Archive for the ‘web’ Category

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AJGpr client, Dr. Norman Marcus, author of End Back Pain Forever: A Groundbreaking Approach to Eliminate Your Suffering and founder of  The Norman Marcus Pain Institute, recently posted a blog entitled http://www.normanmarcuspaininstitute.com/49-states-adopt-prescription-drug-database-to-prevent-prescription-drug-abuse/ Tennis Elbow Causing Your Pain? PRP is NOT the Solution Study Shows.

In this blog he talks about what treatments work to end tennis elbow pain and what don’t. Below is his post.

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Tennis Elbow Causing You Pain? PRP is NOT the Solution Study Shows 

At NMPI, we frequently see patients in our office with pain in their elbow. Most often it’s tennis players who complain of persistent pain in the forearm as the result of overuse from racquet sports but other sports and non-athletic activities can also put you at risk for this condition known as Tennis Elbow (TE), or lateral epicondylitis. Strain related changes in the tendons that join the forearm muscles to the outside of the elbow can be very painful.

I was not surprised to read in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, that a recent study (Strong Evidence Against Platelet-rich Plasma Injections for Chronic Lateral Epicondylar Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review) reported that PRP, which I recently reported as not being effective for hamstring injuries, is now found to be ineffective for persistent Tennis Elbow as well. PRP has been increasingly used for many painful conditions that athletes experience. This is based on the finding that in laboratory animals healing can be induced in damaged tissue if platelets are injected into the injured area. The popularity of PRP for TE has growndespite no strong evidence that it actually works. Sir William Osler, a renowned physician once said “use every new treatment as quickly as possible before it stops working.” At NMPI, we do not rush to use a “new” approach just because it is new. We are committed to eliminating our patients’ pain and preventing its recurrence.

TE is commonly diagnosed by producing pain when pressing on the tendons that attach to the lateral epicondyle along with pain when the wrist is pulled upward (dorsiflexion) against resistance. TE is generally self-limiting but in some patients it may take more than a year to get better with no treatment. When the pain and tenderness persist various treatments have been tried.

Here’s what works:

  • In a 2010 paper, an exercise treatment was found to be very effective in relieving TE pain and tenderness.
  • At NMPI, we treat these tender muscles successfully with a laser or with muscle injections.

Here’s what doesn’t work:

  • Steroids are not recommended since there is no inflammation in TE and steroids can actually damage the tendon.
  • PRP for tennis elbow has been found to not be effective

Newer treatments are often not better. It is always best to first treat any lasting pain problem with the least invasive, safest, and least expensive interventions. This is called the step-care model and the approach you will receive at the Norman Marcus Pain Institute.

 

posted by | on education, parenting, social media, web | No comments

AJGpr has just added another expert to their client list, educational consultant, Angelina Arrington, founder of Academic Savvy.

In addition to the educational consulting and academic planning she provides for parents, Angelina also blogs about all sort  common sense and balanced advice for parents trying to navigate the often-complex path to helping their children achieve educational success.  She is an expert at guiding parents to “optimize” their child’s potential in and out of school.

With the recent launch of her educational consulting firm, Academic Savvy, Angelina has posted the first of a blog series called Summer Savvy. This blog series is meant to help parents find fun things to do with kids over the summer that also keep them learning.  Here (and below) is first, entry How to Keep Kids Engaged, Learning, and Having Fun Over the Summer.

Enjoy!

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Summer Savvy Part 1: How to Keep Kids Engaged, Learning, and Having Fun All Summer

With school out and summer fast approaching, parents often start thinking of what activities they can do to keep their kids engaged, thinking, and having fun. While kids need summer time to disengage from schoolwork and just be kids, its also important for parents to keep children intellectually engaged throughout summer. Studies show that students lose months of reading and math skills over summer vacation, a phenomenon known as Summer Math Loss. In fact, research indicates that most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months. (Cooper, 1996).

Academic Savvy offers many creative “learning” activities for parents to do with their kids over the summer. Below is the first of a three-part series beginning with math fun.

Summer Savvy Part 1: Grocery Store Math

Grocery shopping is one of the best examples of a place where math is real. It is a great place for practicing estimation, numeracy, mental math, comparing shapes, and measurement, just to name a few. By allowing your children to actively participate in weighing, counting, and figuring prices per pound, you are reinforcing abstract skills learned in class within a real-life context. Next time you’re at the store, try the following activities with your child:

Rounding Up/Down and Mental Math – as you place items in your cart, have your child round up or down to the nearest dollar, then keep a mental tab of the total cost of your purchase.

Using a Calculator – as you place items in your cart, have your child round up or down to the nearest dollar, then add or subtract items to keep a tab of the total cost. Right before you reach the register, have your child calculate the sales tax as well.

Recognizing Numbers – for kids ages 3-6, playing a number recognition game is a great way to reinforce numeracy. As you shop, call out different numbers, and ask your child to find it on the shelves or on products.

Identifying Shapes – for kids of all ages, this activity will help reinforce geometry skills. As you shop, call out a shape, for example a square, and ask your child to find other items shaped just like it.

Weighing Produce and Calculating Cost – while shopping in the produce section, you can ask your children to predict how heavy items are or if one item is going to be heavier than another. Older children can use the price per pound to calculate the total cost of an item.

These are just a few of the things you can do with your children this summer to avoid summer learning loss. Here are a few links below to other sites that have wonderful suggestions and activities to help your kids have a fun and productive summer.

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AJGpr client Emma Jenner, a child development and behavioral specialist and author of the new parenting book Keep Calm and Parent On: A Guilt-Free Approach to Raising Children by Asking More from Them and Doing Less (Atria, July 15th) also blogs for the Huffington Post’s Parenting section. Her most recent post – 5 Reasons Modern-Day Parenting is in Crisis (the full article is also posted below) has already received over 255K likes.

Emma, a British native, spent 17 years as a professional nanny and baby nurse for a variety of high profile and celebrity families in England, Germany, and the United States. American audiences know her best as “Nanny Emma,” from the 2008 TLC series Take Home Nanny, when she traveled across America helping families put harmony back in their homes.

Today, Emma is a parenting consultant and founder of Emma’s Children. So, in addition to in-person consultations, Emma is available by phone, face-time, and SKYPE,  to help families nationally and internationally create a loving and nurturing home environment.

As an author and consultant, Emma offers the best of both British and American traditions to help parents navigate the often complex journey of raising children from birth to 7 years old. Her book, Keep Calm and Parent Onis a treasure trove of common sense, balanced, and holistic parenting tools and solutions. Emma’s favorite mantra is, “If parents are in control, they can enjoy their children more.” And what could be more enjoyable than well behaved, respectful, healthy, thriving kids?

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From the Huffington Post

5 REASONS MODERN-DAY PARENTING IS IN TROUBLE

I generally am quite an optimistic person. I tend to believe that everything will work out for the best unless the evidence is overwhelmingly to the contrary, and anyone who knows me will tell you that I am not prone to drama. That’s why when I say that modern parenting is in serious trouble — crisis, even — I hope you’ll listen, and listen carefully. I’ve worked with children and their parents across two continents and two decades, and what I’ve seen in recent years alarms me. Here are the greatest problems, as I see them:

1. A fear of our children.
I have what I think of as “the sippy cup test,” wherein I will observe a parent getting her toddler a cup of milk in the morning. If the child says, “I want the pink sippy cup, not the blue!” yet the mum has already poured the milk into the blue sippy cup, I watch carefully to see how the parent reacts. More often than not, the mum’s face whitens and she rushes to get the preferred sippy cup before the child has a tantrum. Fail! What are you afraid of, mum? Who is in charge here? Let her have a tantrum, and remove yourself so you don’t have to hear it. But for goodness’ sake, don’t make extra work for yourself just to please her — and even more importantly, think about the lesson it teaches if you give her what she wants because she’s thrown a fit.

2. A lowered bar.
When children misbehave, whether it’s by way of public outburst or private surliness, parents are apt to shrug their shoulders as if to say, “That’s just the way it is with kids.” I assure you, it doesn’t have to be. Children are capable of much more than parents typically expect from them, whether it’s in the form of proper manners, respect for elders, chores, generosity or self-control. You don’t think a child can sit through dinner at a restaurant? Rubbish. You don’t think a child can clear the table without being asked? Rubbish again! The only reason they don’t behave is because you haven’t shown them how and you haven’t expected it! It’s that simple. Raise the bar and your child shall rise to the occasion.

3. We’ve lost the village.
It used to be that bus drivers, teachers, shopkeepers and other parents had carte blanche to correct an unruly child. They would act as the mum and dad’s eyes and ears when their children were out of sight, and everyone worked towards the same shared interest: raising proper boys and girls. This village was one of support. Now, when someone who is not the child’s parent dares to correct him, the mum and dad get upset. They want their child to appear perfect, and so they often don’t accept teachers’ and others’ reports that he is not. They’ll storm in and have a go at a teacher rather than discipline their child for acting out in class. They feel the need to project a perfect picture to the world and unfortunately, their insecurity is reinforced because many parents do judge one another. If a child is having a tantrum, all eyes turn on the mum disapprovingly. Instead she should be supported, because chances are the tantrum occurred because she’s not giving in to one of her child’s demands. Those observers should instead be saying, “Hey, good work — I know setting limits is hard.”

4. A reliance on shortcuts.
I think it’s wonderful that parents have all sorts of electronics to help them through airline flights and long waits at the doctor’s office. It’s equally fabulous that we can order our groceries online for delivery, and heat up healthy-ish food at the touch of a button on the microwave. Parents are busier than ever, and I’m all for taking the easy way when you need it. But shortcuts can be a slippery slope. When you see how wonderful it is that Cayou can entertain your child on a flight, don’t be tempted to put it on when you are at a restaurant. Children must still learn patience. They must still learn to entertain themselves. They must still learn that not all food comes out steaming hot and ready in three minutes or less, and ideally they will also learn to help prepare it. Babies must learn to self-soothe instead of sitting in a vibrating chair each time they’re fussy. Toddlers need to pick themselves up when they fall down instead of just raising their arms to mum and dad. Show children that shortcuts can be helpful, but that there is great satisfaction in doing things the slow way too.

5. Parents put their children’s needs ahead of their own.
Naturally, parents are wired to take care of their children first, and this is a good thing for evolution! I am an advocate of adhering to a schedule that suits your child’s needs, and of practices like feeding and clothing your children first. But parents today have taken it too far, completely subsuming their own needs and mental health for the sake of their children. So often I see mums get up from bed again and again to fulfill the whims of their child. Or dads drop everything to run across the zoo to get their daughter a drink because she’s thirsty. There is nothing wrong with not going to your child when she wants yet another glass of water at night. There’s nothing wrong with that dad at the zoo saying, “Absolutely you can have something to drink, but you must wait until we pass the next drinking fountain.” There is nothing wrong with using the word “No” on occasion, nothing wrong with asking your child to entertain herself for a few minutes because mummy would like to use the toilet in private or flick through a magazine for that matter.

I fear that if we don’t start to correct these five grave parenting mistakes, and soon, the children we are raising will grow up to be entitled, selfish, impatient and rude adults. It won’t be their fault — it will be ours. We never taught them any differently, we never expected any more of them. We never wanted them to feel any discomfort, and so when they inevitably do, they are woefully unprepared for it. So please, parents and caregivers from London to Los Angeles, and all over the world, ask more. Expect more. Share your struggles. Give less. And let’s straighten these children out, together, and prepare them for what they need to be successful in the real world and not the sheltered one we’ve made for them.

posted by | on health, psychology, web | No comments

Money can’t buy you love, but a new study suggests lovemaking can earn you money – and not just if you’re employed in the red light district.

MarketWatch reporter Quentin Fottrell and AJGpr client, couples psychotherapist Dr. Fran Walfish join anchor WSJ News Editor, Wendy Bounds on the Wall Street Journal Digital Network live lifestyle show “Lunch Break” to discuss his story about new research on the relationship between sex and money.

Dr. Fran Walfish is the author of  The Self-Aware Parent (Palgrave Macmillan).

 

 

posted by | on entertainment, web | No comments

Greg Milam of Sky.com, recently interviewed AJGpr client, talent manager Susie Mains and author of the upcoming book Baby You’re A Star about Lindsay Lohan and her most recent brush with the law. Below is the transcript. Click on the link to view the video

LINDSAY LOHAN ON TRIAL OVER LYING TO COPS

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

Troubled star Lindsay Lohan goes on trial in a case that represents her most serious brush with the law in six years of scandal.

The 26-year-old is accused of lying to police when she told them she was not behind the wheel of a Porsche that collided with a truck as she headed to filming of the movie Liz & Dick in June.

If she is found guilty, Lohan could also be in breach of her probation for a conviction for shoplifting from a jeweller’s shop in the Californian beach resort of Venice.

The former child star has repeatedly been in trouble with the law since she was arrested for driving under the influence in 2007.

A catalogue of arrests, court appearances and rehab has become fodder for America’s huge entertainment news industry.

Mike Walters, news director of TMZ.com, told Sky News that this is the most serious case she has ever faced.

“She is not going to get a slap on the wrist and sent to jail for a couple of days. She is going to be there for a long time,” he said.

He accepts the media has played a part in her troubles – but that can be no excuse for her.

“When Lindsay Lohan first got in trouble I would say the way it was covered could have caused some of her problems,” he said.

“But at a point you’ve got to say ‘Take some responsibility’. She is an adult, she has been famous for a number of years, you can’t blame the media, her parents, her upbringing, the movies she was on, her ex-boyfriends, after all this time.”

Her life has become a cautionary tale for those who spot child stars and guide them through the minefield of Hollywood and fame.

Susie Mains, a child talent agent and author of Baby, You’re A Star, told Sky News: “Lindsay Lohan was wanted by producers and directors, and now she’s wanted by the law.

“The greatest tragedy is that she is so uber-talented, unbelievably, off-the-charts talented, and made the difficult transition from child star to meaningful movie star, but couldn’t sustain it.”

Lohan faces misdemeanour charges of reckless driving, giving false information to a police officer and resisting, obstructing or delaying an officer in relation to the crash in Santa Monica. Each carries a potential jail sentence of three months to a year.

It has been reported she rejected the offer of a plea deal offered by prosecutors which had proposed she spent 90 days in a locked rehabilitation facility.

Her lawyer, Mark Heller, told the last court hearing that Lohan was currently in therapy.

He said: “This is not what she needs – rehab. Lindsay doesn’t have a problem with alcohol and drugs. Lindsay’s issues are different.”

Judge James Dabney dismissed his calls for a delay, saying: “I don’t know how the next two weeks is suddenly going to change the history of these cases.

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Infant and Toddler Winter Illnesses

Why do newborns sound so congested? When should you worry about an infant’s cough? Are steroids really needed for a wheezy one year old? Does croup or bronchitis mean a child is more likely to develop asthma? Why do some toddlers have so many ear infections?  

Nothing is more distressing to a parent than a young child’s illness. It may feel like one cold is hardly over before the next virus hits, and a cough or runny nose may seem like a chronic occurrence.

On Monday, February 18, 2013 at 12:00 pm EST, Dr. Nina Shapiro, Director of Pediatric Ear, Nose & Throat at UCLA School of Medicine, and the author of Take A Deep Breath: Clear the Air for the Health of Your Child., will explore the common respiratory illnesses encountered during a child’s early years, including colds, sinusitis, ear infection, strep throat, tonsillitis, flu, RSV, pertussis, croup, bronchitis and pneumonia.

She will review the symptoms of these common illnesses with a focus on treatments to manage the symptoms at home and when to worry or call the doctor. Young children typically encounter 5 to 10 colds or viral illnesses a year. The practical information shared by Dr. Shapiro in this webinar will come in handy for parents and caregivers of children from infancy through preschool.

Registration to this free expert speaker webinar is available to all interested parents and caregivers. You may distribute the registration link via email or social media.

 

 

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Journalist Amber Narsulla, interviewed AJGpr client, Betsy Brown Braun for the online parenting site mom.me.  Betsy is a child development and behavior specialist who weighed in on the question of taking kids out of school for family vacations.

Betsy says, “Some children are flexible and will transition easily back into the classroom, while others will struggle.”

For the full story click here.

Besty is the bestselling author of Just Tell Me What to Say and You’re Not the Boss of Me.

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In a recent article by Pamela Stitt in TODAY’S MOMS, my client Fran Walfish,  a Los Angeles-based clinical psychotherapist who specializes in children and families shared her views on gender-neutral toys.

Dr. Fran Walfish is the author of  The Self-Aware Parent (Palgrave Macmillan).

Here is the full story.

 

 

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A neighbor frequently asks for help with her elementary-age daughter: rides, baby-sitting, meals. But she never reciprocates. Do you say no, knowing the child is the one who will suffer?

My client, Dr. Fran Walfish says, “You should continue to be generous and help this defenseless child. Someone else might say that saying no is creating reasonable boundaries, but it all depends on your point of view.

“I treat many adults who were raised alone,” Walfish says. “They always talk of one special person who saved them psychologically. Perhaps it was a grandmother, uncle, schoolteacher, the parent of a classmate. As a neighbor to this limited mother and her elementary-age daughter, you have the privileged opportunity to be that special person and rescue this child from a world of isolation.”

You can read the full article here.

Dr. Walfish is the author of The Self-Aware Parent: Resolving Conflict and Buiilding a Better Bond with Your Child.

 

 

posted by | on social media, web | No comments

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook wants to allow kids under 13 into their social media club.  It seems that because about 7.5 million kids under 13 are already using Facebook, Mark Zuckergerg thinks it is OK to open this Pandora’s box further.

My client,  Gwenn O’Keeffe, MD,  a pediatrician CEO & Editor In Chief of Pediatrics Now speaks out against this move in her Huffington Post blog.

Author of CyberSafe: Protecting and Empowering Kids in the Digital World of Texting, Gaming, and Social Media (AAP 2010), Dr. Gwenn is one of the most highly sought after pediatric and social media experts today.