Not Another Broken Arm!

Fractured L ulna and radius

No, not again .... My second boy fractured his right ulna and radius (both forearm bones) while on the third day of our farm stay holiday. He fell from a height of almost two meters while trying to wear his shoes onto a hard cement floor. Fortunately, nothing else was broken. Definitely an angel looking out for him though.

Older boy's fracture on 281117

This is after my older boy fractured exactly the same two bones (ulna and radius) but on the left arm  when we were on holiday in Brisbane in November 2017. We waited almost an hour for the ambulance to come, sat for another hour in the ambulance traveling to the hospital. And I'm not exaggerating, they had to repeat the x-ray five times on his arm and redo his plaster of paris cast twice.

Older boy in Brisbane

Talk about lightning striking twice. All credit to my boys. They didn't cry or complain at all. Not even my younger boy who turns four today. First we went to a rural hospital and they had to ask us to go to another hospital as the first hospital did not have an orthopaedic surgeon.

The second hospital we went to was much better than the Brisbane hospital my older boy went to. Much better splinting materials too! After the surgeon in the second hospital put his broken arm into a back slab, we went back to the farm and he was almost back to normal. Wanted to climb stairs, run around and feed the farm animals. Just like before he fell.

He never let that broken arm keep him down at all. He just shrugged it off as though it was all fine and dandy. Daddy has to learn from your indomitable spirit.

My two boys, tough as nails!

My wife? First, she had to deal with me having a broken head and spine, the older boy breaking his arm and now the younger one having the same broken bones in the right arm. Really thankful that she's holding us altogether all the time. Chapeau to her!!

Me? I'm just very grateful and absolutely thankful that nothing more serious happened to either of the boys. They still want to go back to the farm again (this was our second visit in in seven months). Thanks to farmer Ae for being such a great host.

See what I caught!

Silver lining is we now know much much more (than before) about broken ulnas and radiuses, green stick fractures and interosseous membranes in young children. And how to get them better, quicker. Hey, other than parents, we're still physiotherapists.

Let's see what the surgeon in Singapore says tomorrow.

2 Oakley Flight Jackets As Early Chinese New Year Hong Pows

2 pairs of Flight Jackets

My Chinese New Year hong pows came early today. Joey from Oakley sent them personally to Sports Solutions this morning.

Two pairs of Oakley Flight Jackets! A Flight Jacket in Matte Navy and a Flight Jacket Carbon for low light conditions.

Since I just ended work earlier, I haven't worn it for to ride or run of course but what I like from first impressions will be the option to change the ear pieces as they give an extra pair of interchangeable temples.  Great as too long ear pieces sometimes get in the way of helmet fastening/ adjustment straps while riding.

Extra ear pieces to get your preferred length

Other impressions are the lack of a frame at the top of the lens. If you're in a breakaway or doing a time trial on your bike in an aero tuck position, this gives you a better field of vision. Another benefit would be improved air flow to decrease chances of fogging when you're huffing and puffing.

It also means you can't change lenses though. I guess that's why I got two pairs then. Good for me!

My personal observations are after the release of the Radars in 2006, the lenses have started to go downhill. They usually flake or peel off after a while. Hopefully they have improved on that aspect.

My first Oakley Razor Blades and  Blades lenses from 1989 are still in good condition. Yes, this is how long I've used Oakley sunnies.

Perhaps this has to do with Luxottica Group SpA (an Italian company) hostile takeover of the company in late 2007. Yes, Oakley founder Jim Jannard doesn't own the company anymore.

Here's a closer look at the two pairs of Flight Jackets.

Matte Navy

Flight Jacket Carbon

*Rode with the Matte Navy this morning (2/2/19). The lack of a top piece for the frame has made the vision field in front much better. It's unobstructed all the way to your helmet. Peripheral vision is great as always.

Increase Of Strokes In Young Adults

Last December, one of my colleagues needed to take urgent leave to go to Taiwan. He found out that his 36 year old brother had a suspected stroke and their whole family went to Taiwan to be with him.

I was shocked as his brother seemed relatively young to suffer a stroke (although I remember while still working in the hospital my youngest stroke patient was just 29 years young). The same colleague mentioned that at least four other friends younger than his brother also had a stroke!

Though it may seem shocking to you for such a young person to experience a stroke, evidence shows that this is becoming more common in young adults.

An article published in JAMA Neurology found that the number of men aged between 35 to 44 hospitalized for stroke increased by a staggering 42 percent when they compared 2003-2004 to 2011-2012.

It seems to be more common among males (41 percent versus 30 percent for females). The authors found significant increased risk of getting a stroke if you are diabetic, have hypertension, heart disease, smoking cigarettes currently and long term alcohol consumption.

The majority of the above listed factors are definitely easily modified, correctable or can be stopped. So prevention strategies definitely have the potential to reduce the impact of stroke in this young age group.

I'd add that exercising will definitely reduce your risk too.


Reference

George MG, Tong X and Bowman BA (2017). Prevalence Of Cardiovascular Risk Factors And Risk Factors And Strokes in Younger Adults. Jama Neurol. 74(6): 695-703. DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2017.0020.

Drug Companies Admit That Curing Patients Is Bad For Business

Some of you may may have read this article written by Goldman Sachs analyst Salveen Richter earlier last year, but not me. I only read the article recently while looking for interesting articles so I can post on this blog.

My nephew had a anaphylactic shock (after being given the wrong food at their resort) while on holiday in Bali recently. Fortunately they used both the Epipens they had on him and he was discharged from hospital shortly after observation.

Because they couldn't find any Epipens anywhere in the whole of Bali, my wife ordered two for them in Singapore and then my mother-in-law flew there to make sure they had spare Epipens for the rest of their holiday.

Other than pricing their Epipens ridiculously expensive to make money, big drug companies have admitted that developing one-off treatments don't make them much money. They prefer to make pills/ drugs that just manages but do not totally cure diseases so that they are able to make more money.

Reliance on the medication (to keep the condition at bay) will ensure continuous streams of income.

Back in 2014, Bayer's CEO openly admitted that they developed medication for rich Westerners and not for the poor. Rather than wanting to save lives, they are more interested in maximising profits.

As we wrote before, we don't aim to be the biggest private physiotherapy chain of clinics in Singapore. We at Physio Solutions and Sports Solutions just want to be the best at treating the cause of your pain quickly. If we can get you better in 2-3 sessions, we won't want you to come back for further for more sessions unnecessarily. That's our promise to you.