Surgery Sucks!!!!

More shoes!

2008-12-24T11:07:00.002-05:00

As well as Surgery Sucking we would do well to stay out of other people's business in the world. Our business is here at home SOmetimes we can't even get our meds right. Over a hundred thousand people lose their lives every year to meds. So here's a web site to help all of you out. http://www.consumermedsafety.org For those of you who like to mix and match your meds please enjoy the extra excitement you bring to your spouses when you do. Then we wonder why we die so so much earlier.

rhr

Pain is gone not just because you want it gone but because you have the tools.

2008-11-17T20:27:00.006-05:00

Everybody wants tools. Guys want tools, hell, I want tools. But there are very few I really know how to use. Using a tool to get rid of pain is really relatively easy. Like a hammer, I know how to use it, but rarely have to. When I do, I am careful and focused. I want the job done and I don't want to use the side of a wrench or the side of a pair of pliers. The right tool for the right job.

So when I have a headache I want it gone in two minutes and if I have a person near me with a foot, preferably two, I can get out of my headache inside of two minutes. I can get out of shoulder pain in less than 90 seconds. Back pain, five minutes tops. I can get out of knee pain in less than 30 seconds. all I ever have to do is confront my own pain. Use the right tool and done. The tools are totally simple. So why not? I use another person's foot.

Richard

Care to have some care?

2008-11-17T20:25:00.003-05:00

Not because the costs go up but because you think you have to be a part of the system. Doing this, puts you at risk for even more creepy diseases. Diseases that exist only because people forget that there's disease and that their job is to clean stuff up and it doesn't get done because they really don't want to do it or are not qualified to do it.

America on Drugs

2008-06-18T12:32:00.002-04:00

"America is awash in antidepressants.

Literally so.

In March the Associated Press reported that the drinking water of at least 41 million Americans is contaminated with at times voluminous cocktails of prescription drugs. Many of these contaminants are psychiatric drugs. In Philadelphia, for example, a glass of tap water brings along with it trace elements of up to fifty-six pharmaceuticals and byproducts, including Prozac, Valium and Risperdal, a drug primarily used to treat schizophrenia."

I am always amazed at the number of nerdy, scary things out there. This is one of them. I like Brita.

Protect your family.

http://www.shopbrita.com/index.asp?.

Sincerely,

Richard

If you thought creaky joints were a problem, wait till you hear SQUEAKY joints!

2008-05-12T20:56:00.001-04:00

From the "it was bound to happen department," perhaps? A story in the New York Times recounts the experiences of hip replacement patients who are discovering -- up to 7% of them, in some cases -- that their several-year-old ceramic hips (artificial joints) are starting to SQUEAK

Reports Barnaby Feder of the Times: "Any artificial hip can occasionally make a variety of noises. But until Stryker, a medical products company, began marketing highly durable ceramic hips in the United States in 2003, squeaking was extremely rare.

Now, tens of thousands of ceramic hips later — from Stryker and other makers that entered the field — many patients say their squeaking hips are interfering with daily life. One study in the Journal of Arthroplasty found that 10 patients of 143 who received ceramic hips from 2003 to 2005, or 7 percent, developed squeaking. Meanwhile, no squeaks occurred among a control group of 48 patients who received hips made of metal and plastic. “It can interrupt sex when my wife starts laughing,” said one man, who discussed the matter on the condition that he not be named."

Patients say their hips squeak when doing normal activities...bending over, walking, getting up from a chair. One even posted a YouTube video demonstrating the squeakiness.

Makes you wonder...if those artificial hips are squeaking, what else are they doing internally? Deteriorating? Wasting away? Rubbing themselves into joint nothingness?

Another reason to avoid surgery as long as possible and try Rossiter System stretches instead.

Before you reach for that Diet Soda....read this!

2008-03-14T19:37:00.003-04:00

My wife can't/won't drink diet sodas - or anything containing the artificial sweetener aspartame - because she says it leaves a strange metallic aftertaste in her mouth. Just as I tell people who are in pain to listen to their bodies and to think of pain as information, I'm convinced HER body is telling her to stay away from the chemical sweetener as well.

So I was even more intrigued when I found this newsletter article from Dr. Mercola's web site (he's an alternative medicine speiclaist). One woman, concerned about her family's intake of diet soda, fed 108 rats small bits of aspartame over two years. And more than one-third of them developed tumors. Some of them were honking BIG tumors. How much did she feed them: the equivalent of 2/3 of the aspartame found in a normal 8-ounce can of diet soda.

Don't trust what i tel you. Start searching the Internet for information about aspartame -- also sold as NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, Equal-Measure and Canderel. Here's a link to Dr. Mercola's web site about aspartame. Or check out information from the Center for Science in the Public Interest about the Ramazzini study, which found that aspartame in rats is a "multipotent carcinogenic agent." Meaning it's a potent cancer-causing food.

So think before you drink that next can of diet soda. Or choose plain old natural sugar instead!

Prescription drugs...in the drinking water?

2008-03-09T13:12:00.003-04:00

Next time you take a big gulp of watery goodness from the tap, consider this: you might be drinking minute concentrations of prescription drugs that treat everything from heart disease to epilepsy, hormonal problems to depression.

The Associated Press says studies indicate that drinking water supplies are contaminated with tiny concentrations of common prescription medicines, and the studies have been done on treated drinking water and watersheds (water sources) from coast to coast.

Federal officials, of course, say the amounts are too small to be of any consequence. But how much is too much? How do they know? And what about water that hasn't been tested?

How do they get into the water? Well, humans take them, and whatever goes in has to go out, and some of the drugs are "released" into the water supply as urine that's flushed down toilets; water treatment systems can't remove everything that's in the water.

Scary....maybe those water filters are more important than we think.

Heat Wraps for Pain? Think Again (SIZZZZZZZLE!)

2008-02-12T09:56:00.000-05:00

Those of you who've taken my workshop have heard my lecture about the negative effects of "heat wraps" and hot baths. They're bad for pain. Heat changes, melts and remolds connective tissue (especially that huge hunk of it in the lower back, and especially when it's sat upon in a hot bathtub or Jacuzzi. Connective tissue that gets subjected to/reshaped by heat can send phantom pains (fibromyalgia?) shooting through the extremities. If you hurt, you should be putting ICE and COLD stuff on your pain, not heat!

And here's one more reason to avoid heat wraps: they BURN!

This from the FDA in early February 2008: "Chattem, Inc. announced that it is initiating a voluntary Nationwide recall of its Icy Hot Heat Therapy products, including consumer samples that were included on a limited promotional basis in cartons of its 3 oz. Aspercreme product. Chattem is recalling these products because it has received some consumer reports of first, second and third degree burns as well as skin irritation resulting from consumer use or possible misuse of these products."

(Third-degree burns, by the way, cause blisters and actually burn the tissue).

The press release accompanying the announcement says: "All lots and all sizes of the following Icy Hot Heat Therapy products are affected by this recall:

Icy Hot Heat Therapy Air Activated Heat- Back
Icy Hot Heat Therapy Air Activated Heat- Arm, Neck, and Leg
Icy Hot Heat Therapy Air Activated Heat- Arm, Neck, and Leg single consumer use "samples" included on a limited promotional basis in cartons of 3 oz. Aspercreme Pain Relieving Crème.
NOTE: if products have been removed from their holding cartons the recalled products are packaged in a red colored plastic pouch which states Icy Hot Heat Therapy and either Back or Arm/Neck and Leg.

Single consumer use "samples" of Icy Hot Heat Therapy- Arm, Neck and Leg were included on a limited promotional basis in yellow and red cartons of 3 oz. Aspercreme Pain Relieving Crème. The samples were distinct and stand-alone products, clearly labeled as "Icy Hot Heat Therapy Air Activated Heat," with their own internal labeling.

These products are sold over the counter through food, drug and mass merchandisers.

Consumers who have the Icy Hot Heat Therapy products under recall should immediately stop using the products, discard them, and/or return them to Chattem, Inc."

Cold and ice, people, NOT heat, for pain!

Welcom, new Rossiter System Instructors!

2008-01-07T21:36:00.001-05:00

I'm extremely proud to introduce to all of you the first-ever class of Rossiter System Instructors - a group of professionals from around the country who will begin teaching Rossiter System Unit I workshops in 2008.

These 12 people are true Rossiter System fanatics...people who've been so excited about The Rossiter System that they've asked me over the past few years when I would offer a course that would certify them as Instructors. And for six challenging and energy-filled days in December, all 12 them came to Cincinnati and participated in a first-ever, intensives Instructor Training course. Soon, they'll be scheduling and teaching Introductory and Unit I Rossiter System workshops from New Jersey to Seattle, the Carolinas to California, New Mexico to Colorado, while I'll continue to handle Unit II classes to certify new Rossiter System Coaches.

I'm truly excited about the energy, dedication and commitment that these 12 individuals exude, especially as we take The Rossiter System to the next level of awareness and professionalism. Equally exciting is the appearance of a seven-page article about The Rossiter System that appears in the December Massage Magazine.

Meet the Instructors

...and here's who they are (from the left): Michael Peairs of Springfield, OH; Valerie Lescantz of Lake Forest, WA: Steve Timmerman of Aiken, SC; Viktor Bek of Princeton, NJ; Kristen Peairs of Columbus, OH; David Henre of Leadville, CO: Richard Rossiter; Diane Meyer of Cincinnati, OH; Kathy Howard of Greensboro, NC; Ron Arbel of San Diego, CA; Felecia Harvey of Dexter, NM; John Carnes of Columbus, OH; and John Prior of San Francisco, CA. They include massage therapists and personal trainers, CORE fitness trainers and Structural Integrators/Rolfers.

Look for GREAT things from this Daring Dozen as they take The Rossiter System to the streets! The more you support them, the quicker that word will spread about this approach to pain relief...and the more that all of you will benefit from the additional exposure, awareness and training. I'm proud to have such great colleagues across the country!

The cost of bad drugs

2007-11-09T15:57:00.000-05:00

Remember Vioxx? The miracle pain reliever? Merck (the pharmaceutical company that makes it) agreed to pay nearly $5 billion (with a B) to settle lawsuits/claims against the company for the drug's "side effects," which included heart attack and strokes.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: drugs do not have "SIDE effects." They have "effects," and not all of the "effects" are good ones, especially when they maim, kill and backfire. Even the bad ones are "effects," not things that just happen on the side...especially when it's a heart attack or stroke that's the payoff for a little arthritis pain relief.

Be careful what you put in your mouth. Regard drug marketing suspiciously and skeptically. If it's too good to be true, it probably is. And stretching can solve so many problems that drugs simply mask over.

Headache Drugs Cause Headaches? Indeed. Try a Hole in the Shoulder Instead

2007-10-14T22:19:00.000-04:00

Noticed this piece in the New York Times this week: doctors are finding that a lot of headaches are really the result of the "rebound" effects of painkillers designed to kill headaches. That's right...take too many headache pills, and you're likely to give yourself a headache.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: lots of headaches, including migraines, stress headaches and just plain old hurt-like-hell headaches that creep up the back of your head/neck, are the result of connective tissue that's too tight, usually in the pectoral muscles across the front of the chest. A Rossiter System technique called the Hole in the Shoulder, especially if done as soon as headache symptoms start, can usually whack a headache (even a migraine) in a matter of minutes.

It sounds illogical, but think about it: most of the work that we do today is in front of us...at a computer, a desk, a piece of machinery, whatever. We don't use our arms and upper bodies that way that humans used to when they were outdoorsy, active people. So when all the tissue across the upper portion of the front of your body gets constrained and limited, it pulls and tightens inward....pullling on the tissues at the back of your head and upper back, causing headaches.

Stretch out the front part of your body, and you'll probably get rid of your headaches. Check out the book and find out how. Hole in the Shoulder. Try it.

Check out new Rossiter STUFF at the AMTA Convention!

2007-09-20T19:16:00.001-04:00

It's almost time for the national convention of the American Massage Therapy Association, which will be held Sept. 26-29 at the Duke Energy/CIncinnati Convention Center.

The Rossiter System will BE THERE....trade-show booth No. 101 near the doors. Come check out the new ideas, the new logo, and the new ways to provide BETTER MASSAGE therapy to your clients by integrating the Rossiter System.

If you're a state AMTA officer, stop by the booth for your free book and a free stretching session to fix what ails you.

If you're a massage therapist interested in techniques that provide quick pain relief to your clients (without wearing the heck out of you), visit Step out of Pain for some new insights!

Visit the Ohio on-site massage room for a Rossiter workout as well, provided by therapists from around the state who've been certified at Rossiter System workshops.

...and keep your toes up!

Is Over-the-Counter Pain Relief Worth Dying for???

2007-06-11T19:36:00.001-04:00

Couldn't help but notice this article in USA Today, which says that a 17-year-old high school runner died from an overdose of a topical cream used for sports pain relief.

EXCUSE ME???? Obviously something's wrong if the stuff you can buy over-the-counter can build up on your body and do you in. And I have to ask: why do athletes keep insisting on drugs/surgery/splints for pain relief when other natural approaches -- like The Rossiter System -- are readily available, FREE and carry no risk of side effects? Why aren't more coaches and trainers interested in approaches that work without risks? If sports medicine doctors who own huge orthopaedic clinics practices are in charge of most athletic teams, what incentive do THEY have to look at alternative approaches?

I am amazed. And saddened.

What the Drug Industry DOESN'T Want you to Know

2007-06-04T21:35:00.001-04:00

Have you ever noticed how many TV ads promote drugs directly to YOU...for conditions you didn't even know existed, or for problems that don't even bother you? But now you're wondering....

Critics of the massive pharmaceutical industry are paying attention, too, with several online campaigns to raise public awareness. The first, by the Media Education Foundation, promotes a documentary called "Big Bucks, Big Pharma," which examines the tremendous (and somewhat unchecked) growth of direct-to-consumer advertising, which is a fairly recent phenomenon. There was a time when drug reps and drug companies could market ONLY to doctors....there were no direct-to-the-public TV ads for Viagra and Nexium and Celebrex and Lunesta...and...and...you know the drill. Print ads for drugs appeared only in medical journals/trade publications, and TV was not graced with dancing flowers selling drugs, ladies in the park doing Tai Chi as if that made taking a drug any more sensible, auctioneers getting all teary-eyed over cancer drugs.

You can watch another video, "PHARMED OUT," at YouTube...it features a former Eli Lilly drug rep who talks about the secret side effect that the drug company don't want people on Zyprexa (an anti-psychotic drug) to know about: namely, obesity. The drug makes you fat, and people on Xyprexa are also therefore at higher risk of diabetes. But the drug rep says he and his fellow reps were "instructed to downplay that side effect" and talk up its other positives. The entire clip is about 5 minutes long.

Surgery Sucks...Drugs Suck just as much. Remember that next time you're in pain. Or have restless leg syndrome.

Fascia: The Body's System of SPACE

2007-06-01T16:37:00.001-04:00

Every workshop I teach, I remind my student/colleagues the same things: fascia is that body's system of "Space." It's what holds bodies together, gives them shape and form, allows them to move easily and freely.

And when fascia becomes too tight -- like a wetsuit that's two sizes too small -- all sorts of aches and pains set in. The Rossiter System is one of several modalities that loosen and elongate connective tissue -- fascia -- back to its normal, loose pain-free state by adding weight (a partner's foot), warmth (a partner's foot) and movement (you stretch like he!!).

The Ottowa Sun newspaper recently did an interesting piece on the small-but-growing interest in fascia, mostly by people like you and me but not by the medical profession (not just yet anyway). Read it here...and start stretching today!

Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up...to Play Football?

2007-01-18T21:05:00.000-05:00

Disturbing news today about the long-term effects of playing football: one forensic specialist who is particularly interested in football players has found that sustained concussions can increase the risk of later-life depression, dementia and suicide as early as midlife, as reported in the New York Times.(registration may be required)

The information has come to light because of the interest of another former NFL player who wanted more answers about why, after a teen/young adult career as a football player, he began experiencing depression and memory loss in middle adulthood. And according to the doctor taking an interest in the issue, some middle-aged adults who played football as teens/young adults show brain patterns in their 40s that usually aren't seen until elderly people are in their 80s, including pre-Alzheimer's conditions.

For some, the bottom line: sending young kids back on the field after head inujuries and concussions and telling them to "tough it out" may, in fact, be setting them up for severe problems later in life.

Study Finds Back Surgery Unnecessary for Ruptured Discs

2006-11-22T11:50:00.000-05:00

A large medical study of back surgery for ruptured discs finds that those who undergo surgery get quicker pain relief, but in the long run, people who do NOT have surgery end up just fine, thank you, and do just as well as those who underwent surgery.

You can read the study, published in the journal of the American Medical Association, in today's New York Times. Other studies, interestingly, have noted that even healthy people can have ruptured/bulging discs with no symptoms or back pain, so this study supports my belief that a lot of back surgery is done unnecessarily.

I'll say it again: If your back hurts, it's because you're using ONE leg more than the OTHER leg, and back pain typically develops on the side of the back that's OPPOSITE your stronger leg. If you always stand/lean on your right leg, your left back will hurt, and vice versa.

First, STAND UP STRAIGHT (mom was right!) and share the load between both legs, all the time. Do it consciously.
If you develop back pain, do the Rossiter System techniques on the quadriceps for quick and usually effective back pain relief.

And remember....SURGERY SUCKS.

"Restless Leg Syndrome"...a Fake Disease, Easily Fixed

2006-07-28T17:44:00.000-04:00

I've been watching those ads on TV for what drugmakers are now calling "restless leg syndrome," and I laugh and then I cry. I laugh because it's another "fake disease" invented by drug companies who want to create the impression in people's minds that very common structural problems in the body are really diseases. You might not know it, but drug companies frequently set up non-profit "foundations" that are in effect arms of the drug companies themselves. But as nonpprofits, they can provide "education" and "free samples" to patients.

I cry because "restless leg syndrome" is easily fixed by using a few of the stretching techniques in the Rossiter System, especially the Upper Calf Crunch and Lower Calf Crunch. "Restless legs" means a few things.

1. You're probably lazy and not using your legs a lot, so QUIT THAT. Get out and take a walk every day, for cripe's sake. And don't saunter. Walk as if you're headed to Disney World and the gates close in 10 minutes.

2. Keep your calf muscles stretched out. And here's a free technique that you can do easily with a stretching partner.

Upper Calf Crunch
1.Find a chair with a thick padding on the seat, or use a wooden chair but add several of blankets or foam pads to it so it's soft.
2. Stand in front of the chair and bend the knee of your "restless leg" and place it as far back on the seat of the chair as you can, making sure that your foot hangs over the edge with enough space around it that you can wiggle and move your foot around.
3. Stand up straight and hold onto the back of the chair for balance, but don't lean.
4. Ask your stretching partner to stand on the other side of the chair, facing your side, and to place the arch of his/her foot at the top of your calf muscle. Make your your partner keeps his/her toes up while adding weight. The partner should stand up straight and add weight straight down onto your upper calf with her/her arch.
5. Once you've taken as much weight as you can, start stretching by pushing out with your heel and pulling your toes under the chair, and then point your toes all the way across the room behind you. Now tuck your toes under again and push out with your heel, and make a big SLOW (and I mean SLOW!) circle, all the way around in one direction two times, and then two times in the other direction. Then go walk around and compare that leg with the un-stretched leg.

Repeat the technique.

And quit taking drugs that are probably nothing more than muscle relaxants anyway.

Besides, when you stretch, you can still operate heavy equipment that very day!

Imagine if Drugs were an Epidemic....1.5 million a year!

2006-07-20T15:15:00.000-04:00

If you could get sick taking drugs, how you would treat the problem? Well, it IS a problem, according to the latest report from the Institute of Medicine, which finds that 1.5 million "medication errors" occur each year at a cost of $3.5 BILLION (with a "b").

According to Forbes magazine, that's one patient per day in every U.S. hospital who's somehow injured by a drug. (The medical community calls them "side effects" but at this rate, I call them what they are: "effects," and they're primary ones.

The bottom line for YOU? Know what you're taking. Read the labels. Read all the fine-print material that comes with your drugs. Politely DECLINE your doctor's recommendation if you think a drug might be too risky, or if you're already taking a lot of other drug and don't want to keep adding to the pile. Take CHARGE of your health, because if all you do is pop pills, you don't know how those pills are reacting and interacting inside your body. Ask lots of questions. Talk to your pharmacist.

The "Ooops" Surgery No One Wants...

2006-07-09T14:20:00.000-04:00

This week's edition of Outpatient Surgery E-Weekly provides another insight into the wonderful world of surgery (and why you should RUN from any kind of non-essential surgery): In Florida, a West Palm Beach surgeon who specializes in vascular work (veins/arteries/circulation) has been fined a whopping total of $8500 and has to undergo five whole hours of training for...you'll never guess...doing a varicose vein treatment that ended up in his 53-year-old female patient LOSING HER LEG.

Turns out the doctor, who was supposed to be removing varicose veins from his patient's legs, mistook the femoral artery (the one that delivers healthy blood to the leg) as a vein (the one that returns blood to the heart) and removed it instead....and without a supply of blood, the patient's leg eventuallyhad to be amputated. Of course, she had to go to ANOTHER doctor to get that diagnosed and treated....after complaining of no blood flow to the leg, trauma to the artery and gangrene of the left foot. The second doctor removed part of her left leg, while the original varicose vein surgeon was chastised by the Florida Board of Medicine for not identifying the right blood vessel, removing part of the wrong one and not administering anticoagulants (drugs that help blood clot) when he tried to reconstruct/bypass the damaged artery.

RUN! Unless you're dying or bleeding or suffering a massive heart attack or in desperate need of surgery, try to think of anything "elective" as just that...something you can ELECT to turn down to avoid risks like these!

One-Day event at 31st Annual Touch for Health Conference

2006-06-18T22:25:00.000-04:00

If you plan to attend the 31st Annual Touch for Health Kinesiology Association Conference in Covington, Ky., keep an eye out for my talk at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, July 14, and considering signing up for the one-day post conference workshop 10 a.m.-7 p.m. on Sunday, July 16. The entire conference is being held at the Radisson Cincinnati Riverfront Hotel, which is actually just across the Ohio River from downtown Cincinnati in beautiful downtown Covington KY.

More information, check out the Touch for Health web site for more information...and hope to see you there!

Beware Bone-Building Drugs...they maybe KILLING Bone Cells

2006-06-02T17:17:00.000-04:00

The most popular news story being passed around from the New York Times today tells of doctor's puzzling reaction to news that popular bone-building drugs taken by people with cancer and osteporisis -- drugs like Fosamax, Boniva, Aredia, Zometa and Actonel -- are causing some patience to experience a condition in which bone cells in the jaw die.

This comes on the heels of a February studying finding that calcium supplements have no proven benefit for rebuilding bone, either.

Until drug companies start funding TRUE research, and letting patients and doctors know ALL of the risks and benefits of the toxic chemicals they tell people to put in their bodies, these kinds of findings will no doubt continue...and what OTHER parts of the body are likely to be affected by this same condition, known as osteonecrosis ("bone death"). And until they're willing to honest about their research (the good, the bad, the ugly), they should quit hawking their drugs on TV and making every woman feel as if she's a traitor if she doesn't plow some kind of bone substance into her body.

TiIme will tell....and let's hope it's not on YOUR time.

NEW BOOK....coming soon!

2006-05-23T21:09:00.000-04:00

For those who loved "Surgery Sucks!!!" the book, you'll be pleased to know that it's going to be even better soon!

We've been busy upating, editing and revising the book (and eliminated those pesky typos!), and the new book will be published sometime this summer...with a new cover and a new title!

The new name: Step out of Pain the Rossiter Way. Not as kicky, perhaps, as Surgery Sucks, but probably more appropriate for the general public, and because you use your feet for these technqiues, it's kind of a play on words. Step out of Pain. Get it??

New publisher, too, with a sturdier cover and and whole new section of single-person stretches for those times when you hurt and there's no one around to help you stretch.

Keep your eye out for the updated book sooon!

Surprise! no Magic Medical Bullets

2006-05-09T14:15:00.000-04:00

It might be a surprise to some, but the news that medical studies often offer conflicting information (as reported in the Madison WI newspaper) wasn't all that surprising. Was it?

Many medical fads and findings come and go, but one that doesn't is what I've been teaching and proposing for years: hard, powerful stretching to overcome some of the common bodily aches and pains, from achy backs and hips to sore feet and stiff necks.

It works, folks...but you actually gotta get down on the floor and DO the hard stretching work to get results.

Platinum in Silicone Breast Implants?

2006-04-07T14:10:00.000-04:00

There are several reasons NOT to do the Rossiter System stretches on some people, and I never recommend the Hole in the Shoulder techniques for women who have breast implants, because the implants are prone to leaking, rupture and breaking.

Now, an article in today's Washington Post indicates that silicone implants (now being considered for re-introduction to the U.S. market) may be subjecting women to high levels of platinum. According to a report in the American Chemical Society journal, 16 women who have silicone gel implants were found to have high levels of platinum salts in their urine, hair and breast milk. Researchers say the form of platinum found in the women's bodies can cause several allergic or toxic reactions. Platinum can cause allergies, asthma, nerve damage and compromised immune responses.

Said one of the researchers, Ernest Lykissa: "Implant manufacturers have said for years that their platinum is not harmful, and when the device is manufactured, they are correct. But in the body, we know that the implants degrade and the platinum can disperse and take on a more reactive form."

Hospitals Not the Safest Places to Be, Either

2006-04-01T11:51:00.000-05:00

This caught my eye today from Out-patient E-Weekly newsletter, and it ought to open yours as well: "Pennsylvania's hospitals reported 13,711 incidents of healthcare-acquired infections in the first nine months of 2005, 17.5 percent more than the 11,668 recorded for all of 2004, according to a recent report.

"The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, which released the report last week, postulates that the apparent increase is due to improved public reporting and shows the actual impact of hospital-acquired infections state and nationwide.

"The report, which examined incidents, related costs and reporting data through the first three quarters of 2005, also noted that healthcare-acquired infections resulted in 1,456 more patient deaths, 227,000 extra hospital days and $2.3 billion in additional hospital charges than in 2004.

"Using 2004 data — 2005 data was not yet available — the report estimates the cost of treating a patient with a healthcare-acquired infection at $52,600 more than treating a patient without one. This average totals to $613.7 million in additional payments from commercial insurers, Medicare and Medicaid in 2004."

Who'll Take Care of You in the Hospital?

2006-03-05T15:22:00.000-05:00

Considering that the most complicated bone/joint surgeries are performed in hospitals, the latest news from the Hospital CEO Forum provides little reassurance if you're the person getting operated on. The five top challanges facing hospitals, according to the forum's vice presdient Gerry Brinkman, are stagnant bottom lines, increased competition, lack of public confidence and more lawsuits. And this: "low staff satsifaction." That means the very people who will be taking care of you might NOT be the happiest of employees.

Accdording to a summary in OutPatient Surgery E-Weekly: "The nursing shortage is expected to exceed 1 million by 2010 and significant shortages in pharmacists, lab technicians and other technical employees are also expected. The report cites the hospital work environment as a key contributor to burnout and staff turnover rates. Physicians aren't immune to dissatisfaction, either. 'In the report, on a scale of 1 to 100, the average physician rating on their hospital's strategic planning was a 48, whereas most other factors were scored in the 70s,' says Mr. Brinkman. 'This may explain why, according to Trendwatch, physicians own 70 percent of surgical hospitals and 83 percent of ASCs (ambulatory, or out-patient, surgery centers).' "

Other think-twice findings: 35% of patients surveyed said they probably wouldn't return to the same hospital and 41% said they wouldn't recommend the hospital to their family. By 2012, U.S. hospitals might face a shortage of 150,000-200,000 beds nationwide, says the report.

Told Ya' So: Major Study Finds No Benefits From Calcium Supplments

2006-02-16T18:52:00.000-05:00

I've said it for years, and the $18 million Women's Health Initiative has verified my hunch: women who take calcium supplements (long recommended for prevention of everything from osteoporosis to colorectal cancer) had no benefit when compared to a group of women who didn't take calcium supplements.

That's right: it's OK to quit chomping on oyster shell calcium and popping soft-chew calcium and guzzling calcium-added everything.

Of the 36,282 women ages 50-79 who are involved in the long-term study of women's health, the ONLY noticeable benefit of calcium supplementation was a whopping (ahem) 1% increase in bone density at the hip. Basically, the study found that calcium does NOT prevent broken bones, osteoporosis or colorectal cancer. The women in the study were divided into three groups: one group took 1000 mg of calcium a day, another group took 400 mg of calcium a day, and a third group took placebos (inert pills). They were followed for seven years.

Why do I say "told you so?" As a connective tissue specialist, it's long been my contention that too much calcium in the bloodstream actually calcifies muscle tissue, making it stiffer and less elastic. The dolomite in much of the commercially available calcium is, after all, a MINERAL. And minerals are hard (ask anyone who grew up on a farm and drank well water). In addition, it's my contention excess calcium can settle in the joints as girty deposits that can decrease range of motion, increase pain and feel like gritty sandpapery-like surfaces that are otherwise supposed to be smooth and fluid.

Now, if the medical community would listen to my advice about the dangers of soaking flat on your back in hot, steamy bathtubs and Jacuzzis....

Anyone care to listen to that theory? It's a good one....

Is Your Doctor Being Paid To Recommend Drugs, Devices to YOU?

2006-02-02T15:29:00.000-05:00

Yet another reason to always questions the drugs, devices and procedures your doctor recommends to you: new evidence that drug companies, medical equipment manufacturers are financially rewarding doctors who switch to their drugs, use their devices or act as consultants, according to the New York Times.

According to the editorial: "New evidence keeps emerging that the medical profession has sold its soul in exchange for what can only be described as bribes from the manufacturers of drugs and medical devices. It is long past time for leading medical institutions and professional societies to adopt stronger ground rules to control the noxious influence of industry money on what doctors prescribe for their patients."

Now we all know bribery isn't good. (Look what it's done to Congress). Next time you're in your doctor's office, check around to see how much "free stuff" you see (notepads, pens, posters, magazines, mouse pads, coffee mugs, etc.). It's a sign that marketers are at work...when what you really need from your doctor is sound, scientifically valid advice (as risk-free as possible) about YOUR health and YOUR body.

Check out the 2006 Workshop Schedule

2006-01-14T20:56:00.000-05:00

The schedule for 2006 Rossiter System workshops is quickly filling up for the first half of the year, so if you or your local AMTA chapter, fitness center, massage therapy school, athletic training chapter or other organization has been talking about sponsoring a Rossiter training session, better call soon. So far, the schedule includes:

Feb. 10-12 in Baltimore, MD
Feb. 25-26 in Fredericksburg, VA
March 4-5 (Unit I) and March 17-19 (Unit II) in Cincinnati. The Unit II will not be held at the Clarion as usual; check the web site for new hotel location.
March 25-27 in Fairbanks, AK
March 31-April 2 in Anchorage, AK
April 7-9 in San Diego, CA
April 22-23 in Newark, DE
April 29-30 in Columbus, OH
Mayh 6-7 in Sacramento, NM
May 19-21 in Morristown, NJ
June 3-4 in Quakertown, PA
June 10-12 in Little Rock, AR
June 16-18 in Clearwater, FL

Visit the Surgery Sucks website for complete information and registration details.

The Latest Spreading Germ: "It's a Bad Bug," Says One Researcher

2005-12-02T14:35:00.000-05:00

One more reason not to have surgery if you can possibly avoid it: a bacterium known as Clostridium difficile. According to the Washington Post, a dangerous strain of the diahrrea-causing germ is now widepsread in the U.S. and has been linked to serious (even deadly) outbreaks. Once found almost entirely in hospital patients, the germ has been identified in people who haven't visited or worked in a hospital, "raising alarm that the infection may be emerging more widely and posing a broader public health threat." That's from researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

C. difficile has been linked to hospital patients who've been taking antibiotics for other reasons (antibiotics often kill the "good" germs that keep colon problems and things like diarrhea at bay). But CDC officials say C. difficile-related outbreaks have occured througout the world and is spreading to non-hospital populations as well. Said one reseracher: "It's a bad bug."

Back Pain? Walk it off!

2005-10-28T17:27:00.000-04:00

I've been saying it for years and a study in the American Journal of Public Health backs me up: if you're suffering from chronic low back pain, get on some good walking shoes and go for a brisk walk (with my caveat: avoid the concrete sidewalks and malls and head for the GRASS).

The study of 681 men and women found that people with back pain who exercised the most -- the equivalent of about 3 hours of brisk walking or similar activity -- had the greatest reductions in back pain and psychological stress. (On a scale of 1-10, the average pain was about a 7). The more people exercised, in fact, the less disability they experienced.

My advice? If your back hurts, walk. Walk on the side that hurts the most instead of shifting all the weight to the other side/leg. The hurting side needs to get moving, needs to strengthen itself. And make sure you're wearing GOOD walking shoes with good support. Walking in the grass (the way humans are designed to walk) forces you to pick up your legs and use your hips/knees/pelvis the way they're supposed to move. Walking on concrete just stresses you out.

So get up...and get going!

The Rossiter System: Westward, HO!

2005-09-22T15:45:00.000-04:00

If you're anywhere west of the Mississippi River and have a hankering to learn The Rossiter System in the next few weeks, here's your chance. I'm on the road, starting this week at the American Massage Therapy Association national convention in Albuquerque, and from here I'll be doing workshops from Phoenix to Vancouver B.C.

Find the full schedule here or quickly scan the list below for the workshop closest to you:

Sept. 30-Oct. 2: Vancouver, B.C.
Oct. 7-9: Phoenix, AZ
Oct. 12-13: Seattle, WA
Oct. 22-23: Missoula MT

For the rest of 2005, the schedule spans both coasts:

Oct. 30-Nov. 1: Balitmore MD
Nov. 5-6: Charleston WV
Nov. 11-13: Sante Fe, NM
Nov. 18-20: San Diego CA

And in 2006, look for me in Baltimore again (Feb. 10-12), San Diego again (Feb. 17-19), Cincinnati (March 4-5), Blue Ridge Summit PA (March 24-26) and Little Rock AR (April 28-29).

Employers Believe Employee Health is Critical

2005-08-31T21:06:00.000-04:00

I found this study on the web site of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, and it got me wondering. If employers are so concerned about their employees' health, why aren't they doing more to support it?

Seventy-two percent (72%) of executives interviewed said that keeping employees health is crucial to business success.

The most common signals (to executives) that an occupational nurse should be hired include high injury or illness rates, high absenteeism among employees, increases in workers' compensation costs, and increased government mandates/compliance.

The Rossiter System -- an in-house program that gives employees the skill and knowledge to keep each other health -- can reduce injury/illness rates, reduce absenteeism and bring down medical and workers' comp costs: all without hiring anybody extra at all! Why not let your employees keep themselves out of pain and working productively?

Where's the Safety? Where's the Quality?

2005-08-08T20:51:00.000-04:00

A little blurb on President Bush's signing of the new Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (as reported in OutPatient Surgery eWeekly), included these highlights. In addition to creating a "national medical-error database," the bill:

*makes error reporting by healthcare facilities voluntary, not mandatory
*allows data that's reported to the public to NOT identify specific patients, the health care providers who made the error or the people who reported the error.
*says that data cannot be used against health-care providers for lawsuits or by regulatory/accreditation bodies.

Whew! I feel safer, don't you? In this era of transparency and so-called heightened scrutiny, here's a law that allows hospitals, doctors and providers that make mistakes to hide behind them, admit only the facts and not face up to the responsibility and consequences of those errors. A "yet-to-be-named federal patient safety body" will set practice and policy recommendations.

Every child left behind...and every patient, too?

Do YOU feel safer knowing this?

Neither do I...

Surgery = Drugs = Consumer Doubts

2005-08-08T14:00:00.000-04:00

Are you tired of hearing about the purple pill? The letdown of erectile dysfunction? The possible side effects of antidepressants ("can cause nausea, lack of appetite, sleeplessness or agitation, and your tongue might fall out")?

You're apparently not alone. A recent report from Find/SVP market reserach firm (quoted in PRWeek magazine) finds that consumers not only don't trust the TV ads they've bombarded with about prescription drugs, a slim majority of them wouldn't mind if the ads just disappeared.

Highlights:

Of all the sources of information that consumers consider to be the MOST reliable for prescription drugs, TV or radio commercials rank DEAD LAST (17%), followed by newspaper/magazine ads (18%), friends/relatives (31%), news articles or programs (42%), drug-company web sites (42%) and other health web sites (43%), the FDA's web site (62%), health-care professionals and doctors'-office brochures (63%, a tie), information leaflets inside the drug boxes (80%), their doctors (85%) and....coming in as MOST reliable...a pharmacist (87%).

In fact, consumers say they wouldn't mind being told about possible risks/side effects of drugs....IF the drug companies would just be honest about all possibilities and not try to hide or gloss them over the things that can go wrong (or, as I've noticed while watching TV ads, hide them inside dancing animated butterflies and woo-woo-don't-worry-be-happy music).

In a separate Harris poll, 51% of consumers aid they'd be OK if the FDA went back to its original stance and prohibited ads targeted directly at consumers (there was a time when drug companies could market only to doctors and pharmacists).

Just remember: if you're scheduled for surgery, you're GOING to be taking drugs of some kind. Make sure you know what you're taking, why you're taking it, what to expect, what to look for in terms of side effects and how much it'll cost.

Thanks, Florida...

2005-07-30T14:00:00.000-04:00

Tidbits from the Outpatient Surgery eWeekly newsletter:

Florida's Board of Medicine has hinted it intends to crack down even harder on doctors who perform "wrong-site surgery." (Sorry, ma'am, we thought it was your RIGHT leg, but DUH...we did the left one instead). In the past two years, 80 Florida doctors have operated on the wrong side of the patient, with fines of $10,000 to $20,000. But no license suspensions, which is the next level of punishment being considered. (Hint: use a Magic Marker and mark your OWN body before you have surgery).

Nurse??? Nurse??? Uh, nurse???
According to a CareerBuilder.com survey cited in the newsletter, 49% of nurses expect to change jobs in the next two years, 32% in the next year an 18% in the next six months. Why? Most common problems include unmanageable workloads, including understaffed facilities, high stress levels, compromised patient care and overcrowding, among others. Does that make you feel any more confident in the nurses taking care of you AFTER surgery?

Apparently Hospitals Suck, Too

2005-07-13T21:24:00.000-04:00

Disturbing news today from Pennsylvania, where health officials today reported that more than 11,000 people caught some sort of infection in Pennsylvania hospitals in 2004 and nearly 1,800 people died. Don't believe it? Read it at MSNBC and USA Today.

The report was done by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, which determined that the resulting infections and deaths cost the state an extra $2 billion (that's billion, with a B) and required (ironically, in a sick sort of way, literally) an extra 205,000 days of hospitalization for the patients stricken by the infections.

The cause: "Usually such infections come from improper hygiene by health care workers - failure to wash hands properly or at all, a failure to use gloves, inadequate sanitizing of equipment and other mistakes," according to MSNBC's report. USA Today's story lists the most common infection sites: Urinary tract (6,139); bloodstream (1,932); pneumonia (1,335); SURGICAL SITE (1,317) and the ever-fun "multiple infections" (945).

Mulitply Pennsylvania's problem by 49 states and that $104 BILLION extra dollars and 10 MILLION extra days of billing people for hospitals stays.

And guess where many surgeries are performed? You got it. Hospitals.

Quick Question: Is Your Surgeon Legit?

2005-07-09T14:29:00.000-04:00

Two quick news items from the July 11, 2005 Outpatient Surgery E-Weekly newsletter reinforce the "Surgery Sucks" mindset:

1. An audit of eight hospitals runs by the Indian Health Service in Montana found that 15 of the 20 surgeons on staff did not have their credentials verified (the paperwork needed to verify that they were indeed surgeons in good standing) before they started caring for patients and that four hadn't been issued credentials at all. If you doctor wants to do surgery, ask to see his UPDATED credentials....and make sure the hospital/surgery center's done the same.

2. And from the creep-out department, seven men treated at a Sacramento Hopsital have sued the hospital, claiming that a male nurses' aide molested them or "performed unwated sex acts agains their will" while they were being prepped and/or medicated before surgery. The hospital had no comment, according to the newsletter.

Today's lesson: if someone suggests surgery on YOUR body, make sure you know who's doing it, whether that person is an approved, credentialed surgeon and if you absolutely have to have it done, by all means TAKE SOMEONE TO THE HOSPITAL WITH YOU -- a spouse, a friend, a neighbor, someone you can trust to look out for your best interests and health. And as always, try every alternative possible before surgery for problems that dont' require immediate surgical treatment. By all means, if you need emergency surgery for a burst appendix or accident or something serious, do it. But if the doctor promises to remove pain through surgery, keep looking until there's nothing left!

"Just Say No" To Drugs? Not When $8 Billion Says Otherwise

2005-06-29T11:24:00.000-04:00

I've always found it rather ironic that as a society, and especially as a federal government, we preach a message of "Just Say No" to drugs, but as members of that societ, we take more drugs than at any other time in human history.

You know why? Because drug companies spent more than $8 BILLION dollars last year promoting them through advertising and commercials. Advertising Age (registration might be required) recently release 2004 statistics listing the nation's top industries and companies, in terms of how much they spent on advertising.

Of the $135 BILLION spent in 2004 on advertising, $8.1 billion was spent promoting medicines and remedies, ranking that industry fourth behind cars, retailer stores and telecom/Internet companies. Five of the top 25 companies on the list of who-spent-what on advertising were drug/pharmaceutical firms: Pfizer (4th), Johnson & Johnson (10th), GlaxoSmithKline (11th), Novartis (21st) and Merck (25th). Also making it into the top 100 were Schering-Plough (39th), Wyeth (42nd), Bristol-Myers Squibb (47th), AstraZeneca (51st), Sanofi-Aventis (54th), Eli Lilly (62nd) and Bayer (81st).

Ever wonder by non-drug remedies like The Rossiter System have a hard time competing?

That said, I'm still gloating about the fact that during a recent national convention for athletic trainers, two people from the Tylenol sponsorship booth came to MY booth for shoulder pain relief.

Take that!

Just Because the Doc Says It's So....It Ain't Necessarily So

2005-06-20T15:39:00.000-04:00

The June issue of Spine journal highlights this interesting study: even though doctors tell up to 99% of their back-surgery patients that their qualify of life will be better AFTER surgery, a whopping 39% of back-surgery patients a year later report absolutely no difference in pain.

The study involved 197 Swiss patients. Before surgery, doctors predicted "great improvement" for 79% of them and "moderate improvement" for 20% of them. But a year later, 39% had "no minimal clinically important difference" in back pain after surgery than before they went under the knife/scalpel/scope/laser.

In fact, the only group in which patients did notice improvement in mental/general health was among patients for whom back surgery was an iffy proposition going in (and doctors promised "great improvement" in them, too).

Quoth the study's authors: "surgeons tended to give overly optimistic predictions that were not correlated with patient outcome."

Remember that next time a doctor pats you on the arm and says, "TRUST ME. You'll be a whole lot better off when this is all over." Because it might not be the truth.

Thanks, NATA, for a great conference! Highlight of the event was....?

2005-06-16T13:24:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all of the National Athletic Trainers' Association members who stopped by The Rossiter System booth in Aisle 1600 at the NATA convention June 13-16 in Indianapolis.

If you tried one of the techniques to get rid of knee, back, foot or shoulder pain, thanks for being open-minded and eager to try something new. If you were in the crowd watching, thanks for your interest. My wife and I were so busy working on people all three days that we didn't have time for lunch!

Highlight of the conference (and perhaps the greatest moment of irony): when two of the folks from the TYLENOL sponsor booth stopped by the Rossiter System booth to get some PAIN RELIEF. Honest! I was MORE than happy to obige (and they both walked away with pain-free shoulders!)

Remember: 2005 workshops are quickly filling up, so if you're interested in attending one to learn these pain-busting techniques, be sure to check the Surgery Sucks workshop schedule. If you'd like one specificially for your school district, college staff, fitness center, rehab center, hospital, etc., call me personally (phone number in the lower left corner of the home page) to set up a time and a training fee that fits your needs.

I mentioned this to many of you, but in case you missed it: as athletic trainers, you have the ideal audience for these stretching, pain-relieving techniques. Athletes are motivated, accustomed to being coached and willing to work hard to get back to optimal performance and out of pain. The Rossiter System techniques give you the tools that feed directly into their goals...and yours.

Hope to see you at a workshop soon!

Another Reason to Avoid Hospitals and Surgery: MRSA (or why people get sick IN the hospital)

2005-06-06T16:47:00.000-04:00

If you haven't yet read it, be sure to check out Betsy McCaughey's New York Times article (6/6/06) titled "Coming Clean." (you may have to register with the Times to read it, but registration is still free until September). Among its highlights:

• Poor hygiene in many U.S. hospitals means that 1 of 20 people who enter a hospital end up with an infection during their hospital stay.

• Hospital infections kill about 103,000 a year in the U.S. -- same as AIDS, breast cancer and car crashes combined.

• One of the newest "bugs" causing problems is MRSA -- short for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which now causes about 60% of staph infections, up from only 2% just 30 years ago. Not only is MRSA more prevalent, it also can cause truly severe infections, according to McCaughey (she's a former lieutenant governor of New York and now heads the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths.

Studies have shown that strict handwashing, meticulous cleaning and sterilization procedures can reduce or elimiante most germs, including MRSA, but many U.S. hospital simply don't have the will or the resources to be bothered -- and the public isn't speaking up.

And guess who's not supporting a public demand that hospital infection rates be made public? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

So think about THAT if your doctor recommends surgery....

Now I think I've heard it all...

2005-06-03T22:39:00.000-04:00

There's something wrong with this: a company that specializes in hospital beds is now offering the "Excel Care" bariatric bed for patients who are morbidly obese. It's designed for people who weigh up to 1,000 pounds, with all sorts of built-in reinforcing supports, slings and inflation devices that make it easier for huge people to adjust and move around in bed and switch positions to avoid getting pressure sores and ulcers.

Hillenbrand Industries announced the new product line this week. Federal stats show that nearly 5% of Americans are considered "morbidly obese," meaning they're 100 or more pounds overweight.

Strikes me as just wrong -- that a health-care system that prides itself on some of the best "medicine" in the entire world has produced a nation that needs such a product (come on..how DO people get to 1,000 pounds?).

At least the bed doesn't have a built-in speaker system that asks, "You want fries with that?"

I hope.

My mistake!

2005-06-02T11:09:00.000-04:00

My book, Surgery Sucks!!!! and the DVD, are NOT available for sale overseas. Sorry my friends, that's final. It's totally out of my control when it's left the country. However, both are for sale to overseas clients who also pay for and attend one of my workshops to learn the material firsthand. Having spent 20 years working on this stuff, I hope practitioners of connective tissue work can appreciate the level of work that is included in the System and can pay accordingly. Sincerely, Richard

The Rossiter System: Coming to National Athletic Trainers' Association Convention

2005-05-31T10:19:00.000-04:00

Be sure to stop by the trade show exhibits at the upoming National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) national convention June 13-16 at the Indiana Convention Center and RCA Down in downtown Indianapolis.

I'll be manning the Rossiter System Workouts booth, and anyone who stops by can get a "taste" of what the powerful Rossiter System stretching techniques feel like and what they can do.

Knee pain? Expect relief from a 30-minute stretch.

Shoulder pain or stiff neck? You'll be looser and pain-free in as little as 90 seconds.

Low back pain? A little trickier, but still easy to "fix" if you're willing to spend about 2-3 minutes on the floor and really stretch your quadriceps hard to get rid of back pain (honest!).

If you're a trainer, coach, athlete -- anyone who's interested in a healthier body and better performance -- be sure to stop by!

Spring-Summer Aches and Pains: Heat or Cold? Go for Cold

2005-05-19T16:32:00.000-04:00

If you live in a part of the country where warm weather is finally breaking out (yeah!), no doubt you'll soon overdo SOMETHING -- work too long in the garden, go for a run, take a long bike ride, play another set of tennis... You get my drift. Eventually, SOMETHING will hurt.

And when it does, remember that most aches and pains involve some sort of swelling (which doctors call inflammation). Heat makes things swell, too, so if you experience any of these aches and pains, don't soak your bod in hot water or wrap it with heat wraps or hot-water bottles. Go find something COLD and slap in on there!

I've found that frozen bags of vegetables ('specially corn and peas) work best to help as a spot pain-reliever, because you can "form-fit" them to you body and deliver a steady does of coldness to reduce the swelling. Fit a bag around your elbow, your knee, on your shoulder, or sit with it at the base of your spine for lower back pain.

If you sit in a hot tub, stay AWAY from those blasting jets, particularly the ones aimed at your low back. One of the body's biggest hunks of connective tissue is located at the base of the spine, and sitting on it while it's hot eventually changes its entire shape and can give you problems for a long time...chronic pain, stiffness, even fibromylgia.

So when you have to choose been that yummy-feeling warmth and a cold dose of reality, go for the cold. You'll get out of pain quicker.

Rossiter System Pain-Busting Techniqes: Now Available on DVD!

2005-04-28T09:04:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all of you who've purchased the Surgery Sucks!!!! book. It's now in its 3rd printing...AND the good news is that for all of you extra-visual learners, the Rossiter System techniques are now available on DVD!

That's right. The new DVD includes streaming videos PLUS voice-over instructions of the upper-body pain-busting techniques (shoulders, necks, arms, elbows, wrists) from Levels 1 and II, and that's not all! (Do I sound like an infomercial yet?). The DVD also includes techniques for lower back, hip, knee, foot and ankle pain.

The techniques are grouped in several different ways: by level, by body part and as combinations of techniques for quick fixes.

The best part: it's only $99. THE DVD is most useful when paired with the Surgery Sucks!!!! book, because then you've got the background, philosophy and basics to get you started. If you buy both the DVD and the book, you get the discount price of $119 (plus $5.95 shipping). Interested? Call 1-800-264-8100 to place your order.

Remember, there ARE sound, effective, proven ways to prevent and relieve pain that do NOT involve risky drugs, cortisone injections or even riskier surgeries. The Rossiter System is just one of them.

Bextra: Going, Going, Gone....

2005-04-07T12:36:00.000-04:00

The drug maker Pfizer announced today that it's pulling painkiller Bextra off the market (and suspending sales in Europe) at the request of the Food and Drug Administration. Pfizer buried the info on its web site, focusing instead in its press release on the company's efforts to write better labels for its other painkiller, Celebrex.

Bextra falls into the category of "nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs," and they've been under scrutiny recently because studies are finding they can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people who take them. Vioxx, made my Merck, was also taken off the market in 2004 for similar problems, but Celebrex has been allowed to remain and so has Bextra...until now.

I'll say it again: before you take ANYTHING prescribed by a doctor, do your homework. Read the insert (small type and all) that comes with the drug, especially the part titled "contraindications" (which means "reasons not to take this drug") and "side effects." Look up information about the drug on the Internet (Medline Plus has the required information). Ask serious questions. And look for alternatives.

For people who have osteoarthritis or joint stiffness/pain because of overuse injuries or advancing age, hard stretching (the kind provided by the Rossiter System) can produce noticeable results with no side effects. And no heart attacks or strokes, either.

My Living Will...Politicians and Their Ilk Take Note

2005-04-01T16:43:00.000-05:00

Credit for the following opinion piece goes to Robert Friedman, editorial editor at some "Times" newspaper (I'm not sure where). A friend sent this via e-mail, and I had to share, given the recent embarrassment that the religious right has made of medical care in the last month or so. It was published March 27, 2005...just several days before Terri Schiavo was allowed to die naturally.

"Like many of you, I have been compelled by recent events to prepare a more detailed advance directive dealing with end-of-life issues. Here's what mine says:

* In the event I lapse into a persistent vegetative state, I want medical authorities to resort to extraordinary means to prolong my hellish semiexistence. Fifteen years wouldn't be long enough for me.

* I want my wife and my parents to compound their misery by engaging in a bitter and protracted feud that depletes their emotions and their bank accounts.

* I want my wife to ruin the rest of her life by maintaining an interminable vigil at my bedside. I'd be really jealous if she waited less than a decade to start dating again or otherwise rebuilding a semblance of a normal life.

* I want my case to be turned into a circus by losers and crackpots from around the country who hope to bring meaning to their empty lives by investing the same transient emotion in me that they once reserved for Laci Peterson, Chandra Levy and that little girl who got stuck in a well.

* I want those crackpots to spread vicious lies about my wife.

* I want to be placed in a hospice where protesters can gather to bring further grief and disruption to the lives of dozens of dying patients and families whose stories are sadder than my own.

* I want the people who attach themselves to my case because of their deep devotion to the sanctity of life to make death threats against any judges, elected officials or health care professionals who disagree with them.

* I want the medical geniuses and philosopher kings who populate the Florida Legislature to ignore me for more than a decade and then turn my case into a forum for weeks of politically calculated bloviation.

* I want total strangers - oily politicians, maudlin news anchors, ersatz friars and all other hangers-on - to start calling me "Bobby," as if they had known me since childhood.

* I'm not insisting on this as part of my directive, but it would be nice if Congress passed a "Bobby's Law" that applied only to me and ignored the medical needs of tens of millions of other Americans without adequate health coverage.

* Even if the "Bobby's Law" idea doesn't work out, I want Congress - especially all those self-described conservatives who claim to believe in "less government and more freedom" - to trample on the decisions of doctors, judges and other experts who actually know something about my case. And I want members of Congress to launch into an extended debate that gives them another excuse to avoid pesky issues such as national security and the economy.

* I want the state Department of Children and Families to step in at the last moment to take responsibility for my well-being, because nothing bad could ever happen to anyone under DCF's care.

* And because Gov. Jeb Bush is the smartest and most righteous human being on the face of the Earth, I want any and all of the aforementioned directives to be disregarded if the governor happens to disagree with them. If he says he knows what's best for me, I won't be in any position to argue."

Thanks, Bob. We needed that....

The Biggest Rossiter Workshop EVER!

2005-03-14T15:08:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the 34 souls who ventured to Cincinnati March 11-13 for the largest Rossiter System workshop ever. The fun, quick-learning group was a mix of massage therapists, body workers, physical therapists, athletic trainers, coaches, nurses and seriously interested lay people who wanted to get out of pain, stay out of pain and/or keep loved ones out of pain.

Ages? This class ranged from late 20s to the active age of 84! And everybody went home feeling better, looser, less achy and a lot more willing to help others out of pain, including themselves.

"It feels freer." "My tailbone has bothered me for 12 years, and after two minutes of techniques, the pain is gone." "Everything feels lighter, and there's better range of motion." "It doesn't buzz any more." "I can feel my toes again."....they were all some of the comments overheard by participants as they learned techniques for the upper body, low back, hips, knees, feet and hands.

Check out the Surgery Sucks Web site for a list of upcoming seminars.

Shameless Promotion: The $99 Pain Fix

2005-02-17T14:46:00.000-05:00

If you're tired of being told you have surgery, and if you no longer (rightly) trust the pharmaceutical industry to produce safe and effective drugs for you, consider the alternative: a $99 three-day workshop that will send you home with more than 35-40 two-person stretches to get rid of pain almost anywhere in the body.

The $99 workshop (a special!) will be held March 11-13 at the Clarion Hotel in Cincinnati (Blue Ash area), and it's the lowest price for this seminar ever (typical price is $340-$399).

Sign up, and you'll learn how to handle finger, wrist, arm, elbow, neck, shoulder, low back, hip, knee, foot, ankle and toe pain. And cramps! No side effects, no FDA warnings about constiptaton, diarrhea, depression, sexual dysfunction, abnormal bleeding, coughs, colds, sinusitis, headache, upset stomach, etc.

In fact, the only side effect from these seminars is sleepiness..mostly because people go home SO relaxed and pain-free that they sleep better than they have in years!

Consider it...give yourself a belated Valentine's Gift or an early Memorial Day present. You'll be glad you did!

Painkillers....Appropriately Named, Perhaps?

2005-02-07T16:42:00.000-05:00

Usually before doctors recommend surgery for anything, they try a few other approaches first: drugs/painkillers, some kind of therapy (maybe), injections and then, "as a last resort," surgery.

But becuase of all the bad press that painkillers have been getting lately (see previous entry about Vioxx), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration apparently is calling leading drug makers to D.C. next week to hash out an increasingly important issue: are commonly used painkillers riskier, perhaps, than the pain conditions they were created to treat? Is a painkiller that increases a risk of heart attack, for example, a good thing? And what about the rows after rows of over-the-counter drugs available to fight pain...how well were THEY studied before they were unleashed on the U.S. buying public?

And if drug companies aren't quite sure why some pain-relieving drugs mess with the human heart and other don't....shouldn't they be sent back to the laboratory to find out???

And one last thing: surgery is NOT "a last resort." Calling that is an insult to resorts everywhere. A last resort is a place like Alaska -- perhaps the last place you should go to visit because it's so drop-dead beautiful that few other places ever measure up. Or a Caribbean island where they serve you kicky fruit drinks with little umbrellas in them. THAT's a last resort. Surgery? Hardly?

More Reasons to Avoid Surgery...Provided by Hospitals Themselves

2005-01-30T13:31:00.000-05:00

If you've ever had doubts about undergoing surgery, here are two more reasons to make you think twice. Or thrice.

1. Seven cataract patients at a Barberton, OH, hospital were blinded when doctors mixed up the eye solutions used during surgery. Seems that an eye wash intended only for use on the outside of the eye was instead used to irrigate the inside of the eye during the actual cataract procedure. The patients are suing. That's from the Jan. 24 issue of Outpatient Surgery Weekly E-Weekly newsletter.

2. The same newsletter tells of another fluid mixup at Durham Regional Hospital and Duke Health Raleigh Hospital in North Caroline. Seems that someone mixed up the drums that contain detergent and hydraulic fluid, and operating-room staff ended up washing the instruments used during surgery in hydraulic fluid instead of the detergent. The hospital had to send letters to 4,000 patients who were treated during the time of the "liquid mix-up."

If there's a lesson to be learned, it's this: do as much research about any hospital or surgical suite before you sign a consent form. Information is often hard to come by, but state medical boards and some federal agencies do keep statistics about complaints, problems, lawsuits and the like.

Better yet, ask the people who WORK there this very simple question: If YOU were going to have surgery, where would YOU have it done? And which surgeon would you choose to do it? People who work in hospitals tend to have the inside scoop on who's good, who's not and who's just plain incompetent. They might not be able to tell you outright who's good and who's not, but their answers to those two simple questions -- where and who? -- will at least tell you if you're hot or cold.

A Novel Idea for Funding Health-Care: Just as I posted the information above, today's edition of Outpatient Surgery brought this update on state initiatives to fund health-care programs by taxing cosmetic surgery. "Lawmakers in Washington State are considering a 6.5% sales tax on cosmetic surgery and Botox injections to fund poor children's health insurance. In Illinois, the state comptroller has proposed a 6% tax on cosmetic surgery to create a stem cell research institute. New Jersey in September became the first -- and so far the only -- state to tax cosmetic surgery, at 6%."

Way to go, New Jersey!

Thanks, Coaches!

2005-01-11T18:56:00.000-05:00

The Rossiter System got off to a busy start in January '05 at several national coaches' conventions -- the American Baseball Coaches Association convention in Nashville, the American Football Coaches Association convention in Louisville, and the American Soccer Coaches Association Convention in Baltimore.

Frankly, those of us in the booth were too tired to keep count, but we fixed a LOT of knees, low backs and shoulders at those three conventions. Joining Richard in Nashville was former Mets pitcher Craig and his wife, Kelly; Richard's wife, Sue, in Louisville, and Richard solo in Baltimore.

Thanks to all the coaches, assistant coaches and interested athletes who stopped by, picked up literature, watched us step on people, got up the nerve to try out the stretches themselves and experienced firsthand how quick and powerful the Rossiter System techniques are for loosening tight joints and relieving pain (some of it longstanding pain). (Now, think how quickly your athletes can get back in shape...and how easily you can KEEP them injury-free for maximum performance).

Remember, we're happy to come to any college, school district, school or facility to do a workshop for coaches, players, athletic trainers, strength/conditioning coaches, parents, boosters, alumni -- heck, anyone interested in learning how to stay out of pain and get out of pain that already exists.

Remember to check out the list of upcoming workshops, and call 1-800-264-8100 if you'd like to schedule a workshop in your area of the country or at your school/community. Call soon....with all the interest we stirred up in the athletic community, we expect to be busy and booked up throughout 2005...and beyond! And it's first come, first served.

See you at the National Athletic Trainers Association convention in June in Indianapolis!

Give All you Can to Tsunami Aid Relief

2005-01-06T13:30:00.000-05:00

It's one thing to complain about pain and the current U.S. medical system mess. It's another to even try to consider the depth and breadth of destruction from the earthquake/tsunami in Southern Asia.

I've already donated to OxFam. So has my wife. Please consider giving what you can to all of the organizations involved in relief.

Among them: The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog. It includes a link to a huge number of organizations providing aid, food, shelter, clothing, water, medical supplies and medical care and more.

And one question: wouldn't the world respect the U.S. if it decided to re-deploy all of its troops from Iraq to the disaster-torn areas of Southern Asia (and the Sudan, for that matter?) Doesn't that make more sense, in the big scheme of things...to offer help, not bombs?

Pankillers: The Gateway Drugs to Surgery?

2004-12-27T13:13:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Jim Borgman, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning cartoonist for the Cincinnati Enquirer, longtime friend and creator of one of the best cartoons to lampoon the drug industry and the current fiasco of risky drugs on the market. Jim has a knack for capturing in a few ink-pen brush strokes what many people feel about a lot of issues.

Other tidbits for this week:

The FDA is ordering a review of all painkillers and urging consumers (that's YOU!) to be mindful when taking both prescription painkillers and over-the-counter medicines like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, etc), acetaminophen (Tyelnol, etc.) and even aspirin. Read labels. Read up on side effects. Use Google or other search engines to look up drug databases that include the patient information sheets that drug companies must publish for each drug. One of the best is the National Institutes of Health's Medline drug information web site. Look up drugs alphabetically.

And remember: painkillers are often the gateway drugs to more risky medical procedures, including surgeries. Doctors have a knack for saying things like, "Well, we'll try painkillers/anti-inflammatories/muscle relaxants for a couple of months and see how that works. If you're still having problems, we may have to try some coritsone injections for a few months...and if that doesn't produce long-term relief, surgery might be the only other option for us to look at...."

My advice? Look the other way for no-risk alternatives. They're out there.

Add Another Drug to the Watch-Out List...and Quit Calling them "SIDE" Effects Already!

2004-12-19T14:08:00.001-05:00

I'm about to propose something novel today. Ready?

Instead of drug companies being forced to list "side effects" or "adverse reactions" to drugs they produce and market, they should be forced to call them exactly what they are: EFFECTS and REACTIONS. When Merck pulled Vioxx off the market a few weeks back because it increased the risk of heart attacks, that risk wasn't a "side effect." It was an EFFECT about as big and as troubling as effects come. Now the drug Celebrex has been linked to similar heart problems, but Pfizer, the company that makes it, says Celebrex is staying on the market because some people can still be helped by it.

The front page of Sunday New York Times featured an article about a family whose young child has been diagnosed with a rare liver disorder that required chemotherapy, an umbilical cord blood transplant and follow-up drug treatments. A photo showed the baby with dark hair growing all over her face and chin, with this caption: "Her hair growth is a drug side effect." As much as I empathasize with the struggles the parents are going through, excuse me, and I beg to differ! That hair is an EFFECT of the drug being given to that little baby to prevent transplant rejection.

A heart attack that results from taking a pain-killer such as Vioxx or Celebrex is an EFFECT of those drugs, not a "side" effect.

Four-hour-long erections from Levitra that require immediate treatment are EFFECTS of Levitra, not side effects...and it's time that drug companies start taking responsibility for the problems their drugs are causing.

Sleepiness, disturbed thinking, changes in eating patterns and lack of sexual arousal are not common "side effects" of anti-depressants, they're clearly EFFECTS of anti-depressants, and it's time we quit fooling ourselves otherwise.

I'm a subscriber (literally and figuratively) to the "seven-year rule" proposed by Dr. Sidney Wolfe (M.D.) and the folks at Public Citizen Health Research Group: In their opinion (published again in the Dec. 04 newletter of "Worst Pills/Best Pills"): "You should wait at least seven years from the date of release to take any new drug unless it is one of those rare "breakthrough drugs" that offers you a documented therapeutic advantage over older proven drugs. New drugs are tested in a relatively small number of people before being released, and serious adverse effects or life-threatening drug interactions may not be detected until the new drug has been taken by hundreds of thousands of people. A number of new drugs have been withdrawn within their first seven months of release. Also, warnings about serious new adverse reactions have been added to the labeling of a number of drugs, or new drug interactions have been detected, usually within the first seven years after a drug's release."

Hear, hear! And what that warning fails to mention is that most "clinical trials" of drugs before their release are performed on otherwise healthy adults...people with no underlying diseases and no chronic health problems. Until the last decade or so, many drugs weren't even tested on women because of the possibility the drugs would interfere with fetal development in case the woman got pregnant during the tests.

Surgery sucks? Indeed. Drugs can suck, too.....so please, please, please try to take as few drugs as possible and look for as many health alternatives as possible. Because they're out there. You just might not find out about them from your doctor. Or surgeon. Or "health-care professional."

Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone!

UPDATE 12/20: One day after I posted this rant, Pfizer announced it would pull all advertising for Celebrex, and the FDA announced it would reconsider the use of all Cox-2 inhibitors, the class of pain-relieving drug to which Celebrex (and Vioxx and Bextra) belong.

UPDATE 12/21: The National Institutes of Health has now stopped a study that was supposed to determine whether Celebrex or naproxen (the main ingredient in over-the-counter Aleve) would reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease...until they noticed that BOTH groups of patients taking the drugs had an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

What's the Matter? Scared of a little SURGERY?

2004-12-04T11:01:00.000-05:00

As I've traveled the country that last two years teaching The Rossiter System at workshops and seminars, I keep hearing the same stories, over and over, from people who've either undergone surgery for pain problems (usually not very successfully) or are trying everything they know to avoid it.

And what I've learned is that doctors and surgeons have uncanny ways of discussing surgery that -- literally -- scare patients into signing the consent form or agreeing to be sliced open. In no particular order, here are some of the one-liners doctors and surgeons will typically use to "convince" patients to undergo surgery for everything from carpal tunnel syndrome to rotator cuff repairs, from spine surgery to arthroscopic knee surgery.

"Well, you may be willing to live with that pain, but I sure wouldn't want to put up with it the rest of my life."

"You can wait, but the longer you wait, the more damage you're risking in that area."

"Your tests clearly show you have (choose one): bulging discs, bone spurs, torn cartilage, nerve damage, herniated discs, bursitis, muscle tears, nerve condition problems." (The problem with those diagnoses is this: how do you know you didn't have those "symptoms" and lived fine with them BEFORE you started feeling pain, and especially before you underwent the tests? Some medical studies show half the population has bulging discs...and no back pain at all. Sometimes, cortisone shots can CAUSE tissue damage that later shows up on MRI scans as "damaged tissue"...and that's a sneaky back-door way for doctors to then convince you to have surgery ("we'll try a few cortisone shots first, and if that doesn't work, then you'll need surgery." Lo and behold, the next sets of tests show...muscle/tissue damage.)

"If you don't have surgery in the next (few days/week/month), you're not going to be able to walk for the rest of your life."

"If you don't have surgery soon, you'll have nerve damage the rest of your life."

"If you don't have surgery soon, you'll lose the use of your hands/wrists/arms/legs, and that's not something I'd risk if I were you."

"You're playing with fire if you don't have surgery in the next few days."

Here's my point: Doctors can say a lot of scary things. Your job, as a patient and potential surgery patient, is to do everything you can to get a second opinion, to learn about alternatives and to question what happens if you DON'T have surgery and try something else instead.

As I say in the book Surgery Sucks!!!!, if the surgeon is a hammer, everything that comes through the door looks like a nail. That's you. It's your decision whether to get whacked -- literally -- or not.

Drugs Suck, Too, Apparently

2004-11-14T18:48:00.000-05:00

One of the reasons I promote my weird-looking stretches to prevent and relieve common aches and pains is safety: at least my stretches don't have side effects. Most of the "cures" that the medical profession offers do have side effects, as evidenced by Merck's recent withdrawal of the pain-killer/arthritis drug Vioxx from the market because of an increased risk of heart attacks.

Now comes word that Pfizer, which makes another Vioxx-like painkiller called Bextra, may be warning patients about a weird and potentially life-threatening "side effect" called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, according to OutPatient Surgery eWeekly newsletter (11/8/04). The syndrome is marked by blistering of the skin, mouth and eyes. Other Bextra side effects include headache, abdominal pain, indigestion, upper respiratory infection, nausea and diarrhea.

All that to relieve a little pain? Why subject yourself to such risks when stretching can get rid of pain quickly, safely and with none of the side effects of "modern medicine." The only thing that seems "modern" about medicine sometimes is the sick amount of money that seems to drive it....

Interested in learning The Rossiter System's stretching techniques? The last workshop of 2004 will be held Dec. 3-4-5 in Phoenix, AZ. Learn more than 25 pain-relieving techniques for the low, low price of $449. Sign up now!

Improved Health Coverage? Better Insurance? Nope...Four More Years of "Don't Get Sick, Please"

2004-11-10T10:56:00.000-05:00

You know what? I voted my morals and values, too, when I punched my chad in the Nov. 2 election...but I was hoping that the U.S. would finally come to grips with the fact that more than 40 million of us don't have any health insurance at all. And those of us who DO have health insurance really have "sickness insurance." As a friend noted over the weekend, Canada and the UK selectively provide universal health care based on availability and resources; in the U.S., we use wealth as the litmus test for who gets it and who doesn't.

So what to do in the interim? Consider alternatives, and The Rossiter System is one of the best out there to get rid of those nasty, chronic aches and pains that continually send people to the doctor (stress headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome, low back pain, knee/foot pain, shoulder/neck pain), and those same people usually get sent home with very little relief except some pain pills and vague instructions. (Speaking of pain pills, today's New York Times highlights a report showing that Pfizer's pain-killer Bextra, similar in makeup to now-pullled-from-the-market Vioxx, also leads to more heart attacks in patients who take it. Will it soon join Vioxx as a former drug? And what about Celebrex?)

But with The Rossiter System, YOU control you're health. YOU control your recovery. YOU'RE in charge of locating and removing pain from your body with the help of a stretching partner.

"Surgery Sucks!!! Fix Your Body Without Needles, Knives, Scalpels, 'Scopes, Lasers or Other Sharp Stuff!" is now in its second printing (yes, folks, fewer typos!), and available for the low, low cost of $35 at several locations: Bob Roncker's Running Spot in the O'Bryonville neighborhood of Cincinnati; Joseph-Beth Booksellers at Rookwood Pavilion in Cincinnati; and Books & Co. in the Far Hills Shopping Center in Dayton, Ohio. You can also find it at the Montomgery County Library in Dayton, and a copy has just been donated to the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

Don't wait for the federal bureaucrats to be concerned about your health. It's obvious where their priorities lie...and it's not with YOU.

So take charge!

Insurance Company Gets Smart About Surgery...and Vioxx is OUTA here

2004-10-10T18:51:00.000-04:00

Surgery isn't the only thing that can suck. Painkillers can, too, and Merck has yanked its arthritis drug Vioxx from the market because people who take it can experience an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Merck announced the decision in late September, sending two million users worldwide looking for alternatives to the $2.5 BILLION drug.

(Hey, all you two million? Check out The Rossiter System to get some quick, NO-RISK, NO SIDE EFFECTS pain relief!)

Meanwhile, a Minnesota health insurer is getting fed up with unncessary, risky and plain old bad surgeries, too. HealthPartners, based in Bloomington, will quit paying surgeons who "botch" operations, according to OutPatient Surgery Weekly (10/11/04). The company is using a set of criteria called "never events" by a national forum on quality.

Among the events for which HealthPartners will quit reinbursing surgeons are: surgery done at the wrong place on the patient's body ("wrong-site" surgery), surgery done on the wrong patient, surgery that involves the wrong procedure, surgery in which something is left behind in the patient (a sponge, a drape, a pair of clamps, etc.), and death during or immediately after surgery on an otherwise healthy, normal patient.

Gee, I feel better. Or do I?

Meanwhile, the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) has issued an alert to surgical facilities, urging them to take steps to prevent "anesthesia awareness." That means surgery in which the patient might wake up, feel pain but not be able to say anything or cry out. How often does that happen? About 40 case a day, or 20,00-40,000 a year, according to JCAHO's president. Common sensations in the patients are pain and a feeling of the inability to breathe.

One more reason: surgery sucks.

The Rossiter System Goes to Europe

2004-09-26T14:39:00.000-04:00

Just got back from the first official Rossiter System in Europe, and my gosh...what a great event. The five-day Sept. 8-12 workshop in Munich drew seven participants, with representatives from Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Ireland and England. Thanks to the European Rolfing Association for coordinating the event, and specials thanks to the six Rolfers and one lay participant who worked so hard during those five days to learn the Rossiter System techniques.

By the fifth day, several of them had the same reaction: "I feel 20 years younger..."

Wanna hear what others had to say?

"I am glad to have been here. I understand my body better..."
--Uli Foerg, Rolfer from Munich

"This was an excellent and enjoyable workshop. I would urge every Rolfer, bodyworkers, etc. who is interested in enhancing their work and their own bodiies to take this workshop."
--Barry O'Brien, Rolfer, Galway, Ireland

"I feel more easiness, more freeness! These techniques give me a lightness back! I like these techniques and the teaching very much. Thank you for this effective work. I'm lucky to have been in this course!"
--Gisela Lasser-Dorner, Rolfer, Graz, Austria

If you'd like to schedule a Rossiter System workshop near you, please send an email via the "contact us" link at The Rossiter System web site or the Surgery Sucks!!! web site

And the Crowd Went Wild! Well, not WILD, but Gosh...Thanks, Dayton!

2004-08-26T10:33:00.000-04:00

There's something about Books & Company in Kettering, Ohio! The August 25 book signing...usually a kind of small event with a few interested souls...was jam-packed with SRO crowds, sign-up lists for books and plenty of interest in a 2005 Dayton-area Surgery Sucks! workshop. Keep checking the Surgery Sucks web site and the Rossiter System web sites (use the links on the left) for workshop information, times, details. As soon as we have a time, date and place, we'll let you all know.

Many thanks to Rene & Sharon at Books & Company for the great PR, and to Kevin Lamb of the Dayton Daily News for Tuesday coverage that obviously brought in the crowds.

Because of the demand for books, we're happy to announce that Surgery Sucks!!!! is going into a second printing in September! (And if you know of a wealthy philanthropist who wants to underwrite the costs, let us know!).

Thanks again, Dayton. You ROCK!

Join us at Books & Co. in Dayton Aug. 25 for a book signing!

2004-08-16T22:57:00.000-04:00

If you're in the Dayton, Ohio, area, please stop by Books & Company on Stroop Road at 7 p.m. Wednesday, August 25, for a demonstration of The Rossiter System pain-busting techniques...and a follow-up book signing.

Last time we did a book signing at Books & Co., the place was standing room only, and even the relatives who showed up (mostly out of sympathy) actually gave up their front-row seats to real live book-buying patrons! (Thanks, cousins!) And thanks to the folks at Books & Company, one of the nation's best independent book stores. They really know how to throw a book signing!

And couldn't help but notice, keeping the "Surgery Sucks!!!!" theme alive, that the medical profession is having an interesting little conference soon, put on by the same national organization that accredits hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (out-patient places where lots of surgery today is performed). The title: "wrong-site surgery."

Honest.

Stay healthy and stretch like hell!

You Decide: Which Has the Worst "Ewwwww...Gross!" Factor?

2004-08-09T22:29:00.000-04:00

This week, I invite you to vote on the two following news items. Decide which turns your stomach more: the prospect of a doctor coming at you with unwashed hands, or the idea that the Army is offering risky plastic surgery to its soldiers (free, of course) so that military docs have someone to practice on.

News item No. 1: In Switzerland, researchers recently observed the hand-washing habits of 163 doctors in a university hospital. On average, 57% (that's less than 6 of every 10, folks) followed standard, hospital hand-washing practices. The worst offenders? (It gets better!) Those least likely to wash up properly were anesthesiologists (23%), followed by surgeons (36%) and emergency room docs (50%). The emergency room docs...OK, maybe they're in a hurry. But surgeons? Anesthesiologists? Aren't they SUPPOSED to scrub the most???

In the Swiss study, more than half of the doctors said that proper hand hygiene was a "difficult task." (In the U.S. hand-washing rates range from 40%-60% a day, according to an editorial that accompanied the study in the Annals of Internal Medicine).

News Item No. 2>: In June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that mammograms and breast enlargement don't mix...mostly because the silicone or saline breast implants used to create bigger boobs can rupture, get crushed, cave in, or produce blood clots or scars during a mammogram, which involves what the technicians call "compression." And in some women, the implants can hide cancerous tumors in the breast, meaning their cancers aren't detected as soon as they otherwise would be.

The U.S. military's reaction? Several weeks later, in late July, it announces that members of all four branches of the military can now take advantage of -- you guessed it! -- plastic surgery, including facelifts, breast enlargements, lipsuction and nose jobs. For free. At taxpayer expense. So that military surgeons can "practice their skills."

And the medical profession has the gall to call alternative health-care providers "unproven" or "weird" or "unscientific"? Excuse me???

Welcome To.....Surgery Sucks!!!!

2004-07-31T19:35:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Surgery Sucks!!!! It's the blog that will provide alternatives to pain relief, challenge the medical system and publicize its not-so-publicized medical studies.

Such as this one, published July 27, 2004 by HealthGrades, which found that medical errors kill 195,000 people a year in American hospitals -- a tally that would make medical mistakes the sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S. if it were included as an official cause of death. But how often do you think that kind of information shows up on an autopsy report? Or death certificate?

Yet hospitals, of course, are where most people go to have surgery. Operations. "Simple out-patient procedures," in current medical jargon. But have you ever heard anyone say, "You know, I'm scheduled to have surgery next week, and I'm PUMPED! I'm excited! I can't wait. It'll be so awesome! It'll feel so GREAT!"

Of course not. The average health consumer (espeically those in pain) may be vulnerable, but they're certainly not stupid.

So this blog will provide some alternatives, including the most important: the link to Surgery Sucks!!!!, the web site for the book that contains more than 100 powerful stretches to get out of pain anywhere in the body: low back, hips, neck, shoulder, arms, elbow, wrists, fingers, knees, feet, ankles...

...naturally, and without side-effect-laden drugs or painkillers.

...Without stupid (and medically proven ineffective splints).

...Without cortisone shots (notice how they always call them "injections" instead of SHOTS?).

...And certainly without risky, scar-tissue-producing, often disabling surgery.

You name it, YOU (and a stretching partner) can fix it.

If you're a corporation or business professional interested in cutting your employees' medical costs -- while keeping workers out of pain and productive -- consider adopting The Rossiter System at your workplace for one of the country's most effective programs for slashing medical costs.

Keep checking back. I'll be here, and I'll keep you informed.