Recently found your website; absolutely love it. Great service to cartoonists everywhere…but lauding your effort is not my primary reason for writing.

Saw your post on the backache problem and I can sympathize. I’ve suffered from intermittent backaches (sometimes absolutely crippling) for about 25 years. I’ve never found anything that can completely relieve them, but one thing seems to give at least a little relief if done regularly: place a tennis ball (a new, firm one) against a wall at mid-back level from the floor; turn around and place your back against the tennis ball so that your back is holding the ball up; slowly put pressure against the ball by leaning backwards into it; roll the ball around on the tense/tender areas on your back by bending/straightening your knees just a bit, while keeping pressure on the ball with your back…essentially giving yourself a back massage with the ball. The great thing about this technique is that you can apply the massage precisely where you feel the muscular stress on your back, at precisely the degree of pressure that you want. You can also do it at home with no one and nothing else required. Do this routinely, even when you don’t feel your backaches, and I think it might help. Well, I guess I can’t really speculate on what will and won’t help you, but I do know it helped me, though nothing totally rids the problem.

Got this tip from a retired Chinese medicine doctor who lives in my apartment (I live in Taipei). Was totally skeptical when he suggested it, but was in such agony one time that I figured “what the hell, when in desperate straits…”

Let me know if it helps. Cheers, TKO

Bring on the chocolate I say!!

And I thought of lots of comments in response to you ‘too much bouncing around’ line, but my wife says none of them are appropriate for a family friendly blog…(grin).

Look after your health Matt it’s the only one you have and eat chocolate:0)