The Science Bit
So I'm just going to give a quick summary of some of the research I've been reading lately. It's mostly from the Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association (PTJ) since that's what I have a subscription to! There was a meta-analysis of treatments for temporomandibular disorders (AKA TMD, TMJ, jaw pain, etc) that I found interesting, especially since, in my experience, it is an area that a lot of professionals are lacking in education and experience, so I was glad to see it highlighted this month. Also, I personally like treating TMD so I was happy to see it for that reason as well. The meta-analysis included 48 studies and states that, overall, the quality of the studies is low and thus calls for more research with less biases present. However, I still like to look at the information, even if it might be biased. I think that biased information can still be useful as long as it's not intentionally falsified information and may point to some trends or at least give some indication of interventions available for a given disorder. So here are the details. For Muscular TMD: 2 studies demonstrated clinically significant changes on pain and function with postural exercises. Additionally, 4 studies supported the use of manual therapy to treat muscular TMD. Another found that cervical manipulation has immediate effects on cervico-craniofascial pain when compared to placebo intervention. For Arthrogenous TMD: Most studies that evaluated the effectiveness of jaw and neck exercises indicated positive effects, though not always significant when compared to control group. More studies showed a significant effect on pain with a combined intervention of manual therapy and exercises compared to using splints, medications, and other non-conservative methods (e.g. surgery) For Mixed TMD: 11 studies found significant effects for general exercise compared to control groups, but when compared to other conservative interventions (splinting, postural correction, acupunture) there was no significant difference. 6 studies showed mixed results about the effectiveness of manual therapy alone to treat pain and function. 2 studies reported benefits of manual therapy plus exercises, even more so than exercise alone.
Additionally adverse effects from the studies were reported. I think that the important take home from that section was that there were NO adverse effects reported from any of the any of the manual therapy or exercise based studies.
So basically it seems that from this research, that some kind of treatment is better than no treatment, but no intervention blows any other out of the water (except for maybe manual therapy alone which didn't seem to be as effective as other interventions or in combo with other interventions...Not too big of a shocker there though!).
citation for this article: Armijo-Olivo S, et al. Effectiveness of manual therapy and therapeutic exercise for temporomandibular disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of American Physical Therapy Association. 2016;96:9-25.
I apologize for any errors I made in my citation. I'm sure I did, but you get the gist! And since I'm not being graded on it anymore I really don't care haha
Also, I'm pretty excited because in last month's PTJ there was an article (co-authored by Linda VanDillon, one of my former instructors) about an upcoming randomized controlled trial about Movement System Impairment interventions. whoo!
The Introspective/Philosophical Bit
I've been feeling unmotivated for some time now. I could say as long as years, but time is fluid and perceptions are flawed. I've been struggling with finding meaning and motivation to do pretty much anything. I feel tired and old and like doing even the things that I "want" to do are chores. If you have to force yourself to do the things that you "want" to do then do you really want to do them? I operate from a base that there is no objective morality (and ultimately that there is no morality at all - it's just a made up system to get people to act a certain way) and thus I have tried to eliminate global "shoulds" from my life. That makes everything on an individual level and the only "shoulds" you have are those that help you to meet your desires. But sometimes I can get stuck with this thinking. As one of my friends put it recently, "I no longer have a god or a universe to whisper these things to me or an institution to flog me into the correct path," so that leaves only me. And if there is no objective thing to guide me and no true right or wrong, then what is the difference between any activity that I choose to do? Why is consuming any different than creating? Why work so hard and push myself to draw or paint when I could just watch TV instead? Why climb the mountain to see the sunrise when I can kind of see it from down here? I just don't know where to find the motivation many times. It used to be easy and flowed. I desired to the things I said I wanted to do. Now I just want to want to do those things. How do you make yourself think that to see that sunrise with worth the climb?
The Crafty Bit
My creative endeavors this month have been focused on making knotted/woven bracelets and some sewing projects. I made a little caddy for my car to hold my sunglasses and cell and other little things and I've made a few medicine pouch necklaces for holding ID, credit cards, cash, etc when I don't want to carry my purse.
This one is made of leather and I just put a wrapped stone on it so the flap would hang closed. I sewed it up with a sewing machine as opposed to by hand because it is way faster. I've made the pouch part for a few others but haven't finished the necklace part. So basically if you wanted to do this yourself all you need is the fabric you want cut into a long strip. My strip is exactly 3 1/8 inches by 10 3/4 inches. So you cut it out, fold up the bottom about 3 1/4 inches then stitch up the side seams with a 1/8 to 2/8 seam allowance (tiny, I know). Then, turn it right side out and you're pretty much done. I will likely post more on this later as i plan to make more out of different fabrics and closures.
The Reading Bit
Current books I'm reading are The Sandman: Overature and The Dark Tower Series book 6: Song of Susannah (no spoilers please!)
I've been reading the Sandman comics for about the last year and am sad to see it finally come to an end, but, who knows, there may be the potential for more. Afterall, Overature did come many years after The Wake.
And I first read The Gunslinger and started the Dark Tower series when I was in high school but stopped. Though I started it over again a little over a year ago and have been fully recommitted to finishing it. I've been reading the books aloud to my husband some nights before we go to sleep and it has been a good experience. He has already read the entire series but was interested in reading it again. He has dyslexia and is not big on reading fiction due to this so it has been a nice bonding type experience.
Also, as far as non-fiction goes I am reading The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals by Gail Damerow. I am loving this book so much. My husband and I are interested in homesteading and this is a great book. It's so detailed but simple to understand for someone who knows little about farm animals. It's also not a boring read filled with highly technical stuff and its actually funny in a few places. So if you are at all interested in homesteading or owning an animal I would highly recommend it.
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