Massage Warsaw- Massage Therapy – Warsaw Acupuncture

Tag: Acupuncture

  • 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.

  • What is fascia?

    What is fascia?  If you’ve ever cooked chicken, you’ve probably noticed it. The thin, transparent, filmy material that covers the chicken meat.  Our muscles are covered in fascia.  Fascia covers every muscle and keeps the muscle together.  Fascia covers and protects every single muscle bundle or fascicle that makes up the muscle.  Fascia also covers every single muscle fibre or muscle cell that makes up the bundle,  It is like the framework or scaffolding that the muscle operates within.  Fascia holds and supports the muscle together giving it shape, form and function.  It also helps the muscles slide over each other with less friction.  The body is made up of over 600 muscles that layer over each other and criss cross each other.  Each muscle needs to slide over, under or beside its surrounding muscles without interference in order to function properly.

    Fascia has a few interesting properties too.

    • It is pound for pound stronger than steel.  In other words, unless you know how to treat it correctly it can and will be very difficult to get it to release.
    • Fascia is also the material that makes up tendons and ligaments.
    • It is not contractile.  That is, it doesn’t contract or relax the way a muscle does.
    • It can shrink or expand but we have little control over that.  It also seems to be emotional.  In times of emotional stress, fascia contracts and tightens around the muscle it is trying to protect.
    • When a muscle is hurt, as in a car accident or athletic injury, the muscle and fascia often tears.  This tear eventually heals the same way that a skin cut can heal.  However, the same way that the skin can be left with a thick, inflexible, sensitive scar, the muscle and fascia can also scar.

    The last point is why fascial work can be so important to healing sports injuries and traumatic injuries.  An inflexible scar in a muscle can do a few things:

    • It can remain short, tight and inflexible causing pain whenever the muscle tries to stretch to its full strength.  You might even notice a sharp almost tearing feeling when you try to stretch.
    • The scar can become adhesed or glued to the fascia of surrounding muscles.  This acts as a monkey wrench in the system.  None of the muscles that are adhesed can function pain free in their normal ranges with this.  For example, if a scar forms between your quads and your adductor/groin muscles you might notice that you don’t have the same strength or flexibility with either quad exercises or adductor exercises.  The reason is that those muscles are essentially glued together and pulling on each other each time you use them.

    So now we know that fascia is everywhere; it’s stronger than steel; it can scar; it can become glued to other muscles.  And for many people, it is the key to solving chronic pain from old injuries. I’ll have posts in the future about how I can treat fascial restricitons with active fascial release, rolfing, myofascial release technique and acupuncture.

  • 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.

  • "My Shoulders Hurt When I Jog"

    jogging and shoulder pain

    We expect pain and discomfort in just about every muscle from the waist down when it comes to jogging, but why would we get a pain in the shoulder?

    First of all many of us have some sort of postural imbalance where the shoulders aren’t lined up well.  Also, there is muscle tension and stress that we keep in our neck and shoulders.  This means that there might be decreased flexibility, mobility, health and strength leading to early muscle fatigue, pain and cramping.  Treating the stress in the neck and shoulders with massage or acupuncture can free them up so that they perform better when jogging.

    Another approach is to look at how we jog.  Many jog in a way that increases shoulder tension.  A quick check is to look at your hands.  Are they loose or clenched in a fist?  They should be loose.  If they are clenched in a fist, then we are likely activating and clenching every muscle from our fingertips, arms and shoulders up to our neck when jogging.  This constant tension leads to early muscle fatigue and pain.  A simple remedy is to keep our hands, arms and shoulders loose as we jog.  It can be hard to be constantly thinking of our arms while jogging, so try this simple technique: touch your thumb to your middle finger lightly and keep it there the whole time that you are jogging.  In this position it is really difficult to have any real tension in our arms and shoulders.  The shoulders will stay loose and the pain will go away.

    Stay loose.

    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.

  • Does it hurt to breathe?

    rib pain

    Have you ever experienced a sharp pain in your ribs, abs or back from breathing?  There is a possibility that you might have had a “rib out” or a dislocation of your costo-vertebral joint (the joint where the rib joins the vertebrae).

    Surprisingly this is more common than you might imagine.  The joint that holds the ribs to the vertebrae is quite weak and shallow giving a range of movement to the ribs.  Unfortunately this means that it is easier for the joint to get out of place.  Typically ribs pop out with something as simple as a sneeze or reaching for something on the top shelf.  The pain comes on quickly and intensely and can feel aggravated with movement or breathing.  When it is new and acute the pain may be felt just about everywhere in the upper body and be triggered by a variety of movents.  After a few days the pain may become more localized to one area (typically along one of the ribs) and to a few different types of movements.  Oftentimes ribs will pop back in on their own, but the best plan of action is to have it treated soon so that things don’t worsen.

    I have found success in treating this condition with a combination of acupuncture, massage, mobilizations and stretching techniques.  In a successful treatment the rib literally ‘pops’ back into the joint.