Dr. Ben Kim's blog

A pimple inside of one's nose can be quite painful, and can make cleaning the nasal passageway difficult.

I find that infections inside the nasal passageway are more common than many would think. Common causes include accidental cuts in the mucosal lining while grooming and overly aggressive cleaning (no elegant way to describe enthusiastic picking with sharp nails). Read more

There are many potential causes of hip pain and stiffness, and as anyone who has experienced significant trouble with a hip joint will tell you, inability to walk or even sit cross-legged without pain is a real killer of quality of life. Read more

That pop you sometimes hear when you stretch your joints comes from gas leaving the lubricating fluid that surrounds all of your joints. This fluid - called synovial fluid - is a thick liquid that acts as a lubricant and medium of transport for nutrients and waste products for the bone surfaces, ligaments, and tendons that make up your joints. Read more

Could you do an article on shoulders that pop out of the socket? I have one of those. When I lean forward, my left shoulder pops out of the socket and it's very painful and I can shove it back in. Do you think I need to see a doctor or is there something I could do to keep it from happening?

Thanks!
Mary M. Read more

In response to last week's post on the collegiate soccer player who recovered from a hip labral tear without surgery, a surgeon friend in Singapore asked me to explain how I think excruciating pain from a hip labral tear can be resolved with simple stretches and foam rolling. If there is a flap of loose labrum in the joint cavity, how can this not illicit pain with certain movements? Read more

Between knees and hips, it's difficult to say which area is more prone to degenerative changes as we age, but in my experience, it's far easier to protect your hips than your knees.

Knees are relatively simple - they are hinge joints, meaning that they are designed to work in one major plane, and generally, they wear down in predictable fashion. The more you grind them through daily life, the weaker your cartilage and ligaments become. Your knees are not well vascularized compared to other major joints in your body, so there isn't a lot you can do by way of stretching and massage to significantly improve blood flow to the cartilage within and the ligaments that surround and stabilize your knee joints. Read more

Moving on from our look at how to make almond milk, let's take a peek at how to make a rich and highly satisfying chocolate vanilla smoothie, my vote for the best smoothie ever.

Once you go through the steps below, with just a few simple tweaks on the fly, you'll know how to make an endless variety of yummy, nutrient-dense, and dairy-free smoothies and soft ice creams, all with a blender and a few inexpensive ingredients. Read more

Being a chiropractor, acupuncturist, and a certified tennis nut, over the years, I've found that a few specific stretches and massaging techniques can reduce risk of elbow and wrist injuries. Most of the top pros, most notably Murray and Nadal, bring their own physios with them on the road to do this work for them, but it's easily done on your own with some know-how. Read more

Several years ago, I was fortunate to meet a lady named Deborah at a fasting clinic in northern California. I had several conversations with Deborah over the course of a year, and what I remember most is that her kindness was amazingly genuine - I sensed that she had done a lot of inner work to identify the life principles that she strove to live by. Read more