Massage Warsaw- Massage Therapy – Warsaw Acupuncture

Year: 2009

  • A Natural Cure for the Common Cold

    This year, the weather turned chilly in very dramatic fashion and one by one my clients canceled their appointments due to cold or flu.  I am pretty amazed and thankful that in my 3+ year career as an RMT I have only taken one sick day (which I suspect was due to the side effects of a detox cleanse as opposed to a genuine flu).  A couple sick days can really bring a clinical practice to its knees.  I like to think I owe my strong immune system to Angela Wang, my Traditional Chinese Medicine teacher in Sarnia.  She once explained to me the immune boosting properties of ginger and gave me a simple recipe for ginger tea.  At the time, I was prone to getting ill very easily.  Now, as soon as the weather turns colder I start my immune boosting regimen of ginger tea and forget about my hypochondriac worries.   I usually take the tea once or twice a day so it’s a good thing that it is absolutely delicious.  Normally when I feel a scratch or a tingle in my throat it is almost guaranteed that I will catch something within a day.  But now, whenever I feel that little itch, I make some extra strong ginger tea and the illness never seems to manifest.   Anyway, it seems to work well for me and I hope that it will help you get through this cold & flu season too.

    The Recipe

    It is really simple to make.  There is no hard & set recipe.  Just follow your taste buds.

    • All you need is fresh ginger root, honey and water
    • I usually peel and slice the ginger and boil it in the water until the water starts turning yellow
    • If you want stronger tea let it boil longer until the water is a darker yellow or brown colour
    • Using more ginger or less water also makes it stronger
    • When the tea is ready, pour it into a cup and add some unpasteurized honey
    • If you want, you can also try adding some fresh lemon juice

    That’s it!  So simple it didn’t feel right writing it down or calling it a recipe.

    If you try it, let me know.

  • Heaven in a Cup

    I should almost rename the site to “Massage, Acupuncture & Ken’s stomach”. Here is another blog post about the wonderful things my clients are feeding me. Not quite about healthy living, but let’s call it Customer Appreciation.

    I’d like to give a shout out to a certain client’s culinary skills. She has brought me little treats in the past, but this weekend she simply outdid herself.  This weekend, she cooked me up a cup of lobster thermidore, which was absolutely superb. I really don’t know how I was ever so lucky as to deserve such great clients. But thank you very much.

  • Video: Stretch for Tennis Elbow

    Here is a good little stretch for tennis elbow sufferers.

    Indications:

    1. Massage therapists might also find this little exercise helpful after a long day of work or in between clients.
    2. If you have an office job, doing this stretch a few times a day can help ease the discomfort in your wrists or elbows caused by computer work.
    3. Also good for musicians, crafts people or anyone that does a lot of repetitive hand work.

    The video is called “Tennis Elbow Flexor Stretch”.  Please ignore the title, it is actually an extensor stretch for tennis elbow.  Tennis elbow involves inflammation  and the development of fascial scar adhesions on the wrist extensor muscles of the forearm. Stretching the wrist extensor muscles can temporarily lengthen the muscle fibres, easing pressure on the muscle insertions and giving some pain relief. The other information on the video is accurate.

    Try to do the stretches 2-3X per day. For each set, try to do 3 repetitions of 20 seconds each.  Tennis elbow can be treated with a regimen of regular massage and/or acupuncture treatments.

    Always check with a health care professional before you try any of the exercises shown on this site. If you are feeling pain or discomfort with the exercise, decrease the intensity or range of the stretch so that you stay within the pain free range. If the discomfort does not go away, stop.

  • Video: Shoulder Exercises for Improving Posture & Decreasing Chronic Pain

    Here is a video for some exercises for improving shoulder posture. It is definitely worth a try for people who haven’t had much luck with the traditional stretching exercises. Traditionally, to correct posture, we focus on increasing the length of shortened muscles or increasing the strength of weak muscles in an attempt to bring the body’s posture back to equilibrium. The technique proposed in this video focuses on awareness and activating. These gentle, almost effortless movements bring the participant’s attention to muscles that are often ignored. In this example, the participant activates her serratus anterior muscle, which is a small postural muscle whose weakness is often overcompensated for by larger muscle groups like the trapezius muscles. Teaching the participant to use her serratus anterior muscle results in a more evenly divided workload for the postural muscles, which in turn lead to better posture and reduced chronic pain. With the shoulder blade sitting better on the torso, the many neck muscles that originate from the torso or shoulder blade experience reduced stress.

    I tried the exercises myself on the weekend after a long bout of cycling (ie. sore neck and shoulders) and found instant relief.

    Enjoy the video.

  • Video: Exercise for Lower Back Pain: The Cat & Dog Stretch

    Here is a video on a great little exercise to help ease lower back pain. It is called the “Cat & Dog Stretch” and it is very useful in helping to mobilize the back vertebrae and take pressure off the spinal joints, discs & nerves. Remember that much pain in the body comes from inactivity, poor circulation and tight muscles. This simple exercise is also an excellent first step in relieving pain from a herniated disc.

    To do the exercise, go slowly. You should not feel any pain with the exercise. If you do feel discomfort, decrease the range of movement. If the pain is aggravated with the exercise, discontinue. Try to do 10 repititions 3 times a day (morning, mid day and night) for the best benefit.

    (ps. I apologize for the excessive use of spandex in the video. Nevertheless, it is a good, simple explanation of the exercise)

    (pss. No, that is not me in the video. It’s some other bald guy on Youtube)

  • "Sham Wow!!!" or The Problem with Acupuncture Research

    You have probably heard from all the acupuncture skeptics that research proves that acupuncture doesn’t work because many studies have shown that acupuncture is no more effective than a placebo.

    This is a valid point because a control group is needed in any study to compare participants that received no treatment at all, a fake treatment, or other types of treament.  A placebo is usually a fake version of the treatment, but as you can imagine, it is very difficult to give somebody a fake version of acupncture.  In studying a new drug medication it’s easy to give a sugar pill placebo and trick the participant into believing that they are taking real medication. The people giving or taking the pills have no real way of knowing which side of the study they are on, thus producing a double blinded randomized controlled trial or “the gold standard” of research. Also, it is easy to produce a pill that will have absolutely no effect on the patient. With acupuncture it is a bit trickier to produce placebos which can trick both the participant and the clinician.  Even more difficult is to produce a placebo version of acupuncture that has no effect on the patient.  Here are some of the placebos that scientists have come up with:

    Fake Acupuncture Points

    The first studies typically used standard acupuncture needles but inserted them into points that were not “real” acupuncture points. The problem is that it is hard to find a point on the body that is not somehow an acupuncture point.  There are about 400 classical acupuncture points. In addition, there are also ah-shi points which are acupuncture points that are not standard. Then there are the extra points which have officially been added. Acupuncture is over 3000 years old, but new points are still being discovered and new approaches or techniques are still being developed today. Also, consider that even though acupuncture is most effective if a prescribed acupuncture point is used, being “a bit off” of the exact point location is still effective and yields positive results. The drawback with using real acupuncture needles on “non-acupuncture” points is that the points could possibly be real acupuncture points after all.  Another drawback to using fake points is that it still involves inserting acupuncture needles into the body. This simple act still sets off a chain of hormonal and chemical reactions which could have a profound effect on the body.

    The Fake Acupuncture Needle

    There is a contraption sometimes used as a sham acupuncture that looks like a tube holding an acupuncture needle that is designed to mimic the look and feel of an acupuncture needle, but which doesn’t actually puncture the skin. The problem here is that the disguise isn’t perfect and the patient and clinician can at times tell the difference. Also, even though the needle is not puncturing the skin, there is still a sensation and a contact that could have an effect. Remember that Traditional Chinese Medicine also has a component called Tui Na Massage which involved massaging the same points and energy meridians as real acupuncture. In other words, Chinese medicine even works without the needles.

    Fake Laser Acupuncture

    Laser acupuncture can sometimes be used as the sham. This involves using a laser acupuncture light at an ineffective low intensity. This is a very good sham as it still tricks the patient into believing that they are being treated, thus isolating that component from the results. Most importantly it is able to appear as a real treatment without inadvertently treating.

    The problem with acupuncture research is not in proving that acupuncture works.  Most studies show that acupuncture in real or sham form produces better results than no acupuncture.  The problem with acupuncture research is actually proving that acupuncture DOESN’T work. Inserting acupuncture needles into non-acupuncture points or stimulating energy meridians with fake needles often yields positive results as they are still a form of acupuncture.

    The next time you read an article of how acupuncture is no better than the placebo, try to find out what type of placebo was used.  The placebo might have been acupuncture too.