Alternative medicines

Posts Tagged ‘Neck Pain Relief’

Pets: you can love them and hate them simultaneously. One moment they are peeing on your favourite shirt, and the next they give you more TLC than you have ever received in your life. But regardless of what they do or how you feel about them, there are many health advantages to having a pet:

1) Lower stress levels and blood pressure. According to studies conducted at the University of Warwick, interacting with pets (such as stroking them or playing with them) has the tendency to lower a persons blood pressure and relax them. In another study, stockbrokers with high blood pressure readings were asked to adopt a cat or a dog, and those who did were later found to have much lower blood pressure levels in stressful situations that those who did not adopt a pet. Of course, this will not work if you do not like animals or are afraid of them ” then they will probably cause more anxiety than they resolve.

2) Recovery from illness. Pets have been known to help people in astounding ways, but they have the greatest number of success stories with heart attack patients. Various studies show that patients who have suffered from a heart attack tend to live longer if they have a pet at home, and they are also less prone to heart disease than non-pet owners. Pets can also serve as a loyal support system to their bed-ridden owners, providing them with the comfort that results in a quicker recovery.

In extreme cases, such as when a person is in a coma, surgeons have even recommended for a pet to be brought to the patients bedside. While there is no real evidence to support this claim, there have been incidences when the pets presence helped the patient awake from their coma. Dogs, in particular, have also been known to offer relief to Alzheimers and Parkinsons patients.

3) Improves social life. Many domesticated animals are social creatures, and therefore provide much social interaction ” whether it is a cat that curls up and falls a sleep on your lap or a dog that follows you from room to room ” a pet owner is very rarely alone. Pets also serve as great ice-breakers or conversation starters among strangers, both inside and outside the home.

4) Happiness. It is often underestimated how much pets can influence our happiness. In many cases they have helped their owners deal with loss and hardships, even helping them fight depression. Some psychologists have even recommended the use of pets in therapy sessions, as petting a rabbit or playing with a dog raises the serotonin levels in our brain. Being greeted by an energetic dog or purring cat that is excited to see you can be very uplifting if you feel like the life just isnt going your way. This is why pets are also used in elderly homes, to help individuals feel less lonely and isolated.

Regardless of whether you break up with a loved one or lose your job, your pet will love you no matter what; and that, in itself, is an essential quality that human beings cannot live without.

It often seems as though Eastern and Western approaches to health are often at odds with one another. This is not always true. More and more osteopaths are now suggesting that clients try a combination of both practices, fusing Western osteopathy with Eastern acupuncture.

Acupuncture is holistic approach to health that has its origins in China, having been refined and developed evolved over 2000 years. It is based on the philosophy that our health relies on the free flow of our bodys energy ” known as Qi ” through a system of channels that lie beneath our skin. The pathways are all connected to the bodys vital organs, so if the flow of Qi is upset in some way (either by physical illness or emotional disturbances), the health and harmony of our body comes out of balance.

Acupuncture therapies are carried out by having very fine needles playing along the energy channels at specific pressure points in the skin. This is done to encourage the flow of energy and get rid of any physical tensions. By placing the needles in specific places the body is forced to tap into its own healing response, helping restore its natural balance.

But what does acupuncture have to do with osteopathy? Acupuncture and osteopathy have very similar philosophies, both view the body and mind as interconnected entities. They both believe a condition can only be cured if you eliminate the root of the problem, rather than merely treating its symptoms, and this is why osteopaths advise patients to do acupuncture in addition to osteopathic treatments.

While some people see acupuncture as simply a way to alleviate pain, it helps heal specific complaints as well as illnesses. Here are some of the problems and conditions that acupuncture can help with:

- High blood pressure and circulatory problems

- Cranial problems, including headaches and migraines

- Respiratory problems. These include asthma, breathlessness, and various others.

- Musculo-skeletal problems, helping to soothe pain in the muscles and joints. Deals with many osteopathic problems such as stiffness in the knees and neck, sciatica, frozen shoulder, and arthritis.

- Allergies

- Insomnia or aiding relaxation

A lot of patients have also expressed that acupuncture has given them gives a better sense of wellbeing ” improving their energy levels, vitality, and overall health.

Many people tend to shy away from acupuncture because they are uncomfortable with the idea of needles. Therapists often reassure their clients that the needles used for acupuncture are very different from the ones used to administer injections: they are a lot small and do not penetrate the body in the same way. While everyone responds to pain in different manners, most do not find the experience painful at all.

Not everyone is convinced that practices such as acupuncture work better than painkillers or sleeping pills. Others are adamant that natural healing processes are the only option. There does not always need to be a choice. If you have suffered from chronic pain or feel constantly overwhelmed by stress, combining East and West may be your best option to feeling healthier, refreshed, and more energetic.

In an age where we can access information with the click of a mouse and receive messages from across the world the very second they are sent, the internet is frequently applauded for making our lives easier. Even the rise of social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and the BBCs myCBBC have been met with general positivity ” that is, until recently. Psychologists, health experts, and even biologists have lately been criticizing social networking cites for being hazardous to our health.

Experts are now warning us that new research suggests that we dont have nearly as much face-to-face contact with others as in the past, and it is making us more and more isolated. In a recent issue of Biologist, the journal of the Institute of Biology, Dr Aric Sigman explains that our body oxytocin levels have declined as a result of less physical interaction. Oxytocin, also known as the cuddle chemical, is a chemical that our body produces when we bond with another person. The fact that it is in decline shows that we are not bonding with others on a regular basis, which can have serious consequences.

Signman warns that extreme devotion to the virtual world can increase the risk of both physical and mental health problems such as cancer, dementia, depression, strokes, and heart disease ” not exactly something we think about when we are checking our inboxes. Too much time on MySpace also allegedly has the potential to alter the ways in which our hormone levels and immune systems are regulated. It all comes down to our lifestyles ” with a greater number of people working from home rather than going out and physically interacting with people, the lack of regular and deeper human contact have a negative effect on our body.

Psychologists also warn us about the this problems implications for the family unit. Research shows that children as young as five years old use the internet on a regular basis. Experts say that this undermines a childs ability to learn to interpret body language and acquire important social skills. In many cases not even the parents are not very helpful, either. Dr. Signman was quoted as saying “Parents spend less time with their children than they did only a decade ago. Britain has the lowest proportion of children in all of Europe who eat with their parents at the table.

While most of these allegations (about physical health, in particular) have not undergone extensive scientific investigation, there is an element of truth in each of the warnings. Common sense says that spending much time behind a computer screen is not good for your health, if you neglect exercise and proper social interaction.

Social networking can therefore be seen as either a blessing or a cure (or, in some cases, both). They can be a negative influence that stimulates isolationism and anti-social behaviour. Or they can simply be a place to get back in touch with old friends and classmates. The bottom line: everything in moderation. As long as social networking sites do not become a substitute for face-to-face relationships, there is no reason why we should fear of sitting behind our laptops.

Back problems can often be very uncomfortable, making it difficult to bend down, lift objects, sit on a soft sofa ” common things that many people take for granted. GPs advise you to go on diets, take medications, and follow special treatments to deal with the more painful symptoms, but in recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in non-western solutions to psychical problems. And apparently, they work. One eastern alternative has been particularly helpful for dealing with back pain: yoga.

What yoga does

Yoga comes in many different forms, some of which are more of a workout and others which soothe the mind and body. Through a combination of poses and breathing exercises, yoga aims to help your body get aligned, improve you posture, and make you more aware of what your body is doing.

Osteopaths and yoga experts recommend a gentle yoga style called hatha for back patients, as opposed to the more challenging types such as Bikram and Ashtanga. Hatha involves careful stretches, basic yoga poses, and slow breathing exercises that not only makes a stiff back more flexible, but stronger as well. Hatha yoga also tends to speed up the recovery of back problems such as Sciatica, Osteoarthritis and Fibromyalgia, and can help prevent these from developing in the first place.

What you can do

Here are some exercises that you can do on a regular basis to make your back stronger, more flexible, and less painful:

1) Begin with some stretches before moving on to the more complicated poses. Get into the Mountain Pose: stand up straight with your feet touching, balancing the weight of your body over the feet evenly. Keep your arms at your sides, slightly pressed into the body. Tighten your buttocks and stomach muscles but maintain a firm posture. Whole holding the pose, breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth.

2) Crescent Moon Pose: this pose strengthens your back, legs, and shoulders, helping you build extra stamina. Complete it in two steps:

Kneel down onto your knees and keep a straight back. Take a step forward with your right foot until the foot is a little past your right knee. Keep the leg parallel to the floor.

Stretch your arms above your head and hook your thumbs together. Now lift your left knee off the floor, stretching the leg, and divide your weight between the front and back legs. Dont puff your chest up to avoid having a hollow back.

3) The Child Pose: this pose helps you stretch your spine, hips, and thighs, and should help alleviate the psychical and emotional stresses in your body. Carry it out in three steps:

Kneel down to your knees, with the legs slightly parted, and your feet pointing outwards in opposite directions.

Now, carefully place your forehead on the floor and swing both arms forward, around the head at the height of the ears.

With your head still touching the floor, bring your arms around to your sides, palms facing upwards.

These traditional ways of healing the body can therefore be a great supplement or alternative to western back treatments. As long as each pose is exercised with caution, hatha yoga can ensure that your mind and body feel better and refreshed.

Have you been suffering from piercing pains in your lower back lately? Do you have trouble turning around, bending down, or rolling over in your sleep? If this is the case, you might have a sacroiliac joint inflammation – not exactly when you are waiting for right before the holiday season.

Now, you might be wondering what the sacroiliac joints even are. They are two ‘L-shaped’ joints are situated at the lower back, between the pelvic ilium and the sacrum (the small wedge-shaped bone at the bottom of your spine), and are held in place by various muscles and ligaments. Their function is to enable you to move your pelvis – sacroiliac joints get pulled and twisted along the pelvic girdle whenever you move your lower back.

When either of these joints gets inflamed, it can create a sharp pain in the lower back, upper thighs, and sometimes the buttocks. This is either caused by the fact that the joints get stuck, or that one half the pelvis continually glides backwards and forwards, irritating and inflaming the iliolumbar ligament.

Mild inflammations of the sacroiliac joints and the surrounding regions are not uncommon, but the more severe forms of sacroiliitis tend to crop up with old age. The most significant causes of sacroiliitis include pregnancy (because the pelvis is forced to expand during labour); trauma or sudden impact injury to the spine or pelvis; and degenerative arthritis, or osteoarthritis of the spine (which deteriorates the sacroiliac joints). But do not fret: it is possible to treat sacroiliitis, just as long as you visit your osteopath and keep an eye out for any early symptoms of the disease.

The most noticeable symptoms of sacroiliac joint inflammation include: – Restricted hip movement (having difficulty turning around or rolling over in bed) – Stiffness in the lower back after long periods of immobility (such after long car journeys) or when waking up in the morning – Difficulty bending down – Pain during sexual intercourse – Sharp pain the thighs when swinging your legs out of bed or out of the car

If you recognize any of these symptoms in your own situation, be sure to visit someone with an in-depth knowledge about the sacroiliac joint, such as an osteopath. To minimize your discomfort temporarily, you are advised to: – Wrap a damp tea towel around an icepack and place it on the painful area for 10-minute intervals, over the course of a half hour, for up to three times a day. – Sleep on your side at night (not your back or stomach) – Place a pillow between your knees while you are in a sedentary position or when lying down. This should take some of the pressure off your pelvis.

Sacroiliac joint inflammation can be extremely uncomfortable, but osteopaths can help you deal with the pain quite effectively through a combination of physical therapy and anti-inflammatory treatments. So as long as you visit your osteopath regularly and take good care of yourself, this upcoming holiday season should be as enjoyable as your last.

The largest and the strongest tendon in the body is the Achilles tendon in the distal posterior calf. Typical patients with Achilles tendon rupture are men in good health from 30-50 years old and who have not suffered major injuries or any kind of difficulty with the leg before. Rupture occurs typically in people who have not been recently active and who may indulge in infrequent physical activity such as playing weekend sport, players known as “weekend warriors”.

The two large calf muscles, the gastrocnemius and the soleus, each have a tendon and these converge and form the Achilles tendon about 15 centimetres above the calcaneum. Tendons transmit forces from muscles to bones and to do this they have high resilience and sufficient stiffness, good tensile strength and allow 4 percent stretch before damage. Damage and rupture to the fibres can occur when the stretch reaches 8 percent. Most of the tendon rupture and degeneration occurs where the blood supply is poorest, about 2-6 centimetres up from the heel bone.

Achilles tendon tears occur mostly in the left leg where the poor blood supply is, perhaps because most people are right handed and push off more with their left leg. Common injuries are on sudden foot push off, an unexpected forcing up of the ankle and an upward force on the ankle when pushed down. Direct trauma and general degeneration of the tendon without trauma can also occur. People at risk include those exerting themselves when they are unfit, relatively older people, steroid users and those who exert themselves in extreme ways.

Achilles tendon forces in running can be very high and have been measured at six to eight times bodyweight. The patient typically reports a sudden snap or blow to the rear of the lower calf, a sudden strong pain, an ability to walk but not to run or climb stairs. On examination there may be a swollen or bruised calf, a palpable gap in the tendon and an inability to stand on tiptoe. A history of treatment with steroids, previous tendon rupture or an unusually high activity level (e.g. weekend warrior) can also be important findings.

Doctors choose conservative or surgical management, operation having a higher risk of complications and conservative treatment a higher risk of re-rupture. Non-operative treatment is suitable for sedentary people, diabetics, older people and those with medical problems or poor skin integrity. Impaired blood supply, diabetes and other illnesses make wound breakdown, tendon separation and infections more likely. A calf or thigh length plaster may be used with the ankle flexed down, moving it up regularly over six to ten weeks. The patient is allowed to weight bear and given an orthotic as the tendon heals.

Open or percutaneous surgery can be used and after the operation the leg is plastered with the ankle in plantar flexion or put into a brace. The ankle angle is adjusted upwards regularly week by week as healing goes forward until after 4 to 6 weeks the brace can be removed. Surgical repair is more successful due to lower rates of repeated rupture, quicker return to activity, greater strength and better endurance when compared to non-operative treatment. Research indicates that immobilizing the tendon for shorter periods is more successful.

The physiotherapy rehabilitation starts with ankle range of movement exercises without body weight loading, encouraging a good walking pattern and a heel raise to reduce the upward force on the tendon in gait. Static cycling and swimming are good starting activities, moving onto weight bearing exercises, muscle strengthening and onto more vigorous activities such as jogging, jumping and balance practice. Normal activity may be resumed by four months from surgery but this varies.

Achilles tendon rupture usually turns out with good or excellent results with most athletes getting back to their chosen sports. Surgical management has a re-rupture rate of 0-5 percent and conservative treatment up to 40 percent, so patient education by the physio in training and stretching performance and the best choice of footwear is important for the long term.

We have all been there: we go to the doctor with an aching back, she gives us a diagnosis, and writes out a prescription for some pain killers, along with some medical advice of what we can and cannot do. We take the pills, follow the advice, and the problem goes away. Or does it? Two months later, we pick up a heavy suitcase and injure our back once again – and start the vicious cycle of doctor-pills-advice all over again.

Treating a physical problem is always an uphill struggle – that is, unless you eradicate the problem completely. This is where osteopaths come in: they don’t just treat the symptoms of an ailment, they cure the cause of the problem. That is the fundamental difference between your local GP and an osteopath – while a doctor just examines individual symptoms, an osteopath will look at the ‘total person,’ or the body in its entirety. There are various other factors that distinguish osteopathic doctors from medical doctors:

1. Osteopaths are specialists in how the body works. Where medical doctors have a general overview of a large number of diseases, osteopaths are specifically trained in the musculoskeletal system. They therefore have a greater understand of how one system within the body influences the other, giving them a diagnostic as well as therapeutic advantage over GPs.

2. Osteopaths are uniquely capable of using Osteopathic Manipulative Training (OMT) to diagnose an illness within the body. In involves the manipulation of certain muscles with the hands to encourage the blood to flow to necessary regions of the body, which gives the body a much more natural opportunity of healing itself.

3. An Osteopath not only uses their hands to diagnose a problem, but also to treat to the predicament. While a medical doctor would prescribe an anti-inflammatory drug to treat the symptoms at face value, an osteopath would work to free the muscle tensions, which not only stimulates circulation, but encourages the body’s own forces to eradicate the problem, preventing it from re-emerging in the future.

4. While medical doctors work to treat the immediate symptoms of an illness, osteopaths look at the history of the disease. If a patient were to have a knee injury, for example, a GP would most commonly acquire a patient’s medical history through means of laboratory procedures, such as blood tests, or other psychical examinations. Osteopaths work differently: they obtain a patient’s history by questioning whether the patient experienced excessive stiffness in the joints in the past, whether increased activity further aggravates the knee, and whether the pain varies based on the position in which the knee is placed. By obtaining the history in this manner, osteopathic doctors aim to find the source of the problem, and ensue to eradicate its cause.

The benefits of osteopathy are therefore numerous, but do they override the advantages of visiting your local GP? That is for you to decide. Depending on the nature of your ailment, you might even want to see both. The primary question you have to ask yourself whether your physical problem is a reoccurring one, and whether you want to treat the symptoms, or cure the disease.

Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis) is not confined to golfers, but occurs in many sportsmen and women, with racquet sports the most common causes. Other sports where golfer’s elbow occurs are in bowlers in cricket, archers and weightlifters. This and the more common tennis elbow are tendinopathies, overuse syndromes where there is no significant inflammation but a pathological alteration in the body of the tendon at the painful site.

The muscles which flex and rotate the forearm originate over the medial epicondyle, the bony prominence on the inside of the elbow, with the tendon anchored into the bone by the tendinous insertion. The pain occurs close to this and may be due to a degenerative process occurring in the tendon, as little inflammation has been noted in these cases.

High stresses occur in the cocking phase of a throw and during the subsequent acceleration, and in the golf swing from high backswing down to near the ball strike. Golfers are more likely to have their dominant hand affected and tennis players who use heavy topspin in their forehands are also more at risk.

Golfer’s elbow is the most common cause of pain over the inside of the elbow and less common than tennis elbow. Twice as many men are affected as women, with people being affected initially mostly in their twenties to their forties. Golfer’s elbow presents in the dominant hand in 60% of occurrences, with 30% of sufferers reporting a sudden and painful onset, the remainder having a slow onset.

Patients complain of aching pain over the front of the inner epicondyle, worse with repeated wrist flexion and better with rest. Pain can occur in the shoulder, elbow, forearm or hand, with weakness in the lower arm and hand also. The physiotherapist will examine the bony areas and joints of the elbow, check the muscles and their tendinous insertions. The physio palpates the ulnar nerve in the groove behind the elbow, called the “funny bone” when it’s hit. The nerve can give pins and needles or weakness in the forearm and a neurological examination excludes other causes of pain or weakness.

Conservative, non-surgical, treatment is the mainstay of management. This includes physiotherapy, anti-inflammatory drugs, wrist splints and steroid injections. Patient education is important and activity modification is the first line of treatment, reducing the frequency of aggravating episodes. Altering the mechanics of the golf swing or other activity is vital if the area is to be allowed to settle. The patient avoids certain activities with the affected muscles and avoids leaning on the elbow.

In the acute phase of golfer’s elbow the physiotherapist’s aim is to reduce any pain and inflammation using ice treatment, stretching gently, deep frictions, ultrasound and anti-inflammatory medication. Progression into the sub acute phase changes treatment to increasing flexibility, strength and returning to normal activities in a paced manner. Counterforce forearm bracing can help realign the tendon stresses, or a wrist brace can give the muscles a rest. For a chronic syndrome the treatment is similar with reducing splint use and returning to sporting activities.

Doctors inject corticosteroid medication into the sites of chronic golfer’s elbow but this treatment appears to be more useful in the earlier, acute cases. Other therapies, such as shockwave or laser, have been used but do not seem to be effective. Once physio has been attempted for some time without improvement then a surgical approach may be considered, cutting out the abnormal tissue from the tendon. The ulnar nerve can be transposed around to the front of the joint from its position in the groove posteriorly.

Advice from a professional instructor is well worthwhile as they can instruct on technique of the golf swing, aerobic fitness, muscle strength work and flexibility. Warming up prior to activity and stretching afterwards, with good sporting technique and sound choice of equipment are the basic requirements. Monitoring of patients by the physiotherapist, especially if they are sports people, may be essential to avoid overdoing and training or performing through pain.

When a bitter wind bites at our toes, when exhaustion threatens to overwhelm us, and when eight out of ten faces we see are obscured by hankies, we all know what time it is: winter is on the way.

Winter has a way of getting to us with all the nasty that it brings with it: exhaustion, cold, illness, depression not exactly something to look forward to. In order to counter that, we have scavenged the globe for the most useful tips on how to prevent those coughs and sniffles this winter, ranging from dietary tips to advice on how to spend your free time. Here are some words of wisdom from some of our most valued experts:

Your Nutritionist says: Consume carbs, carbs, carbs! Forget Atkins, forget low-carb diets, your body needs carbohydrates in order to keep itself warm throughout the winter. Don’t overdo it, of course – keep in mind that everything is best consumed in moderation. What is essential to a healthy diet is to eat quality foods (whole foods, starch, protein, veggies) in the right quantities.

Your GP says: Build up your defences in as many ways as you can. One of the ways you can do this is by getting the flu jab. Modern medicine is a wonderful way of tacking long-existing illnesses. Other ways to boost your immune system are to take vitamin tablets and to get plenty of rest. A few extra hours of sleep a night will also increase your chances of staying healthy, doing miracles for your mind as well as your body. Also get some extra nutrients in addition to your daily meals, such as Zinc, Iron, and Vitamin C, will help strengthen your defences against the inevitable flues and sniffles that come knocking at your door at this time of year.

Your Osteopath says: Acupressure and acupuncture are well-used ancient practices which will enhance your sense of well being. They help spread and balance the energy within your body so you feel more centred and revitalised. A good deep-tissue massage can also achieve this sense of balance. By loosening up your stiff joints and sore muscles, a massage stimulates blood flow which enables you to feel fresh and more energetic. In order to treat external illness, we have to start by tackling the disease from within – only then can we treat the problem, not just the symptoms.

Your Psychologist says: Relax. Take a break from your daily stresses and go on holiday to Spain or the French Alps this winter – anywhere that is tranquil, sunny, and offers the opportunity to get some exercise. Many people suffer from seasonal depression at this time of year, which is largely due to the absence of sunlight. You won’t believe how much sunlight influences your physical and emotional wellbeing, so make sure you get plenty this winter.

Our experts have done their bit, now do yours. Now that you are armed with some of these useful health tips, go and face this winter head-on and emerge from the cold with a smile.

Osteopathic medicine is a kind of medicinal practice in which the entire body is taken into consideration instead of looking at symptoms separately. This type of medicine is very “in” right now, especially for those who suffer from pain in their muscles and joints. A lot of people believe that an osteopath is your best option when you suffer from neck pain. Obviously, if this is your first visit to an osteopath, you are probably nervous, but you can relax. Here is what you can expect to experience when you treat neck pain with an osteopath:

The first part of your visit will be an exam that feels more like a visit to a “traditional” doctor. You’ll most likely give your complete medical history and also receive a physical examination. In many cases, your osteopath might order extra tests to help narrow down exactly why your neck is in pain. You might have an X-Ray taken to see if there is any physical damage to the vertebrae in your neck, but don’t be surprised if your osteopath pays attention to other parts of your body as well!

It is important to know that your appointment will involve a lot of physical contact between you and your osteopath. Osteopathic treatment is very “hands on.”

The osteopath you visit can use any or all of the following methods to treat your neck pain:

Counterstrain technique: this technique involves moving you into a position that will help your body restore motion to any of your muscles that might have been strained or restrained.

Muscle Energy technique: Your osteopath gives you exercises that will start with your muscles in precise positions and follow with you moving those muscles in precise movements.

Soft Tissue technique: this is where your osteopath will apply pressure to the muscle areas around the spine. It can also involve deep pressure, rhythmic stretching and, in some cases, traction.

Thrust technique: In the thrust technique your osteopath will reintroduce movement to your joints with high velocity force. This should help rid you of any asymmetry in your muscles, any movement that has been restricted and any tissue changes or muscle tenderness.

In some cases, osteopaths will also use low level lasers or acupuncture to treat their patients.

An osteopathic visit might sound scary, but there is no reason to be frightened. Most people who visit an osteopath don’t experience any pain. Most of the time osteopathic visits have been reported to be pleasant and relaxing!

There are some people who might confuse osteopathic medicine with chiropractic medicine. The two night sound alike, but they are actually very different. Chiropractic medicine focuses on your spine and joints. Osteopathic medicine focus on your whole body!