Show Expiration t dates can By Ed Blonz PhD DEAR DR BLONZ: My fiance refuses to use deary products after the expiration date My question is: How long after the expiration date can you use milk eggs cheese or yogurt? — MK Bedford Ind DEAR MK: (Hearing up a misunderstanding about dating seems prop- er for acouple about to get mamed The good news is that to some degree you due both correct Food should not be consumed after an date However the foods expiration ' you mention don’t tend to have expiration dates and rely instead on a quality-co- n trol dating system that allows for consumption after the posted date That said let’s go through the differ-ei-d dating systems you’ll find on var- V - v-- r On - ' nutrition y VEX t ' s - i i ious products: f V ' fi s i Date (also called a Pull Date) — This is the last date on which a product should be sold Manufacturers use these dates to let retailers know how long to sell the product There is an allowance for normal home use with these dates It is found on short shelf-lif- e (perishSell-b- tor---’ y ‘ ‘ AV 4' ftrtv “ X ‘ ' f Occupational therapist Greg Blotter demonstrates on intern Ashley Roilheiser where the tendons are that can cause carpal tunnel syndrome able) foods such as dairy products Don't work yourself up fresh meats snack foods and refrigerated deli foods Assuming that they are stored properly milk products for example trad to be fresh for up to seven days after they are opened but you might not get a full week if you first open the product on foe Much depends on the num-bof times a product is opened and )dw long it has been kept at room temperature Use by Enjoy by and Best if Used by Date (also called a Freshness Date) — This date relates to food quality as opposed to food safety Manufacturers want you to enjoy their products so this represents the recommended time in which you could expect foe best flavor quality sell-byda- for injury ByJoLynne J Lyon features writer te er : hat should you do if your tendons turn against you? Only a professional can say for' sure since diagnosing the problem couldbe tricky It might be ten-- : donitis carpal tunnel syndrome “trigger finger’’ De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow — or some other : and nutritional value Consumption after this date would not necessarily mean that the food is unsafe This type of date is used Qn shelf-stab- le foods such as canned goods cereals processed cheese and some snack foods (Bakery goods use either ' freshness or sell-b- y dating) Stores often sell such goods at reduced prices for a short period after this date has passed Expiration Date — A rigid date representing foe last day on which consumers should use a product Special-us- e products such as baby formula yeast refrigerated dough and pharmaceuticals make use of this type of dating but you may find it on other products as well Foods should be discarded after the expiration date has passed as this is the time after which there is an increased risk of ' : problem But if a sufferer is feeling tingling or numbness in the hands or arms for more than two or three weeks or if steady pain persists without let- - ting up for more than one week it’s probably time to see a professional Repetitive strain injuries require some changes in order to improve " said Dr John Madany a WorkMed physician at Logan Regional Hospital Either treatment or a change in behavior or both are needed to keep the problem from getting worse If tendons were irritated dur- ing a house-paintiproject they may recover on their own with rest But if a sufferer keeps on doing the things that caused the injury it may only get worse Greg Blotter im occupational therapist at IHC Sports Medicine explained that carpal tunnel syndrome for exam 7 ng i microorganisms Pack Date — This indicates when the food was first manufactured processed or packaged It lets you know how old the food is when you buy it Pack dates are used with products that have shelf lives measured in months and years such Us canned bottled and frozen foods The information is typically used by stems so that they can properly rotate their stock Prepared On — This lets you know when a freshly prepared food item was made This is often used for sandwiches and other deli foods Perishable frozen food dates — Perishable foods that are frozen before or immediately after paejeag-in- g and remain frozen until use often bear a “Keep frozen use within X days after thawing” statement Whether or not there’s a date on a package it’s common to find a separate set of letters andor numbers there This is the manufacturer's code used to help identify when and where that particular package was made Such information is used for miality control and is vital if a prod- net recall is required ten- dorisi As the tendons swell they can put pressure on a nerve that passes through the carpal tunnel in the wrist causing numbness and tin- gling especially at night Sleeping can make it worse Blotter said since many people sleep with their wrists bent further pinching the nerve inside the carpal tunnel ' In mild cases Blotter said therapy and patient education are often enough to solve the problem But if it goes untreated and the tendons become more inflamed scar tissue develops causing more compres- sion on the nerve Compression to the nerve leads to muscle atrophy In those cases surgery is necessary Therapy is no longer a good option In this stage people usually complain of dropping small objects and have persistent numbness Madany urged sufferers to get help early and solve foe problem before surgery is needed Madany and Michael Housley both worked in family practice before they became WorkMed ' physicians at Logan Regional Hos- pita) They haye seen repetitive strain injuries caused from home repair projects and computer keyand assemboard use work line bly As WorkMed physicians they now work with companies to help ensure that a work situation is not causing injuries By and large Housley said most established companies have corrected any glaring problems that could cause repetitive strain injuries In fact many ‘ employees can look to their employers for information on how to prevent repetitive strain since some ' companies have educational pro- grams in place ple may start with inflamed ' ml ‘ “No valid study sup- - ports the contention that keyboard use in or out of the workplace ' increases the likeli- hood of CTS” —Hand Secrets a medical text tree-pruni- - Most cases they see now have to do with individuals Housley said perhaps sonieone is getting ihjured because they are physically different or doing things in a different way than their But hot all repetitive strain injuries can be blamed on the work place In fact Housley said some- times the cause is hard to pin down For example pregnancy increases the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome Pregnant women also work so if a working pregnant woman1 develops symptoms it's difficult to know Whether to blame the pregnancy or1 the work situation Keyboard use can’t always be blamed for carpal tunnel syndrome either according to “Hand Secrets" a medical text “no Valid study sup-- : ports the contention that keyboard use in or but of the workplace increases the likelihood of CTS" Likewise repetitive strain does not affect all people evenly Diabetes and obesity increase the risk of some repetitive strain injuries And some people may inherit more prone to injury for example their carpal tunnel may be smaller than most and more sensitive to swelling Housley and Madany said often repetitive strain will strike one person andleavq oth- ers in an identical setting unaffected But Madany said some personality types might be more prone His clients tend to he people who are more likely to work without breaks or to push themselves to work faster than they are able So how can injuries be avoided? " ' ' See TENDONS on CIO New treatment helps chronic headaches WASHINGTON (AP) —Teresa Lamesch endured a constant incapacitating headache for almost two years The slight touch of wind blowing against her forehead caused shocking jolts of pain Bright sunlight or loud noises could make her retch narcotics and every other treatment Heavy-dut- y failed to help h Then Dr Sandeep Amin tried a electrode He to a neea hooked tiny experiment dle and tunneled it under the skin by Lamesch’s left eye stopping atop the nave responsible for her pain Powered by a battery implanted near her collarbone the device continually zaps that nerve with electric pulses — blocking foe Illinois woman’s pain “The minute he put it in the pain was gone” says a grateful Lamesch An estimated 20 million Americans suffer severe headaches and as many as 10 percent of them have intractable head or facial pain Treatment after treatment fails Some are true migraines which stem from inside the brain but others — mistakenly called migraines — result from damaged nerves along the face or scalp Now n few doctors are exploring how well nerve stimulators implanted in different spots along the head could rid some ofthat crippling nervercaused pain last-ditc- -- Send questions to: “On Nutrition " Ed Blonz efo Newspaper Enterprise Association 200 Madison Ave New York NY 10016 For address Inquiries to: edbionzcom Due to the volume of mall personal replies cannot be providsd People feel pain when nerve cells pass signals front one to another until the “I’m hurting’’ mes' sage reaches the brain Doctors have long implanted electrodes along the spinal cord to block certain kinds of pain from the neck down by interrupting those signals But the stimulator had to be placed above foe pain site — so blocking pain in the back legs or arms was doable but not in the head Then came the discovery that stimulating head levels not just and facial nerves at skin-dee- p directly against the spinal cord could work First doctors targeted the occipital nerve to alleviate whiplash-lik- e pain or headaches Now they’re starting to target frontal headaches and facial pain at the supraorbital nerve just above the eye It sounds logical but “it really was surprising” to headache specialists that this new use of the implants seems to work well said Dr Robert Levy a neurosurgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital who has implanted stimulators in the foreheads of four people so far The first two he mark pain free treated have reached the two-yeNerve stimulation “has done wonders for this kind of a headache” agrees Amin an anesthesiologist and pain specialist at Chicago’s Dike’s Medical Center who back-of-the-he- ad ar implanted Lamesch and another patient who suffered unrelieved headaches after brain surgery It’s simple to implant A battery lies under the skin by foie collarbone and a small wire runs up the neck and into the scalp Two implants are needed if pain is on both sides of the head A magnet turns the electric current on or off TUrned off pain resumes — but the implant is vulnerable to security devices like those in and must be switched off until patients pass ' air-port- sv by- - Nerve stimulation for headaches is still highly experimental But a handful of doctors have asked stimulator maker Medtronic Inc to fund studies to prove how well it works fa different kinds of head pain Medtronic is considering a study first of occipital nerve pain A $5000 to $ 1 0000 implant sounds extreme for headaches But these are extreme cases: “I see patients who are significantly debilitated on dozens of medications with overwhelming medical bills” Levy says Levy and Amin doubt nerve stimulation would help true migraines Instead they hope to help head or facial pain people with the nerve-cause- d whose options now range from narcotic painkiltos — including implanted morphine injections into the pumps — to nerve-blockispinal cord 3 E u ' - ' ' r ff - ft ' - '0 ' "i ? !' “ ’ eo '"-- ' - ' 1 |