Massage Warsaw- Massage Therapy – Warsaw Acupuncture

Category: Pain Management & Self Care

  • It’s Cleansing Time Again

     

    As I said in my last post, I was in Montreal on the weekend.  It was a great time, but all the rich food, alcohol and unhealthy living took its toll on me.  By the time I got back to Toronto, I felt a bit of a physical mess; my digestive system not quite feeling right.  A great reminder to lay off the red meat binges, the ice cream cravings, and of course social lubricants (alcohol, thou art a cruel mistress).  I was feeling in such a state that I had decided that it was finally time to go on a cleanse again.  (I am no expert on cleanses, and if any of you are, feel free to send me an email if you would like to write a guest post on the subject).  But I thought it would be interesting to let you know how my cleanse is going for me strictly for interest sake.  Again, I am no expert on dietary measures and my situation is in no means the same as yours.  If you are considering a cleanse, please consult an MD or naturopathic doctor first.

    The cleanse I am doing is called Cleanse Smart and is produced by Renew Life.  It consists of 2 bottles of pills.  Bottle #1 is for an organ detox and bottle #2 is a colon cleanse.  The simplest part of the cleanse is taking the pills.  I take 2 organ detox pills in the morning and 2 colon cleanse pills at night.  Both times you must have an empty stomach.  And this is as easy as the cleanse will get.  The tricky part is the diet.  To really do a cleanse, you have to take all the junk out of your diet.  So, for the next while I will be eating like a monk.  Though I get the feeling that there are sects of monks that eat better than I will be.  After all, wasn’t champagne invented by French monks?  Now, if I was going to dedicate myself to religion, I’d definitely want to hook up with the partying monk variety.  But no, I will not be living off of a monkish champagne diet.  Instead, I won’t be taking any meat (red meat, white meat, pink meat, fish meat (Dr. Seuss… anyone, anyone?), steak, hamburgers, pork chops, sushi are all taboo for the next few days), any wheat products (no bread, pasta, couscous… not even a lousy cracker), any alcohol (beer, beer, beer or beer), any instant food (pizza pockets), any dairy (pizza pockets) or anything I might enjoy but might be vaguely suspicious of its questionable nutritional value (pizza pockets).

    My first hurdle was timing.  I arrived back from Montreal and promptly took the first set of pills muttering “never again” to myself as I washed them down with a glass of water (quite the ventriloquist act if you’ve ever seen me do this) and went to bed.  I woke up the next morning and washed down the second set of pills and looked around for some brekkie.  Well, my cupboards were practically bare, but also, there was nothing I had that I could consume as part of my cleanse diet.  Those cans of tuna? No.  The carton of eggs? No.  The breakfast sausages?  No.  Some toast?  No.  So, while I had food, I had nothing I was allowed to eat.  If there was nothing I could eat, then I would eat nothing.  No problem. I’ll just have to last a while until I’m done work so that I can go out and buy some veggies.  I was actually doing ok until a client arrived with a thank you present of Norwegian caviar and cookies from Starbucks.  Hmmmmmmmmm.  It would be rude to refuse…. I had just started the cleanse and I’m sure I had bits of the weekend still floating around in me, meaning that I was hardly clean yet and these dirty little cookies wouldn’t reaaaaallly be hurting me.  And so yes, only 12 hours into the cleanse and I was devouring cookies then crackers and caviar like I had just seen food for the first time.  I should add in my defense that the caviar was out of this world.

    Today, the second day of the cleanse, I ran down to China Town East and picked up a cornucopia of  Chinese greens, tofu, and fruit.  So I am now set to weather the storm.  I figure I can nibble on this mixed with some brown rice and be satisfied for a good while.  I was feeling proud of myself after going into work with a  stomach full of nutritious goodies until I had my second client who was so happy with how much better she was feeling since she started treatment that she brought me in a little care package of Cadbury’s chocolates as well as a goody bag of Quality Street chocolates.  Now, normally I can withstand any assault of Cadbury’s or Quality Street, but today I was defenseless, because not only were they chocolate (my favourite food group of them all), but they were from England.  Bloody ‘ell!  I should explain that Cadbury’s and Quality Street are chocolatiers as old as jolly old England itself and the chocolate they make there is superior and in a completely different hemisphere as the “chocolates” made in Canada under license from Cadbury’s and Quality Street.  (It should also be noted that one of the first real stumbling blocks that the European Union had in hammering out its framework was in the legislature over chocolate.  England was at risk of not being able to call its chocolate “chocolate” as it had a higher cocoa butter content that the rest of Europe.  There was a passionate, heated battle in European parliament, that somehow ended with me having pure chocolate gold in my hands on this day).  If you ever have the chance to try the real thing, go for it, you won’t regret it.  (well, except that you might now never really enjoy another chocolate again).

    Long story short (it’s a relative thing…. believe me, when I start on chocolate, it takes a lot to stop me), I greatly enjoyed a taste of England tonight.  I hope my cleanse forgives me.  I will try to be a better, truer cleanser tomorrow.  Amen. (Oh and if the 2 clients that led me into temptation are reading this….. Thank you.  The caviar, cookies and chocolate were absolutely delicious and well worth every morsel of guilt)

  • How to Travel Without Low Back Pain

    The weekend road trip to Montreal seemed like such a great idea until 500km later when I stepped out of the car and found my entire low back in spasm. I almost couldn’t straighten up and was starting to walk with a limp.  Oh how I was almost tempted to go into some downward dog yoga poses right there in the parking lot in order to relieve the pain.  Luckily I didn’t have to resort to that.  Just walking it off a bit and moving around loosened it up.  But it did remind me of a common complaint from my clients and also a condition I lived with for a few years.  Most importantly, it inspired me to write a blog post to help out all those summer travelers.

    One big reason why people start to suffer from low back pain on long car rides is inactivity.  Our bodies are not meant to be immobile for hours on end.  Our muscles need to move about, contract and stretch in order to remain functional.  Inactivity decreases blood circulation, waste removal and nerve conduction to the muscles resulting in muscles that are irritated and sore.

    If immobility is the cause of pain, then surely some motion must be the cure.  From suffering years of low back pain, I developed these exercises that always did the trick for me on car or plane rides.  Try some of these on your next journey and you will see the improvement.

    Tips for Preventing Back Pain

    • Stop frequently.  You can take a breath of fresh air, enjoy the scenery, grab a snack, etc, etc.  But most importantly, you are stretching out those muscles and moving them in a natural fashion and boosting blood circulation.
    • Keep hydrated.
    • If you’re stuck in a car seat, wiggle a little.  Crank up the tunes and start jiggling!  It’s good for your health!  You might not be inspired enough to break out into a full blown fist pumping dance session, but some slow gentle motion can greatly help you stay loose. Here’s how:

    Mobilize Your Lower Back

    1. Start by raising your left hip then lower it.  Then raise your right hip then lower it.
    2. Then try twisting your left hip forward then back, followed by the right.
    3. Arch your lower back so that your bum sticks out a bit more.  Next round your lower back.

    Exercise Your Gluteal Muscles

    1. Now you can start working your gluteal muscles.  First of all, you want to squeeze both glutes together.  If you do this right you might feel yourself lift off the seat a bit.
    2. Next try squeezing just the left gluteal muscles.  It might help to push your left foot into the floor at the same time almost as if you are trying to raise that left hip off the seat.  Now try the right and alternate back and forth.
    3. If you are feeling especially adventurous, turn the volume up to 11 and just dance without any shame.

    Safety First

    1. A few things to remember for safety sake:  To avoid accidents it is not recommended to do these exercises if you are driving.  To avoid being locked up, try these moves by yourself first so that you feel comfortable enough doing them in a way that doesn’t attract too much attention in public (the key is slow, small movements).

    It might seem a bit strange at first, but with some practise it will become second nature on those long trips.  And by the way, I did these exercises on the ride back from Montreal and was amazed at how I felt no traces of back pain when I stepped out of the car in Toronto.

    If you find the pain too intense or long lasting, you might need a massage or acupuncture treatment.

  • Improve Your Shoulder Posture by Changing Your Workout

    One of the most important and long lasting ways to get rid of neck and shoulder pain is to change your posture.  I am sure that you have all heard it from your massage therapist, but, how can you change your posture after it’s been that way for decades?  The body has already been trained and it’s game over, right?

    Wrong!  Using the right fascial massage techniques, stretches and strength training can re-educate your body to develop and accept a new posture.  With postural re-education you will find more permanent results than simply trying to pull your shoulders back.

    Pace Yourself

    Firstly, understand that the change has to be gradual.  It can be next to impossible to change postural habits overnight.  Clients often feel like they have to change their posture instantly and that they are “failing” every time that they catch themselves falling into their old slouches.  I ask them to instead try to have good posture for a total of an hour a day for the first week and then gradually increase it.  This way they can understand that it is a gradual process and that they have a really good chance of succeeding.  Most will be able to do more than an hour a day and feel great about it.

    Strength Training for Posture

    The other approach is to start strengthening your muscles. Posture is only partly habit.  The rest of your posture depends on muscle balance.  The chest muscles (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor) pull the shoulder blades forward, while the back muscles (rhomboids, trapezius and latissimus dorsi) pull the shoulder blades back and toward the spine.  Most people are stronger in the chest than they are in the back, which is why they slouch forward.  Re-balancing your postural muscles involves stretching out the pectoral muscles and strengthening the back muscles.

    Start training your back muscles.

    By strengthening the upper back muscles, specifically the muscles that bring your shoulder blades together, you will find that your body with its balanced muscles will naturally and automatically go into the correct posture.  You won’t have to think about posture or make any real effort again.  The key exercises for strengthening these back muscles are lat pulldowns and rowing motions.

    Focus on Endurance

    The problem with pulling your shoulders back is that these muscles get tired as they lack endurance.  An 8 hour work day is a long time for these muscles to be working against the powerful chest muscles.  When strengthening your postural back muscles, build endurance by lowering the weight and working up to sets of 16 or more reps.

    Take it Easy on Your Chest

    Most people that work out love spending time on their pecs.  Guys love the strong, masculine look that big pecs give, while women like how it firms and lifts the breasts.  Remember though, that strong, short, tight pec muscles are a big reason for our bad posture.  These muscles shorten with repeated slouching and hunching over our computers.  Strengthening these muscles further shorten them and worsen our posture.  You can still work on your chest in a workout, but you will need to change your approach:

    1. Lower the weight you are using.
    2. If you can, leave the bench press alone and work the pec fly machine.  The pec fly works the pecs through its full range of motion including the stretched out end range.
    3. Stretch your pecs before and after every set.  Pec stretches will lengthen the pec muscles and keep them from going into spasm.

    A Second Look at the Elliptical

    Most people use the elliptical by powering through with their legs while their arms limply hold onto the handles and swing. This is good for cardio training and working the legs, but if you want to improve your posture and get rid of your neck pain, try using the elliptical in the following way.

    1. The key is to focus on what you are doing with your upper body.  Try to shift all the work from the legs to the upper body.  It may be difficult at first and you may need to alternate between focusing on the upper body and focusing on the lower body.
    2. There are 2 phases: pulling the handle back and pushing the handle forward.  To work your postural muscles, put all your effort into the pulling back phase while using the pushing forward phase to rest.
    3. When working the upper body, don’t let your arms do all the work.  Focus on your shoulder blade.  It should be either moving outward or pulling inward toward the centre of your back.  The more your shoulder blades are moving, the more you are working your postural muscles.
    4. When you pull back on the handle, try to pull your shoulder blade toward your spine.  This works the rhomboid, lats, and middle and lower traps: the postural muscles that pull your shoulders back.
    5. During the rest phase when the handle is going forward, don’t put too much effort on the arm, but try to distract your shoulder blade and slide it out and forward for a nice stretch.
    6. This exercise works great because there is a lot of repetition which builds  endurance in your postural muscles.  When those back muscles become as strong as or stronger than the front muscles your shoulders will automatically start pulling your shoulders back on their own.

    Good posture, naturally.

  • Massage Research – Low Back Pain

    A study published June 2000 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal:

    “Effectiveness of massage therapy for subacute low-back pain: a randomized controlled trial”

    The study followed about 100 people suffering from sub acute lower back pain.  They were divided into 4 groups: those receiving a placebo, those receiving only exercises and posture education, those receiving only Swedish massage, and those receiving “comprehensive massage therapy” (Swedish massage, posture education and exercises)

    The comprehensive massage therapy group had 50% improved function  , 70% less intense pain and a 50% decrease in the quality of pain compared with the other 3 groups.

    At the 1 month follow-up 63% of subjects in the comprehensive massage therapy group reported no pain as compared with 27% of the soft-tissue manipulation group, 14% of the remedial exercise group and 0% of the sham laser therapy group.

    The results not only show that massage therapy is an effective means of pain management, but also that a more comprehensive approach to massage therapy yields the best results.

    Ken Shim, RMT

  • Learning to Sit: Posture & Ergonomics for Work & School

    Office Ergonomics
    Don’t just sit there…. Get to work!”  used to be a familiar sound from the boss.  These days, however, most of us do all of our work sitting down on the job.

    As you can imagine, spending 8 hours a day in one position is not the best for our bodies.  Improper sitting can subject your body to unnecessary stress that may eventually lead to pain and discomfort in the neck, shoulder or low back.  Here are some tips to reduce discomfort:

    • Don’t remain in one position for long periods. Try standing up or walking around about every 20 minutes.This routine can be incorporated into your work routine by taking phones calls, filing or reading while standing up rather than sitting. Try delivering a message to a co-worker in person rather than e-mailing or using inter-office mail.
    • Try using the hands-free option on your telephone or a headset rather than holding the phone to your ear with your shoulder as this practice over time can lead to neck and shoulder strain.
    • Listen to your body. When you feel tension or stress in certain area of your body like the neck, back and shoulders, change positions or try some gentle stretching exercises

    Position your chair at a height where:

    1. The work surface is “elbow high.”
    2. Your feet are comfortably positioned flat on the floor
    3. When working, your elbows & knees are bent at 90 degree angles

    If your chair is not adjustable, use a foot rest such as a phone book to attain this more ideal position

    Position the height of your computer screen:

    1. Sit comfortably in your newly adjusted chair
    2. Close your eyes and relax, then, slowly reopen them.
    3. Where you first gaze as you open your eyes is the place to put the center of your screen

    You can raise the height with books or a stand if needed.

  • 10 Simple Ways to Manage Back Pain

    massage for back pain

    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

    1. Exercise regularly
    2. Follow a healthy diet
    3. Maintain good posture
    4. Stretch your spine before and after sports
    5. Don’t overload your backpack or shoulder bag
    6. Stretch your legs and back after each hour of sitting
    7. Never cradle the phone between your neck and shoulder
    8. Sleep on your back or side, not on your stomach
    9. Invest in a good chair, pillow and mattress.  It’s worth it!
    10. Have regular chiropractic or massage treatments