May 2nd, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in True Stories
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Ask most men how many shoes their wife, girlfriend, or sister has and the
answer is: “too many.” I can’t speak for everyone with large shoe collections,
but I can tell you why I have too many shoes. They each hurt my feet in slightly
different ways – ways that are impossible to predict at the time of
purchase.
Some of my shoes pinch my toes, others cause blisters under the straps, still
others cause blisters on the bottom of my feet or heels. Some of them are
comfortable for short distances but begin to hurt after 5 blocks. I’ve tried to
purchase shoes from the major “comfortable brands,” but without consistent
success in avoiding self-injury.
My husband has difficulty understanding my predicament, as his feet haven’t
seen a blister in over a decade. He occasionally points to his baby soft feet
as evidence of a defect in my own. I protest that women’s shoes are not
comfortable, and he counters with arguments about my not needing any more
shoes.
A recent conversation went something like this:
Dr. Val: [Sitting down on my couch after a long day of
work.] Argh! I’m so disappointed… remember those shoes that looked so
promising when we bought them in the shoe store, honey?
Hubby: [Chewing a bite of sandwich and contemplating my
question.] Which pair might that be?
Dr. Val: You know the nice, wide, dress sandals with a low
heel? [I point to the shoes as I remove them from my bare feet.]
Hubby: The ones that cost a hundred and fifty dollars?!
Dr. Val: Yeah, those ones. Look at what they did to my feet!
[I point out two strips of raw skin on the top of my toes.]
Hubby: [Wincing] There’s something wrong with you.
Dr. Val: What do you mean? I try so hard to find comfortable
shoes and yet I’m always thwarted – no matter how soft they look in the store,
or how expensive they are, they always hurt in the end!
Hubby: Why don’t I hear other people complaining about their
shoes? Everyone seems to be fine with shoes except you.
Dr. Val: I bet other women have shoe problems too… The
only shoes that are comfortable are sneakers.
Hubby: Your sneakers are unattractive.
Dr. Val: I know! That’s why I keep buying more shoes, trying
to find ones that look good but are as comfortable as sneakers.
Hubby: Maybe you have a connective tissue disorder?
Dr. Val: [Eye roll]. I don’t have a connective tissue
disorder. I just need to find that perfect pair of shoes – ones that look good
with suits and shorts and I can walk for long distances in and don’t give me
blisters.
Hubby: You don’t need any more shoes.
***
Am I crazy or do women’s shoes wreak havoc on our feet? Do any of you have
tips for finding that perfect pair of black dress shoes?
(For summer shoe drama, check out my blog post about “flip
flop foot” and racing
in stilettos.)This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
April 30th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Announcements, Quackery Exposed
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Sorry for the late notice, folks… but Revolution Health’s sister site, HealthTalk, is hosting a call-in podcast with Dr. Stephen Barrett, founder of Quackwatch.org, TONIGHT. The name of the show is, “One Man’s Mission To Expose Medical Quackery” and Dr. Barrett is a polarizing figure for sure. Love him or hate him, it should be a great interview. To join, go to this page.
You can send in your questions in advance, listen to the call live (8:30pm EDT, Wednesday, April 30th), or listen to the podcast post-show. Hope to meet you there!
Here are a few of my recent posts about how to discern truth from error in medicine:
Good Science Makes Bad Television (And Other Truths)
The Three Pillars of Trustworthy Science: Credibility, Plausibility, and Reproducibility
Plausibility, Homeopathy, and Science Fiction
False Positive Research Findings: The Deck Is Stacked
Reproducibility: The Final Pillar of Trustworthy Science
The Rise of Snake Oil In America
The Placebo Effect: Whatever Works?This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
April 30th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Humor
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As my regular readers know, my husband has a really dry sense of humor. Couple that with a kind heart filtered by a data-driven mind and you get some fairly “harsh” sounding statements that are meant well, but come out oh so horribly wrong. I’ve heard that many men have struggled with “foot-in-mouth disease”… and so for you ladies who love them, and men who can relate, this one’s for you.
What not to say when you’re jogging
So, I’m not a natural athlete – but I try really hard to stay in shape and have been working extra hard recently because I’m leading a weight loss group here at Revolution Health. I like being outdoors so I figured that jogging would be the right sort of endeavor for a slightly uncoordinated person like me. Of course, hubby is part-human, part-gazelle, so running is right up his alley. I’m probably more part-human, part-water buffalo (if we stick with the African theme here) so let’s just say it’s a bit harder for me to keep up with hubby. Nonetheless I was brave enough to ask to run with him – I thought it would motivate me as well as get both of us out in nature.
We jogged every other day for a few days together, and I was huffing along doing my very best to keep pace and also not die. Hubby was quiet the entire time until one day he looked down at me thoughtfully and said,
“Have you ever considered doing a sport you’re good at?”
I was flabbergasted. I gave him “the look.”
“Well, I just mean that this is obviously quite difficult for you and you might enjoy something that’s more suited to…”
I looked at him, beet red, sweaty and incredulous. “More suited to WHAT?”
“Well… um… perhaps you’d like to hike?”
“Hike where? All the land around us is flat. Do you mean WALK?”
“Sure, walking might be a good option for you.”
And so ended my jogging routine with hubby. I’m vaguely looking for a running partner who’s more my speed. But perhaps I’ll just default to having my husband walk next to me while I jog?This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
April 30th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Health Tips
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May is skin cancer awareness month, and Revolution Health has created an awareness campaign to help people become more educated about their risks. In a unanimous vote, I was selected as the blogger/spokesperson for skin cancer awareness – probably because I’m “the fairest in the land.” Well, the truth is I’m so white I’m actually closer to light blue – couple that with a high freckle count and green eyes and you’ve got one very high risk lady.
So I’ve decided to see a dermatologist once a year for a full skin check. I must admit that the first year I went I was convinced that I’d be biopsied into oblivion. The only way to be sure that a mole is not cancerous is to take a sample and check it under the microscope. So any doctor with a conservative eye would need to do a lot of “rule out melanoma” testing, right? Wrong. I was happily wrong. Dermatologists are trained to recognize individual freckle and mole patterns, and don’t do a biopsy unless they see an “ugly duckling” mole – one that stands out from all the others. I was so excited to escape the office with my skin in tact that I vowed to be obedient and return for a yearly check up.
If you are fair skinned and/or have had a significant amount of sun exposure in your life, or if people in your family have had skin cancer, you should definitely check in with a dermatologist to make sure you don’t have any suspicious moles. The doctor will tell you how frequently you should have follow up exams.
Here are some things you can do right now:
Find out if you’re at risk for skin cancer and learn what you can do to prevent it.
See what skin cancer looks like.
Check out my recent interview with Dr. Stephen Stone, past president of the American Academy of Dermatology, about skin cancer and about tanning salons.
Coming soon: the true story of my blogger friend who had a basal cell carcinoma removed from the side of her nose. She required plastic surgery to fill the gap, but it looks great now!This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
April 29th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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We’ve been conducting a series of opinion polls at Revolution Health, some of which have turned up interesting and surprising findings. This one caught my attention (there were 392 respondents):
What one factor would most improve your health?
- 23% Less stress at work
- 4% More time to cook
- 18% Being in a happier relationship
- 31% Getting more sleep
- 22% More time to work out
I thought it was very interesting that SLEEP is perceived by our viewers as their number one most important health intervention, more important than exercise, relationships, or stress reduction.
Does this result surprise you?
I suspect that there was selection bias at play since the poll appeared in the sleep disorders section of our site – but it was also featured in non-sleep related areas of Revolution Health.
Anecdotal for sure, but interesting.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
