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Improving Life Quality, Stress Responses, Simple Calf Muscle Stretch

Tom Saulnier — Sun, 30 Jun 2019 21:40:51 +0000

Finding Relief

From Arthritis to Diabetes, Massage Therapy Improves Quality of Life

By Ruth Werner

For some, massage therapy is a short-term intervention to help with injury and rehabilitation. For others, massage is their salve to reduce the stresses of a hurried and chaotic life. For those living with chronic conditions, including arthritis, autoimmune diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and kidney failure, massage therapy is often integrated into conventional health care to provide relief. Here is just a sampling of research validating massage for these conditions:

A clinical trial found that blood pressure readings dropped after massage, and remained below baseline for 72 hours or more.

ARTHRITIS

Massage, by itself or in combination with aromatherapy, can be an effective strategy to help manage symptoms and improve function in people who have arthritis. Some studies looked at wholebody relaxation treatments, while others examined bodywork, including self-massage, targeted to the affected area. (See studies by Perlman, Nasiri, Tosun, Atkins, Peungsuwan, Zwoli´nska).

AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES

Autoimmune diseases, including lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and scleroderma, present challenges that massage therapy can address. Pain, fatigue, quality of life, mood, and self-efficacy (the belief that one can succeed and thrive in spite of obstacles) are all positively affected by massage for people who live with autoimmune diseases (Schroeder, Finch, Poole). In addition, these specific benefits have been found: (To Read “The Rest of the Story”, please click here… BS Summer 2019

Whiplash: Healing a Pain in the Neck, Arthritis

Tom Saulnier — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:45:20 +0000

IN THIS ISSUE: *Whiplash: Healing a Pain in the Neck * Managing Arthritis * Here Comes the Sun

Whiplash: Healing a Pain in the Neck – by Hope Bentley

Getting rear-ended in traffic. Face-planting at the bottom of a ski slope. Tumbling over the handlebars on your bike. Whiplash comes in many forms and can become a long-term problem if not treated correctly. Fortunately, massage and bodywork can address the ache and discomfort that come with whiplash and prevent chronic pain down the road.

Understanding

Whiplash

The term “whiplash” came into use in 1928. Doctors will sometimes use “hyperextension injury,” to describe it, but “whiplash” is a more visceral account of what has happened to the victim’s neck. The neck itself has made a whip-like motion bending first towards and then away from the point of impact. As the head moves rapidly in one direction, the muscles in the neck receive the message to contract. The momentum of the head can cause strain or sprain to the muscles and ligaments in the neck as the head reaches the end of its movement.

Car accidents are the most common causes of whiplash. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons reported that about 20 percent of people who have been in rear-end collisions later report whiplash symptoms. Whether front to back or side to side, whiplash can affect muscles all the way into the victim’s back and arms. The most serious form of whiplash compresses nerves in the neck and cause multiple sprains of the ligaments.

The good news is, serious hyperextension injuries are in the minority, as whiplash usually comes in the less serious version of the injury. “Fortunately, about 95 percent of the time whiplash tends to be more…Click here for complete newsletter: Spring 2008-tax

Proper Posture

Tom Saulnier — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:37:37 +0000

IN THIS ISSUE: *Importance of Proper Posture * Managing Arthritis * The Appropriate Portion

The Importance of Proper Posture: Correct Alignment Leads to Better Health

by Hope Bentley

Talk of good posture often generates images of women walking in a circle with books balanced on their heads or soldiers standing at attention. But good posture does not have to be rigid or ridiculous. In fact, far from ridiculous, it may be the key to good health.

According to Patrick Wroblewski, a Boulder, Colorado-based structural integration practitioner, “Good posture is a dynamic, working awareness of how gravity is coming down through the body.” In other words, just as the body moves and changes throughout the day, so should posture.

Wroblewski explains that many people come in to his practice with complaints of lower back pain, and stiff necks and shoulders, most of which have a direct correlation to poor posture. If a person sits hunched in front of a computer screen all day, it’s likely the head hovers towards the screen, the lower back has collapsed and the tail bone is supporting the weight, and legs are crossed or splayed. Bad standing posture includes the same hunching or lateral misalignment, like standing with a hip cocked to one side. These common forms of less-than-perfect posture mean less-than-healthy consequences for the body. Does Posture Matter? Ever feel low on energy? Get sick often? Experience headaches or digestive upset, like constipation or diarrhea? Feel less agile than you used to be? Your postural habits may be behind these symptoms. Proper posture means the body is aligned so that all the muscles work as they were designed to. On the other hand, poor posture leads to inefficient…Click here for complete newsletter: Winter 2008