Dr. Ruggeri's Blog

After surgery you need to take it easy and give yourself time to heal. Besides the weight restrictions concerns you also need to be mindful when driving. Of course, it is always traumatic when you are in an accident, but now after your surgery you are susceptible to tearing sutures and staples and other possible injures. That is why when driving you should pretend that you are carrying precious cargo. Even if you don’t get into an accident you might still cause injury. Imagine that you are transporting a multilayered wedding cake on the passenger seat, and that even a slight force could topple it over. You know that this cake cannot easily be replaced and that the wedding reception has no other choice but to wait for you, so there is no need to hurry. Even mild quick turns or hard bumps could cause disaster so don’t chance it.

Race walking is an easy way to increase your endurance, relieve stress and increase your energy level. Race walking is a good for the whole body and is very easy to do. Start out by walking in one direction for a half hour and returning. Remember how far you go each time and increase the distance each time you walk. You should establish a goal of walking 3 to 4 times per week, increasing your distance slightly each time. You can use your automobiles odometer to check the distance you walk. When you first start your race walking program you should be able to comfortably walk between 1 to 3 miles in one hour. Give yourself 4 to 6 weeks to adjust to your walking program. At 4 to 6 weeks you should be able to comfortably walk 3 to 4 miles in one hour. Being consistent will get your there! EQUIPMENT NEEDED: --Comfortable walking shoes --A watch to time yourself --Comfortable loose fitting clothes --Hand weights (2 pound maximum) --Water when walking in the summer --Give yourself time to

After you injure a nerve in you arm, hand or finger, you need to allow enough time for nerve repair to occur. Unfortunately, many patients have burning pain, tingling and numbness in the affected part during this time. This is because their growing nerve ends are irritated and need to be retrained. Retraining a nerve can be easily done by over-stimulating it. We all do it everyday. For instance, when you step into a hot bath, it seems very hot at first. However, after a minute or so the bath seems more comfortable. Basically, the sensory nerves on the skin were over stimulated with heat to the point that the brain turned off the signal; much like we turn down the volume on a loud stereo. Therefore, we can retrain any nerve (including injured ones) by over-stimulating them to the point where they will be turned off or toned down. For injured nerves in the hand or fingers, I have a simple five step program to desensitize irritable nerve endings. Step  #1  – Tap the stump or injured p

People who work more productively and more safely when there is a proper physical environment. In the modern work place people have attempted to adapt to fixed work areas which have resulted in injuries to the soft tissues of the body including nerves tendons and muscles. These injuries develop over time as a result of frequent constant repetitive actions. In order to avoid injuries from occurring in the work area the employee should modify the work station and maintain good body posture. The employee should also maintain a good personal fitness program. The first thing that should be addressed is the desk area. The computer monitor should be set at eye level with the key board directly in front of the monitor with the employee looking at the monitor just below the horizontal level. If working on the telephone as well as the computer for more than fifteen minutes a headset is strongly recommended. This will prevent incorrect posturing of the cervical spine and shoulder girdle.

Swimming is an excellent overall exercise for the entire body. It strengthens and tones muscles and it burns fat. It is also a very good exercise to increase flexibility in the upper body. Start out by locating a lap pool if possible. Backyard swimming polls are okay, but lap pools are usually longer allowing for more swimming and less turning. If you do not have access to a swimming pool, but do have access to a hot tub you can simulate the breath stoke using your upper body only. Begin your swimming program with slow and controlled swimming for 10 to 15 minutes for 2 to 3 times a week. Side strokes or breast strokes only! No overhead strokes! After 1 to 2 weeks, increase your time to 15 to 20 minutes 2 to 3 times per week. Work your way up to swimming 25 to 30 minutes without stopping work on slowly increasing your speed.

When a doctor asks you "Is better, worse, or about the same?", it is not just about getting information about a particular ache or pain. It is an existential question that reveals a lot about you in the way you answer the question, and, indeed, if you can answer the question at all. Logically, it is a multiple choice question with an A, B, or C answer. There should be no room for D -- None of the Above. But many patients cannot easily answer the question. Why is that? They are conflicted about their condition, and physical pain is not the real problem. In fact the perceived pain may be a crutch for a more deep seeded problem. If one takes away the physical pain, one takes away the crutch and the net result is more misery. Many health care professionals are frustrated by this paradox, and tend to over treat these patients. The patients are also frustrated and plead,"Doctor, do something!" My response is to do less. "Hit the reset button". Stop all treatm

In order to relieve symptoms of numbness and pain during the day you must modify the way you sleep at night. We all have habits of sleeping in certain positions that may not be the best positions to sleep in. Retraining the position you sleep in is not always easy. Poor sleeping posture usually begins when we are very young. But as children we do not experience the unpleasant side effects of poor sleeping posture. As Adults poor sleeping posture can aggravate certain conditions causing pain and numbness in the arms and/or hands. Another position is achieved by using two pillows and safety pinning each sleeve of a night shirt to the inside of each pillow case. Your arms should be on the inside of each pillow case. This will prevent you from rolling over or lying on your arms or stomach. Remember these methods are designed to allow for good sleeping posture. Trying to break a life long habit can take time so give yourself time to adjust and don’t’ get discouraged.

Many people are told by their doctor that they have tendinitis and have no idea exactly what tendinitis is. The suffix –itis is a Greek word meaning inflammation and tendinitis is inflammation of the tendon. Actually the inflammation can involve the tendon insertion into the bone, the tendon connection to the muscle and the muscle connection to the bone. The majority of tendinitis that is seen in the United States is caused by over-use, usually by the so called WEEKEND WARRIORS, who try to do more than their unconditioned bodies will allow them to do. When the muscle tendon is overused, cells die and need to be replaced and during this replacement process the entire muscle-tendon unite gets inflamed and swells, causing pain. The pain, believe it or not is good because it prevents the individual from continuing to use the muscle tendon unite and allows the muscle tendon unite to repair itself. There fore, the first treatment of tendinitis is to listen to one’s boy and if the part hurt

Thoracic outlet syndrome is a compression of the nerves and vessels that go to the arm as they emerge from the base of the neck. This compression can result in pain, numbness and odd feelings in the affected arm, especially when using the arm in overhead activities or in prolonged use of the arm. Fortunately, this condition is amenable to physical therapy, namely exercises to the shoulder girdle to prevent sloping of the shoulder, which tends to aggravate compression about the nerve and vessels at the base of the neck. These exercises can be done very easily by most patients at home and sometimes are done under the guidance of a physical therapist. Eighty percent of patients will respond to the exercises. Of the 20% that do not respond to exercise, surgery is usually necessary to decompress the space where the nerve and vessels are compressed. 1. THORACIC OUTLET DAILY EXERCISES Stand erect with arms at side: A Shrug shoulders forward and upward B Relax C Shrug shoulders backward and up

Many patients who anxiously see their physicians with progressive swelling over the wrist are concerned about cancer. They are relieved but perplexed to have the diagnosis of Ganglion made. This is a benign but annoying condition that can cause significant pain and disability. A ganglion is merely an out pouching from the capsule of the wrist. The capsule is the tough ligamentous tissue which holds the wrist bones to the forearm. If there is a hole or a weak spot in the capsule the underlying tissue can bulge out much like the old inner tubes could bulge out on a car tire. Most ganglions are small and do not cause pain, but some can get fairly large. If the ganglion impinges on any of the tiny nerves in the wrist capsule it causes pain and disability. The treatment of a wrist ganglion is basically a numbers game. In the old days professional and amateurs would smash the ganglion with a heavy book (the Bible Treatment). This is an effective way to eliminate the out pouching and many