Author: D. Bents

Does what you eat after surgery matter? Yes, because a well-nourished body will heal better than eating food that comes with fries. A surgeon can do the work of fixing your bones, but how well you heal is completely up to the effort you want to make. Surgeons emphasize post-op physical therapy to optimize your outcome, and you should consider your diet to be just as essential. Here are your dietary goals:

• minimize loss of muscle
• decrease inflammation
• promote cellular healing
• maintain a healthy weight

Certain foods can help you accomplish all of these goals and counter constipation while you are less active. In general, you should be eating foods higher in protein, vitamin C, zinc, vitamin D, and calcium. Look for foods that pack a nutritional punch and cover more than one nutritional need, such as skim milk or whole-grain breads. Choose fruits and vegetables that are not only high in vitamin C, but also contain other nutrients/fiber, such as broccoli and prunes. This article has more helpful information on this topic:

Nutrition for Orthopedic Surgery & Bone Healing | ROC (renoortho.com)

There is and up and coming technology in the medical field that is set to do things only imagined, and it is coming at us rapidly. Crispr is a novel gene-editing technology, changing the DNA of genes inside the body, potentially curing disease, instead of using medicines that treat symptoms/diseases. For example, medicines are used treat sickle cell anemia; the patient is never cured and endures many hospital visits to stay alive. Crispr targets the root of the disease in the gene, thus making a cure possible when it couldn’t previously be imagined. The technology is easy to use, making it desirable for many applications. In the orthopedic world, there are studies being started to improve osteoarthritis and improve bone/cartilage repair. It is exciting to hear about the amazing possibilities using Crispr. Read more in the recent article from the Wall Street Journal here:

Gene Editing Will Change Medicine—and Maybe Health Investing Too – WSJ

Today is the last day in the clinic most people in Southern Oregon have known as Paragon’s home for the last decade and a half! If you have been in the Ramsey Avenue building over the past week, you will have noticed the bare-bones appearance as the progressive move has proceeded. (Pun intended.) After months of transforming the new building, it is set to open on Monday, December 18th and our staff could not be more excited! Luckily, if you show up at the wrong building, it’s just a short walk across the street. You can’t miss the Southern Oregon Orthopedics sign across Nebraska Avenue. Patients will notice much more room and comfort, as well as modern upgrades. Physical therapy will be right in the same building for your convenience! Feel free to stop by for a look: 1780 Nebraska Avenue in Grants Pass.

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It’s hard to believe there was only one birthday in our clinic for the whole month of December. Carl got the spotlight, but not all the cake! Please wish him the best for his birthday month when you’re at Paragon!

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Despite the drenching rains, the crowds came out to celebrate the Christmas season on Saturday. Paragon Orthopedics arrived early with a spot at the beginning of the parade and you could not miss the ginormous skeleton coming down 6th Street. Confusion gave way to smiles as people realized it was fitting for an orthopedic clinic to have a float with a 12-foot, seasonally dressed bony statue as their centerpiece. Not to be missed was Mr. Bones at the back, kicking his feet up in a recliner next to the fireplace. Well done to Carl and staff who put in many rainy hours creating this festive float!

There are few people who would deny dogs are fun animals, but did you know there are actual health benefits from owning one? The Mayo Clinic has an article that details how they:

• get you moving
• help your weight
• promote socialization
• help manage anxiety and stress
• combat loneliness

If you don’t already own one, make sure you read the exciting details of this article and maybe you might consider adopting a dog. Josephine County Animal Shelter has many adorable pets available today, like Sisco and baby FlipFlop!
Adoptable Pets | animal-shelter (jocoshelter.com)

Read the article here:
Dogs are good for your health – Mayo Clinic Health System

We missed a snapshot of the October birthdays (Sorry Dr. Bents, Amanda, Lisa, Tammy, Nena, and Sherri!), but we caught our November birthday peeps for a pic before anyone touched their triple layer Oreo cake! Happy birthday month to Amie, Grecia, Heidi, and Jessica!

If you read the recent post about oral phenylephrine, then you know how the advisers at the FDA found that it plain doesn’t do anything to relieve cold symptoms. What should you take? Again, the Wall Street Journal dove into this with some helpful advice. A quick summary:

-Congestion- Try pseudoephedrine
-Decongestant spray- Try: 1-nasal phenylephrine, although it provides only short-acting relief and can cause rebound stuffiness, 2-oxymetazoline (Afrin); this can also lead to rebound congestion. 3-nasal steroids, such as Nasonex or Flonase.
-Antihistamines- Zyrtec, Claritin, and Allegra provide 24-hour relief, but are not as fast-acting and only work to block histamine, which is the problem in allergy sufferers.

Also recommended are Neti Pots. The article details how to use these safely and effectively, as well as what is safe to try in children. Read more here:

Some Cold Medicines Don’t Work. Here’s What Doctors Recommend Instead. – WSJ

Phenylephrine is found in over the counter cold medicines to help with nasal congestion. After the FDA advisory committee declared that oral phenylephrine is not effective at relieving nasal congestion as consumers expect, CVS voluntarily removed any products with this ingredient as its only active ingredient. Products that contain phenylephrine plus other ingredients, such as acetaminophen, are still available. The FDA is declaring this only for oral phenylephrine, not nasal. The FDA advisory committee is purely advisory, so a decision has not been made by the full governmental agency. Also to be noted, the presence of phenylephrine in a product does NOT make the other ingredients in the medication ineffective. As of today, CVS is the only store to remove these products. Read more here:

CVS pulls popular cold medicines from store shelves | Fox Business

Have you noticed the number of movies and sit-coms that consistently portray men as oafs or barely useful for anything significant? The Barbie movie hammered home the latter. You might think it odd to post about fathering on the Paragon Orthopedic Center website, but recent research about this subject is worthy of noting. A major study done in Japan of over 28,000 children showed there is a significant impact on a child’s well-being when the father is involved in the rearing of children. A few of the measurable, positive impacts were better gross and fine motor skills, problem solving, and social skills than those whose fathers were not involved. “The risk of a developmental delay in children with highly involved fathers was 24% lower,” according to the study’s lead researcher, Dr. Tsuguhiko Kato. Paragon Orthopedic Center has a group of physicians who are highly involved in the rearing of their children, and you are likely to see them in public attending or even leading various kid-centered activities. We encourage all of the fathers of Southern Oregon to become more hands-on to give your children the best chances for success in life. Here is a summary in the Wall Street Journal:

The Long-Term Benefits of Hands-On Fathering (msn.com)