Column Chronicles: Ask Dr. Wellbottom: the origins of pain

Ask Dr. Wellbottom: the origins of pain

Frank Cotolo
January 5, 2017

Once again it's time to confer with the all-knowing Dr. Adrian Wellbottom. The popular physician and author of 56 books on medical matters that matter to the young and the old, the sick and the poor and others, always takes a fresh yet traditional approach to the health of anyone. In this episode, we ask the doctor about pain.

Q: I often wear flip flops or foam soil sandals. After a day of walking, running, climbing and cycling, my feet hurt.

Dr.W: Isn't flip flops a stupid name for things to wear on feet? People come to me all the time and say that they can't do flips in flip flops but they do flop in them and that causes pain. The arch of the foot does not get support when you wear flip flops or foam soil sandals. By the way, have you ever seen soil marks on foam soil sandals? I have not. Wear sneakers.

Q: I get a pain in my buttocks, which sometimes causes shooting pains down the legs.

Dr.W: I bet you put lots of money into your wallet and keep it stuffed in the back pocket of your pants. That is the most common reason why buttocks hurt, at least when you are wearing pants. As for shooting pains in the legs, I have no idea why anyone is shooting at your legs.

Q: After I drive my car for a long time, I get neck pain.

Dr.W: You probably slouch to reach the steering wheel because you have the drivers seat at a bad angle. This can cause pain even if you are a passenger and have the passenger seat at a bad angle. Bad angles are relative based on your size. Some very large people have to have the driver's seat far from the steering wheel and angled forward, while thin people do the opposite, just as the fat person eats the opposite way as the thin person. Lots of drivers get pains after driving and lots of drivers are pains to me when I am driving.

Q: I love cheese but after I have a grilled cheese sandwich or a layer of cheese on macaroni or a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich on white with mustard, I get long, painful headaches.

Dr.W: Cheese contains tyramine, a substance that stressed the muscles of the head. The head, of course, houses the brain and the brain yearns for cheese, which is why you like it. So you eat aged cheese, cheddar cheese, blue cheese and all that tyramine gets into your head muscles, tightening them, which squeezes the brain and causes the pounding sensation we call a headache. Sometimes I get the pounding sensation we call a headache without ingesting tyramine. Usually it occurs with the very sight of my mother in law, who causes my body to react like I just ate a load of tyramine.

Frank Cotolo can be found hosting the talk and interview programme Cotolo Chronicles. You can send him an e-mail at this address: frank@148.ca.