The Organisation for Economic and Co-operation and Development (OECD) released the report “OECD Health Data 2009” which compares the health care statistics across OECD countries.
Surprisingly, the American system of health care is the most expensive in the world in terms of public spending per capita, private spending per capita, and total cost per capita (roughly double the OECD average).
Canada is more in line with the pack, but still at the higher end.
Tingling (paresthesia) or numbness in your fingers is a common symptom that many don’t take seriously. It may seem mildly annoying or even funny at times. Most people at some time have experienced that sensation when we wake up in an odd position and find that our arm is numb, dead or lifeless. We can flail it around it and it moves as if it weren’t a part of our body anymore. We can smack it against the wall and still, we don’t feel any pain. In this situation, we are experiencing a nerve impingement from lying in a way that almost all nerve signals to the arm are being blocked. Luckily, this happens rarely for most people and disappears as soon as we wake up and start moving around. The tingling or numbness we may feel in our fingertips on cold days or possibly every day is a less severe but more permanent type of nerve impingement that many of us suffer from.
To understand how this works, think of a nerve as a garden hose. Its job is to carry nerve signals or water to the muscles or garden. If we step on the hose with all of our weight, we can cut off the water or nerve supply completely. If we step on it a little bit, we can cut off a percentage of the water or nerve supply. Consider that our garden needs water and that completely cutting off the water supply for a long period of time will kill everything that grows in the garden. By the same token, restricting the water supply by 50% would have effects as well. It may take more time, but eventually the plants may grow smaller than normal, or some may die off.
Our bodies are similar. If the nerve supply to our arm is restricted or pinched for a long period of time we may notice that the affected arm has less strength, its muscles seem smaller, and it is more prone to injury or pain than the unaffected arm. Often people with nerve impingements may develop tendonitis (ie. tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow) before they ever notice any serious tingling or numbness.
I can perform some simple orthopedic tests to see if you are suffering from a nerve impingement and offer a treatment plan of massage, acupuncture and postural re-education to help relieve impingements such as carpal tunnel syndrome or thoracic outlet syndrome and restore normal nerve functioning.
We all need a little stress in our lives. Some stress is necessary to give us the energy we need to deal with immediate problems, meet imminent deadlines, and face dangerous situations. This “Good stress”, in the right quantities, can be essential for living. But like everything else, it can be possible to have too much of a good thing.
Too much stress can be detrimental to our health. Here are some of the warning signs of having too much stress in our lives:
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It is important to recognize the symptoms of stress and learn what to do about them. If you have quite a few of the symptoms listed above, then it is definitely time to do something about it. Stress can be managed and kept at safe levels.
It can be confusing trying to sift through all the information out there regarding back pain. Here are 10 simple ways to keep your back pain free and healthy
Well, I slept off the chocolate brownie diabetic haze and I am ready to blog. The title isn’t that catchy. Just plain old “blog” but for now it works. My favourite blog title of all time has to be “Bob Loblaw’s Blog” (say it 3x fast and you’ll see what I mean).
Anyway, I’m seeing a few athletes today so, let’s start with something really simple and enjoyable to do, but has big benefits. Epsom salts. It’s not really salt, and no you can’t just substitute table salt if you run out. And they would probably taste terrible on your eggs or dinner. But they are a great therapeutic tool that everyone should use. Epsom salts are high magnesium content crystals that look, well, like salt. Easy to use too. Just add a cup to a bath tub of hot water, let them dissolve, and then have a good soak for about 10 minutes. While you are just chilling out and blissing out, the epsom salts will be busy drawing out the lactic acids and metabolic waste products from your sore and achy muscles while the hot water will be flooding your muscles with fresh oxygenated blood.
I am a big believer in the salts and soak my hands in a basin of epsom salts after a hard day of work. Many professional athletes have one after a good workout as part of their regular training regimen. I advise my clients to have one after a more therapeutic massage, but it is hard to convince them to do so. I am noticing a funny pattern that typically the ones that complain about feeling sore after the treatment didn’t have an epsom salt bath. At the same time, clients that I am afraid will feel the soreness after a treatment have very little to complain about if they have an epsom soak after. In fact, I have a 100% success rate with epsom salts. I have never heard a complaint of post massage soreness from a client that had an epsom salt bath after the treatment. So, go ahead and have one. Even if you’re a “shower” person not a “bath” person, give it a try. Don’t think of it as hygeine. Think of it as therapy. And for those of you that simply enjoy baths for relaxation and stress relief, add some epsom salts to increase the bath’s therapeutic value.
Ken Shim, RMT
Massage Therapy or acupuncture can help relieve your chronic pain and give you a solitary moment of peace, relieving “Warsaw stress”. Registered Massage Therapy, acupuncture and cosmetic acupuncture work by using the body’s own natural healing powers to leave you feeling healthier.
As a Registered Massage Therapist (RMT), my focus is on therapeutic massage with noticeable results. I offer a variety of techniques including Swedish Massage, Acupuncture, Thai Massage, Sports Massage, Muscle Energy Technique, Rolfing, Myofascial Release Technique, Cranio Sacral and Visceral Techniques.
Massage therapy or acupuncture sessions take place in a comfortable, safe environment where your health and well being is always put first. I am available for house calls to any location in central Warsaw that is near the subway . Click here to book an appointment.
In the meantime, be sure to browse the Warsaw Massage Therapy Resource Centre located in the margin. There are lots of exercise videos, and healthy tips for you. Some of my newest articles and updates are listed in my massage blog below.
Ken Shim, HBBA, RMT, CAMA