Dooley Noted: 12/29/2015 I’m a fan of correctives to enhance performance and decrease the chance of injury. But what do you do when the correctives don’t work? It happens – and it happened to me. At this time last year, I couldn’t post my arm like this baby in a bodyweight getup. Searing pain spiraled down my arm, ending at my elbow. Knowing my anatomy well, I did some radial … Read more
Dooley Noted: 12/27/2015 While home, I ran into an acquaintance at the local gym. I see her there at Christmas every year. She is the queen of the elliptical machine. Sometimes, I think she will launch it right off its tracks. She never comes on the weight floor with me. She’s convinced that cardio is her mission. She says, “I don’t want to get – you know – bulky.” I … Read more
Dooley Noted: 12/27/2015 I have my share of patients that currently use anti-depressant medications, particularly in the winter months. While these drugs helps many, other people feel their lives don’t change much. While I have made the elective decision not to utilize such drugs, I understand the depths of struggle with depression. It’s a tough subject, especially on Facebook – where people only tend to post about being “blessed.” They … Read more
Dooley Noted: 12/26/2015 Neuroscience describes our thoughts as pathways, much like highway systems. Having a positive thought about oneself can open off-ramps to positive memories, with plenty of pitstops at the Reward Center (I.e., nucleus accumbens). Therefore, as your thoughts shift to positive things, you are handsomely fueled with dopamine. (This chemical pathway is also activated by drugs, hence the drug moniker, “dope.”) But thoughts can go the other way. … Read more
Dooley Noted: 12/25/2015 This holiday season has been emotional, relaxing, and full of enormous gifts. And I don’t mean stuff. People can have their stuff, if it suits them. I got these gifts. 1. I got to spend the first Christmas in years with both sisters, my parents, and their families – in person. FaceTime is great and all, but it will never equate to seeing their smiling faces across … Read more
Dooley Noted: 12/24/2015 Two Christmases ago, my father had finished ferocious chemotherapeutic and radiation treatments, in hopes of annihilating a small cell carcinoma. He couldn’t eat, drink, breathe, or pump blood efficiently, because this vicious lung tumor was gripping his trachea, esophagus, and aorta. His oncologist didn’t offer false hope. He was informed of the low survival rate of one of the most aggressive cancer attacks known to man. But the oncologist hadn’t watched my … Read more
Dooley Noted: 12/23/2015 The gifts are all wrapped. The food is all cooked. A severe thunderstorm warning is brewing. As I drive to the gym, I don’t go there with the thought that I’m exercising as a compromise or bargain. My training goals pull me there without a second thought. Once your goals are ingrained into your system, training for them becomes as consistent as teeth-brushing. Training is not to be used as an excuse … Read more
Dooley Noted: 12/22/2015 I fully appreciate when people outside the health professions know anatomical or diagnostic terms. These include anything from iliotibial band to carpal tunnel syndrome to one of my favorite diagnoses: sciatica. The general public regards sciatica as any pain emanating from the back and traveling down the leg. Perhaps some anatomical clarification is in order. In sciatica, the sciatic nerve is the nerve if interest. It is … Read more
Dooley Noted: 12/21/2015 I had the pleasure of watching Family Feud with my mother this morning. One of the questions was very telling. “Name something a baby learns to do without you teaching them.” My answer: “Everything.” My mom replied, “Not walking.” I said, “Ma, they absolutely, positively learn that without your help.” I see this all the time: parents loading their babies’ hips to encourage them to walk. … Read more
Dooley Noted: 12/20/2015 Breakups are never easy – especially when they are a few days before your favorite holiday. He is a wonderful human, and my love for him had burrowed through me. So when it ends, you feel physical pain and enormous loss. After all, you never know how much something matters to you until you lose it. So, how do you cope? How do you hold your … Read more