STRESS KILLER

Frequent massage & bodywork will alleviate stress and improve your quality of life. More than 90% of disease is stress related and nothing ages us faster-insde and out that the effects of stress. As stress related diseases continue to claim more lives every year, the increasingly deadly role stress plays in modern day life is painfully clear.

Hot or Cold for Injuries?     How to Know Which is Best for You We all know that treating an injury immediately after it happens can help minimize the pain and damage as well as facilitate recovery. But after rolling your ankle in a soccer game, or hurting your back when lifting your toddler, or tweaking your knee when stepping out of your car, what's best? Should you ice it to try to control inflammation, or would heat be better to promote circulation? While it's difficult to establish a fail-safe rule for when to apply ice or heat, the general directive is to use ice for the first forty-eight to seventy-two hours after an acute injury and then switch to heat. It DependsThe reality is that many conditions are not necessarily the result of a specific injury. I call these conditions "recurrent acute" and find them by far the most common: sciatica that occurs when you drive a car, a back that flare up every time you garden, or tennis elbow from intense computer work. In these cases, consistent and frequent applications of ice may prove very helpful over long periods of time, particularly immediately after experiencing the event that causes problems. Conversely, back or other muscle spasms caused by overexertion rather than injury may benefit greatly from heat immediately upon the onset of symptoms or immediately after exercise in order to relax the muscles and increase circulation. Also, muscle belly pain not resulting from acute and serious trauma generally responds well to heat, which can break the spasms and release the strain. On the other hand, nerve and tendon pain--regardless of the duration of symptoms, even if you've been experience them for months--benefit from ice. What Works for YouThe bottom line: different individuals will constitutionally vary greatly in their reactions. Some people are more prone to the types of inflammation exacerbated by heat, while others find their bodies contracting and tightening at the mere mention of ice. Try each option and pay close attention to how your body and mind respond, and let your gut be your guide. Ultimately, what works best for you is, well, what's best for you. Making the Most of Your Massage: How to Prolong the Benefits of Bodywork:   A massage works in wonderful ways, easing stress and pain, calming the nervous system, increasing circulation, loosening tight muscles, stimulating internal organs, and enhancing skin. The multiplicity of physiological responses sends a simple, clear message to the mind: Massage feels good. Of course, you want to hold on to that just-had-a-massage feeling -- total body relaxation, muscles relaxed and at ease, and fluid movement restored -- for as long as possible. But how long that bliss lasts depends on the state of your body. If you're suffering from chronic pain or recovering from injury, then it may take more sessions and perhaps different modalities before optimal health is restored. If massage is part of your regular health regimen, then it's more likely the effects will endure. In other words, the effects of massage are cumulative, like any healthy habit. The more often you get a massage, the greater and longer-lasting the benefits. Massage frequency: How often you receive massage depends on why you're seeking massage. In dealing with the general tension of everyday commutes, computer work, and time demands, a monthly massage should be minimum. On the other hand, if you're seeking massage for chronic pain, you may need regular treatments every week or two. Or if you're addressing an acute injury or dealing with high levels of stress, you may need more frequent sessions. Your situation will dictate the optimum time between treatments, and your practitioner will work with you to determine the best course of action. "You need to consider how you felt before the session and how you felt after, and then look at how long you maintain that," says Pieter Sommen, the chair of the eastern department in the Swedish Institute School of Massage Therapy in New York. In general, experts say "regular" is preferable, but how regular depends on your situation. While daily massage would be delightful, practical considerations such as cost, time, and physical need likely determine the frequency of treatments. "It's best to maintain a schedule," says Eeris Kallil, CMT, a shiatsu instructor at the Boulder College of Massage Therapy in Colorado. "That way the body becomes conditioned and prepared for session at specific intervals." Stretching: Another helpful habit is stretching between massages to maintain joint mobility, prevent muscles from tightening up again, and keeping the life energy flowing. This may mean doing yoga or whatever specific or full-body stretches suggested by your practitioner. Ancient Injuries Don't Have to Make You Feel Old: Injuries such as chronic back pain, trick knees, and sticky shoulders are not necessarily something you just have to live with. Massage techniques might hold the key to unlocking this old pain. Will Massage Help?  The benefits of massage will depend on the extent of the injury, how long ago it occurred, and on the skill of the therapist. Chronic and old injuries often require deeper and more precise treatments with less emphasis on general relaxation and working on the whole body. Massage works best for soft tissue injuries to muscles and tendons and is most effective in releasing adhesions and lengthening muscles that have shortened due to compensatory reactions to the injury. Tight and fibrous muscles not only hurt at the muscle or its tendon, but can also interfere with proper joint movement and cause pain far away from the original injury. Therapists who perform such work often have specialized names for their work--such as orthopedic massage, neuromuscular therapy, myofascial release, medical massage, etc.,--but many massage therapists utilize an eclectic approach combining the best of the specialties. It Works!   A recent consumer reports reported that massage was equal to chiropractic care in many areas, including back and neck pain. Massage also ranked significantly higher than some other forms of treatment, such as physical therapy or drugs. If that nagging injury persists. Be sure to discuss the injury with your practitioner: How did you receive the injury? Have you reinjured it? And what exactly are your symptoms? Often, the body compensates in one area to protect another that has been traumatized, and this can create new problems. Discuss the issues with your massage therapist. (Sometimes just talking about old injuries can play a significant role in the healing process.) Together, the two of you can work to determine a treatment plan.
Suffer from headaches? What type do you experience? Here are some types and some of their symptoms. 1.) Migraine = Usally throbbing, pulsating pain that unilateral (affecting one side) at least initially. It can last several hours up to two or three days. you will experience nausea, vomiting, unable to do anything productive. Unable to tolerate noise, light and body movement. Many times after a true migraine you will feel exhausted. 2.) Cluster = These are very short in duration but very high intensity. Many people describe the severe pain like an ice pick or drill behind the eyes or temple. unlike migraines, movement can actually decrease the pain 3.) Cervicogenic = Cervical headaches are caused by dysfunction/inflammation in the facet joints of the neck that will refer to the cranial area. Cervical headaches are most common unilateral with pain raising from the neck upward with the greatest part of resrtiction at C2/C3 area. The pain is more of a dull aching type, not the sharp pain as a migraine or cluster type headache. The cervical type can cause pain anywhere in the head, occipital, parietal, temporal, frontal and orbital. Some but not all people that experience this are those who may have history with some sort of neck trauma. 4.) Muscle Contraction or TTH (Tension Type Headaches) = This is the most common type of headache that causes mild to moderate pain. This can be caused by muscle tension in the neck, shoulders, traps and around the scapulas (shoulder blades). Physical activity does not usally make this worse or better with no vomiting. Massage and some proper neck stretches will eliminate this type of headache. 5.) ARH (Analgesic Rebound Headaches) = These are caused by an overdose of medication, being over the counter and/or perscrption or may be caused form withdraw. You will experience discomfort as the Muscle Contraction type headaches.   6.) Sinus Headaches = These are associated with a deep and constant pain in the cheekbones, forehead or bridge of the nose. The pain usally intensifies with sudden head movement or straining.