The Narcotics Trap

    When you show up complaining that something hurts, the easiest way for a doctor to get you out of the office is to send you off with a prescription for a pain medication that contains a narcotic (like Vicodin or OxyContin). The drugs are relatively easy to get and tempting to take, but you should never use them for chronic pain. Narcotics addiction is insidious. The drugs change who you are, and over time they make any and every pain worse. Stay away from them except in cases of acute, time-limited pain — and if you're on them already, work hard to get off them.

    Risks of Coumadin

    There is one drug whose reportedly serious complications are not publicized nearly enough, in my opinion: the blood-thinner Coumadin (warfarin). If you're taking it, your doctor should be continually monitoring its effect via regular blood tests (at least once a month). And even if you've been taking the same dose for years, the degree to which it thins your blood may suddenly change because of changes in your other meds, your diet or your underlying metabolism. That can lead to severe joint problems, gastrointestinal bleeding, strokes and hemorrhage.

    Statins' Side Effects

    Millions of Americans take statins to lower their cholesterol. Common side effects from these drugs include muscle pain and soreness. Usually those effects are just annoying, but some patients suffer muscle weakness as well, especially around the haunches, which can be debilitating. My findings? The side effects don't always go away when you stop taking the pills. Orthopedists see this all the time and say it is a concern, but most docs downplay it. Be vigilant if you're starting a statin regimen, and talk to your doctor about switching or discontinuing drugs immediately if you develop severe or disabling symptoms.

    Delaying Treatment

    Most folks will hurry to the emergency room for pain in their chest, belly or head. What many patients don't realize is that pain, numbness or weakness in other parts of the body — particularly in the limbs — can be a sign of something serious too. It could be a fractured bone, an infection or nerve damage and needs to be seen by a doctor immediately. Too many patients compromise their long-term health by ignoring nerve problems like carpal tunnel, tendon issues like rotator cuff tears or curious moles that they assume are harmless. Don't wait until your hand freezes numbly in a claw or your knee is crippled by arthritis or the little black spot on your arm turns into metastatic cancer. By then it's too late. Too macho or scared to see a doctor? Too bad. Don't wait.

    Exercising an Injury

    When you rip, tear, sprain or break something, it needs to be immobilized, not stretched, kneaded, heated or worked. A large number of patients (and some trainers) mistakenly take dysfunction as a sign of needing more exercise. So they recommend overusing athletic injuries, like muscle tears and stress fractures, which prolongs pain and delays healing for months and months. A good rule of thumb: no stretching or hard work until tenderness (pain when you push on the muscle or joint) is gone.

    麻醉陷阱

    當(dāng)你由于某種受傷而痛苦不堪求助醫(yī)生時(shí)，對(duì)他們來(lái)說最簡(jiǎn)單的方法就是給你開一些用于止疼的處方藥，這些藥常常含有麻醉成分（比如維柯定和奧克斯康定）。這種藥物相對(duì)來(lái)說比較常見，效用也很明顯，但是對(duì)于一些慢性疼痛，你不應(yīng)該再服用這種藥物了。這種藥物有潛在上癮危險(xiǎn)。他們會(huì)使你的生理機(jī)能產(chǎn)生變化，事實(shí)上，一旦你服用這些藥物，你的病患就會(huì)變的更加嚴(yán)重。除非非常緊急、極大的病痛，否則不要服用這種藥物，但是如果你現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)在服用了，那么要想停止服用，就很困難了。

    可邁丁風(fēng)險(xiǎn)

    可邁丁具有嚴(yán)重的并發(fā)癥，但是這一風(fēng)險(xiǎn)卻沒有被詳盡告知于患者，在我看來(lái)：像可邁丁（華法林）這樣的抗凝劑，假如你使用它，那么你的醫(yī)生應(yīng)該通過定期的血液測(cè)驗(yàn)持續(xù)觀察它的影響（至少一個(gè)月一次）。并且即使你是多年前服用過此藥物，它對(duì)于你血液的稀釋程度也可能會(huì)因?yàn)槟惴�用其他藥物，你的日常飲食或者基本的新陳代謝的改變而突然改變。這可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致嚴(yán)重的關(guān)節(jié)病癥、腸胃出血、中風(fēng)和大出血。

    斯他丁的副作用

    數(shù)百萬(wàn)的美國(guó)人服用斯他丁類藥物降低膽固醇含量。這種藥物的常見副作用有肌肉疼痛，發(fā)炎。通常這些癥狀就已經(jīng)很讓人煩惱了，但是還有些病人會(huì)感覺肌肉無(wú)力，特別是在腰部，這使人非常虛弱，這可不是我首先發(fā)現(xiàn)的！這些副作用常常不會(huì)因?yàn)槟阃Ｖ狗�藥而消失。骨科醫(yī)生常常發(fā)現(xiàn)這種癥狀，也因此憂心忡忡，但大多數(shù)醫(yī)生會(huì)低調(diào)處理此事。如果你即將開始一個(gè)斯他丁藥物的治療療程，希望你保持警惕，當(dāng)你發(fā)現(xiàn)有嚴(yán)重反應(yīng)的或者其他相關(guān)癥狀時(shí)，立即告訴你的醫(yī)生更換或者干脆停止服用該藥物。
    
    耽誤治療

    大多數(shù)人們?cè)诟杏X到胸腔疼痛，肚子疼或者頭疼的時(shí)候都會(huì)火速到急癥室就醫(yī)，但是許多病人都沒有意識(shí)到這種疼痛----身體其他部位的麻木或者虛弱無(wú)力，特別是在肢體部位，這也是某種嚴(yán)重疾病的癥狀。這能導(dǎo)致骨折，某種感染或者神經(jīng)損害，需要立即看醫(yī)生。眾多病人損害了自身的長(zhǎng)期健康，正是由于忽略了像腕管綜合癥這樣的神經(jīng)疾病、肩袖撕裂這樣的肌腱問題、或者長(zhǎng)出奇怪的痣，但自己卻猜想無(wú)損健康。不要等到僵硬的手在一次撕扯中折碎、你的關(guān)節(jié)因?yàn)殛P(guān)節(jié)炎而變跛或者手臂上小小的黑點(diǎn)變成轉(zhuǎn)移性癌癥的時(shí)候才會(huì)想到去看醫(yī)生，到那個(gè)時(shí)候就太晚了。無(wú)畏的人或者膽小的人才會(huì)去看醫(yī)生嗎？如果是這樣就太糟了，不要等待��！

    受傷時(shí)鍛煉

    當(dāng)你有傷口、撕裂、扭傷或者身體某處折斷時(shí)，你需要使受傷處固定，不要伸展、揉、捂或者動(dòng)它。很多病人（包括一些教練）錯(cuò)誤的把機(jī)能失調(diào)當(dāng)作需要更多鍛煉的信號(hào)。所以他們出現(xiàn)運(yùn)動(dòng)損傷時(shí)，往往更加過度運(yùn)動(dòng)，比如肌肉撕裂、應(yīng)力骨折等情況，這樣會(huì)數(shù)月數(shù)月的延長(zhǎng)痛苦、耽誤治療。告訴大家一個(gè)很好的拇指判別法：除非觸痛（當(dāng)你用拇指按肌肉或者關(guān)節(jié)時(shí)）消失，否則不要拉伸患處或者做大量運(yùn)動(dòng)！