Do you get knots in your muscles?  Or are you sore and tight after a particularly hard workout and you wish there was a way to speed up the muscle recovery?  Or do you just feel lazy simply sitting in front of the TV watching glee, and you want to do something to make you feel better about yourself and your fitness....

Well, have no fear!  TriggerPoint products are here!


This product has me at it's name.  Personally, I think that if I ever had a single trigger point injection, it would be like crack and I'd never be able to stop.  Not that I'm opposed to someone sticking a small needed into a very angry little muscle spasm... it's just hard to do alone, in front of the TV.  And that's why TriggerPoint therapy exists!  The premise (as I understand it) is this.  Exercise can and does create trigger points of focal muscle spasm that 1) hurt, and 2) decrease flexibility and muscle performance.  If you can release these spasms, blood flow to the muscle increases, pain decreases, and performance improves.  Traditional stretching, while still good as a general practice, is not the best way to release these focal spasms.  It's like trying to get rid of a knot in a rope by pulling on it... not gonna do the trick.  Instead, you've got to work it around until it breaks free.

Enter: Trigger Point.  The products (in the starter kit, that includes the footballer, baller block, and massage ball)  are designed to provide focal pressure for a short amount of time to trigger points, releasing them and allowing the muscle to stretch and relax.  To do this, you place you leg (in the case of the footballer), back (in the case of the massage ball), or other muscle that hurts if you have more equipment, onto the appropriate device, roll it around until you find that spot that hurts, and let it rest there with gentle pressure until you feel the pain release. 

It's wonderful, I love it, and I want more.  Like, one for each leg, two massage balls, and the bigger one for quads, hammies, back, and such.  I love that it's a great way to target trigger points at home. 

So far, I've used it a couple times and am a big fan of the results.  Sometimes my back and shoulders get so tight my fingers tingle, and I just can't get comfortable.  It's hard to use my other hand to try and hit some trigger points, and the massage ball works great! 

If you do any sort of exercise that leaves you feeling sore, I recommend you invest in these products.  I do say invest, because they are a bit pricey.  But from what I can tell so far, the quality is excellent, and they work.  In my opinion, that makes them worth the money!

For more info on these products, and others they offer, head on over to their website here. 

Adventure on!
Kari

So maybe I'll just stick with deli paper wrapped surprise pickle spears.

Because they make me so happy.

Yesterday I spent all day at the App State bike race in Wilksboro.  After a couple of the guys finished their first race, they went on the hunt for food, and I came along to hunt for a bathroom.  After stopping at Subway, we ran into this car in the parking lot (and by ran into, I mean saw drive by, not actually hit...)

And it's about becoming a doctor.  And so you shouldn't be shielded from the realities of it.  I wouldn't want to be accused to portraying a false picture of reality...

Also, since this is my blog, I can say whatever I want on it.  And, since it's called "Human, MD", I get to be human.  So I'm going to do that.

In the form of a letter.  Because I like speaking in letter form.  No, really, sometimes I speak out loud in letter form.  Usually to people in other cars on the highway, or to God.  But this is not to those folks. 

_________________________________________________________________

Dear program that I ranked first,

I would like to congratulate you on some major accomplishments.  Few people can claim to have accomplished these things, and I think you deserve some recognition. 

First of all, you successfully made me not hungry.  That pretty much takes an act of God.  I'm always hungry.  Well, I always eat.  But not since Thursday afternoon have I really cared much to eat.  Not even the baked cheetos that are sitting on my counter.  Uninterested.  This is really quite remarkable.  Please take note. 

Secondly, you made me cry.  This is generally a feat reserved for dad's on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and people with eye injuries.  And the part of The Lion King where Simba's dad dies, and the part of The Land Before Time (the original...) when Littlefoot's mom dies.  Those are usually just a few tears though.  You successfully moved me passed "I can probably keep these tear from actually falling out of my eyes if I try hard enough" to "I think I'm going to need to go to Target and get another box of tissues and a decongestant".  Congrats for that.  Those who think I'm emotionally elusive will be pleased to know that I'm currently an open emotional book.  Please, ask me a question.  You'll get a great answer.  (PS.  To do that, you have to actually talk to me, and not my friends...)

And finally, you successfully messed up my sleep cycle.  In general, Wyatt and migraines are the only things that can do that.  But last night I woke up in the middle of the night, couldn't fall back asleep, and took Benadryl at 2am.  That, my friends, is not cool.  I value my ability to always sleep through the night.  You messed it up.  Yay you. 

So rejoice in the things you have accomplished.  You have a lot to be excited about.  You did, after all, fill faster than you ever have.  I know you're celebrating. 

See you in three years.

Kari

__________________________________________________________________

Okay, so in non-letter form, I should add to this that I really love the program I will be going to.  I flip flopped back and forth between 1 and 2 a lot.  So all the things I talk about it my letter have nothing to do with the program I'm going to, and everything to do with the program I'm not going to.  Which programs are these, you ask?  Number 1 you will never know.  Number 2 you will find out some time in the future.  The future being when I move there.  In May.  I know the anticipation is killing you. 

Until then, I'll return to your normally scheduled programming of gear posts and things I love. 

Stay tuned,
Kari

Today was supposed to be a day off, but instead I'm spending it on the labor and delivery floor waiting to watch babies be caught.  We have a thing called the "procedures curriculum", which details the types and numbers of procedures we're expected to do through medical school.  Our class was the first they're trying it out on, and what was originally presented to us as, "here's an idea of what we expect you'll be able to do", turned into, "you have to do all of this before you can graduate"...  Which we found out in December.  Huh.

So, when I was on Ob/Gyn in Feburary last year, I spent my time following MY patients, going to see their deliveries, which happened to mostly be c-sections.  Fast foward almost a year, and I find out I really need to see a certain number of vaginal deliveries to graduate.  Had I know that LAST February, I would have abandoned my own patients in order to watch other people patients deliver.  You've gotta do what you've gotta do to meet the graduation requirement numbers.  But, since I didn't know until 10 months later, here I am, making it up during the end of 4th year, when I could actually be learning something. 

I'm a little bitter about this.

But I'll do it anyway.  Because it would be sad to have $250,000 of debt, and not be able to graduate because I didn't watch a baby be delivered, or put a foley in someone.

Somewhere...

I just don't find out WHERE (the important part) until Thursday at noon...  I don't like this system!

Also, I started my last rotation of medical school EVER.  Well, I have senior seminar for a couple weeks.  But that doesn't really count....

And, I bought a pillow!  It looks like this...

I read this story on CNN this morning, and it made me laugh. 

Clipping In, Falling Off

When I first got a bike with clipless pedals, people (like all the people I talked to...), told me I would fall over at least once.  It's requisite for being clipped in.  Naw, I thought, I'll be fine.  I'll remember to unclip. 

The first time I fell over was at the bottom of a hill at a stop light.  I was more focused on the light (because right after it was an uphill, and I REALLY wanted to carry my momentum from the downhill into the uphill), and didn't pay attention to unclipping as I came to a stop at the red light.  I unclipped one foot, and leaned the other direction.  And fell over.  Into the street.  It was extraordinarily graceful.

Since then, I've told everyone who uses clipless pedals that they will fall at least once.  And they all say, "no, no, I'll be fine".  And then they fall over.

It just happens.  About that time you are comfortable enough to think it's second nature, but before it actually BECOMES second nature.  As far as falling off a bike goes, though, doing it from a virtual standstill is pretty safe.

Here's a fall from a cyclists perspective...

But it's worth it... in the end.

I've been on a sports medicine rotation for the last 3.5 weeks.  This generally involves rotating between clinics of the three sports medicine attendings, training rooms, teaching time, and event coverage.  But yesterday we spent the afternoon over at the hospital covering the family medicine inpatient service.  The residents had a seminar all afternoon, which left the attending all alone with a lot of patients... so we went over to substitute doctor.

When you haven't done inpatient medicine in about 6 months (or really even general family medicine...), you forget a lot!  The service census was high (lots of patients), and many of them were complicated.  It was a nice refresher to do some plain old general medicine, but I'm definitely going to need a little brushing up before I start intern year!

I've got a little free time this week, so look out for a gear post today... it's been a while since I posted one!

Kari

Boy, has it been a busy week!  Sorry I went MIA, but I had lots of work to do.

Monday night I had a presentation moved up from next Friday to this past Friday.  Four days is plenty of time to get it done, so it certainly wasn't a big deal, but it did mean that I had to work on it all week!  So I was doing that, and not talking to you people.  Sorry.