Friday, January 22, 2010

Neck and Neck

An argument heard at least now and then at gatherings of those who at least think themselves savvy in the ways of wilderness medicine concerns the effectiveness of improvising a cervical collar with a SAM Splint (http://sammedical.com). Whether you are pro or con, take a look at Wilderness and Environmental Medicine (Volume 20, Number 2, 2009). You'll be able to read a report on a study done by McGrath and Murphy comparing a Philadelphia cervical collar (used on ambulances) with a collar improvised with a SAM Splint. The results, briefly stated, suggest the SAM Splint, used according to the directions that come with the device, are, once again at least, as effective as the Philadelphia collar. The study, in case you're interested, tested motion of the neck in extension and side to side. Personally, I have been teaching use of the SAM Splint as an improvised cervical collar for just about 25 years. I will continue to do so--but with renewed confidence.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Back At It

No blog since November 10? In case someone was wondering if I had died, the answer is no, but I felt, now and then, sort of like I was. My lumbar spine, slowing giving out over the past decade or so, gave up completely. The first signal was pain in the posterior region of my acetabulum, the back of my right hip. Gradually the pain moved down the outside of my thigh, under my knee, and down my shin to the top of my right foot. "Classic presentation," said the spine surgeon in Billings, Montana. I said the pain, classic or not, was keeping me pretty much off my feet. So he operated, removing bits of my lower two vertebrae and a smidge of my sacrum to make room for the nerves to emerge freely. I am quite happy to report I feel like a new man--or at least a man with a new lower spine.