The oft-abused knee takes a beating from the physically active among us, but, at the same time, staying physically active is key to keeping this complex joint strong and flexible. Most knee injuries, starting with sprains, are caused by the excessive force of bending and twisting, and if you have been exceedingly sedentary for weeks and months, as has often been the case in the long year of the pandemic, suddenly getting physical again may take its toll.

The shoulder is a complex, movable joint involved in most sports that include motions like swinging, passing, throwing and shooting (as in basketball) and many physical work activities from pushing a lawnmower to shoveling snow. There are all kinds of activities, work and play, that may lead to shoulder pain.

The knee is the most commonly replaced joint in the United States, with slightly more than one out of every ten people undergoing what is known as a total knee arthroplasty by the age of 80— almost double the number of total hip replacements at that age. It is well documented that aggressive physical therapy after this surgery is the difference between success and failure in the eventual outcome and, if incomplete, may result in chronic knee pain and a joint that doesn’t bend or twist naturally.

We know that chiropractic care has been effective against virtually every bodily pain that comes to mind, and that includes back and neck pain, joint pain, arm pain, leg pain and shoulder pain. However, when we think of headaches, we think about over-the-counter pain relievers as remedies or sequestering ourselves in a quiet, dark room until they go away.

The “ache” in headache is clearly a misnomer, because this is one ache that can be a real pain. Make that an excruciating pain, with the worst type of all being a migraine headache. There are very few of us who haven’t experienced a headache now and again, and, according to the World Health Organization, as many as half of the world’s population experience headaches every year. Severe headaches and migraine headaches aren’t worldwide killers on the scale of cancer, heart disease, strokes or even Alzheimer’s, but they can lead to strokes and even suicide.

In the first month of a new year, especially one on the heels of a pandemic that is still plaguing the land and, at the same time, complicated by historic social and political strife, you may want to curl up in a ball until it all goes away. The problem is that inactivity, lack of human contact and being exposed to the same sights, sounds and people every day is simply not healthy.

It can all become a deep daily rut from which you cannot seem to escape. Boredom and ennui in huge doses not only lead to lethargy and depression, blunting your mental acuity, but they also have their physical repercussions, capable of transforming an active, reasonably healthy person into a physical wreck.