was starting to lose my grip already. Brad: You can do this throughout the day and Bob has these in his house so that he can just go from working at the desk to these. Bob: In my office and I’ll take a little break and every time I do it, my back cracks, which means it was kind of crunched together. It’s given a little traction to it. Brad: And it really helps with the breathing. I do want to address one more point. For your back in particular, put a stool out in front of you and do your hanging. You can experiment with this. I put my feet here and that changes the compression or decompression on my spine, especially my low back. If I go up a step, in my case, this feels good. I’ve got spondylolisthesis with some stenosis, and I think anybody with stenosis is going to find this to be more comfortable with their feet up rather than on the floor. Bob: So, it’s basically pinching on the nerve almost. And by stenosis, you’re separating the bones. Brad: Yeah, so this flexes the back and helps open those facet joints. Bob: Right, even more. Brad: The other thing, Bob, you do this one. I don’t because this one doesn’t feel good on my spine, but if you go like this and rotate your hips left to right, you’re only going to do this if it feels good. Like a good stretch. Bob: I only do it one direction too. It might feel good going to the right and that might open the facets or the foramen on that side, but it might hurt going the other direction. Brad: So, listen to your body. Do it the ways that feel good. You’ll feel like right now, you know, I did this, this morning. I always do this on mornings before I swim, for sure, to stretch my shoulders out. You just feel you can breathe better. You feel stretched out. It wakes you up in the morning, it’s a wonderful stretch. Bob: So, our advice to you is, listen to your body and listen to your spouse. Brad: That’s a good one. Bob: You’ll get through life. Brad: That’s exactly right. I did that last night. My wife was grateful. And so was I. Good luck with it. Again, the hanging handles work well. Anything that gets you up against the wall is a little bit better, but still, you can hang without that. Bob: Right. Brad: Very good. Be careful! 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 X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Leg Massager Foot Massager 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 goal of this program is simple. We want to decrease the amount of pain makers you experience each day. In our world, a pain maker is an action or a position that causes pain. The pain may present in your back, or it may be “referred” pain. “Referred” pain originates from a structure in your back but presents in another place on your body (for example, butt, legs, feet). If you perform a task and you begin to feel pain, then that task is a pain maker. If you move a certain way and it causes pain, that movement is a pain maker. If you are lying in bed on your back and you have pain, that position is a pain maker. For many of you, these pain makers occur throughout the day and severely limit what you’re able to do. We want you to change that. By reducing the number of pain makers in your day, you may begin to reduce the sensitivity of your nerves to pain. It has a cascade effect both ways. By increasing pain from pain makers you increase your nerve pain sensitivity. By decreasing pain from pain makers you decrease your nerve pain sensitivity. People are often surprised to learn that they can eliminate pain simply by monitoring the way they move and activate muscles. By reducing pain makers, you begin to see that you can control the pain in your life. Pain does not have to control you. Essentially, the less pain makers you have, the more you can do. The Initial Rules We understand that some of the activities on this list may be important to you. We are not asking for you to give them up forever. We are just asking for you to stop them right now so you can reduce your pain makers. You will be able to return to some of these activities in the future and we will try to provide guidance on how to do so. Things you need to stop doing NOW: 1. Using a riding lawn mower 2. Shoveling snow 3. Canoeing or using a kayak 4. Horseback riding 5. Lifting weights 6. Cycling 7. Downhill skiing 8. Snowboarding 9. Snowmobiling 10. Hiking in hilly country 11. Prolonged sitting- in a car, on a motorcycle, on a plane, at a computer 12. Yoga 13. Tennis, pickle ball, etc. 14. Running (only if it increases your pain while doing so) Check out the full Sciatica series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: http://bobandbrad.com/programs 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 2021. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7UsaTMShKQ&t=217s Bob: Today we’re going to talk about my favorite home office setup for 2021. I think this is a very pertinent topic, Brad, because unfortunately I think COVID’s with us for another season and a lot of people are going to be working from home, a lot of people I think are now at home permanently. Brad: Right, it just works out better. Bob: Yeah, it does. So, a lot of you are going to have to set up a home office and we’re going to give you some hints, so you have good comfort, and you have good lighting and all that. Brad: Right, save your body because you don’t want to wear it out working. Working at a desk improperly will beat your body up. Bob: All right now let’s go to number one. First off, I know this is understandable and people know what I’m saying here that it’s obvious. You should try to have a private office but some of you are not going to be able to. Our first living arrangement with my wife was an efficiency. We had a kitchen and a bedroom. That was it. My weight system was in the bedroom, my weight bench and everything. Brad: Yeah, that was the good ole days. Bob: But if it’s possible, if there is a spare room, you’ll want to use that because you’re going to have zoom meetings and such. I shared an office one time with my daughter Jamie when she was about 12. She asked me a question every two minutes. I mean we finally parted ways. Brad: Well, she’s very intelligent, Bob. I don’t know why she was asking you though. Bob: Yeah, she’s running our company now. So, a private office with a door that you can shut, obviously. Number two, posture. That’s probably the most critical thing for a physical therapist to understand and to relay to you. So, what I really like is this desk by Flexispot, the VICI Duplex standing desk. Brad: The idea they've got, it’s two tiers. It’s adjustable and it really is a nice desk. I like the two-tier thing and we’ll tell you in just a second. Bob: Yeah, because a lot of them don’t and this one you can re-adjust it so it’s completely flat too. So, you have both options. For me, because of my height I must have my screen up high when I’m working at the desk because I don’t want to be looking down with my head bent down the entire time. Brad: Right. Bob: So for me to get it up, if I put on the laptop and monitor mount accessory, and I clamp it to a regular table, it won’t go high enough. Brad: Like right now, this is not high enough for you. Bob: Yeah, that’s getting close. Now my regular screen will attach to this thing right here and that’s high enough. Brad: Sure, so this allows for two screens. Bob: Yeah, they have all sort of accessories at Flexispot like this too that you could clamp onto your desk. Otherwise, you could sometimes just put a stand on top of the desk and put your laptop on top of that. Then, a wireless keyboard, a wireless mouse. If you try to type up on the top level your arms are going to get sore, your shoulders are going to develop problems so you want to make sure that everything is in alignment. The desk can go up a little higher. Brad: Sure, go ahead. That’s the beautiful thing about that desk. It’s controllable, adjust it for yourself. Bob: So, you want the forearms to be almost level. So, now I’m getting up to the height this should be, right? Brad: Yes! See it’s all fitting into place. Bob: There we go. Now that’s comfortable. Forearms are level, my upper arm is vertical. Brad: Right. If anything, having your forearms down a little bit is certainly acceptable. Bob: Right, a slight downward angle. We’re in a good position and we’re ready to go. So, I couldn’t do this on a flat desk. It just wouldn’t work for me. Brad: Right, you need that extra six inches to get it separated. Bob: Right. Now obviously, I want to be able to sit and stand. Brad: Right, throughout the day alternate. Bob: What I use Brad, I have this timer. What this timer does is, I can flip it and it starts five minutes. Brad: What happens if you flip it again? Bob: Now it’s 15 minutes. You see that? Brad: Oh, is that ever a cute deal. That way you don’t have to keep reprogramming it. It saves time. Bob: You can do it on your phone too, but I just flip it and stand for maybe 15 minutes, and I flip it and sit for 20 minutes. Whatever I want to do. Brad: I believe I took a course on this, and they said 20 minutes is a good balance and that can vary from person to person but to just give you a general idea. For sure you don’t want to stand or sit for more than two hours. I think that’s too long. Bob: Right. I try to go maybe 30 minutes. It helps you become a little more aware. Brad: Alert! Bob: There you go. I was looking for that word and I couldn’t find it. Brad: You were standing too long. Bob: That’s right. I have to sit down for a while. Brad: We’ll work on that. Bob: You want to talk about some of the chairs Brad? Brad: Sure. I mean should we talk about the seated chair? Bob: Sure. Brad: If you go to your seated position, you need to lower the desk. You can program the desk for four different levels, so you don’t have to sit here and hold it. We don’t have that right now but that works out nice. Bob: Push the level one through four and figure out which level you want. Brad: Now this is the chair that I really like because it has all the different adjustments. If you just have a chair that goes up and down, that’s a critical adjustment, but there’s several other ones. This one has a wonderful lumbar support. The back of the chair is mesh so they don’t get too hot. The lumber support moves up and down to adjust to the person. The headrest goes up and down to adjust to the person. The arms which I think a lot of chairs don’t have this button under them to lock up and down so that when you get the right height you can lock it in place. Bob: And it goes in and out too Brad, doesn’t it? Brad: Yes, the arm rests rotate. Brad: Now the chair itself, so that’s the armrest, backrest, and headrest. We’ve got the up and down right here. Bob: And five castors. Brad: It rolls around nicely. It's got a lock on the left side, so if you want to stretch back you can. Bob: Obviously you can’t work when you lean back like that. Maybe if you’re thinking, break time. You have that room for your head then too. Brad: Then you flip it back and it’s locked, and it can’t tilt back. This is an adjustment that I like. It makes the seat go forward and backward, which a lot of chairs don’t have. So, this chair is one of my favorite chairs. It has a lot of adjustments, and the cost is very good because these chairs can get expensive, the ones that have a lot of adjustments. Bob: By the way, the desk is under $300. If you look among desks that raise up electrically or with electric ability, this is an inexpensive desk. I think it’s a good bargain. Brad: When I saw that price, I didn’t think it was for this desk. I was pleasantly corrected. Now if you’re interested in getting a little activity circulation, keep you alert while you’re working, Flexispot does have this chair which is obviously a bike. A stationary bike. This has a nice adjustable chair. For example, I’m going to set it here, I can pedal. It’s nice and smooth. It rolls very easily but as soon as you put some body weight down on it, the back two castors lock in tight so you don’t have to worry about scooting around. Bob: That’s my favorite feature of this chair. It is so easy to move. You can use a couple finger tips to move it around and then once you sit on it, it locks in place. Brad: Exactly. Bob: So, he can raise up the desk and it’s got room to get his knees under there. Brad: Yeah, if your knees bump into that every time, it makes rough while working. The computer will be bouncing around every time your knees hit the desk. Bob: You’ll be coming to see us after a while. Brad: It’d be kind of fun to do. I’m going to get it under the desk. There’s resistance and it tells you calories, timers on the digital. Bob: You can pedal slowly while you’re working, just getting some movement. Brad: You know, but if you’re getting frustrated while you work, maybe you need to burn off some energy, go ahead and see what happens. This also has a mesh back which is nice as far as heat, but you’re probably not going to be leaning on the back too long. You may, depends on the individual, but look at that posture. Bob: You’re pedaling and losing weight. Brad: The monitor is too tall for me, I’d adjust it for myself. You make the adjustments as needed for your body. Bob: So, this is a Sit2Go Pro bike chair, which I think again is a nice device. I think they’ve sold a lot of those. Brad: See how nice it rolls out of the way? Bob: All right. What else do we have here, Brad? Brad: We had a lot of toys. Bob: The last thing I was going to mention is some people like to have a mat to stand on when they are working at a desk. I do not like these, and I’ll tell you why. It’s fine for standing, it’s comfortable, but as soon as I go back to my chair, I can’t kick the mat around. It just doesn’t kick very well, and I can’t pull it back. If you know me, I just don’t like anything like this that I must deal with all the time. Brad: Yeah, because if you want to move your chair in there then you must literally bend over to pick it up and move it. Bob: To me, it’s even worse when I went back to standing. I had to reach under the desk to grab it and pull it back into its place. I couldn’t use my foot to put it back. It’s irritating. Brad: Yes, that’s annoying. Bob: If you’re standing on a carpet, I don’t think you need one, but you know. Brad: The other option is you can put some cushions in your shoes in the inserts that give you a little cushion if you like that then they stay with your feet. Bob: You know what I use for my chair? I use a Pete’s Choice to put my feet on. Brad: You do?! Where is one? Bob: We should mention another product, but we do like Pete’s Choice Pad. Brad: I do love these. Matter of fact, I took them with me camping this weekend and I used it out by the fire. I could sit on there and I used it, I had to kneel to get something underneath the trailer. Bob: And when you ran out of wood you put it on fire. Brad: No, no Bob. It makes black smoke. That means it’s a carcinogen. No sir. Bob: These are the things you want to keep in mind. One thing I forgot to mention, Brad is lighting. With your lighting, you ideally want natural light to come in from the side. If you have natural light coming at you, it’s going to mess with your eyes. If it’s natural light from behind you, it’s going to mess with your screen. It should be coming from the side. That’s what I have in my room. Brad: Can you get dimmers on your shades? Bob: No, I don’t but I do have shades. Also, if I do zoom meetings, I must be aware of my overhead lights getting in the way, so I must just have natural light. Brad: Otherwise, you get a silhouette and there’s just a silhouette of you and they can’t see your face, which is probably better off… Bob: Exactly. For the ideal setup, this is what we recommend. Brad: Yeah, it’s a wonderful thing Bob. It’s getting better every year. Next decade from now, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Bob: Robots will be working for us. Brad: There you go, watching from a distance. Bob: All right, thanks. Interested in learning about the products mentioned in today's video: 1) FlexiSpot VICI Duplex Standing Desk: https://bit.ly/3jSdMnq Get $15 OFF coupon with this link: https://bit.ly/2VK2YPM 2) Sit2go Pro Bike Chair: https://bit.ly/2RBKI9v 3) FLEXISPOT Soutien Ergonomic Office Chair OC10: https://bit.ly/39fF0PI 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 X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Leg Massager Foot Massager 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.

Image via Unsplash Tips on How To Look and Feel Your Best at 65 and Over The saying, "Getting old isn't for the faint of heart" is one that most people are familiar with. However, health care advancements of the last 20 years have significantly contributed to people living longer, healthier, and more satisfying lives. Let's look at a few tips on how you can look and feel your absolute best during your senior years. Take Mental Wellness Seriously Aging brings its own challenges, but with a preventive approach and positive attitude, certain myths associated with aging can be firmly put to rest. These include memory loss and brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia. As you get older, your mental processes slow down, and new information may take longer to process. However, making mental stimulation a priority throughout your life, and practices such as memorization techniques, games, puzzles, and riddles will continue to positively impact your cognitive ability and create new brain pathways as you get older. Eat for Health and Longevity Healthy eating habits are crucial to a sense of overall well-being. You really are what you eat, and this expression is especially relevant to older adults. An unhealthy diet with refined carbohydrates, sugary foods and drinks, and other processed foods can be linked to illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and cognitive impairment. A balanced diet containing potassium, calcium, vitamin D and B12, and dietary fiber will help maintain your body's muscle mass, bone density, and immune and nervous systems. Exercise To Keep Fit and Strong The benefits of a regular exercise regime can never be emphasized enough. A career and family responsibilities can influence your activity levels, and it's wise to start out slow and consider activities that suit your current fitness levels and lifestyle. Exercises that are particularly beneficial to older adults improve strength, posture, and mobility and put less stress on your joints, muscles, and bones. These include water aerobics, chair yoga, pilates, and exercising with resistance bands. You can also keep your exercise routine simple by putting on comfortable clothing, grabbing some earbuds you’ve synced with your phone, and heading into the fresh air for a run or a walk. Take Care of Your Appearance If you look your best, you will feel your best. Take care to choose and dress according to styles and colors that suit your body shape and lifestyle. Regular skin care also becomes increasingly important when you age, as your skin becomes thinner. Drink plenty of fluids, apply facial and body creams every day, and take fewer showers, as hot water can dry out your skin. A skin condition that is quite common in older adults is psoriasis, which causes raised scaly patches on your knees, elbows, lower back, and scalp. The best way to treat and control the condition is to follow a good skincare routine and a healthy diet. Other options that can reduce the symptoms include topical therapy, light therapy, and oral or injected medication. Become Your Very Best The above are just a few tips on how you can look and feel your absolute best as you enter a new and exciting stage in your life. Physical therapists Bob and Brad, from Winona, MN, created a series of easy-to-follow videos and guide-sheets to help you with the most common therapy problems you might experience. Visit them online today to find out how you can look and feel your best, no matter your age or fitness level.

The short answer is yes. Absolutely. Most disc bulges shrink over time. The symptoms (pain, numbness, tingling) associated with disc issues also tend to resolve in most people. There are few reasons why this may happen: 1. The disc material gets reabsorbed by the disc. 2. The disc material may dehydrate. 3. In response to inflammation the body creates little Pac-man cells that eat the disc material. NOTE: Your body has an incredible ability to heal itself, if you allow it to happen. The goal of this video series is to help you allow your body to heal. We will educate you on how to create an environment which is conducive to healing. What if your sciatica is caused by degenerative changes in your spine often due to age resulting in a smaller opening for the nerve roots of the sciatic nerve to pass through? The smaller hole causes increased pressure and irritation of the nerves. This may lead to spinal stenosis. If degenerative changes are causing your sciatica, you still have a good chance of healing by eliminating or reducing the pain makers in your life and by using the technique of nerve flossing (see video How to Perform Nerve Flossing Which Can Help Your Sciatica). We will be creating a video series in the future designed specifically for spinal stenosis. Check out the full Sciatica series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: http://bobandbrad.com/programs DISCLAIMER We insist that you see a physician before starting this video series. Furthermore, this video series is not designed to replace the treatment of a professional: physician, osteopath, physical therapist, orthopedic surgeon, or chiropractor. It may however serve as an adjunct. Do not go against the advice of your health care professional. When under the care of a professional make certain that they approve of all that you try. This information is not intended as a substitute for medical treatment. Any information given about back-related conditions, treatments, and products is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this publication. Before starting an exercise program, consult a physician. Medical Disclaimer All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. Affiliate disclaimer: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We are highly selective in our products and try our best to keep things fair and balanced in order to help you make the best choice for you.

This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in August of 2021. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9lSZf7QcB0 Brad: Apple cider vinegar, big topic for weight loss, cholesterol, and blood sugar management. Is it going to help with that? And that’s what we’re going to find out. Is it a viable product to use or not? Apple cider vinegar, I always use the one with the mother. I’ve been using it for joint pain, which we’re not covering. Let’s get right into weight loss. Chris: So, kind of interesting stuff. Apple cider vinegar, like you say, whether it’s pasteurized stuff, that’s the nice clear bottle, or if you get organic and unpasteurized which is unfiltered, has the mother, which I would tell you is going to be the better one to use just because there’s other bits of nutrients and all good stuff in there with the mother, so I think it’s more complete. Brad: And that’s kind of a yellowish orange color and it’s got the sediment. Chris: Yeah. It’s going to have some sediments and it can be cloudy. I mean, apple cider vinegar can be used in a variety of different ways. You can put it on your food, you can drink it. What we’re going to talk about with the dose for all of these is you’re going to put a tablespoon full or 15 ml in 4 oz of water. You’re going to mix it and drink it. That’s one way of doing it. There’s a lot of other ways you can do it. You can just put it on a salad or something to that effect. We’ll just talk about it as a dose, 15 ml. Brad: If you put more than 4 oz of water, is it going to change anything? Chris: No. If you drink it all I think it’s fine. For those who’ve never tried apple cider vinegar, it’s got a very sour taste, so it may not present as it’s for everybody, but for some people, they like it. It just depends on your taste buds and what you like. But if we’re going to use this for weight loss specifically, the dose range is either 15ml up to 30 ml and 4 oz of water, or even up to 8 oz. After you consume it, I want you to make sure you rinse and gargle and swish plain water around on your teeth because it can damage a tooth enamel if you don’t protect it right away. Because it’s an acidic product. On the pH scale, it’s about two to three. It’s a moderate acid. So, it’s something you want to be careful with. Brad: I just want to clarify again. He said two different volumes, either one tablespoon or two, no more than two. Chris: Not more than two, two is an absolute max. Frankly, when you’re looking at it from a weight loss standpoint, over the 90 days, the research that I’ve found, they had about 45-50 subjects, which still very small, but I think it had enough evidence that shows, if you did the 15 ml and 4 oz of water over 90 days, it cause a 2.7 pound weight loss versus the 30 ml in the water over 90 days caused a 3.6 pound weight loss. So, you’re talking about just a couple of pounds. Well, what does that mean? I think for a lot of people when you have true fat loss, I think it’s something that is going to be beneficial to you. Brad: I read something about this, the apple cider vinegar, losing the stomach weight in the gut itself. Chris: Yeah. They seem to say that it targets that. I’ve always been of the mindset that you can lose weight everywhere. I don’t know how true that is. I haven’t found straight up scientific evidence that says that, but there’s a lot of anecdotal evidence that suggests that. I mean, it’s not going to hurt you. The nice thing about apple cider vinegar is that it’s relatively safe stuff. If you’re a diabetic specifically type one, if you are on diuretics or on the special heart medication called digoxin, or Lanoxin, you’d want to use care and caution with that, but we’re going to touch into blood sugar lowering shortly too. It’s something that I think if you want to give it a try, I think it does have some application with some modest weight loss. Brad: I do want to say one thing about it, after I get done eating the meal, and I’ve got that urge for something sweet that dessert, drink it then. It takes that urge for that sweet tooth right away from me. It’s like, I don’t even think about it. Chris: And that’s the one thing they say. It may work better if you take it before you eat because it slows down gastric emptying. So that means what your stomach empties. If you feel more full, you’re going to eat less. It kind of delays that and the reason why it might help you with digestion and other things is that acidity might help to drive down and break up food better and because of that delayed gastric emptying, you got more gut transit time for that food to absorb. Your body is getting more nutrients out of the things you’re eating. Brad: So, take it before you eat. What if you took a little bit before and then afterwards to kill that sweet tooth? Chris: I mean if you want to kill it, your remedy is going to hurt you because I’ll tell you, it doesn’t taste great. Brad: It does the trick for me. I don’t want to have that ice cream. That’s not on my mind after I drink the apple cider vinegar. Chris: That’s going to take away the craving for ice cream, for sure. No two ways about it. Brad: All right. You want to go on to cholesterol? Chris: Yeah, why don’t we. Again, we’re going to treat this much in the same way, why it lowers cholesterol? You know, we don’t really have a definitive answer. Brad: So, we’re talking about if we lower our cholesterol, it’s going to help our circulation. Chris: It might help with our circulation. It might help with our heart functioning and minimize the risk for heart attack and strokes. They’ve shown that smaller scale studies and more anecdotally, because we don’t have the wide bodies of evidence that show it. I think a lot of it is because you can’t make a ton of profit off apple cider vinegar because it already exists. That’s the thing on big pharma. If you’re in a university setting and you got the gumption for it, guys, if you want to research on why precisely it lowers cholesterol, it would be interesting to know. I can tell you personally, my cholesterol has been high for years. I have a familial deal on my side, my lineage. Unfortunately, you know, I’ve had higher cholesterol and I used it for three months before my appointments. Prior to that, prior to the research that I did on our last video that we did on this, I just wanted to see how it worked for myself. I lowered my cholesterol 20 points. Brad: You were doing the same dosage? Chris: I did 15 ml, 4 oz of water everyday right before dinner. For whatever reason, my cholesterol for the first time in years was in a healthy range. You can’t take that to the bank if you’re a physician or a cardiologist out there, you certainly may scoff at it a little bit, but I would tell you that there’s enough anecdotal evidence that suggests that it may be beneficial for you. It’s not going to hurt you. Same warnings if you have gastroparesis you need to be cautious. Brad: Gastroparesis is? Chris: Is when your stomach doesn’t want to push food through there. Brad: Is there another name for it? A layman’s name Chris: Slow gastric emptying. Brad: Okay. People usually know they have that. Chris: Your doctor’s going to tell you. It’s more common with type one diabetics. It’s something that we do want to be mindful of. Always check with your doctor or pharmacist, making sure they’re looking at your profile because if you’re on diuretics, that could affect things too with electrolyte balance and how your potassium levels are because that’s important for your heart. Brad: So the water pills? Chris: Yeah, the water pills. You want to be careful with that, but I do think that does have a positive affect on cholesterol and can probably lead us into the blood sugar lowering too. Brad: Yes, let’s segue right into that. Chris: So, with diabetes, there’s two types, type one, and type two. Type one is the one that everybody must have insulin, type one, this is probably not for you. Your insulin dependent and the way that this lowers blood sugar could be dangerous for you because if you get too low and you didn’t make an insulin correction, you could have serious problems. This is something that, again, type one I would take off the table. It’s one thing if it’s like in your salad dressing already because there are types of things that you use have a vinegar base. It doesn’t necessarily have to be apple cider vinegar. I think from that standpoint, it’s just something to be aware of. Use in moderation, use accordingly. If you’re going to try and use it to help an adjunct, it’s considered mostly safe and most of the studies that we find what they’ve done is an excellent example. We’ve talked about this before, if you do 15 ml and 4 oz of water and you take it before a high carbohydrate meal, the example used was a bagel and orange juice, it diminished the blood sugar that went into the bloodstream tremendously. So that effect when you’re a type two diabetic is going to have a big effect for you because blood sugar controls everything from a diabetic standpoint. Realistically, this is an adjunct that I think would be used with exercise and diet and obviously medication therapy that your doctor has provided for you. Talk with your doctor to see if it’s appropriate but I think it’s a reasonable thing to bring up because there are clear studies, again, not large bodies of studies, but you’re talking about a couple hundred people in multiple studies that have clearly shown whether it’s in the bagel and the orange juice study. They’ve also done another one with white bread specifically. They show a tremendous decrease, like 5% reduction in the amount of postprandial or after eating blood sugar levels. It’s got a benefit to it. They did a study to taking it at bedtime, which we’ll talk about one of the side effects is reflux and heartburn, but taking it before bed, if you do that, make sure you take in lots of water to make sure it’s in your gut and moving before you lay down, so we don’t cause heartburn. They showed that people lower their blood sugar when they wake up in the morning by 4%, and 4% doesn’t sound like a large number but if you’re teetering on the edge and there’s a big number, they talk about which is an A1C. If you’re just on the border and you want to get down to a lower level, it’s got its place and it shows it eloquently that it’s got its place. There’s a couple of downsides with apple cider vinegar that we must be careful with. We want to protect our teeth so, after you use this, you want to make sure you rinse and gargle well, because it can damage the enamel on your teeth. Some people find that it can cause heartburn so, we do want to be careful with that. Staying upright after you take it for 30 minutes would be ideal. When I say that before bed dosing for the people that want to consider that, stay upright for 30 minutes, and make sure you’ve consumed plenty of water on top of it to it to absorb into your system as quickly as possible and not reflux back up. Heartburn can be damaging and problematic. So, we must use a modicum of care when we’re going to use this. You do want to protect yourself and you want to talk to your doctor and your pharmacist to make sure it’s appropriate for you. Brad: That it? Chris: That’s pretty much it. Brad: I did want to mention a couple of things. They're anecdotal, but people that comment on our other apple cider vinegar videos, they said it got rid of their heartburn, which I don’t know how that works. Chris: I looked at that a little bit too, and it seems like it’s almost more homeopathic at that point. You’re taking acid to treat acid. There are burgeoning amounts of anecdotal evidence, not a lot of large-scale studies that do suggest that it may be beneficial. So, in certain populations, I think it’s something you can consider, but consider with caution, just like anything else. If it helps you, we’ve solved a problem and I think that’s wonderful but again it’s not for everybody. Some people aren’t going to like the taste, but I mean, at some point I think it does have some possible benefits that I think are worth exploring. Brad: For me personally, joint pain in my hands it’s helped. About 3 or 4 years ago, I couldn’t even close my fists and it came on suddenly and I was concerned, and I’d wake up in the morning and I could never make a full fist, which was weird because I’m an active person. I was concerned about how I was going to function, you know? And so, I started taking this from a friend of mine who, it’s a long story, but anyways, within two weeks I noticed things getting better. So, I took it for about a month or two and I’ve got about 80% better and I just quit taking it because it doesn’t take taste that well and I felt functional. Recently, I started taking it again because my finger is sore from an accident. It seems to be improving it again. I think it’s got some good, anti-inflammatory benefits. It’s working for me personally and I can’t vouch it, I’m not going to give it a blessing for everyone. Chris: Don’t be afraid to speak up to your doctor and speak up to your pharmacist. Let’s make sure it’s safe, but I think it’s got an application if you’re considering it. Brad: If you’re a healthy person, you’re not taking any medication and you just take the doses that we’re talking about. Chris: I think it’s reasonable to try. If you do, I think we’ll see some positive results. Brad: All right, have a good day and be careful! Chris: Thanks guys! Visit us on our other social media platforms: YouTube, Website, Facebook,Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, Wimkin Mewe,Minds, Vero, SteemIt, Peakd , Rumble 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 X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Leg Massager Foot Massager 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 August of 2020. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoVPGhEOHf0 Bob: The topic today “Is Your Shoulder Pain Coming from Your Neck or Shoulder, How to Tell.” Very difficult to assess sometimes but we’re going to give you a few clues here. Brad: And it’s common that, you can have shoulder pain coming from your neck, but it was just misdiagnosed, or the layperson wouldn’t know until you see this video. Bob: Right, so let’s start right into it Brad. If you have neck problems, they often can cause pain into the shoulder area. As a rule, shoulder movements tend to aggravate shoulder problems. Neck movements tend to aggravate neck problems. So, we’ll be doing some tests at the end and show you how that works. Brad: With the except for some neck movements, which can produce symptoms in the arm. Bob: That’s a good point. We’ll get into this. Brad: Yeah, it gets a little complicated but stick with us and it’ll be more clear. Bob: First, let’s go typical location of the pain, okay. If you have shoulder pain, often it’s in the front or the side of the shoulder. It may radiate down the arm, but generally it doesn’t go past the elbow. Both Brad and I have seen patients where it did go past the elbow, but unlikely and it went into the forearm. Brad: Usually their shoulder pain was high. We’re talking in general terms, not on their exceptions. Bob: If you have pain in the neck now that’s generally felt at the base of the neck. It can be felt in the shoulder blade. That’s common. Shoulder blade generally is not a shoulder problem, it’s a neck problem. You might feel it going down the arm. If it radiates down into the hand and wrist and fingers, then you’re almost certainly dealing with a neck problem. And if you have numbness and tingling with it, that generally is a neck problem, although you said you occasionally have seen it, with shoulders. Brad: Yeah, usually not. And if you’re wondering the pain going into the fingers and the numbness and tingling, it’s a pinched nerve. Usually, pinch nerves in that location happen in between your neck and shoulder. Not so much in the shoulder. Bob: So, as a rule, if you have numbness and tingling, there’s a good chance of a neck problem. So, we’re going to show you some tests for a shoulder problem. What we’re going to do is we’re going to have you first slowly flex your arm forward with good posture. Slowly flex it five times, just straight up and down. Now, if this starts to aggravate your pain, good possibility it’s the shoulder. Brad: Particularly if it’s in the shoulder itself, maybe radiating down a little bit. Bob: Now you’re going to slowly go out to the side five times. Thumb up, thumb pointed up. And the same thing with this if this aggravates it, maybe flexion didn't aggravate it but abduction does, it's likely from the shoulder. Brad: And if you get your arm halfway up and it hurts both directions more than likely it’s a shoulder rotator cuff issue or impingement. Bob: And if you can’t raise it hardly at all. Brad: Yeah, you’re compensating moving your body a lot. You’re probably sore and it's more likely a shoulder issue. Bob: Last one you’re going to do five times; you’re going to reach back behind you and attempt to touch your shoulder blade. Brad: Yeah, usually you compare your good arm. I can go way up there with my good arm, but with my bad arm it reaches to my lower back. That's more than likely a shoulder issue. Bob: Yeah, he definitely has some shoulder involvement. One thing we haven’t point out Brad, is you could have neck and shoulder problems simultaneously. Brad: You bet. Bob: So, now let’s test the neck. So, let’s you did those, and you really didn’t have any pain. With the neck, you’re going to flex it down and extend way back. Now you’re going to do this ten times Brad. You’re going to see if this irritates it and starts sending pain anywhere, in the neck or down the arm. Even if it just starts causing pain in the neck, it might still be a shoulder issue because it might eventually over time start going down the shoulder. Brad: I've found this a lot, I’ll have the patient do this one forward and the very first time they get their head halfway back, it hurts all the way down to the shoulder. Then don’t do it ten times, just stop. You’ve got a neck problem if you can’t do that. Bob: And that is probably the most common one that’s going to be tight is going back like that with your neck. Well, I shouldn’t say most common. It hurts for a lot of people going forward too. Brad: Yeah, and we’re going to talk about rotation a little bit. Bob: Rotation, same thing. You can go back and forth, and you go ten times and see if that irritates it. Generally, it’s going to be one side that irritates it. It could be either one. Brad: You might be able to go full range one way and the other way you only go half, and it starts to hurt. That’s common. It’s a neck problem, more than likely. Bob: Yeah, and the last one is that you can side bend. To left and to the right, same thing. Bob: You’re going to find out, you might be tight one direction and that it brings on the pain. We’re answering some of the questions today, Brad. Someone said every time they bend their neck one way, their arm goes numb. There’s a neck problem. So, there we go. Again, if you have any questions, go see your professional and have it diagnosed. 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 X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Leg Massager Foot Massager 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.

If you have not already done so, call your health care provider if: 1. Pain travels down your leg below your knee. 2. Your leg, foot, groin or rectal area feels numb or has a tingling sensation. 3. You have experienced a fever, nausea or vomiting, stomachache, weakness or sweating. 4. You lose control over going to the bathroom. If you suddenly lose control of your bowel or bladder see a physician immediately. 5. Your legs are weak or you experience foot drop. (Foot drop is a weakness in your foot or ankle that causes you to drag or slap the foot while walking.) 6. Your pain was caused by an injury or trauma such as a car accident or fall. 7. Your back pain awakens you at night. 8. Your pain is so intense you can't move around. 9. Your pain doesn't seem to be getting better after 2 to 3 weeks. 10. If you are a child or elderly person with back pain. 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. Check out the full Sciatica series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: http://bobandbrad.com/programs 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 2018. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM7N-QPnK90&feature=youtu.be Bob: How to fix plantar fasciitis in seconds and this does work. There is a study that showed that if you can do stretches on your foot then you can have an 83% cure rate. It may take you a month or two, but we’re also going to show you some other things that might make that go a lot faster. Brad: Right. Plantar fasciitis, it can drag on for a long time. Bob: Oh, it can go on for a year or year and a half. There’s no doubt. Brad: Right. Bob: We realize people don’t have time for pain, I mean, who does? Maybe you, do you have time in your day for pain Brad? Brad: I like it, Bob. Just kidding! Bob: I had a girl in my class who liked pain. The thing about plantar fasciitis, you should probably know what it is. This is generally a type of heel pain. Generally, the pain is right there. Bob: That’s often where you feel it. You might feel it all over the foot, but this is where it's really bad. The plantar fascia, plantar means bottom, and fascia is a tough, thick, fibrous material and it extends along starting from the heel and going up into the toes. It’s important that you understand that because then you’ll understand why we want you to do these certain stretches. Brad: And Bob, that’s important but what’s connected to the heel directly is the Achilles tendon connects to the calf muscles so, we also want to address the calf muscle group and tendon along with the foot. But we’ll get into that as we go on. Bob: And what I just saw in a study on that is that in people who have plantar fasciitis, the Achilles tendon and calf muscle tend to be tight. Which makes sense because if that’s tight, you’re going to put more stress on the foot. It’s all biomechanical. It all makes sense. Brad: Right, it all fits together. Bob: So, let’s start with the first one. You’re going to want to stretch that band and a good time to do it is right away when you wake up in the morning. I imagine many of you have that thing that happens as soon as you get up in the morning, you put weight on the foot and it really hurts. It’s one of the worst times. Brad: Yeah, you kind of limp when you walk for a while and that’s a classic symptom. Bob: Because all night long that was starting to heal and tighten up on you and then in the morning you give it that instant stretch and you break it open again. So, what you want to do is just wake up and you go ahead without standing on it, without putting any weight on it, you’re going to gently grab all the toes. You’re going to get all the toes and pull them back towards you. This is the stretch you want to do. Just pressure on pressure off or you can do continuous stretches too. Brad: You know, up to 30 seconds. Bob: Yeah, it doesn’t take long. 30 seconds and then before you get out of bed, you’re going to put your shoes on. It takes some of the stress off. Now, this is the stretch throughout the day. I mean, this is the stretch you’re going to do every hour if you can, and this is what’s going to help you get by and get through this thing. So, you can also do it in a chair which Brad is going to demonstrate, and you can do it with your shoe on. Brad: If you’re at work, this chair is a little low, but it will work on a taller chair that you have at your desk. With your shoe on, you’re going to do this, you’re going to make sure your ankle is dorsiflexed or this way to help tighten things up and it works nice if you have a chair that has wheels on it because you can roll into it like this and get that stretch. Bob: You get that great toe extension again right, Brad? You’re getting that toe extended. Brad: Right, and that’s the big toe. So, if you want to do it on the other foot for a little preventative maintenance, you know, it could be that both are sore, but you can do that as well. Bob: You could also grab the foot and pull back like we did lying down. Brad: Depending on what kind of shoe you have, if you have a hard leather shoe or a thick sole shoe then you may have to take the shoe off and work it that way. So, be aware of what you’re wearing. Bob: Generally, I think people agree that when you have plantar fasciitis, if you sit for a while and then you get up, again you get that pain. So, that’s why before you get up, you should make sure you do the stretch. Brad is going to show what we talked about is how the Achilles tendon and the calf muscle gastric soleus, they all attach into that heel and it’s all one big unit, so we must make sure you do this stretch also. He’s going to do it with the knee straight. Brad: One leg is straight, and the other leg is not involved. We’re working on that back leg only. Bob: You can do it with it bent also. It’s tougher that way, you can see his heel come up. Brad: It gets a different muscle. You get the soleus that way. This way you're more complete. And notice my toes, I don’t have them out to the side. You want to straighten it forward and that gets the muscles that you want more effectively. If you happen to have an incline board, this is the deluxe way to stretch it. It’s more comfortable, it’s easier and as soon as you get on, you’ll know. You don’t have to. You can do it on the floor, but some people have these. Bob: We did a video where he demonstrated how to make one of those. Brad’s a handy guy. Brad: I mean, you can buy these, and we have them on our favorite products list, but you know, if you’re handy and you want to make one, we have a video on how to make one and quite cheaply if you have a few scrap pieces of wood and screws around. Bob: All right, coming back to me, take the attention off him for a little bit. So, now I’m going to go to the other foot. You can do a splaying massage, and this can be quite effective. So again, you have the thick band here and I have my two thumbs and I’m going to pull them apart with pressure on them. So, I’m going to that and I’m just going to splay, that’s what it’s called. I’m pulling them apart, oh boy, you really feel that. Brad: Oh yeah. Bob: That’s something you may have to start off working up more toward the toes, you may not even be able to tolerate it down by the heel where it’s sore or you may have to do it very light in this area to start off with, but again you can do this quickly, 20 or 30 seconds, whenever you have time. Brad: If you’re lucky you might have somebody at home, maybe a brother, sister, or spouse, maybe they’ll do this for you. Bob: Yeah, my brother is not touching my feet, I can tell you that. Brad: Get your wife to do it Bob: That’s not happening. It’s sad because I did hers when she had plantar fasciitis. Brad: Oh, really? Bob: Yeah, and she kind of yelled at me because she’s like “I’ve been suffering with this for months and now you do this splaying massage, and it helps. Why didn’t you do it right away.” There’s no appeasing some people. Anyway, you can do that and the other thing you can do is an ice massage. Brad: Yep, so you can take a Dixie cup or Styrofoam cup and fill it up with water, almost to the top, maybe a half inch from the top and put it in the freezer overnight and then break away the sides of it until you get to the ice. Now if you leave this in the freezer too long, it’s amazing. The ice evaporates and that’s what happened. Bob: Yeah, it’s amazing because that thing was full. Brad: Anyways, it’s kind of a nice science experiment if you have children to show that ice does evaporate. There we go, you want to put that on your foot, Bob? Bob: Well, usually what I do is I take my palm first and warm it up a little bit and smooth it out. Brad: Warm the ice up. Bob: Well, I mean, what happens is you have rough edges. Brad: Yeah, I know. Bob: Then you take it and it’s a nice fast thing. You can cool the inflammation down and in 30 seconds, it starts to feel numb already. Brad: This will wake you up too. Bob: Yeah, I was feeling a little sleepy but now I’m awake. Okay, now we’re going to show you one bonus thing. We have a new product, the pro-stretched night sock. We just got this sent to us and it’s funny, Brad and I have tried a lot of these or maybe I don’t know what you have but I’ve tried a number of these. This seems to have solved a lot of the problems that these socks have, or these splints have. What the idea is, throughout the night everything tightens up on you, especially if your foot goes down all night long. So, the socks put a little stretch on the foot all night long but a little bit because if you put too much it keeps you awake. So, this comes with two components. It comes with a strap up on the calf and it has a loop. By the way, they were careful making the parts of this, so they don’t get caught into the blankets very easy, they tried to design it that way. They also took into consideration that a lot of those splints were bulky and hot, and this is supposed to solve all those problems by not being bulky or hot. Brad: And you can walk with it if you need to get up in the middle of the night to take care of business. Bob: Yes, good point. The only thing is these straps are sticky. I slide it on, and it’s got a plastic piece in here. Brad: It’s to keep all the toes coming up together for a complete stretch. Bob: Yeah, otherwise it would pull just more on the big toe, but you can pull it out if you don’t like the feel of it but otherwise it pulls all the toes up equally. You strap it around the ankle here too, so it helps the sock from sliding down. Then a strap comes up and goes through the loop. Brad: Now, I like this a lot better than a lot of other night splints. Some of them are molded plastic around the back and people say they’re not comfortable and they get in the way and it’s hard to sleep with them. Bob: One of the ones I just saw, Brad, the strap went from the toes to the ankle, and I don’t know if you remember that, but it wouldn’t hold very well. And this one, it gives you quite the angle and it works well. They recommend for the first night, bring it up to neutral. Don’t put a stretch on it. My wife wore them for a while, and it did work for her very well and she would wake up in the middle of the night and be loosening it up. You may still run into that but maybe start a couple nights in neutral. Brad: And neutral means the ankle is at a 90-degree angle. Bob: Yeah. Then maybe the second or third night you can start putting more pressure on it and each night just keep putting a little more pressure on it. I really am impressed with this because it’s not bulky in bed and you’re not going to kick your partner in bed with a big splint and it’s a breathable material so it’s not that hot and plus you don’t have a sock going all the way to your chin. It seems like they’ve solved the problems and I’d like to have a patient to try it on because I don’t know if there’s downsides that I’m not seeing. Brad: Right. Bob: So, give the stretches a try and get rid of that plantar fasciitis. Thanks. To learn more about ProStretch Nightsock for Plantar Fasciitis visit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H3BPPY6?ref=exp_physicaltherapyvideo_dp_vv_d 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 X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Leg Massager Foot Massager 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 April of 2019. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWrLX4otJAU&t=308s Bob: Today Brad, we’re going to talk about seven big lies about treating knee arthritis you should know. Brad: There’s a little controversy, we’ll talk about it as we go through it. Bob: So, this is a study that was first done in 2009. I shouldn’t say study, they looked at hundreds of studies, Brad. This is the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. So, they look at hundreds, maybe thousands of studies regarding knee arthritis and hip arthritis too. They first did it in 2009, they redid it in 2018. It’s guidelines for non-surgical management of hip and knee arthritis. Today, I’m just going to talk about knee arthritis since that what the title is. What they do is they do various degrees of recommendations. They’ll say strongly against or conditionally against, which is not as severe. They also go strongly for or conditionally for. Brad: So, there’s a gray zone? Bob: Yeah, right. So, let’s start off with the first one, Brad because I get a lot of people who ask me this. Should I use Glucosamine and Chondroitin? Brad: And what did the study say? Bob: They said they were against the use of it. They didn't see any benefit to it and concerning the cost. Brad: And so, it’s strongly against? Bob: I'm sorry I don't remember I just put recommended against, I didn't do the conditional ones on those. Brad: I don't think what those there's any bad side effects. Bob: No, but again they're like, you know why do things that aren't going to help basically. Brad: Right all right they're scientists. Bob: The second one is going to be may surprise you a little bit. They recommended against use of an ice pack. To me, it makes sense because a lot of times arthritis is inflammation. So, you think you want to put ice on it, but the thing is generally they found out a lot of people like with arthritis they like the heat a lot better. They recommended against use of an ice pack. Brad: I must admit I had a patient that had severe knee arthritis. She couldn't even walk and she did not like heat. She was very alert. She said she kept ice packs in a room, and we put ice on it. Bob: There may be exceptions to the rule. This is the biggest one I think of the seven, Brad. They recommended against arthroscopic meniscectomy cartilage repair. All these surgeries unless the knee was locking. Brad: So, a mechanical clarity. Bob: And you say well how could they recommend, I'm having a lot of pain. They found out that if you had the surgery, five-six months later, you're back to right where you were before. Brad: Okay, we're not talking about knee replacements though. Bob: Not knee replacements, we're talking about arthroscopic surgeries. Where they go in and replace or trim off the meniscus. This is a big one. You'll find doctors that do recommend this. Brad: Right, go in there clean it up a little bit and see how things hold off. Bob: I must be honest, a lot of the people that I know that did have it done, they were back to square one right quickly. It's a little discouraging. Brad: They wouldn't go to the therapist if it worked. Bob: No and that's the thing. You always want to recommend conservative things to try first before you try things like that. They recommended, I kind of through three of them together here on number four. They recommended against acupuncture, kinesio tape and topical capsaicin. So, I just heard of it. I never used it, topical capsaicin. It’s just a rub you put on. Brad: I've got some kinesio tape on here. Bob: You see it, very popular. You see the Olympic athletes wearing it. Everybody thinks, oh boy, that’s cool. But the studies have just not held up on these, sorry. Brad: And we have people comment that they love their kinesio tape, that it helps. I personally think, if it works and you really think it helps, I don't think there's any negative side of it. Bob: No, it's a placebo effect sometimes. And if it's a placebo, it works. Brad: It's better than taking pain pills if it does that. Bob: Alright. They had a whole bunch of things they recommend against, but those are the ones I singled out. Now, I'm going to give you some things they recommended. Unfortunately, with the knee, you are limited. There's not a great amount things. They strongly recommended land-based exercises. What is that? That means versus water-based exercises. So, they thought it was better that you exercised out of the water than in the water. Brad: So, walking. Bob: Walking, muscle strengthening, and Tai Chi was highly recommended. Brad: Okay. That’s such a slow form of exercise. Bob: Do you know how to do it at all? Brad: No, it's a martial arts. I've trained in a different style, drastically different but from what I understand, you go through moves very slowly. Bob: Very slow and controlled. Brad: It makes sense you. It’s going to help with your balance, range of motion, strength. Bob: Give that a shot, but the walking. Also, number six, they recommended, shock absorbing footwear. Put something in your shoe and no high heels. Because that’s going to put stress on there. So, you’re going to stop wearing high heels, Brad? Brad: No, not me. I'm sticking with them. Bob: You’re going to stick with your fashion. Number seven, no surprise here either. Recommended weight loss. While you’re trying to lose weight, sometimes this is a motivator, you could use a cane or a crutch or a walker. My wife was having some knee pain, and it was to the point where, at first, she said, “There’s no way I’m going to use a cane or crutch.” But she ended up using a crutch because it was so bad that she was limping, she couldn’t walk. Brad: So, with the crutch, it was much better. Bob: Yup, I even got some padding for her. It helps to use some padding because you’re using it all the time and your arms and hands are going to get sore. After a while it calmed down and now, she’s back to walking. It’s not an issue anymore. I did some manual things on it too. Brad: Well, we don’t have to get into that. Bob: That was it Brad. That’s number seven, you must try to take some of the weight off it, so you can use the cane or crutch, or a walker. Brad: Well, I did want to say one thing. I wanted to back up a few steps. I’m surprised that the water exercise wouldn’t be good for it. I think most people would question it. Bob: Yeah, I’m surprised they talked about it. I don’t remember if they recommended against it or if it was a recommendation, but it was a lesser recommendation. I think there’s something about taking the full weight through the leg, and the effect that it has on the knee, and creating some of the oil there. Brad: You lost everybody. Bob: Yeah, I lost my thought. Brad: That’s okay. I’m saying if you have a swimming pool, and it feels good to get in there and exercise. I recommend that to my patient, but the problem is, very few people have that option. Bob: Right. They take everything into account. The convenience of it, the cost of it. They’ll recommend things that are a lot easier to do. Brad: Sure, that makes sense. Then I concur. 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 Handheld Massager Back and Neck Massager X6 Massage Gun with Stainless Steel Head Eye Massager T2 Massage Gun Leg Massager Foot Massager 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.

We highly recommend you see your physician in order to ensure a correct diagnosis. Sciatica can be a serious disabling condition and it important that you are not misdiagnosed. However, we do provide four self-tests you can perform. These tests can help increase your sciatica knowledge before meeting with your health care provider. Test One (Herniated or Bulging Disc) The first test is conducted with a seated straight leg raise in order to identify a possible herniated or bulging disc. In a seated position, lift your right leg while keeping your knee straight. While your leg is in the air, bend your right foot toward you while simultaneously flexing your neck. If you have a herniated disc, oftentimes you will feel increased pain or symptoms down the leg with this test. Now repeat the above steps with your left leg. Test Two (Herniated or Bulging Disc) This test is also used to identify a herniated or bulging disc. For this test, sit in a chair without any arms. Grab the underside of the chair with both arms and pull up. Next, slouch forward and extend your neck back. Be sure to note any pain occurring in your back and leg(s). Now flex your neck forward, while still being in a slouched position and pulling up on the underside of the chair. If your pain increases while flexing your neck forward, it is likely caused by a herniated or bulging disc. Test Three (3-Part Test for Spinal Stenosis) A. Sit in a chair with your feet on the floor and legs slightly apart. Lean forward in the chair and reach for the floor with your hands. If your backpain increases with this maneuver, stop immediately. If your back pain stops after performing this, you may have spinal stenosis. B. Stand up from the chair and raise your arms overhead and lean back (see photo). If standing and leaning back increases your pain, you may have spinal stenosis. C. Answer these three questions: a. Do you have increased pain following prolonged walking and standing? b. Does the pain stop when you are sitting or while leaning forward on a shopping cart? c. Are you older than 55? If you answer “yes” to all three questions, you may have spinal stenosis. Arthritis or degeneration of the spine can cause spinal stenosis. Test Four (Piriformis Syndrome) This is a test to identify if you have piriformis syndrome. For this test, sit in a chair with your back upright and your feet resting on the ground. Next, place the ankle of your affected (painful) leg on the unaffected knee. Place one hand on the ankle of the affected leg. Place your other hand on the outside of the knee of the affected leg. Next, bend forward from the waist to feel a stretch in your buttocks. At the same time, pull your affected knee toward your chest. Increased pain and tenderness in the buttock and leg during this test may indicate the piriformis muscle is involved. If it appears that you have piriformis syndrome or spinal stenosis, confirm this diagnosis with your doctor or health care provider. PLEASE NOTE: THIS VIDEO PROGRAM WILL NOT HELP YOU IF YOU HAVE PIRIFORMIS SYNDROME OR SPINAL STENOSIS. 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. Check out the full Sciatica series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: http://bobandbrad.com/programs 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.