South Platte Sentinel Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014 Page 14 Health

Mental Matters By Dr. Jennifer Goble

Heroes don't justify the end with their means

Sponsored by the Logan County Chamber of Commerce and SHS FBLA

Haunted houseat the Logan County Courthouse Annex

Oct. 17, 18, 24, 25, 30, 31 and Nov. 1

6-7 p.m. for the Little Ones - $5 7-9:30 p.m. for the Brave Souls$7 in Advance

$10 at the door

I recently watched “Hud,” an old Paul Newman movie, fi lmed in 1963. The father, always trying to instill ethics and compassion into his son, said, “Little by little the look of the country changes because of the men we admire...” When I heard that line, I couldn’t help but think of the domestic violence charges in the NFL; the sexual abuse by priests and pastors; abuse of drugs and alcohol by olympic athletes, and news of police brutality and abusive coaches. The message I have is, “Choose your heroes wisely.” We often look up to and excuse the

behaviors of the wrong people. A person of power, whether it be a parent, teacher, movie star, law inforcement, athlete, or clergy, has a responsibility to walk the walk; to be honorable and set honest examples. The end truly does not justify the means. A winning team, a compliant believer, an enormous fan club, millions of dollars, or a well-behaved child does not justify violence and abuse. Our country could be changing because of the men we admire. As a kid I remember admiring an uncle who spoke with kind

authority; Bill Beebout, who worked at the newspaper and eagerly supported the school by buying our fundraisers; parents who hollered encouraging words to their kids on the court, fi eld or track; veterans who marched in the

fair parade; our basketball coach who won games with leadership; and our priest who was a good example of holy. There were also plenty of men I did not admire: my boss who charged weathy people less money than poor people for the same product; my driver’s ed teacher who made sexual comments to me and my girlfriends; a man who yelled profanity to my friend and I as we sold red paper poppies for the Veterans of Foreign War; and a neighbor, who was mean - a true bully. Be aware of who you admire. Do not hold someone in high

esteem just because they have a position of power. There are many honorable people amongst us to heroize; be selective. Help preserve our country. Admire men (and women) who have behavior you would like repeated by your sons, daughters, and neighbors. Those we admire can become our mirror and our nation’s future. Until the next time: Live while you live. (Jennifer Goble, Ph.D. is a Licensed Professional Coun-selor. Check out her new book and weekly blog at www.jennifergoble.com.)

This week we are going to discuss the post-operative complication of nerve root scarring following the lower back surgery, lumbar laminectomy or fusion. Laminectomy, or removal of the lamina, is a common procedure, which is used to decompress the lumbar nerve roots and eliminate the pain of sciatica down the leg. Laminectomy in and of itself makes sense in that it decompresses the nerve root and in theory this should eliminate the sciatica. However, in the process of performing the laminectomy, some patients lay down excess scar tissue, which webs down the nerve root it is intending to decompress, and subsequently creates it’s own form of sciatica for a different reason. The same is true for lumbar fusion as the scar tissue, which is resultant in some patients following a fusion of the lower back, can cause an equivalent amount of sciatica as was present prior to the surgical procedure. In both cases, both laminectomy and fusion post-operative scar tissue can become a signifi cant

problem resulting in back pain, sciatica and a persistence of problems that were intended to be resolved by the surgical procedure. Several years ago I had the unique opportunity to meet an Australian physical therapist (they call them physiotherapists in Australia), named Robert Elvey. Dr. Elvey was here on a tour of the U.S. teaching courses in his specifi c nerve mobilization technique, the Elvey’s maneuver, and I had the opportunity to take his course in Denver (he signed my book). As physical therapists go, Dr. Elvey would be the equivalent to meeting Elvis for a therapist as he has invented and perfected nerve glide mobilization that help

patients with post-operative nerve adherence. When the patient has scar tissue following a lumbar surgery, Dr. Elvey’s technique serves to mobilize the nerve and free the scar tissue and nerve complex from adhering to one another. This post surgical complication known as “adverse neural tension” is treatable in many cases using Dr. Elvey’s technique. Gently mobilizing the nerve, not stretching particularly, but gently mobilizing and freeing the nerve from the scar tissue during the post operative course of treatment can minimize the amount of nerve pain that the patient experiences thus decreasing the post operative complication of nerve adherence. Using Dr. Elvey’s technique, gently mobilizing the scar tissue/nerve can reduce the tension between nerve roots and the post-operative scarring thus decreasing the post-operative complication of sciatica, back pain and numbness. By simply adding Elvey’s techniques to the physical therapy program the therapist can minimize the post-operative complication of adverse neural adherence.

For more information on post-operative scarring, nerve root adherence, and post-operative complications of lumbar laminectomy and fusion, please call the clinic for a no cost consultation. (Dr. Mark McDonald, PT, DPT,

Post-operative scar adhesions a common problemOCS is a lifelong Sterling native and board certifi ed orthopedic physical therapist with 21 years practice in Sterling. He is a clinical partner with AB Fitness/Alma Blagg, Devonshire Acres, and Northeast Plains Home Health Care in Sterling.)

Physically Speaking

ByDr. MarkMcDonald