Dr.
Frisch’s E-News
A Publication of Dr. Glenn Frisch
4137
Woodland Road
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763-784-5304 • 763-784-5349 (fax) • drfrisch@qwest.net • © 2005, Dr. Frisch. All Rights Reserved
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As we put 2005 to bed, I hope that it has been a rewarding year for each of you! With the onset of the Holiday Season, we will once again be bombarded by Chia Pets, Pocket Fisherman, and other novelty treats that always show up on store shelves around Christmas. I think that half of the fun is trying to predict which items will be the most popular at next summer's garage sales. One disturbing trend of Christmas this year, however, is the blatant disregard of the word 'Christmas' by some of our largest and most respected retailers! They are having holiday sales, holiday season sales, and let's not forget happy holidays sales. These retailers are refusing to use the word 'Christmas' in any marketing or advertising. They are intentionally ignoring the fact that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus and the joy that his birth promised each of us. I personally love Santa Claus and the whole idea of gift-giving and the 'good little girls and boys'. We need more of that! Only the ignorant observer would be unable to understand the difference between Jesus and Santa! People do get the point! I think that retailers should be more responsible than to try and change Christmas because it might bring more shopping profits. It is said that most retailers make between 40-60% of their yearly profits during the Christmas buying period. I think that their recent marketing attempt might end up under the category of "What were we thinking"? Time will tell if making Christmas a generic holiday will bring larger profits and from who! I personally feel that they should take an example from the 2 year old girl in the Christmas picture below, and once again, enjoy the Holiday for what it really is!
Have a Great Holiday! Dr. Frisch |
Why Santa Doesn't Ice Fish
Raynaud's Phenomenon
This condition has many names. Some people call it 'cold-hand syndrome', 'frozen toes', or the famous one, 'chill blains'. No matter what you might call it, there is usually a classic onset of Raynaud's phenomenon (Raynaud's Syndrome). ONSET In Minnesota we are accustom to being outside in the winter time. As a result, we are exposed to temperatures below 0 degrees for extended periods. This can result in reddening and even a whitening of the hands and feet. When we return indoors, we are often faced with the uncomfortable, and sometimes painful, task of trying to warm up. How many of you remember, as a child, having your mother hold your hands under warm, running water to regain feeling and color into your hands? There is often itching as the extremities begin to warm that can be quite painful. (I know that I'm not the only one to have ever experienced this!) Most of the time, the hands and feet warm up and things are back to normal in 20-30 minutes. Problems Some people become sensitive over time to cold and in some instances, after one good 'freeze', they may become hypersensitive to the cold. Their hands and feet may turn white very quickly on exposure and the pain is significant, forcing them back into warmer conditions. This sudden 'blanching' of the skin on exposure to cold is a direct result of trauma to the blood vessels of the hands and/or feet. The damage is not only because of cold, but also because of the warming process. This means that it is the change of temperatures over time1 or an exaggerated vasoconstriction and vasospasm of the cappilaries2 at one time that induces this syndrome. Aren't Blood Vessels Suppose to Constrict? Yes they are, but the vasospasm of the arterioles may cause injury to the nerves that control the vessels. This nerve damage may be permanent and forever alter circulation to the skin and musculature of the hands. A similar phenomenon can occur with vibrational trauma (jack hammer, eg.). Why not Rub the Skin? If the hands or feet have been too cold for too long, ice crystals can actually form in the cells! If you rub the frozen area, you can further damage the already expanded cells. This can lead to future episodes of blanching and pain because the individual cells no longer function properly, even if the nerves to the area are spared. What to Do If you or a child has been expose to cold for long periods and the hands (especially) are red or white here are some simple help aides:
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Happy
Holidays!
(Mmm....I wonder who it could be?)
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I Fell Down & I Can't Get Up
“Tips on How to Avoid Winter Back Injuries”
Remember to take breaks when shoveling. It is harder than you think! Your spine, muscles and even your organs are stressed with shoveling snow. If you feel faint, you need to stop until you have regained your strength. If you continue to become light-headed and dizzy with shoveling, you do need a medical examination to have your heart checked! |
Reindeer the Other White Meat
WHAT IS A REINDEER?
Reindeer Facts: · Reindeer and caribou are the only deer (Cervidae) where males, females, and calves produce antlers. The primary function of antler is for gaining social dominance. · Reindeer hair is extremely dense. The hollow guard hair provides buoyancy facilitating their swimming ability. · Reindeer hoofs are large relative to their body. This load factor and wide splaying of their hoofs, acting like snowshoes, helps them to walk on snow. · Reindeer physiology is specialized to eat and digest lichen (sometimes called reindeer moss) as an energy source in winter. Lichen is produced by a symbiotic relationship between algae and fungi. Most
animals don't eat moss. It's hard to digest, and it has little
nutritional value. But reindeer fill up with lots of moss,
because the moss contains a special chemical that helps reindeer keep
their body fluids warm. When the reindeer make their yearly
journey across the icy Arctic region, the chemical keeps them from
freezing, much like antifreeze keeps a car from freezing up in winter. Finally, Reindeer really can't fly because they don't have wings! What happens is that they run so fast that the air under them vibrates them up into the air. That's why their legs are always moving as they goes over the houses, pulling Santa's sleigh!!!
(Gotcha..I knew what you were thinking!)
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Eileen's Corner Sticking with the reindeer theme, I would like to thank Land-O-Lakes for this fun, family recipe!
Reindeer Chow
This is a sweet and easy recipe the kids can help make. Place the Chow in a canning jar with a liner of holiday fabric and the recipe attached (hand written by your child) and give as a gift.
5 cups honeycomb-shaped cereal or cereal squares 2 cups thin pretzel sticks, broken in half ½ cup butter or margarine ½ cup creamy peanut butter 1 (11.5 ounce) package (1 ½ cups) chocolate chips 1 cup powdered sugar 1cup red and green candy-coated milk chocolate candies 2 (1 gallon size) zip-top plastic food bags
Combine cereal and pretzels in 4-qt. bowl; set aside. Place butter, peanut butter and chocolate chips in medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 45 seconds; stir. Continue micro waving until butter and chocolate are melted (15-45 seconds). Stir until smooth. Immediately pour chocolate mixture over cereal in bowl.
Stir until well coated and then spread the mixture evenly in one, single layer, on two waxed paper lined cookie sheets.
Refrigerate 20 minutes to set.
Break into bite-size pieces; place half of mixture in a plastic food bag. Pour ½ cup powdered sugar into the bag; close bag. Shake bag until mixture is well coated. Repeat with the other half of the mixture in a separate bag.
Place ½ cup candies in each bag. Store in sealed bags or an airtight container in refrigerator up to 4 weeks. Makes 9 - 12 cups.
Tips: Add more powdered sugar if needed after storage. For longer storage, freeze in airtight container or freezer bags up to 2 months.
Nutrition Facts (½ cup) Calories 260, 5g protein, 53g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 13g fat, 15mg cholesterol, 280mg sodium Have a Great Holiday! Eileen
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Snow and Ice & All That's Nice
Winter slips and falls occur suddenly and can be quite debilitating. Everyone has heard a story about an elderly lady slipping and falling on the ice, resulting in a broken hip. What usually happens in that case, however, is that due to osteoporosis (bone density loss), the bone actually broke FIRST and then the senior fell. This has been well documented. How many of you have ever fallen on the ice, landing on an outstretched arm? I suspect that there are a whole lot of hands in the air right now! These types of winter falls often do result in a fractured arm or hand. If the radius or ulna (arm bones) are fractured there is usually a deviation or deformity of the arm that is visible to the naked eye. This usually means a trip to Urgent Care or the local ER for x-rays, a fracture reduction, and finally a cast! Hand fractures as the result of a fall, however, can be much harder to detect and the treatment may also be much more involved. You have 8 bones in your wrist, set in 2 rows with each row having 4 bones. Falling on an outstretched arm means that you are landing on the hand with your full body weight. This places the greatest stress on the end of the radius and ulna and the first row of hand bones, primarily the SCAPHOID bone. A scaphoid fracture may be acute and show immediately on x-ray or it may be subtle and not show on initial testing. It can take up to 14 days for some fractures to be visible because it can take that long for the bone to resorb out of the crack. This is called an occult fracture and they are very common. This is why after a fall, it may take several weeks before the doctor finally finds the break! It isn't the doctor's fault because it really wasn't visible to start with. The unfortunate complication with this type of hand break is that it usually requires surgery to fix the little bone. They don't usually grow back together on their own! OUCH! For this reason, be sure of the surfaces that you are walking on this winter. It will lessen the risk of a fall, a break or a surgery!
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I Prefer Powder!
Skiing can be fun for the whole family, but a fall on the slopes often puts a damper on the Holiday! When skiers fall, they achieve a unique position that is hard to reproduce any other way. Skiers have been trained from an early age to first, hang on to the poles while descending a hill and second, to use the poles for balance. For this reason, the last thing that a skier thinks about when falling, is letting go of the poles! When a skier falls, they do want to brace themselves to lessen the impact. As they prepare to meet the ground they will usually open their hand. This means that there is now a 'wedge' (pole) under the thumb. This 'wedge' acts like a long lever on the thumb and often results in a tearing of the supporting ligaments of the thumb. It is not uncommon, due to the force of impact, that a small part of the bone breaks off along with the ligament. The most common ligament injured in the thumb is the ulnar collateral ligament (as shown above). When injuring this ligament, you may get lucky and only suffer a mild to moderate sprain. If the pain is severe and you do notice a finger deformity, please don't take the 'wait and see' approach. Go see your doctor as soon as possible. The healing process begins immediately after trauma. If you wait too long to have this trauma repaired, there may be limitations to your recovery! Although falls are common with skiing, you can limit your risk of trauma by following a these simple rules:
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End of the Year Housekeeping
As we wrap up the year 2005, I would like to thank each of you who are patients at my clinic. This completes my 20th year as a chiropractor and I can say with confidence, that each year has held new surprises. Some good, some bad. The one thing that remains constant, however, is a patient's need for care of his or her injuries and diseases. I hope that I have not failed in my attempt to educate each one of you during the course of your care. I preach 'structure and function' so much that I do actually have dreams about structure and function of the body! I hope that, even by osmosis, some of that has rubbed off on you! Your kind referrals of family members and friends shows me that you do understand my mission for health and how to achieve it. Thank you! This year has been exciting, but stressful as well. Performing research while still in active, clinical practice is a lot like juggling knives. You can never take your eye off of the task at hand. The fallout would be disastrous. The good thing about performing research is that each of you will benefit from the time that I spend adding validity to every aspect of the practice. For example, from clinical use we knew that the Habitack® Smoking Cessation Program was successful, but who could have guessed how successful it really is. At this time, I am waiting to hear back from the peer review committee of a major medical journal. My research evaluated some parameters of the smoking behavior that had never been tested before. Even they were excited at what they saw! I will keep you posted on the progress. The next step that I take with this program will be phenomenal, I promise!!!! I recently released the My Fibro™ program. Fibromyalgia is a distinct entity that is not chronic pain. I developed a method of analysis that incorporates standardized medical testing to first determine if someone even has Fibromyalgia (That has always been a stumbling block.), and then objectively track their progress during treatment. So far, the results are beyond what I could have even expected. As patient successes rise, so does the opportunity for a full clinical trial on the My Fibro™ program. The future of this program is bright . Both men and women are affected by Fibromyalgia and the process begins without your conscious awareness. I rarely use the word 'cure', but for those completing the program, that is just what is happening! As we close out 2005 and look ahead to 2006, I would like to wish each of you a joyous and rewarding holiday season. "Each moment is its own lifetime, so remember to revel in the moments that you share with others"! See you next year! Dr. Frisch
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