Many months ago I wrote of shoulder injuries and healing, using Wobenzyme to get this strange injury to feel much better over a few months time. But I did have a 9 mm loose body in the joint, and while I recovered almost full range of motion and most of the strength, it was still limited and got sore (the bad kind of sore) if I worked it hard. So I finally bit the bullet and had Dr. Hartman of Ventura Orthopedics clean out the damage. I was somewhat stunned looking at the pictures of the joint surfaces as to how frayed and feathered they looked. There were long wisps of shredded-looking cartilage cascading off the joint faces, and I thought ‘how did this things work at all?’ Still, work it did, with little complaint; the week before, using 70 lb dumbbells on my last set of inclined presses for 8 reps. It will be a while before I can do that again, and maybe I shouldn’t. Those joint surfaces looked really haggard.

There didn’t seem to be evidence of current inflammation, but he briefly said (in recovery – I was sort of out of it)) that there was some evidence of arthritis. I’m still waiting to find where the loose body came from; I get that info next Tuesday at my post-surgery follow up session. Whatever, I think my nutritional program and supplement regime has been working wonders to get that mess healed up between workouts. I’ll keep you posted on my recovery and any insight on how to preserve joint health and still maintain muscle structure long term.

Breasts on aging men – not my favorite look.

I was taken aback when I read a column in the July 1, 06 Science News. It discussed the link between oils from two well-respected plants and growth of breast on pre-pubescent boys. Dr. Clifford Block of the Denver area had seen a string of young boy patients with a very rare (for young boys) condition called gynecomastia (male breast development), often seen in some aging men and well-known to body builders with steroid habits. He got curious and began asking parents what products these boys might be using in common. The answers led to common use of shampoos, hair-gels, soaps and other topical products with lavender oil and tea tree oil in their make up. When he told all the patients to stop their use, their breast development disappeared in a few months. To verify his hunch, he contacted two scientists at Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina who tested these oils using human breast cells. They found that both oils have significant estrogenic and anti-androgenic properties capable of causing breast enhancement in both males and females.

I see a lot of excess breast tissue on aging men in the gym locker room, and have sought ways to avoid such in my own aging process. But, for the last 5 years I have exclusively used a deodorant made with both of these oils, and noticed a rather steady increase of ‘fat’ on top of my pectoral muscles. So I’ve dropped that stuff like a hot rock. I tried a long-lasting product by Tom’s of Maine that has neither oil and works incredibly well. I’m so very done with lavender oil on my skin, but I still use tea tree oil as a terrific penetrating antiseptic for wounds, especially puncture wounds like nails and slivers.

Good Living – Frank