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I think this may be of interest.
7 Simple Ways to Cure Back Pain
Do you work in an office? Do you drive for a living? Do you have a sedentary lifestyle?
No matter how much you workout in a gym or attend classes do you still have those niggling back pains that keep you from achieving your goals and frequently visiting your therapist?
Approximately 75% of the population suffer with chronic back problems or have had back pain in their lifetime!
Below are 7 simple ways to tackle back pain and rid yourself of those constant niggles forever!
1. Assess your ankle mobility - by putting your toe against the wall and without lifting your heel of the ground push your knee against the wall. If you feel a stretch in the back of your lower leg (calf muscle) then work on flexibility in that muscle. If you feel it's trapped in front of the ankle then you have a mobility issue. You can increase mobility using this simple wall exercise and with improvement you should be able to take your foot further away from the wall and still get your knee to touch without lifting the heel.
2. Hip Alignment - this happens because of improper or asymmetrical movement. If you have a flat back (often due to high heels) it could mean, in basic terms, that you have tight hamstrings pulling your hips downward causing your back to flatten too much, in this case work on flexibility of the hamstrings.
3. Tight Hip Flexors - from sitting for too many hours you could have tight hip flexors on the front of your hip which could pull your hips down at the front causing excessive curvature of the lower spine (hyperlordosis) again work on stretching of the hip flexors and quads and strengthen the muscles at the back of leg (hamstrings).
4. Activate those Glutes - don't worry about having a bum (butt), strong glutes form the basis of good hip movement and help the spine do the job it's meant to do. Work on exercises like bridging, squats, lunges and deadlifts etc!
5. Postural Awareness - especially those who have office jobs or drive long distances. Subtle prompts can help to stop slouching like off setting the inside mirror of the car which encourages you to sit up straight to view the rear properly. Setting up ergonomics at your office workstation to use both sides equally and view your monitor without slouching.
6. Stabilize the Spine - Practice core strength exercises that focus on stabilizing the spine e.g keeping the spine still whilst moving your extremities, like the deadbug exercise and the plank, you could challenge yourself by setting the clock to see how long you can do the plank for and work on improving your time!
7. Stay well Hydrated - water along side a good nutritional plan can surprisingly help. Being dehydrated takes water away from the spine to use in other areas of the body. Aim for around 2 litres per day.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greg is a health and fitness professional for GB Personal Training based in Camden, North London. He achieves fantastic results for his clients by using his in-depth knowledge and the most up to date techniques. http://www.gbpersonaltraining.com/Suffer-from-Back_Pain.htm
For more interesting facta about Back Pain take a look at www.tay well
Paul
Sunday 19 July 2009
Sunday 12 July 2009
Complementary medicene and back pain
Hello again after a short break.
There are a few more complementary options to talk about in my mini series, but first why am I so passionate about the "natural" ways compared to modern western medicine?
It is really quite simple and personal and emotional. The last two, personal and emotional make my viewpoint that much more passionate. It has little to do with back pain, although there is probably an element of lower back pain in there.
My daughter, Elizabeth, was, and is a healthy outgoing person. She excelled at sports and even practiced Aikido with me. When adolescence hit she put on a growing spurt and started to experience pains in her left foot and they became severe. She also had some lower back pain. My wife took her to see a very good Amatsu practitioner who worked on Elizabeth for over a year. He was most upset that he could not rectify the problem and eventually came to the conclusion there was a serious underlying problem. At his insistence we asked for an X ray of the foot. We asked and asked and eventually had the Xray and were allowed to show the practitioner the film.
He immediately saw the problem, a spur of bone just below the ankle. The interesting point is now, at this stage he did not try and cover up, or say he could help, his immediate res pose was "Elizabeth needs surgery". Flip this to an MD's point of view, few of them refer to an alternative practitioner, despite results.
We contacted our doctor, he agreed with Steve, our practitioner, and surgery was scheduled. In total Elizabeth suffered 3 operations to remove the spur, it just regrew.
Finally she was offered the option of the "specialist" fuzzing her ankle. This would ease the pain, for a number of years, then they fuse the knee, and some years later the hip. This young woman would be limping around with a stick, or worse.
Elizabeth chose the pain and mobility. Most of the time she is fine, she suffers with pains in her foot and lower back but usually copes. When it gets to bad, and if she is in the country, she comes and sees me. It makes a strange sight, Elizabeth in a chair, me on the floor holding her foot. I "ask" the foot where it wants to go and follow it, twisting the whole foot, then just holding. Finally there is movement as muscles that have held the foot in an unnatural shape start to relax and move. Sometimes we get a result, often the pain gets to much for Libby, as she likes to be known, and we stop, with a partial easing.
The whole point is, we are able to Elizabeth mobile and healthy, despite the growth, and she lives a full and happy life, contrast this with the conventional option, and understand my passion. Also remember, as an "complementary" practitioner, I accept that mainstream medic en has an important and valid place in health care.
Any comments?
For more on back pain care take a look at www.back pain loss.com
Stay well
Paul
There are a few more complementary options to talk about in my mini series, but first why am I so passionate about the "natural" ways compared to modern western medicine?
It is really quite simple and personal and emotional. The last two, personal and emotional make my viewpoint that much more passionate. It has little to do with back pain, although there is probably an element of lower back pain in there.
My daughter, Elizabeth, was, and is a healthy outgoing person. She excelled at sports and even practiced Aikido with me. When adolescence hit she put on a growing spurt and started to experience pains in her left foot and they became severe. She also had some lower back pain. My wife took her to see a very good Amatsu practitioner who worked on Elizabeth for over a year. He was most upset that he could not rectify the problem and eventually came to the conclusion there was a serious underlying problem. At his insistence we asked for an X ray of the foot. We asked and asked and eventually had the Xray and were allowed to show the practitioner the film.
He immediately saw the problem, a spur of bone just below the ankle. The interesting point is now, at this stage he did not try and cover up, or say he could help, his immediate res pose was "Elizabeth needs surgery". Flip this to an MD's point of view, few of them refer to an alternative practitioner, despite results.
We contacted our doctor, he agreed with Steve, our practitioner, and surgery was scheduled. In total Elizabeth suffered 3 operations to remove the spur, it just regrew.
Finally she was offered the option of the "specialist" fuzzing her ankle. This would ease the pain, for a number of years, then they fuse the knee, and some years later the hip. This young woman would be limping around with a stick, or worse.
Elizabeth chose the pain and mobility. Most of the time she is fine, she suffers with pains in her foot and lower back but usually copes. When it gets to bad, and if she is in the country, she comes and sees me. It makes a strange sight, Elizabeth in a chair, me on the floor holding her foot. I "ask" the foot where it wants to go and follow it, twisting the whole foot, then just holding. Finally there is movement as muscles that have held the foot in an unnatural shape start to relax and move. Sometimes we get a result, often the pain gets to much for Libby, as she likes to be known, and we stop, with a partial easing.
The whole point is, we are able to Elizabeth mobile and healthy, despite the growth, and she lives a full and happy life, contrast this with the conventional option, and understand my passion. Also remember, as an "complementary" practitioner, I accept that mainstream medic en has an important and valid place in health care.
Any comments?
For more on back pain care take a look at www.back pain loss.com
Stay well
Paul
Monday 6 July 2009
Want flat Abs
Ethiopian ReviewEthiopian News Forum
Sit-Ups don't help you get flat, tight stomach
Posted by ethiopianreview.com | July 5th, 2009 at 1:03 pm |
By Kate Dailey | Newsweek
Everyone knows that the road to flat, tight abs is paved with crunches. Lots and lots and lots of excruciating crunches. Or is it?
As it turns out, the exercises synonymous with strong, attractive abs may not be the best way to train your core—and may be doing damage to your back.
“We stopped teaching people to do crunches a long, long time ago,” says Dr. Richard Guyer, president of the Texas Back Institute. That’s because the “full flex” movement—the actual “crunch” part of crunches – puts an unhealthy strain on your back at its weakest point. The section with the most nerves (and most potential for nerve damage) is in the back of the spine, which is the very part that bends and strains during a sit-up.
“There are only so many bends or a ‘fatigue life’,” in your spinal disks,” says Stuart M. McGill, a professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo. Inside each disk is a mucus-like nucleus, he says, and “if you keep flexing your spine and bending the disk over and over again, that nucleus slowly breaches the layers and causes a disk bulge, or a disk herniation.” A herniated disk won’t show through your swimsuit, but it’s no fun, and can cause persistent back and leg pain, weakness, and tingling.
Think of the oft-repeated advice for movers: bend at the hips and lift with your legs, not your back. And what is a sit-up but a back bend done in a lying position? “When people are doing curl up over gym balls and sit-ups, and this kind of thing, they are replicating a very potent injury mechanism on their back,” says McGill. “Every time they bend it they are one repetition closer to damaging the disk.”
And of course, when people do crunches, they rarely stop at one or two: in the quest for flat abs, they’ll churn out dozens at a time, bringing them ever closer to “flex intolerance”—so much pain and stiffness that it’s difficult to tie one’s shoes or bend down to pick a penny off the ground.
But who cares about back health as bathing suit season approaches? Turns out, crunches might not be the best solution for a flat stomach, either. That’s because doing too many sit-ups at the expense of other, more comprehensive movements can lead to the dreaded “aerobic abs.” That’s the term celebrity trainer Steve Maresca coined to describe the distended stomachs of those who focus only on the rectus abdominus muscles targeted by sit-ups and crunches. “They look great from the front, but when they turn to the side, their stomachs are extended,” he says. To get the long, lean look, one needs to work transverse abdominius, a large muscle that holds in those rectus abs, and is mainly unchallenged by traditional ab work (aka, the sit-up and crunches).
Doing a sit-up doesn’t train your ab muscles to do the job for which they were designed – keeping your spine straight and secure and providing power for your movements. In everyday life, “the abdominals are braces,” says McGill, author of "Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance" (Stuart McGill, 2004). When doing any athletic movement—even opening a door—“the spine is in a neutral posture, not flexed, and the abdominal muscles are contracted to brace the spine.”
The best way—for both your back and your beach body—to work your midsection is to do movements that challenge the muscles to perform the way they're designed and expected to work in real life, and not to train muscles in isolation. “It’s important to have strong abs, but strong abdominals are not the only thing,” says Dr. Guyer. “You have your back extenders, your flexors, which are belly muscles, you have your oblique muscles.” Working all of these muscle groups—the anatomical association known as “the core”—is essential to both back health and general athleticism.
As a result, only training for good-looking abs won’t add to your athleticism or overall strength. On the other hand, moves not traditionally designed for good-looking abs can in fact help strengthen and tone those muscles.
Consider the pushup. Not usually thought of as a great ab move, the pushup forces you to work several muscles at once: it forces your core muscles to stabilize your trunk as your arms and back work to move the body up and down. “Do you see how a pushup is a full body challenge?” says McGill. “It challenges abdominals, front of your legs, your arms and your back. That is how you use those muscles in real life.”
Like the pushup, the best exercises for back health and a firmer stomach are ones that work your abs while holding your spine straight, like planks or leg drops (done when you lie flat on your back, with your hands at the base of your spine for added support. Raise your legs up at a 90 degree angle, then slowly lower until they’re only inches from the ground. Repeat until your stomach burns and you want to throw up). And because your core is the center of power for most other exercises, a long workout full of dynamic movements targeting legs, arms and back also translates to a good core workout. (For more examples of effective ab exercises, visit McGill’s site, backfitpro.com.)
Of course, it won’t matter how muscular your torso is if your body fat is too high. The best way to build strong, visible abs isn’t through repeated sit-ups, but by engaging in circuit training that has you working your entire core while you’re burning calories – and to keep yourself disciplined during meals. “If you want to burn your fat mass, make sure you have a combination of weight training and cardiovascular, but 90 percent of good abs is your nutrition,” says Maresca. However, he does offer a quick tip for those of us with a weakness for caloric food: standing up straight and pulling back your shoulders will instantly tighten your transverse abdominal muscle, making you look a little leaner. It’s not quite as impressive as showcasing a well-developed core via 10 percent body fat, but it does leave a lot more time and flexibility for hitting up happy hour
If you liked this, you will love www.backpainloss,com
Stay well and fit
Paul
Sit-Ups don't help you get flat, tight stomach
Posted by ethiopianreview.com | July 5th, 2009 at 1:03 pm |
By Kate Dailey | Newsweek
Everyone knows that the road to flat, tight abs is paved with crunches. Lots and lots and lots of excruciating crunches. Or is it?
As it turns out, the exercises synonymous with strong, attractive abs may not be the best way to train your core—and may be doing damage to your back.
“We stopped teaching people to do crunches a long, long time ago,” says Dr. Richard Guyer, president of the Texas Back Institute. That’s because the “full flex” movement—the actual “crunch” part of crunches – puts an unhealthy strain on your back at its weakest point. The section with the most nerves (and most potential for nerve damage) is in the back of the spine, which is the very part that bends and strains during a sit-up.
“There are only so many bends or a ‘fatigue life’,” in your spinal disks,” says Stuart M. McGill, a professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo. Inside each disk is a mucus-like nucleus, he says, and “if you keep flexing your spine and bending the disk over and over again, that nucleus slowly breaches the layers and causes a disk bulge, or a disk herniation.” A herniated disk won’t show through your swimsuit, but it’s no fun, and can cause persistent back and leg pain, weakness, and tingling.
Think of the oft-repeated advice for movers: bend at the hips and lift with your legs, not your back. And what is a sit-up but a back bend done in a lying position? “When people are doing curl up over gym balls and sit-ups, and this kind of thing, they are replicating a very potent injury mechanism on their back,” says McGill. “Every time they bend it they are one repetition closer to damaging the disk.”
And of course, when people do crunches, they rarely stop at one or two: in the quest for flat abs, they’ll churn out dozens at a time, bringing them ever closer to “flex intolerance”—so much pain and stiffness that it’s difficult to tie one’s shoes or bend down to pick a penny off the ground.
But who cares about back health as bathing suit season approaches? Turns out, crunches might not be the best solution for a flat stomach, either. That’s because doing too many sit-ups at the expense of other, more comprehensive movements can lead to the dreaded “aerobic abs.” That’s the term celebrity trainer Steve Maresca coined to describe the distended stomachs of those who focus only on the rectus abdominus muscles targeted by sit-ups and crunches. “They look great from the front, but when they turn to the side, their stomachs are extended,” he says. To get the long, lean look, one needs to work transverse abdominius, a large muscle that holds in those rectus abs, and is mainly unchallenged by traditional ab work (aka, the sit-up and crunches).
Doing a sit-up doesn’t train your ab muscles to do the job for which they were designed – keeping your spine straight and secure and providing power for your movements. In everyday life, “the abdominals are braces,” says McGill, author of "Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance" (Stuart McGill, 2004). When doing any athletic movement—even opening a door—“the spine is in a neutral posture, not flexed, and the abdominal muscles are contracted to brace the spine.”
The best way—for both your back and your beach body—to work your midsection is to do movements that challenge the muscles to perform the way they're designed and expected to work in real life, and not to train muscles in isolation. “It’s important to have strong abs, but strong abdominals are not the only thing,” says Dr. Guyer. “You have your back extenders, your flexors, which are belly muscles, you have your oblique muscles.” Working all of these muscle groups—the anatomical association known as “the core”—is essential to both back health and general athleticism.
As a result, only training for good-looking abs won’t add to your athleticism or overall strength. On the other hand, moves not traditionally designed for good-looking abs can in fact help strengthen and tone those muscles.
Consider the pushup. Not usually thought of as a great ab move, the pushup forces you to work several muscles at once: it forces your core muscles to stabilize your trunk as your arms and back work to move the body up and down. “Do you see how a pushup is a full body challenge?” says McGill. “It challenges abdominals, front of your legs, your arms and your back. That is how you use those muscles in real life.”
Like the pushup, the best exercises for back health and a firmer stomach are ones that work your abs while holding your spine straight, like planks or leg drops (done when you lie flat on your back, with your hands at the base of your spine for added support. Raise your legs up at a 90 degree angle, then slowly lower until they’re only inches from the ground. Repeat until your stomach burns and you want to throw up). And because your core is the center of power for most other exercises, a long workout full of dynamic movements targeting legs, arms and back also translates to a good core workout. (For more examples of effective ab exercises, visit McGill’s site, backfitpro.com.)
Of course, it won’t matter how muscular your torso is if your body fat is too high. The best way to build strong, visible abs isn’t through repeated sit-ups, but by engaging in circuit training that has you working your entire core while you’re burning calories – and to keep yourself disciplined during meals. “If you want to burn your fat mass, make sure you have a combination of weight training and cardiovascular, but 90 percent of good abs is your nutrition,” says Maresca. However, he does offer a quick tip for those of us with a weakness for caloric food: standing up straight and pulling back your shoulders will instantly tighten your transverse abdominal muscle, making you look a little leaner. It’s not quite as impressive as showcasing a well-developed core via 10 percent body fat, but it does leave a lot more time and flexibility for hitting up happy hour
If you liked this, you will love www.backpainloss,com
Stay well and fit
Paul
Sunday 5 July 2009
Tai Chi and back pain
I am a great fan on exercise as way to health, so from Health News, another natural way to approach pain management. What do you think? Exercise good, or not so good?
With July being Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month, it is a great time to celebrate the ways science is trying to help arthritis sufferers by thinking outside the Western medicine box…or bottle. It seems that the pain from this autoimmune disease can be helped by the ease of movement and concentration that a patient can receive from none other than the art of Tai Chi. Although the name may sound a lot like “Chai tea,” don’t be confused, I assure you these two items only share the common bond of a long and healthy tradition: Tai Chi in China and Chai tea in India. Tai Chi is the culmination of mind and body working together as an alternative cure, helping the body heal itself.
In recent years, exercise has started to dominate the chat rooms, forums, and medical office brochures offering to ease the pain of arthritis through different forms of exerting your body physically. Although some call it “moving meditation,” the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) says that the movements attributed to Tai Chi are slow and gentle, showing great awareness of the space and body as well as paying attention to the depth of your breaths.
By showing restraint while exerting force and power with your body, your mind can help calm you as well as building a closer connection to the physical being in order to help heal. Not that long ago, Health News ran an article about the benefits of Tai Chi among the elderly, citing that among the positive effects of Tai Chi on the older generations were: better concentration, more energy, greater quality of sleep, better balance and posture, muscle strength, and less stress among others that may occur like a boost in the immune system.
A new study has emerged with evidence pointing to Tai Chi being beneficial for more than just senior citizens, this time the target group is arthritis sufferers, which can start at anytime, even as a child. Recently published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, the study was done by the George Institute for International Health in Australia. The researchers found that Tai Chi is beneficial for musculoskeletal pain, by improving frequency of pain and offering a better range of movement for the afflicted person.
With millions of Americans living with arthritis and hundreds of thousands of children also suffering, it is promising that Tai Chi has developed a following in North America. Used as a common exercise routine for general health in China, the practice Tai Chi is quickly being spread across the world. Already classified as a trend in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) here in the U.S., the slow practice of movement linked with meditation is now more helpful than many may have realized.
As a low-impact form of movement, Tai Chi can be done in solitude or in a group healing environment and is recommended for all ages because of its slow and gentle approach to the positions. Tai Chi is also an inexpensive way to let off steam, meet new people if you like, or just have fun while also staying fit. Author, Dr. Chris Maher of the George Institute says that these positive results will hopefully yield more positive results by transferring to chronic lower back pain; a study they hope to be working on next. A colleague at The George Institute Ms. Amanda Hall, says that their research should encourage those living with arthritis pain, “This research should reassure people with musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis to seek exercise to relieve the pain. The fact that Tai Chi is inexpensive, convenient, enjoyable and conveys other psychological and social benefits supports the use this type of intervention for pain conditions.”
Even if you don’t have arthritis or the fear of getting it later in life, you may want to try a Tai Chi class just to spice up your workout routine and as an added bonus afterwards, spice up your taste buds with a nice soothing cup of Chai tea.
For more information on exercise and back pain, take a look at www.backpainloss.com
Look, it c\nnot be seen - it is beyond foem
Listen, it cannot be heard - it is beyond sound
Grasp, it cannot be held - it is intangible
Tao-T-Ching
Stay well and healthy
Best wishes Paul
With July being Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month, it is a great time to celebrate the ways science is trying to help arthritis sufferers by thinking outside the Western medicine box…or bottle. It seems that the pain from this autoimmune disease can be helped by the ease of movement and concentration that a patient can receive from none other than the art of Tai Chi. Although the name may sound a lot like “Chai tea,” don’t be confused, I assure you these two items only share the common bond of a long and healthy tradition: Tai Chi in China and Chai tea in India. Tai Chi is the culmination of mind and body working together as an alternative cure, helping the body heal itself.
In recent years, exercise has started to dominate the chat rooms, forums, and medical office brochures offering to ease the pain of arthritis through different forms of exerting your body physically. Although some call it “moving meditation,” the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) says that the movements attributed to Tai Chi are slow and gentle, showing great awareness of the space and body as well as paying attention to the depth of your breaths.
By showing restraint while exerting force and power with your body, your mind can help calm you as well as building a closer connection to the physical being in order to help heal. Not that long ago, Health News ran an article about the benefits of Tai Chi among the elderly, citing that among the positive effects of Tai Chi on the older generations were: better concentration, more energy, greater quality of sleep, better balance and posture, muscle strength, and less stress among others that may occur like a boost in the immune system.
A new study has emerged with evidence pointing to Tai Chi being beneficial for more than just senior citizens, this time the target group is arthritis sufferers, which can start at anytime, even as a child. Recently published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, the study was done by the George Institute for International Health in Australia. The researchers found that Tai Chi is beneficial for musculoskeletal pain, by improving frequency of pain and offering a better range of movement for the afflicted person.
With millions of Americans living with arthritis and hundreds of thousands of children also suffering, it is promising that Tai Chi has developed a following in North America. Used as a common exercise routine for general health in China, the practice Tai Chi is quickly being spread across the world. Already classified as a trend in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) here in the U.S., the slow practice of movement linked with meditation is now more helpful than many may have realized.
As a low-impact form of movement, Tai Chi can be done in solitude or in a group healing environment and is recommended for all ages because of its slow and gentle approach to the positions. Tai Chi is also an inexpensive way to let off steam, meet new people if you like, or just have fun while also staying fit. Author, Dr. Chris Maher of the George Institute says that these positive results will hopefully yield more positive results by transferring to chronic lower back pain; a study they hope to be working on next. A colleague at The George Institute Ms. Amanda Hall, says that their research should encourage those living with arthritis pain, “This research should reassure people with musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis to seek exercise to relieve the pain. The fact that Tai Chi is inexpensive, convenient, enjoyable and conveys other psychological and social benefits supports the use this type of intervention for pain conditions.”
Even if you don’t have arthritis or the fear of getting it later in life, you may want to try a Tai Chi class just to spice up your workout routine and as an added bonus afterwards, spice up your taste buds with a nice soothing cup of Chai tea.
For more information on exercise and back pain, take a look at www.backpainloss.com
Look, it c\nnot be seen - it is beyond foem
Listen, it cannot be heard - it is beyond sound
Grasp, it cannot be held - it is intangible
Tao-T-Ching
Stay well and healthy
Best wishes Paul
Saturday 4 July 2009
Is it all in your mind?
Today I thought I would have a little wander.
During the week I went to a market res arch meeting I had been invited because I am, in the organisers view, old, I am unwell, and on the way out.
The focus group was sponsored by the National Health service and they wanted some views. There were 3 of us ranging in age, from 50 to 60. One person liked to smoke, did not really worry about diet and did not exercise. Another liked to drink, had a reasonable diet, did some exercise and then there was me. I have not exercised to a reasonable level for nearly a year. I never smoked, stopped drinking 10 years ago and have, I believe, a balanced, vegetarian diet.
We were asked a number of questions and I soon realised I was the odd one out. The subject of aches and pains and getting old came up. If the group were a democracy, you get old, your body starts to fall apart and you do your best to grab some pleasure, in your vices cos its downhill all the way and you have no con troll.
So what was the minority report? First, what you put into your body has a direct relationship to your health. Your lifestyle choices decide your quality of life. Do you have to get drunk, smoke or ingest chemicals to have fun? In my view you do not need stimulants, your brain makes natural ones. You are as healthy as you want to be and you can, for instance, regain a level of fitness. Aches and pains may be addressed and you can have lots of fun, even with your clothes on.
I said most of this, I also said "government" could help us old people by making Gym membership more affordable. I said this because one of the other oldies kept saying how expensive it was, what I did not say was how much as your smokes? and why not go for a run, its free.
So my question to you is two fold, 1 do you beleive, in your minf, that you can be better it just a matter of choice 2 have you been to http//:www.backpainloss,com I go there all the time.
Stay well and let me know your thoughts
Paul
During the week I went to a market res arch meeting I had been invited because I am, in the organisers view, old, I am unwell, and on the way out.
The focus group was sponsored by the National Health service and they wanted some views. There were 3 of us ranging in age, from 50 to 60. One person liked to smoke, did not really worry about diet and did not exercise. Another liked to drink, had a reasonable diet, did some exercise and then there was me. I have not exercised to a reasonable level for nearly a year. I never smoked, stopped drinking 10 years ago and have, I believe, a balanced, vegetarian diet.
We were asked a number of questions and I soon realised I was the odd one out. The subject of aches and pains and getting old came up. If the group were a democracy, you get old, your body starts to fall apart and you do your best to grab some pleasure, in your vices cos its downhill all the way and you have no con troll.
So what was the minority report? First, what you put into your body has a direct relationship to your health. Your lifestyle choices decide your quality of life. Do you have to get drunk, smoke or ingest chemicals to have fun? In my view you do not need stimulants, your brain makes natural ones. You are as healthy as you want to be and you can, for instance, regain a level of fitness. Aches and pains may be addressed and you can have lots of fun, even with your clothes on.
I said most of this, I also said "government" could help us old people by making Gym membership more affordable. I said this because one of the other oldies kept saying how expensive it was, what I did not say was how much as your smokes? and why not go for a run, its free.
So my question to you is two fold, 1 do you beleive, in your minf, that you can be better it just a matter of choice 2 have you been to http//:www.backpainloss,com I go there all the time.
Stay well and let me know your thoughts
Paul
Friday 3 July 2009
Nip pain in the bud
From ROC now
Click here!
Nip pain in the bud
Mary Lou Aguirre – The Fresno Bee
Living – July 1, 2009 - 3:00am
iStockphoto.com
Being aware of your posture and taking breaks can help you avoid gardening aches.
Tackling those gardening chores without developing some aches and pains isn’t always easy.
Experts say the key is to take it slow, which is sometimes challenging for avid gardeners like Sue Kendall of Fresno, Calif., who was 58 when she took up gardening and now, seven years later, is known for her expertise for growing roses.
Kendall had surgery for a rotator cuff injury and has eased back into her routine by doing a series of frequent breaks and stretches as she gardens.
Slowing down isn’t easy for Kendall, nor for other gardening enthusiasts. But it’s exactly what is needed, according to Jeffrey Restuccio, author of the book Get Fit Through Gardening (Hatherleigh Press Ltd., $15.95). Restuccio views gardening as exercise and a well-tended garden the benefit of a good workout.
“Gardening by itself is not good for you; it’s only when you garden using proper form and technique that you reap its benefits,” he says.
Here’s Restuccio’s advice on giving your body a break. You can also view his recommended gardening positions at his Web site, www.getfitthroughgardening.com.
Stretch before and after you weed, dig or hoe in the garden. Warm up for five minutes before stretching and stretch again before you cool down.
Change your garden activity every three to five minutes.
Protect your back. Bend from the knees. Keep your back straight as you squat down from the knees and rise straight up using your legs.
Keep your gardening ambitions in line with your time and ability. A smaller garden will be less work.
Choose tools that do the work for you. In other words, you push or pull, and it slices the earth. Also make sure your tools are of adequate length to avoid stooping.
Limit gardening to two hours.
Mike Noble, also of Fresno, turned a plain backyard into a beautiful backdrop of zinnias, mums and birds of paradise. He recalls planting a flower bed last year with a little too much zeal.
“The next day, my back was a little stiff and I couldn’t get out of bed,” says the 59-year-old. “I had been too lazy to stretch.”
He recommends spending an hour or so during the week so the weekend chores don’t take such a toll.
Carrie Lou Butchert, 72, lives in Fresno and says gardening “energizes” her.
Butchert and her husband, Jerald, spent nine hours fertilizing their 190-plus roses one Sunday this spring. In the past, the couple has been so engrossed with a gardening project that they found themselves “working in the dark.” “The fertilizing is something we do once a year,” she says. “It’s worth it. Our roses are our pride and joy. Believe me, it’s a labor of love.”
But they also plan easy maintenance gardens and use tools that don’t require them to be on their hands and knees.
Fresnan Susan Stiltz has a landscape design and consulting business. She recommends using a gardening bucket with a cushion on top for sitting while gardening. Stiltz, 59, also uses knee pads.
“Sitting on something is better than bending at the waist,” she says. “I’ll do 10- to 15-minute sessions of stretching.”
Her favorite gardening chore is pruning. But it has its drawbacks.
“There’s a lot of stress at the arms, neck and shoulder while pruning,” Stiltz says. “Heat or ice packs are good for sore muscles.”
Kendall knows too much gardening will affect her body. “You’re enjoying it so much that you’re sore when you get up,” she says.
But she has her routine planned out so she doesn’t re-injure her shoulder.
“I’m more careful and take breaks more frequently,” Kendall says. “I have chairs and benches throughout my garden for this purpose. If at any point, I feel my shoulders tiring, I stop for a water break and walk around talking to my plants.”
For more on gardening and back pain, and natural ways to help back pain, goto www.backpainloss.com
As ever
Paul
Click here!
Nip pain in the bud
Mary Lou Aguirre – The Fresno Bee
Living – July 1, 2009 - 3:00am
iStockphoto.com
Being aware of your posture and taking breaks can help you avoid gardening aches.
Tackling those gardening chores without developing some aches and pains isn’t always easy.
Experts say the key is to take it slow, which is sometimes challenging for avid gardeners like Sue Kendall of Fresno, Calif., who was 58 when she took up gardening and now, seven years later, is known for her expertise for growing roses.
Kendall had surgery for a rotator cuff injury and has eased back into her routine by doing a series of frequent breaks and stretches as she gardens.
Slowing down isn’t easy for Kendall, nor for other gardening enthusiasts. But it’s exactly what is needed, according to Jeffrey Restuccio, author of the book Get Fit Through Gardening (Hatherleigh Press Ltd., $15.95). Restuccio views gardening as exercise and a well-tended garden the benefit of a good workout.
“Gardening by itself is not good for you; it’s only when you garden using proper form and technique that you reap its benefits,” he says.
Here’s Restuccio’s advice on giving your body a break. You can also view his recommended gardening positions at his Web site, www.getfitthroughgardening.com.
Stretch before and after you weed, dig or hoe in the garden. Warm up for five minutes before stretching and stretch again before you cool down.
Change your garden activity every three to five minutes.
Protect your back. Bend from the knees. Keep your back straight as you squat down from the knees and rise straight up using your legs.
Keep your gardening ambitions in line with your time and ability. A smaller garden will be less work.
Choose tools that do the work for you. In other words, you push or pull, and it slices the earth. Also make sure your tools are of adequate length to avoid stooping.
Limit gardening to two hours.
Mike Noble, also of Fresno, turned a plain backyard into a beautiful backdrop of zinnias, mums and birds of paradise. He recalls planting a flower bed last year with a little too much zeal.
“The next day, my back was a little stiff and I couldn’t get out of bed,” says the 59-year-old. “I had been too lazy to stretch.”
He recommends spending an hour or so during the week so the weekend chores don’t take such a toll.
Carrie Lou Butchert, 72, lives in Fresno and says gardening “energizes” her.
Butchert and her husband, Jerald, spent nine hours fertilizing their 190-plus roses one Sunday this spring. In the past, the couple has been so engrossed with a gardening project that they found themselves “working in the dark.” “The fertilizing is something we do once a year,” she says. “It’s worth it. Our roses are our pride and joy. Believe me, it’s a labor of love.”
But they also plan easy maintenance gardens and use tools that don’t require them to be on their hands and knees.
Fresnan Susan Stiltz has a landscape design and consulting business. She recommends using a gardening bucket with a cushion on top for sitting while gardening. Stiltz, 59, also uses knee pads.
“Sitting on something is better than bending at the waist,” she says. “I’ll do 10- to 15-minute sessions of stretching.”
Her favorite gardening chore is pruning. But it has its drawbacks.
“There’s a lot of stress at the arms, neck and shoulder while pruning,” Stiltz says. “Heat or ice packs are good for sore muscles.”
Kendall knows too much gardening will affect her body. “You’re enjoying it so much that you’re sore when you get up,” she says.
But she has her routine planned out so she doesn’t re-injure her shoulder.
“I’m more careful and take breaks more frequently,” Kendall says. “I have chairs and benches throughout my garden for this purpose. If at any point, I feel my shoulders tiring, I stop for a water break and walk around talking to my plants.”
For more on gardening and back pain, and natural ways to help back pain, goto www.backpainloss.com
As ever
Paul
Why back surgery usually fails
From Healthy, Wealthy n Wisw
Why Back Surgery Usually Fails
By: Steve Hefferon, CMT
In traditional medicine, back pain is often treated by surgery. And it often doesn't work. So often, in fact, that back pain surgery is the only category of surgery that actually has a clinical term for failure: Failed Back Surgery Syndrome.
If you ask me, any treatment that actually expects failure is not a treatment at all.
I don't care what type of surgery you're considering. With any treatment that only addresses the symptoms - in this case, pain - the question is not what symptoms you have but what caused them.
3 Reasons Surgery Doesn't Work
I'm not going to tell you that you should not have surgery. I can assure you, however, that once you have surgery, everything changes. You will never be the same, even if the surgery is a success.
There are maybe a dozen or so types of surgical procedures for back pain, and all of them attempt to do one of two things: remove the pressure on the nerve or stabilize the spine. Let's take a herniated disc, for example. You have pain because the disc is pressing on the nerve. Your doctor says that the only thing he can do is remove the part of the disc that's touching the nerve.
Your first thought probably is: Good-bye pain!
Not so fast.
1. Once the operation is completed, your body will go through a recovery process that includes a lot of pain and awkward movement just to get you through each day. This is going to be your first potential source of trouble. Because your body now has to contort itself, you'll be putting unnatural wear and tear on other areas of your body. As a result, you may begin to have problems above or below the surgery site or in other joints such as the hips or sacroiliac.
2. All surgeries produce scar tissue. But because back pain surgery occurs so close to nerves, the scar tissue often builds up and makes contact with a nerve. This can cause as much pain as if the disc itself were still putting pressure on the nerve.
3. The rehab you're likely to get soon after the operation is only going to address your postoperative pain. It will help you improve your functional skills to perform what are called "activities of daily living," which include bathing, dressing, going to the bathroom, and the like. This is fine and necessary so you can go home and be safe. But it doesn't address the long-term cause of the pain.
The Causes of Back Pain
Most back pain conditions have to do with something called "postural dysfunctions." Postural dysfunctions are similar to a car's tire being out of proper alignment. In the body, improper alignment is seen as abnormal curvature of the spine and abnormal positioning of the pelvis.
The great news is that we know what cause these postural dysfunctions and how to correct them.
To get our bodies back into balance so they can function normally again, we need to get our muscles back into alignment.
5 Important Questions to Ask
If you are considering surgery, I'd recommend finding a qualified therapist first. Give yourself 60 days to work on stretching and strengthening before you decide whether or not to go under the knife.
If you still opt for surgery, tell both your therapist and your surgeon that you want your postoperative rehab to address both short-term and long-term goals. It must not only work on decreasing your pain so you can safely go home. It also must answer the following five questions related to the root cause or causes of your pain.
Which postural dysfunction did you identify? Ask the surgeon and therapist to examine you for dysfunction, including the following two potential abnormalities.
How would you describe the curvature of my spine from top to bottom?
How would you describe the position of my pelvis (level or tipping)?
What are my muscle imbalances? The therapist must explain how your muscles are out of balance - which muscles are strong, weak, flexible or tight in relation to one another.
Which muscles do I need to stretch and which ones do I need to strengthen? (Be sure the therapist explains what each muscle group does so you know how to do the exercises correctly.)
Have both your surgeon and your therapist write everything down as part of your long-term goal and ask for a copy.
The Path to Success
If you eventually do decide to have surgery, understand that the number one reason why back pain sufferers fail to get long-term relief -- and by that I mean more than five years -- is that this very simple principle of muscle imbalance was not addressed seriously.
Once you do address it, though, then you really are on the path to a pain-free life.
About the Author:
Steve Hefferon is certified massage therapist and co-founder of The Healthy Back Institute. Find out which treatments work and which ones don't here: http://www.losethebackpain.com/treatments/
I like to look at www.backpainloss.com
Be well
Paul
Why Back Surgery Usually Fails
By: Steve Hefferon, CMT
In traditional medicine, back pain is often treated by surgery. And it often doesn't work. So often, in fact, that back pain surgery is the only category of surgery that actually has a clinical term for failure: Failed Back Surgery Syndrome.
If you ask me, any treatment that actually expects failure is not a treatment at all.
I don't care what type of surgery you're considering. With any treatment that only addresses the symptoms - in this case, pain - the question is not what symptoms you have but what caused them.
3 Reasons Surgery Doesn't Work
I'm not going to tell you that you should not have surgery. I can assure you, however, that once you have surgery, everything changes. You will never be the same, even if the surgery is a success.
There are maybe a dozen or so types of surgical procedures for back pain, and all of them attempt to do one of two things: remove the pressure on the nerve or stabilize the spine. Let's take a herniated disc, for example. You have pain because the disc is pressing on the nerve. Your doctor says that the only thing he can do is remove the part of the disc that's touching the nerve.
Your first thought probably is: Good-bye pain!
Not so fast.
1. Once the operation is completed, your body will go through a recovery process that includes a lot of pain and awkward movement just to get you through each day. This is going to be your first potential source of trouble. Because your body now has to contort itself, you'll be putting unnatural wear and tear on other areas of your body. As a result, you may begin to have problems above or below the surgery site or in other joints such as the hips or sacroiliac.
2. All surgeries produce scar tissue. But because back pain surgery occurs so close to nerves, the scar tissue often builds up and makes contact with a nerve. This can cause as much pain as if the disc itself were still putting pressure on the nerve.
3. The rehab you're likely to get soon after the operation is only going to address your postoperative pain. It will help you improve your functional skills to perform what are called "activities of daily living," which include bathing, dressing, going to the bathroom, and the like. This is fine and necessary so you can go home and be safe. But it doesn't address the long-term cause of the pain.
The Causes of Back Pain
Most back pain conditions have to do with something called "postural dysfunctions." Postural dysfunctions are similar to a car's tire being out of proper alignment. In the body, improper alignment is seen as abnormal curvature of the spine and abnormal positioning of the pelvis.
The great news is that we know what cause these postural dysfunctions and how to correct them.
To get our bodies back into balance so they can function normally again, we need to get our muscles back into alignment.
5 Important Questions to Ask
If you are considering surgery, I'd recommend finding a qualified therapist first. Give yourself 60 days to work on stretching and strengthening before you decide whether or not to go under the knife.
If you still opt for surgery, tell both your therapist and your surgeon that you want your postoperative rehab to address both short-term and long-term goals. It must not only work on decreasing your pain so you can safely go home. It also must answer the following five questions related to the root cause or causes of your pain.
Which postural dysfunction did you identify? Ask the surgeon and therapist to examine you for dysfunction, including the following two potential abnormalities.
How would you describe the curvature of my spine from top to bottom?
How would you describe the position of my pelvis (level or tipping)?
What are my muscle imbalances? The therapist must explain how your muscles are out of balance - which muscles are strong, weak, flexible or tight in relation to one another.
Which muscles do I need to stretch and which ones do I need to strengthen? (Be sure the therapist explains what each muscle group does so you know how to do the exercises correctly.)
Have both your surgeon and your therapist write everything down as part of your long-term goal and ask for a copy.
The Path to Success
If you eventually do decide to have surgery, understand that the number one reason why back pain sufferers fail to get long-term relief -- and by that I mean more than five years -- is that this very simple principle of muscle imbalance was not addressed seriously.
Once you do address it, though, then you really are on the path to a pain-free life.
About the Author:
Steve Hefferon is certified massage therapist and co-founder of The Healthy Back Institute. Find out which treatments work and which ones don't here: http://www.losethebackpain.com/treatments/
I like to look at www.backpainloss.com
Be well
Paul
Acupuncture Aids more than Back Pain
From the Personal Liberty Digest
Studies are beginning to reveal that the practice of acupuncture eases some forms of back pain and new testing indicates that it may also help women suffering from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
A research team at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, applied electro-acupuncture treatments to a group of women with PCOS and compared the results to another cluster of patients who were told to simply exercise.
Women who have PCOS generally experience higher levels of androgens like testosterone in their blood, ovarian cysts and irregular menstrual cycles.
Those who were treated with acupuncture on three pressure points that are believed to affect the ovaries had decreased testosterone levels, more normal menstrual cycles and smaller waist circumference.
Meanwhile, the group that completed regular exercise experienced weight loss and lower body mass index.
From these results, Dr. Elisabet Stener-Victorin concluded that "low-frequency electro-acupuncture and exercise decrease sympathetic nerve activity in women with PCOS." She further explained that this "indicates a possible alternative non-pharmacologic approach to reduce cardiovascular risk in these patients."
According to the study, a new effective treatment for PCOS could be a combination of both exercise and electro-acupuncture therapies.
If you would like more detailed informatiom Complementary Therapies and back pain, please look at www.backpainloss.com
Studies are beginning to reveal that the practice of acupuncture eases some forms of back pain and new testing indicates that it may also help women suffering from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
A research team at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, applied electro-acupuncture treatments to a group of women with PCOS and compared the results to another cluster of patients who were told to simply exercise.
Women who have PCOS generally experience higher levels of androgens like testosterone in their blood, ovarian cysts and irregular menstrual cycles.
Those who were treated with acupuncture on three pressure points that are believed to affect the ovaries had decreased testosterone levels, more normal menstrual cycles and smaller waist circumference.
Meanwhile, the group that completed regular exercise experienced weight loss and lower body mass index.
From these results, Dr. Elisabet Stener-Victorin concluded that "low-frequency electro-acupuncture and exercise decrease sympathetic nerve activity in women with PCOS." She further explained that this "indicates a possible alternative non-pharmacologic approach to reduce cardiovascular risk in these patients."
According to the study, a new effective treatment for PCOS could be a combination of both exercise and electro-acupuncture therapies.
If you would like more detailed informatiom Complementary Therapies and back pain, please look at www.backpainloss.com
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