Don't 'walk off' a sprained ankle

So much for that age-old advice to 'walk off' sprained ankles.

Maybe it was the placebo effect, but I've always thought it worked. And I've sprained my ankle tons of times.

The newest thinking says to rest, ice, compress, and elevate, (known by the acronym RICE) but also to not stay off your feet completely.

And, oh yeah, no ibuprofen; take aceteminophen to relieve pain. It turns out body has a natural response to swelling that ibuprofen disturbs.

 Sound confusing?

Read this New York Times blog to learn more:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/after-a-sprain-dont-just-walk-it-off/

Gun Quote

Unless you want to waste precious minutes of your life, the debate about guns is not one that is worth having, really, since those who care strongly about this issue believe so passionately about it that they are not open to hearing the other side. 

That said, I saw this quote in the magazine The Sun, which, yes, can be perceived as mostly one-sided, but it is one that makes a lot of sense, to me.

"They say, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." But I think the guns help. Just standing there saying, "Bang!" doesn't really hurt anybody." - Eddie Izzard

imho

An observation:

imho, which means "in my humble opinion", is a stupid thing to say and should not be accepted as a sincere idea.

"imo" is fine, if you want to make your opinion.

But humility implies you don't need the approval of others. Humble people would never publicize their opinions.

So, don't believe those who write this absurd abbreviation. Or, better yet: call them out on it.

Don't Try To Do Too Much

Tonight the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Red Sox, which is unfortunate but in the grand scheme, not that important.

However, in the post-game interview, I saw a Tampa Bay player whom I hadn't heard of but who scored a couple of runs in the win, tell the reporter that he "tried not to do too much" when playing, and this was not the first time I'd heard that kind of comment from someone who had just performed well, which of course begs the question: why does this work?

Are we all trying too hard?

New Courant Op-Ed: Why Men Need Women

It is clear, time and time again, that men need women. That is one premise of this piece, to be published tomorrow in the Courant.

http://touch.courant.com/#section/2348/article/p2p-76728248/

Five New Poems

A mix of poetry published by the online literary journal Gadfly Online.


http://www.gadflyonline.com/home/index.php/how-to-write-a-poem/

Reactions to hornet, wasp, or bee stings

This is more of a public service announcement than anything else. Exactly what constitutes an allergy from a normal reaction to a bee or hornet sting?

After my second sting of the season - it's only mid-June - and with a swollen lower leg, I was curious.

I found this online and it was helpful, from North Carolina State University. Swelling and itchiness the day after is normal.

http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/entomology/apiculture/pdfs/1.09%20copy.pdf