Physical therapy, orthopedic medicine, cortisone shots and handfuls of pain pills couldn’t relieve the back pain of Anacortes resident Kaaren Malson, who “could picture myself stuck in a chair, which is what I was.’’ Shoulder and arm problems forced Margaret Cartwright of Sedro-Woolley to use her left arm to raise her right to scrawl on Christmas cards; doctors prescribed pills “that take care of the pain, but not the problem,’’ she says.

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