Regimes the world over have used prolonged standing, often combined with sleep deprivation, as a convenient form of torture. It requires no special equipment, and usually leaves no marks.
Unruly Passengers, or People Who’ve Had Enough?
The FAA has new rules for dealing with unruly passengers. Meanwhile, airlines show habitual disregard for passengers’ health and wellbeing.
Why My Disability Made Me Rethink Frida Kahlo
I wondered how Frida Kahlo could become famous for specializing in a narcissistic genre like self-portraits. It wasn’t until I was 33, with a sitting disability, that I began to rethink her.
9 Small Curses of My Sitting-Disabled Life
There are many big problems that accompany a sitting disability. But there are also many small curses and minor annoyances, which I catalog here.
How Likely Are You to Reherniate After a Discectomy?
After reading a certain number of social media posts from people who are terrified they’ve reherniated, I started to wonder: just how often do discs reherniate after a discectomy?
For Microdiscectomy Success, Does the Type of Herniation Matter?
As I was investigating reherniation rates and the effectiveness of microdiscectomies, I came across a paper that sought to answer a question I hadn’t thought to ask – does the type of herniation matter?
Book Review: Stabbed in the Back: Confronting Back Pain in an Overtreated Society by Nortin M. Hadler
Until I read Stabbed in the Back: Confronting Back Pain in an Overtreated Society, I didn’t realize that it was possible to write a book about back pain that was thoughtful and full of interesting tidbits, and yet had nothing useful to say to patients.
7 Ways to Support People With Sitting Disabilities
This list is meant to give well-meaning people practical ways to support their loved one with a sitting disability. To create it, I bolstered my own views with sage advice solicited from the Sitting Disability Facebook group.
Book Review: Treat Your Own Back by Robin McKenzie
After years of getting secondhand versions of his advice from websites, forums, and patient stories, I picked up Robin McKenzie’s book, Treat Your Own Back, to see what the man himself had to say.
Schmorl’s Nodes: What Are They, and What Causes Them?
At first, it seemed like mechanical damage was all there was to the question of “What causes Schmorl’s nodes?” But once the role of genetics in back pain was becoming understood, scientists decided to investigate Schmorl’s nodes as well.