Julius H. Gross Inc.

220 Alexander Street
Princeton NJ 08540
Map It!

609-924-1474
Call It!

http://www.juliushgrosspainting.com/

News

04/10/2012: How to Get Rid of Deer Before They Devour Your Yard and Garden

(ARA) -Springtime means sunshine, blooms, birdsong - and the dreaded "deer drama" that will inevitably wreak havoc in your beautiful backyard this season. Deer are now a permanent part of our landscapes, brazenly entering our yards and eating our gorgeous gardens. They are majestic animals, and beautiful to look at - from a distance. Up close, trampling and tasting your tulips, they're just not a welcome sight. 

Springtime is when deer damage is most noticeable, particularly as plants awaken from months of dormancy and prepare to bloom. Deer are the poster critters of natural adaptability. As suburbia has encroached on their wild habitat, deer have adjusted easily, finding plenty to eat in residential landscapes. 

"In the early part of the 20th century, the deer population in the U.S. was less than half a million animals," says Greg Ecsedy, owner of Bobbex Inc., which manufactures deer repellent. "Today, estimates place the deer population at between 15 million and 20 million animals that cause about $1 billion a year in damage to farms, gardens, yards and timber." 

"We know that deer will eat more than 500 different types of plants, so there's a good chance that something you've planted will appeal to them, and you can bet they'll eat it," Ecsedy says. 

Since deer need to consume a high volume of calories to survive - bucks weighing 125 to 250 pounds need 4,000 to 6,000 calories per day - their foraging can cause significant damage to suburban landscapes. Deer seldom travel alone, so a small herd can devastate a neighborhood quickly. Deer's close proximity to people over the course of time has dulled their natural fear, so it's quite common to see multiple deer nonchalantly noshing away - right outside your window. 

Deer's adaptability stems from their capacity to learn. Homeowners can defend their landscape by putting deer's natural learning ability to good use. Deterrents that convince the deer your yard is no longer a desirable dining destination can successfully protect your home environment from these foraging foes. 

Several methods can be effective in deterring deer, including the use of repellents like all-natural Bobbex Deer Repellent. Common solutions include: 

* Deer Repellent - Deer rely heavily on their sense of smell to assess the desirability of an area for feeding, and to alert them to danger. Disrupting their sense of smell can disrupt their sense of security, which is why scent-based repellents often prove effective. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station gave Bobbex a 93 percent protection index - second only to a fence, at 100 percent, for effectiveness. The repellent uses ingredients that blend the scents of putrescent eggs, garlic, fish, clove oil and other proteins, so it smells and tastes awful to deer. It's environmentally friendly and safe for animals and your family. 

Apply it in almost any weather, it dries clear, won't wash off after heavy rain or burn plants and grass. Bobbex Deer Repellent is available online at www.homedepot.com and in garden retail stores. To learn more, visit www.bobbex.com. 

* Deer Deterrent Devices - Motion-activated noise makers and lights can scare deer off for a short time. Deer's movement in the yard can activate motion lights at night, scaring them away, during the day you can use motion-activated sound. It's likely, however, that deer will become acclimated to both tactics over time, and the sound and motion might not have an effect on them. 

* Deer Fence - Fencing is considered the only surefire way to keep deer out of a garden, but keep in mind that deer have been known to jump 10-foot fences, and many communities restrict the height of fencing. You may not be able to put up a fence high enough to keep deer away - plus, fencing might not be practical and can be costly. 

* Deer Resistant Flowers - Another option is to grow plants that deer don't like. A hungry deer will eat just about anything, but you may have some success by planting deer-resistant flowers and plants like catmint, hellebore, yarrow, fuzzy lamb's ear, and cleome near the plants you want to protect. 

"Gardening on a rural acreage with a large deer population proved challenging in all seasons until we discovered Bobbex Deer Repellent," says garden writer Jan Patrick. "We like that the same product we used to protect our shrubs and dwarf conifers in winter also effectively protects the summer garden. The fertilizer value of Bobbex is an extra plus."

02/02/2012: When a Doctor Becomes a Patient, Part 2, by Dr. Kevin Hsu

After a severe combined ACL and MCL injury while playing basketball, I was faced with a decision:  Operate on one or both ligaments?  All too often, athletes are faced with this exact same question.  All it takes is a planted foot, and a valgus force to be applied to the outside of the knee.  Often seen in football, when the player receives a blow from the outside directed at the knee.  Also seen in soccer, when planting for a kick, and someone slide tackles the player.  In some cases, the ACL can tear even without contact by another player.  The term often spoken of is the “unhappy triad”, which occurs with such a valgus force to the knee.  The triad consists of injury to the 1. ACL, 2. MCL, 3. Medial meniscus. 

So how does a person decide whether to fix the ACL and MCL vs. only the ACL?  For lower grade MCL tears, the answer is unanimous to let it heal without surgery.  But what about a grade 3 tear, which is more severe?    The literature shows evidence of slower recovery of strength as well as slower recovery for range of motion, if both ACL and MCL are repaired.  Thankfully, the good news is that long term outcomes from combined ACL and MCL repair is as good as nonsurgical management of MCL. 

Bottom line for me is that I prefer the least invasive and the most conservative approach possible.  Technically, if I didn’t plan on playing sports again, it would be feasible to avoid surgery completely and leave the ACL tear and MCL tear.  The main problem is that even though I’d be able to run in a straight line, if I tried cutting or pivoting, my knee would likely buckle from lack of ACL.  So my decision was to repair the ACL and treat the MCL non-surgically.  As an aside, there is a large psychological hurdle to have surgery done one or two months after you tear an ACL because by this time the swelling has gone and the pain has also gone.  In fact, I felt probably 95% recovered in terms of pain and function for typical daily activities.  Knowing that the post-operative recovery would be slow and painful after having felt so good feels almost like going through getting injured all over again. 

To treat my MCL tear, I decided to perform a nonsurgical treatment called prolotherapy.  Prolotherapy is an injection treatment which consists primarily of dextrose, which is injected into the injured area to promote healing.  Since the MCL is a ligament that is quite close to the skin, it does not require a deep injection, and thus allowed easy visualization using an ultrasound for pinpoint accurate injection.  Also I should mention that initially after MCL injury for at least two weeks, it is important to wear a knee brace with ability to set between full extension and 90 degrees of flexion. 

In addition to prolotherapy I also had physical therapy, and went to the gym several times a week to strengthen the leg and core preoperatively.   The reason “pre-habiliation” is important is because I had to consider that post surgery there would be limited range of motion as well as atrophy of muscles, and I wanted to ensure that I did not go into surgery with these problems and exacerbate the challenges I would face after surgery. 

Surgery was performed on 7/20/2011, nearly 2 months after the initial injury.  I was given the choice to have general anesthesia or spinal anesthesia.  Prior to this I had never had the experience of being unconscious, so I gave it some though.  General anesthesia means that a person is made unconscious using medications, and typically the airway is secured with a breathing tube.  Spinal anesthesia involves a needle which enters the space in the spine where it is safe to place a catheter which then delivers numbing medication.  I chose the latter.  At first I had grand aspirations of staying awake with the spinal anesthesia but then thought better of it.

As an aside: anesthesia is a very interesting thing.  It reminds me of the idea of falling asleep, where the more I think about it, the more fascinating it is.  I remember the anesthesiologist telling me that I would feel a pinch in my arm as he inserted the IV.  The next thing I know, I’m sitting up in my recovery bed, my right knee is bandaged with a brace around it, and what’s more, I’m all dressed in the clothes I came in with!  I have no recollection of getting dressed post-operatively. 

Intra-operatively, the knee was stressed to evaluate the integrity of the torn MCL, and was found to have intact stability of the MCL, in spite of non-surgical treatment.  Therefore the MCL was not operated upon. 

The ACL repair was finished and I went home to begin the long recovery process. 

Join me on my next blog when I discuss pain medications.     

References:

1.     J. Halinen,et al.  Range of motion and quadriceps muscle power after early surgical treatment of acute combined anterior cruciate and grade-III medial collateral ligament injuries. A prospective randomized study J Bone Joint Surg Am, 2009

2.     M. Lundberg , et al.  Long-term prognosis of isolated partial medial collateral ligament ruptures. A ten-year clinical and radiographic evaluation of a prospectively observed group of patients.  Am J Sports Med 1996

3.     J. Grant, et al.  Treatment of Combined Complete Tears of the Anterior Cruciate and Medial Collateral Ligaments.  J arth and Rel Surg, 2012

02/02/2012: The Female Knee

Have you ever wondered why the incidences of knee injuries are so much higher in female athletes versus their male counterparts?  I mean think about it, female athletes who participate in jumping and cutting sports are 4 to 6 times more likely to sustain a serious knee injury than male athletes participating in the same sports. The risk factors fall into four basic categories: environmental, anatomical, hormonal, and biomechanical.  Environmental factors included: shoe-surface interaction; playing surface; skill level; level of conditioning, muscle strength, etc. 

Anatomical factors:

-        a larger Q-angle or quadriceps angle- this is the angle at which the femur meets the tibia

-        weakness of the vastus medialis- a muscle which extends the knee

-        tight lateral ligaments of the knee that will have a tendency to pull the patella to the side as well

-        shallow anatomy of the groove on the femur

 Hormonal factors - Female sex hormones (i.e. estrogen, progesterone and relaxin) fluctuate immensely during the menstrual cycle and are reported to increase ligamentous laxity and decrease neuromuscular performance and, thus, are a possible cause of decreases in both passive and active knee stability in female athletes.

Biomechanical (this is where chiropractic can have an impact) –

-        standing posture

-        foot pronation (inward rolling of the foot)

-        misalignment of joints of the lower extremity

-        pelvic position

 All of which can contribute to altered neuromuscular control, coordination and/or strength (specifically muscle firing patterns). The structural alignment of the lower extremity contributes to the overall stability of the athlete’s knee as well as the overall muscle firing patterns of the lower extremity.  So hopefully you are wondering, “How can chiropractic help?”  In my opinion and the way that I view chiropractic is that the treatment of the whole body requires synchrony between the nervous system and the mechanical control system of the kinetic chain. Subluxations (misalignments) of ANY joint have both neurological and mechanical components. Mechanoreceptors (a specialized receptor that responds to pressure or tension) are embedded in the tissues surrounding joints. When these tissues get stretched by a misalignment of the joint, this activates an inhibition or weakening of the adjacent muscle. Discovery of these weak muscles and correction of the misaligned joint to restore normal strength which will then in turn lead to greater stability in the corresponding joint.

Even better than me being able to help correct these neuromuscular imbalances is the fact that here at PSSM Newtown, we can utilize Performance 3D (motion capture technology) to gather objective empirical data to specifically determine the imbalances that exist.  Check it out… the technology is Bruce Jenner approved!  Call 215-504-2223 to schedule your sports performance evaluation.