by Andrei Alupului, on Inverse  

I think everyone should read the article in Futurism by Dan Robitzski, Faulty Studies Mean Everythingthing You Know About Nutrition is Wrong, 2 July 2018 issue. Caveat Emptor. 

There's a fascinating article, the Neuroscience of Pain, by Nicola Twilley in the New Yorker, 2 July 2018, that everyone should read.  You just might understand yourself, and people around you, a little better. An Excellent read! Informative and timely, interesting and easy to understand just enough of the  complicated science to make the article valuable reading material. 

Knitting can be a powerful tool in learning to live more easily with your pain.  I first read about the benefits of knitting in a novel by Karen Rose.  It is remarkable what the practice of knitting can do.  It some respects, it is similar to meditation, in that,  while it occupies your hands, it quiets your mind.  Why didn't I learn to knit long ago?  I should be knitting right now, but unfortunately, I can't type and knit at the same time.  I am actually not sure how good I will be at it.  I've never been able to eat with chopsticks or make the hand signal that accompanies the, "Live long and prosper," Vulcan blessing.  Maybe those aren't the only indicators of knitting prowess.  I hope not.  But even if we stumble along as we learn, the benefits accrue.  Jennifer and I are going to take a class at Joann's Fabrics and Crafts in Kennesaw.  Maybe we will see you there. We might stop by the Melting Pot first.  We used to go there to celebrate passing a CIC or CRM exam. (Certified Insurance Counselor or Certified Risk Manager)  Who doesn't love fondue?

There are many articles on the benefits of knitting.  A good one is, the Health Benefits of Knitting, by Jane E Brody, in the New York Times, 25 January 2016. There are the physiological benefits, like lowering your heart rate and blood pressure; reducing anxiety.  According to almost half of the depressed people involved in the study, knitting improved their depression.  Many chronic pain patients reported that knitting alleviated their pain.  Changing your focus changes your perception of pain.  Anorexia patients reported that knitting helped their recovery.  It improves manual dexterity and alleviates stiffness in hands and fingers. Ready to join a class?  Call Joann's Fabrics and Crafts in Kennesaw:  770 428 9986.

The benefits of massage can be remarkable, especially if used in conjunction with physical therapy if it's needed, or reguIar exercise.  I wish I had known about massage therapy many years ago, but I only learned of it in my mid-thirties.  When I tried it, and began having weekly neuro-muscular massage, I had less pain, greater flexibility and range of motion, better balance, all of which reduce the risk of falling.  I actually walked better and more easily.  I have been lucky enough to have three very skilled and talented therapists who cared about me and about improving my quality of life.  I can recommend the Massage Envy location on Chastain Road in Kennesaw.  Someone I met there became my personal god of Massage.  I think anyone who has mobility issues or chronic pain should try it. Check with your doctor first, to be aware of any issues you should bring to the therapist's attention, especially if you are recovering from an injury or dealing with cancer or are pregnant.   It can be intense, sometimes painful, but you can control the pressure the therapist uses, and it feels great afterwards, especially if you make it a regular thing.  Massage Drunk is something I enthusiastically recommend.  Be careful if you drive home afterwards.  You might get a little goofy because you feel so much better.  Massage increases the levels of seratonin and oxytocyn and reduces cortisol in your body.  The pain recedes far into the background for a while.  Maybe take a cab,  or call a friend, or walk across the street and have lunch first, with lots of water. 

I miss it a lot, the way it makes everything physically easier, and quiets the pain for a while in a way nothing else does.  I haven't had my weekly massage since I was laid off.

I can recommend Judy and her staff at the Canton Institute for Physical Therapy. (770 345 3057)  She is kind and smart and thorough, and she helped me when I hurt my back.  All physical therapists are not created equal.  The first one I went to didn't know anything about cerebral palsy, so he couldn't help.  Even the very expensive neurologist I consulted was no help.  He watched me walk around his office, and he said, "I am worried, with the way that you are walking, that you will fall again, and hurt yourself even worse."  He only wanted to write me a prescription for a disabled license tag for my car.  He gazed at me as if he didn't speak my language when I said, "But I need you to help me fix it!" It may be that I have a bias against conventional Western medicine.  I believe that many of them did not honor their duty of care toward me.    My dad recently told me that when I was born, prematurely and with cerebral palsy, doctors actually told my parents not to hold me, that I should not be handled.  That has to be some of the worst advice ever given in the history of the practice of medicine.  All kinds of emotional and neural connections are not formed when babies are not held. 

I'm sure they would say their advice was based on the best information available at the time.  I'm sure they didn't mean to hurt me.  But it was bad advice, even if only in terms of simple human decency.  It seems draconian to me. Please don't be steered by my bias:  find a doctor you trust and respect.  Find several, two heads, or more, being better than one.  Even I found one for myself:  Dr. Lowry of Atlanta West Gynecology.  Bias loses a lot of its influence over your behavior when you are consciously aware of it.

I actually bought physical therapy textbooks and studied them, so that I could figure out how to heal my back by myself.  Then I found Judy.  She would even let me hang around doing the exercises she recommended for me, and walking,  and using the traction machine until she closed the place at night.  

Pets are extremely good for you!  They give you someone to love and take care of, and they love you back.  They help you commit to exercise, since they need walking.  Even my cats will watch me while I do laps in the backyard.  Rubbing a pet reduces anxiety and lowers blood pressure.  I have adopted my last two cats as strays;  from the Cat Clinic of Cobb and the Cobb County Shelter, respectively.  And the one before Dennis, Mom and Dad got from my piano teacher, Mrs. Marble, for my tenth birthday.  Did you know that learning to play the piano will make your kids better at languages for their entire lives?  Make room for the pianos!  Pets are wonderful companions.  Dennis the Menace got me through some of the hardest days of my life.  So save a life:  adopt a dog or a cat, or both, and you will, in many ways, save your own. I hope that someday soon,  when my life is more settled I can get another Maine Coon and a german shepherd puppy.  I might've considered cloning Dennis the Menace, but I don't have $50,000.  And I read that the clone will look like him but, not be him.  It isn't possible to clone his personality, which is why I loved him. Pets also increase the diversity in your microbiome, which is all kinds of good for you.  So is not obsessively cleaning your house.  An actual benefit derives from not cleaning too often:  greater diversity of good bacteria in your gut.  So no more guilt for knowing that walking is more important than running the vacuum every day.   

Bartow Animal Hospital, Inc took excellent care of my new kitten when she was sick shortly after I brought her home, if you need a good vet.  770 974 2221. She is excellent company.  It is like living at Mardi Gras, having her here.  She is part Bengal, I think, based on her coloring and markings, and her behavior.  She can climb to the top of the entertainment center, which I have never seen a cat do; she knocks all the stuff onto the floor in the process.  Is she choosing the music for the day?  I think so.  She likes James Taylor and 10,000 Maniacs.  She loves to shred toilet paper.  And there's a soccer-like game we play with balls of paper.  She can open my drawers and take things out to play with them.  She can rattle picture frames and cabinet doors.  She loves to play in water, and she is a fierce hunter.  She brings me chipmunks and voles and snakes and lizards from our yard.  Her tributes are scattered on the patio.  Part of my exercise is letting her in and out 25 times a day.  I had to stop letting her use the pet door, although I am now a qualified wildlife removal technician. Heather and I once had to catch a baby rabbit that Dennis the Menace brought to my room.  I am going to invent a pet door with a scanner attached.  It will check her paws and mouth for other mangled limbs, and lock if she has additional cargo.  I think everyone will want one.  Until then, I am at her beck and call.  She's very verbal, and she lets me know when I am not moving fast enough.  Let the good times roll!