5 Things You Should Do to Manage Your Arthritis

- Do your daily stretches: You do not need to re-arrange your whole schedule to fit this new routine. All you need is 7-15 minutes effective stretches. Hyper-tonic muscles can be a restriction and it will decrease join mobilization.

 - Put more anti-inflammatory food in your diet: The one thing you can do to help you is from within. Incorporate food that will help with arthritis is definitely a great way to manage the pain due to arthritis. The food that can help with this condition are:

 1. Omega 3 fats. Which can be found in salmon, sardines and some other kind of fishes. If you are a vegetarian like me, sprinkle some flax seed into your morning cereal.
2. More herbs and less ready made sauce. Some herbs have the property to fight inflammation. Not only they taste great for cooking they are also good for you. Some herbs that might help with arthritis are: turmeric, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, basil and parsley. If you want to add your daily intake of aloe vera juice, it will do wonder.

- Stay away from the cold, if it's inevitable, then make sure you bundle up well. Well that's self-explanation. Some of us do not have the privileged to be in 75 degree weather so the best way is to make sure your joints are well covered.

- Hot bath (with Epsom salt).

 - Get a massage. Massage not only can increase your range of motion, but also increase the blood flow to the areas massaged, which means those areas will get more nutrients to speed up healing process. For arthritis caused by autoimmune disease (Rheumatoid and Juvenile) the frequency of the massage should be more than non-autoimmune disease. Your occupations will also dictate your body of how often you need the massage. For my clients who suffered from arthritis, the recommended treatment should be done at least once every two weeks.

5 Simple Things You Can Do to Heal You

Before modern medicines were discovered, doctors often times incorporated traditional approach, such as massage, in their practice. With the modern technologies started to emerge, the practice of modern medicine started to drift apart from the traditional one. In result, Doctors' scope of practice is reduced to modern procedures while alternative medicine practitioners are reduced to the traditional approach.

Although, I don't deny the effectiveness of surgery and other modern medicines, I believe that before going to any extreme invasive procedures, one needs to know about all the pro and con of the procedures. Sometime the side effects of a medication can outweigh the benefits.

You should know that surgery should be the last attempt. It's not a bad idea to do your research for other alternatives. One treatment might not right for everyone. Every human body is different, and the ability to heal is also different from person to person. These are tips for you to remember to help your healing process:

1. Know the stages of your injury. Massage won't be beneficial for you when your injury is within 24- 48 hours (acute phase). The best thing to do is R.I.C.E (rest, ice, compress, and elevate). If your injury is more serious than a strain, do not detour to your massage therapist, but go straight to the hospital to get further medical help.

2. Have an initiative. After a massage, you can do in-home treatment until you can get to your next massage. You can stretch, cold or heat treatments and so on. You can even talk to your massage therapist to show you some stretching.

3. Relax. You'll be surprised how stress can make your injury worst. Injury might regress in between massage sessions due to many things. Do not expect that you can get better from just 1 session. Ligament takes a long time to heal than tendon and muscle, due to lack of blood supplies.

4. Be communicative with your medical providers. Let your massage therapist know if you need your treatment to be modified.

5. Be communicative with your body. It will tell you what aggravates the pain or relieves it. Most people who go through pain will usually be more aware of their bodies.

Just by remembering these 5 simple tips, you can make the best judgement for your action. So you can decided what to do to heal you.

Learn How to Stretch the Correct Way

Before we start, you need to keep these in mind:

1. Never be painful in stretching, just discomfort:
Similar in building muscle endurance and muscle strength, building muscle flexibility needs baby step. Listen to your body for pain when you stretch. If you do feel it, back off a little before you get injured. Discomfort is different than pain.
2. Never rush the stretching session:
When your muscles are not warmed up and you snap in and out of the stretch, it will cause the muscle to recoil back to its shorter size. It will do more harm than good. The best way to do it is to count to 20 going in and 20 also going out the stretch.
3. Always synchronize your breathing with that stretch:
This is especially done many times in yoga. Also called P.N.F stretching. Take a full breath in when you are in a position of doing the stretch, and breathe out as you move into the full stretch. If you think you can do further without hurting yourself, take a deep breath in again and stretch further. Repeat cycle and breathe through the discomfort.
4. You’ll be surprise how 7 minutes stretching session everyday make a big difference for your body, so enjoy the stretch!

When is a good time to stretch?

The answer is anytime (unless when you are driving, of course): before and after strenuous activities, everyday, or just for fun.

1. Static stretch: Stretching when you are holding a certain pose for a period of time. This type is really focuses on getting the specific muscle to lengthen at its full range of motion. It should be done before or after work out. When performed in the middle of a workout might interfere with your performance.

2. Ballistic stretch: Stretching when you are constantly moving at a period of time. “Shake it” that’s the idea of ballistic stretch. Usually doesn’t focus a specific muscle but general area of muscle groups. This type of stretch is not going to get a full length of the muscles but rather warming up the muscles. It’s perfect to do this stretch in the middle of a work out to keep up with the performance. Shake your arms, when your arms get fatigue in the middle of weight lifting.

Stretches:

Neck and Shoulder:

Easy: When shower in the morning (implement moist heat) roll your neck slowly from side to side. Make sure shoulders are relaxed.

Moderate: Three parts of the stretch to target three different areas of the neck and shoulder. To stretch left side, grab your left wrist with your right arm. Pull the left wrist to the right. Part one: Slowly with your eyes looking straight forward, pull your right ear closer to your right shoulder. Part two: Slowly turn your head down, as if you are looking toward your shoulder. This will target the back area of the left neck and shoulder. Part three: Slowly turn your head toward the ceiling, as if you are looking away from your shoulder. This will target front area of your left neck and shoulder. Repeat at the right side.

Middle Chest:

Find a door opening. Lift both arms at the shoulder height against the frame of the door, with bent elbows above the shoulder at 90 degree angle. Put either left or right feet in front of the other, than lunge forward keeping the elbow at 90 degree angle. The more you lunge, the more intense the stretch feels.

Upper and Lower Chest:

Reach both arms above your head with straight elbows. Hold it. Then reach back still with straight elbows. Hold it.

Stomach:

Cobra position in yoga: On your stomach, lift and support your upper torso with both straight arms. Do not shrug your shoulders, and look up. Lower torso touches the floor or mat.

If this is too much strain for your lower back, lift your thighs and knees off the floor or mat. Push them up with your toes or back of your feet. Also known as upward dog position in yoga.

Upper Front Thighs (quads):

To stretch the right quad: Place the right thigh against the mat or floor, with the right knee bent upward. Step the left foot on the floor making more than 90 degree angle at the left knee. Make sure left knee is not going further forward from the left toe. At this point your right knee is against the floor. If this is too uncomfortable for you, pad your knee. Slowly lunge forward. Adjust the location of your right quad if you need to. The more you lunge, the more intense the stretch will be. If this stretch is too intense or you keep losing balance, support your body with both hands. Stretch on the other side.

Lower Front Thighs (quads):

Stand up tall, or prop yourself with a stool if you need to. Bend left knee so the left heel will touch the left buttock. Hold it either with one or two arms. Make sure left knee and right knee are aligned when you do this stretch. Do the right side.

Shin:

Seated on the floor with both legs straight, point your toes away from you straight. Then turn the toes slightly inward and point them again (this will stretch different area of shin muscles).

Calf:

Left calf: Stand up against the wall, step half of the left sole. The right foot is behind the left foot. Push your body forward toward the wall. Left foot is flexed with toe up. Do both sides.
If you cannot find a wall, you can do this with a towel. Straighten both legs and loop the towel right through the bottom of your feet. Then pull the ends of the towel with both hands by leaning backward. The more you lean, the more intense the stretch will be. Be careful with this stretch, because you need to control your distance so you won’t stretch too far.

Middle Back Thighs (hamstring):

On your back, straighten your both legs. Place your interlocking fingers around both knees. Pull the straight knees toward your head as far as you can go.

Inner Thighs (abductor):

Cobbler Pose: For beginner, sit with your heels or feet touching each other. Knees are bent and inner thighs faced up. Pull the heels closer to the buttock, making a kite shape. Open up your soles like a book, so both soles are facing up. Push the thighs down toward the floor with your elbow as far as you can go. For advance, for deeper stretch, bend your hip with straight back. To get the most intense stretch, collapse the upper torso toward the floor with both arms above the head. Creep and reach up the floor with your fingers to get the most stretch.

Outer Thigh (adductor):

Lay on your back. Lift left knee up toward your chest with both hands. Place the both hands on the outer side of the left thigh. Then push the left thigh slowly toward the right so your torso is twisting to the right. Collapse the left knee on the floor. Then spread both arms on both side of the body at shoulder height. Collapse the shoulders, arms and forearms. Do the other side.

IT Band stretch: Stretch the left side. Place your left palm against the wall. Body is always standing parallel to the wall (not tilted to the side). Place your left foot in the back of your right foot. Drag the left foot to the right side of the body. Hip will thrust to the left, but never to the back or to the front. Maintain the parallel of the body. The further the left leg and the closer the bottom of the left foot to the floor are the more intense the stretch will be. Do both sides.

Buttock:

Superficial muscles: Lay on your back. Bend both knees and hug them with your arms.
Deeper muscles (piriformis, etc): Lay on your back. Make a figure 4 with your left ankle on top of right thigh. Bend the right thigh so the right heel is touching the right buttock. Loop your hands around the right shin. With both hands, pull in the right knee toward your head. Do the opposite side.

Lower Back:

Child pose in yoga: Bend your knees and tuck them into your body. Collapse your chest on the upper thighs. Spine needs to be in neutral position (not tilted to the side). Face is looking at the floor or mat. Lower torso stays in place whit you reach your arms above your head. Fight for extra distance by reaching further away on the floor or mat.

Side Lower Back:

Child pose in yoga: see above, with additional move. To stretch your left side, drag your right hand to the right side as far as you can go. Follow the right hand by placing your left hand on top of the right hand. Do the other side.

Upper Back and Arms:

Part one: Straighten left arm across the front of the body at the shoulder level. Chin is up. Left elbow is straight. Then hook the left elbow with the right forearm. Using the right forearm, pull the left arm in toward the chest. Do the other side.
Part two: Lift your left arm over your head. Bend it at the elbow as if you are going to scratch your back with your left hand. Put your right fingers or hand over your head around the left elbow. Pull the left elbow to the right. Do the opposite side.

Forearms:

Part one: Stretch your left side. Straighten your left elbow at shoulder height with left palm down. Then collapse your left wrist. Pull in your left wrist with your right hand toward you. Do the other side.
Part two: Then flip the left hand so the left palm is facing up. Collapse the left wrist again, and pull it in with your right hand.

Sciatica? or is it?

People receive massages for many different reasons. In my experience, the most problem areas being encountered are either the neck or the back. Of course, some people have both.

In this article, we will talk about a very common problem: lower back pain. Lower back pain can means many things. Some can means referral pain from the kidney or other viscera(organ) damage, some from sore muscles or other problem caused by soft tissue damage, and some from a structural damage. One thing that I often heard from my clients, are the feeling of numbness and tingling down the posterior(back) side of the legs. This may be an indication of some kind of neural pain. In other word, this can be caused by the impingement of a nerve. It doesn't matter if it's caused either by hard structures or soft tissues, the pain is real and sometime can be a burden for someone to do a daily chore.

When a client claims that he/she suffers from a numbness sensation down the leg, the first questions that the therapist needs to ask the client is: where does the pain start. The answer to this question can be a very important indication of how the therapist needs to start his/her treatment.

The most common case I encountered is when a client claims that he/she has sciatica. The first question needs to be asked is: How do you know you have sciatica. Again, the answer can be very crucial.

Most cases of sciatica, the pain usually starts from the back. However, there are some cases when a client notices that the pain starts from the buttock area. In this case, it might not be sciatica. Of course, this has to be supported by positive findings of orthopedic testings, which needs to be done before start the treatment.

There is a condition which mimics sciatica, it's called false-sciatica or piriformis syndrome. When the numbness starts from the buttock down, usually it's an indication that pirifomis muscle is hypertonic(too tight). The hypertonicity of the piriformis muscle can impinge a nerve underneath the muscle.

The nerve running through piriformis muscle is actually the same nerve that can cause sciatica. However, the location of the impingement is in two totally different areas. In sciatica, the impingement location is at the nerve root, whereas in piriformis syndrome is at the buttock area, right underneath the muscle. The causes of both problems are both equally different too. In sciatica, the impingement is caused by a structural problem(spine), whereas in piriformis syndrome is caused by a soft tissue problem(piriformis muscle).

In piriformis syndrome, it's highly recommended for the therapist to do posture analysis to his/her client. The reason because the action of piriformis muscle is an external rotation of the hip(turning the hip outward). In the posture analysis, if the therapist finds that the client's hip turn too outward or if there's an unevenness between the left and the right hips, these are great indications to do the next special orthopedic testings for piriformis syndrome.

Pace abduction test and piriformis length test are just few examples of the testing which can be done very efficiently and effectively. These testings are basically doing a resisted action and stretched action of the piriformis muscles to create that sensation of numbness and tingling again. The positive finding is where both tests result in the reoccurring pain.

It needs to be reminded that this is not a diagnose. To diagnose an illness is out of a massage therapist scope of practice.

Life after injury: "Acute Stage for Whiplash"-- What your therapist should know

Accident happens...

Doesn't it sound like a TV commercial for an insurance company? We buy insurance for our cars, to cover at least half of the damaged vehicle. After the accident we are hoping that the damage will not be so devastating. However, what people don't realize is how devastating the impact after the accident to our body. After accident, people are more shaken of what just happened to them than anything.

The impact of the accident, however, causes many problems when the body left untreated. Concussion is probably the first thing that concerns your medical professionals. People forget that whiplash can cause a lot of damages as well. What exactly is whiplash?

Whiplash is an injury that caused by acceleration-deceleration movement of the head and neck. Due to the delicate structures of the head and the neck, tissues around them will suffer the most damage. Different impact causes damage to different structure of the head and neck. For example, front impact will cause more damage to the anterior (front) side of the neck rather than the posterior (back) side. In this case, it's very important to tell your therapist exactly how and where the accident occurs and inform him/her as much as you can. You also need to know the impact of whiplash may be greater when you have a bad posture, wearing seat belt, and so on. A person that has a shorter stature, might have more of viscera (organ) damage, where as a person that has a taller stature might have more of structural damage. All of these details need to be informed to your therapist, so he/she will know where to begin the treatment.

As we talked about in "Acute vs Chronic Injury" article, the acute stage in any injuries normally within 24- 48 hours. However, in whiplash is a little bit different. After the accident, sometimes the body creates so much adrenaline, cause the pain sensory blockage for a short period of time. Therefore, most cases the body will feel the pain much later then what is expected. In whiplash the acute stage is considered within 24-72 hours. Usually the symptoms start to occur in the last 24 hours of the acute phase.

The symptoms of whiplash includes: Stiffness in the neck, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), headache, forgetfulness, vertigo, and blurred vision. Improperly treated whiplash can cause D.D.D.(Degenerative Disc Disease, a.k.a: bulging disc), early Osteoarthritis, Subluxation of the vertebrae (spine becomes improperly aligned), nerve root impingement and so on. Your therapist should be able to help you after a period of 72 hours (past the acute stage). A proper orthopedic testing should be given to narrow down the treatment and to target a specific muscle of the neck. Approval from M.D. is always highly recommended.

Written by: Friska Streeter, L.M.T

Contact info:
Friska Streeter, L.M.T
708-769-1803
www.lestari.radiusweb.net

Acute vs Chronic Injury, How to Choose the Right Therapist

For those who never have a clinical massage session after any injuries, choosing your therapist can be a crucial matter. You need to find a knowledgeable therapist who knows about your medical condition. This therapist have to be able to modify the treatments according to the stages of the injury.

In any injuries, there are four healing stages:

Within 1- 2 days, it's considered an acute stage. That means your therapist needs to refer you to an M.D. Any massage therapists shouldn't handle any acute conditions, so that the client will be handled with a proper medical attention.

Within 2 days- 2 weeks, it's considered an early sub-acute stage. Which in this case, your therapist should be able to work peripheral (away from) the injury site. The therapist should realize that at this stage, muscle spasm is needed as a way the body to protect its structure. Therefore, your massage therapist should not diminish all the muscle spasms.

Within 3 weeks, it's considered a late sub-acute stage. Which in this case, scar tissue may be developed to quickly fix the injury site. Your therapist should be able to work closer to the injury site. This stage is also the most ideal stage for your therapist to start breaking down the scar tissue, because the untreated scar tissue may decrease the "Range of Motion" of the joint near the site.

Within 3 weeks- 1 year, it's considered a chronic stage. At this point your therapist should release most trigger points ("knot") in your muscles and work directly at the injury site. The goal of your therapist should be able to alleviate majority of your clinical symptoms and musculoskeletal ailments.

The time line of these stages may vary depending on the severity and the type of the injuries. However, last but not least, it's always a good idea to consult your therapist and other medical professional before you start the healing process.

Written by: Friska Streeter, L.M.T. ***(see also "acute stage for whiplash")

Contact info: Friska Streeter, L.M.T.
(708) 769-1803-- private practice at Mokena, IL
www.lestari.radiusweb.net