Q: I have a fair amount of knee pain but don't want to have surgery. I can't really exercise - run, walk distances, bike - without it hurting. Any suggestions? - Wanda S., Glendale, California
A: First, go see an orthopedist to find out what's causing the pain. Female athletes are three times more likely than their male counterparts to injure their anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL. And that may be the cause. Other possibilities include a meniscus tear, cartilage erosion, a strained or sprained ligament, tendonitis, a stretch or tear of the medial collateral ligament (MCL), or a misaligned kneecap.
Fortunately, there are nonsurgical remedies that can be very effective if you do not have a severe tear or other serious structural damage. You may simply need rest and ice and/or heat, anti-inflammatory pain meds like ibuprofen or naproxen, or a brace to ease pain and swelling while your knee heals. If all that isn't effective, then you're a candidate for physical rehab.
Your goal is to strengthen your quads (the group of four muscles above your knees), your hamstrings (the muscles behind your knees and quads) and your butt muscles. Together, they're the main extensor muscles of the hip, thigh and calf.
But don't do any exercise without first talking to your orthopedist. You don't want to cause further damage! So, ask about the following:
Water exercises. They engage all those muscle groups with minimal strain on your knee. There are seated water routines, as well as walking, hip kickers, squat jumps and even using an in-pool treadmill.
Low impact stretches and exercises (on dry land). They also ease knee pain and improve stability and flexibility. You may be a candidate for weight-bearing leg lifts or stepping side to side using resistance bands.
Get a PT prescription from your orthopedist for a two- to three-day-a-week regimen, and you may be able to avoid surgery. Just remember to warm up with heat and end with ice to reduce inflammation.
Q: We're getting a petition together to end smoking outside one of the new malls in our area. I hate the secondhand smoke and especially the exposure for the kids. Any new info/studies that could strengthen our argument? - Daniela F., Tampa, Florida
A: Secondhand smoke is dangerous. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the smoke from a burning cigarette and the smoke breathed out by smokers contain more than 7,000 toxic chemicals and about 70 of them can cause cancer. For children, secondhand smoke is directly related to more frequent and severe asthma attacks, respiratory infections, ear infections and sudden infant death syndrome. In adults it's linked to coronary heart disease (34,000 deaths annually), a 20% to 30% increased risk of stroke, and 7,300 lung cancer deaths among U.S. nonsmokers annually.
And we know that thirdhand smoke lodged in upholstery, walls, clothing and hair can transmit toxins into your lungs. But now there's a brand-new finding that should really help bolster your very important lobbying. Scientists have discovered a new villain: after smoke.
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology found that cigarettes that are extinguished and cold to the touch can still emit a plasticizer in the filters called triacetin, and in one day they emit up to 14% of the nicotine of a burning cigarette. They call this after smoke "butt emissions."
Smokers generate over 5 trillion butts worldwide annually, and there's been concern about their effect on wildlife and the environment, but until now no one looked at what the airborne emissions from those piles of butts in the ashtray outside a store's front door or in your car were doing to humans.
So share this info with the folks who run the mall and the individual vendors and shop managers. Point out to them that asthma, heart disease, stroke and lung cancer are bad for business and it's in their interest to sign your petition.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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