Massage in Autumn

Warm up, release stress, come into balance

As the leaves change color and fall to the ground, this is a good time of year to reflect on what parts of your body and mind are transitioning from the outward ways of summer. Autumn is a time of harvest, a time of gathering up in preparation for winter. It is the beginning of turning inward for reflection.

Seasonal stress
Although seasonal transitions are natural and normal in nature and in our bodies, these changes have their own demands. Modern ways of living also place their stresses on us in the fall. We strive to keep up our yards as the winds blow down the leaves and branches. Kids and adults alike are back to school. We often make up for summer vacation by putting in more hours at work.

These demands can catch up with you, at the same time we become exposed to illnesses that require a vigorous immune system. All of this makes fall a very good time to renew your commitment to self-care. Along with eating well and exercising, remember to schedule your massage.

Ask for what you need
When you come in for your appointment, check in with yourself. Are you a little chilly? Ask for an extra blanket or for the table warmer to be turned up to a toasty temperature. Schedule extra services such as hot stones or warm foot soaks in your sessions. Do essential oils sound appealing? Lemon can boost the immune system, eucalyptus soothes a scratchy throat and rosemary relieves achy muscles.

This fall, enlist the healing qualities of massage as an ally to help you let go of physical and mental strain, and come back into balance in this breezy, changeable season.

Foods for Fall

Protect yourself with pumpkin pie

Orange-colored vegetables such as sweet potatoes, winter squash, pumpkins, carrots, and red and orange peppers echo the colors of changing leaves. They contain an important chemical called beta-carotene. Our intestines turn beta-carotene into vitamin A, which along with vitamins E and C, is a powerful antioxidant.

A nutritional rainbow
Other deeply-colored vegetables like broccoli, beets and spinach add to a nutritional rainbow that acts as a storehouse of these protective chemicals. Antioxidants are important because they apparently counteract molecules that damage body tissues, known as "free radicals." Free radicals are produced naturally by the body, but increase when we are exposed to pollution, certain foods and emotional stress.

Eat for protection
The most richly-colored fruits and vegetables are famous for containing many nutrients that protect against free radicals as well as bacteria, viruses, and toxins. So when choosing fresh foods this fall, look for those that are brightly colored.

Back to School Back Pain

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Ergonomics for children and grown-ups, too

Pediatricians, physical therapists, and massage therapists are seeing more young patients complaining of back and neck pain. The culprit is often overloaded backpacks.

Backpack weight
According to the American Chiropractic Association, backpack weight is contributing to pain earlier than in previous generations. By 4th or 5th grades, children are packing textbooks and instruments as well as cell phones, iPods and even lap tops.

Backpack guidelines
You can help your child strategize about how to prevent or recover from injury and pain from carrying too much weight.

1. Limit backpack weight to 15% of your child's weight. If your child weighs 75 pounds, the maximum backpack weight should be 10 pounds. If 125 pounds, your child should carry 18 pounds or less.

2. Use a backpack with wide straps, and wear it on both shoulders.

3. Only pack what is necessary. Maybe they don't need to carry all their books every day.

4. If they have a locker, they can leave the books they aren't using until needed. If they don't have one, could they get a second copy of textbooks to leave at home?

5. Some children use a pack on wheels.

Adults, too
Grown-ups, you may also be busily moving around -- from home to work to school or gym with a backpack, laptop case or messenger bag slung over your shoulder.

Use the guidelines above to prevent injury and pain as you go about your daily activities this fall.

Are you breathing correctly?

Most people don't breathe correctly. It seems odd, since it's an automatic function that you don't even think about. But therein lies the problem. Most people don't think about how they breathe, and thus they don't breathe correctly at least part of the time.

Breathing with your diaphragm, or belly breathing, maximizes the exchange of oxygen in the lunges. Oxygen is what makes us clear-headed, alert and energized. Most people assume they need to breathe from their chest. This can lead to the tension people feel in their chest, neck, shoulder and upper back, not to mention foggy-headed.

When I tell a client to take a deep, slow breath, I pay attention to how and where they are doing it. If they inhale quickly and sharply with their chest, I encourage them to try again, but by expanding the belly slowly to breathe in, and to contract the belly to push the air back out.

This article goes into further detail about proper breathing. Please check it out and be mindful of your breath!

Self-care on vacation: Five tips to relieve pain and tension on the go

Below is just one of the articles included in my latest bimonthly newsletter. You can sign up for more healthy living ideas at www.stephaniehaddock.com.

From Las Vegas to the national parks, the best vacations should involve more fun than stress. Consider scheduling a massage before you leave in order to have something in place after you get home. While you are out on the road, in the air or on the trail, here are four ways to work out tension.

For your neck and back

Your neck and back may need attention when you are away. Try these stretches at least 3 times a day for the best benefit. You can even do these on a plane or in the car.

1. Release your neck and shoulders. Sit straight. Inhale and squeeze your shoulders up toward your ears. Hold tightly for several seconds and relax as you exhale. Repeat.

2. Relieve back pain. Sit with your back straight. Pull your right knee toward you. Hold for 10 seconds. Release. Switch legs and repeat. Do this sequence 3 times.

Relieve foot pain

Whether you're walking in the woods or in the city, your feet and legs can take a beating. Here are two ways to revive them with water.

1. Bring along favorite essential oils such as lavender, peppermint and/or lemon. If you can buy Epsom or sea salts, add them plus 2 or 3 drops of essential oil to a basin or bathtub of very warm water. Soak for 20 minutes and dry your feet briskly with a towel.

2. If your feet get hot and achy when you are out hiking, biking or running, stop and plunge your feet in a cold stream or lake for as long as you can take. Afterward, let them dry in the sun and give each of them a quick massage.

Epic FAIL: "The View" and Elisabeth Hasselbeck

I saw something today that made my mouth drop and my blood boil. It was a clip from "The View", an unfortunately popular television show that tends to influence its audience.

In it, the hosts and their guests begin to discuss Al Gore's alleged behavior with a Portland, Oregon massage therapist. It quickly turns into a gossip fest about how this one massage led to the break-up of Gore's marriage before quickly turning into a defamation of the massage therapy profession.

Misconceptions like this keep members of the public from trying massage and seeing for themselves just what massage therapy is all about. It also keeps health insurance companies from covering sessions, despite their therapeutic nature that can actually prevent larger insurance payouts.

It also has political ramifications. It leads to things like this:

... the Zoning Committee in Chicago is voting on an ordinance to require that massage establishments only be allowed in areas that are zoned B-3, which means limited to industrial use, heavy commercial use, and taverns.

This amendment was introduced by Alderman Ray Suarez, who feels that by prohibiting massage therapists from operating in retail areas and neighborhoods, that he is somehow fighting prostitution.  His heart may be in the right place, but this misguided notion will not accomplish anything except to penalize legitimate massage therapists. (Laura Allen 4/18/2010)

In short, a legitimate massage therapist isn't going to seem so legitimate if his or her practice is in between a warehouse and a bar.

Recently, there was also this guilty-by-association law in New York state and this proposition in California to have the police, and not a board of professional massage therapists and members of the public, regulate MTs.

If you believe in the healing benefits of massage as a preventative and remedial health and wellness profession, whose professionals take seriously the commitment to help those in pain, please sign this petition and get "The View to make a public apology.

Self-Care for Back Pain: Exercises to Help the Healing Process

Spotted on the Galactic Interweb! I wanted to share as this is an excellent practical application for back pain care that you can do at home.
~Stephanie 

Original Source:

To Your Health May, 2010 (Vol. 04, Issue 05)

By Marc Heller, DC

When it comes to back pain, your first thoughts may be to take over-the-counter pain medication and rest whenever possible. Two bad options. First, medication is only going to temporarily relieve the pain, if at all, and may be accompanied by various unpleasant side effects attributable to drugs. Second, rest may actually hurt more than help. While you're seeing your chiropractor, there are a few things you can do at home to help the healing process. Believe it or not, it's based on the simple principle of movement.

Whenever I see a patient with back pain, I always ask, "What do you do when you are in pain? What exercises help your pain?" I am continually surprised that very few patients know what self-care to do when they have an acute episode of pain. That includes motivated patients and patients I have seen before and carefully shown the right exercises. Maybe it is because when you hurt, you stop thinking clearly; or maybe it is fear that the pain will get worse. Both are valid excuses. Most of them just rest, ice the area, and use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (without realizing that NSAIDs actually block healing). Many of them say, "I hurt too much to exercise."

Why Movement Matters
The problem with this is that when you stop moving, when you are still, everything tightens up, circulation slows down, and pain chemicals accumulate in your muscles and joints. It's like waking up after sleeping in a cold room on a lousy mattress with a draft. If you get moving, you'll typically start to feel better.

So, here's the number-one rule to remember: Don't stop moving when you hurt. I know, you are in pain and afraid to move, and sudden movements may cause your back to "grab" or spasm. I am not telling you to ignore the pain. What I am saying is that you need to find movements that will ease your pain. In many cases, the most important thing to do when you hurt is to keep moving. The body often tightens up and limits your motion. If you find a motion that doesn't hurt you, it will probably help you. When you are hurting, you may not be able to do your usual activities, but you must keep moving. Try walking slowly, especially on flat and even ground. Try walking up a hill (you can walk up a hill without walking down, on a treadmill). Try swimming or simple motions in chest-deep water. Try basic pelvic tilts, staying within a pain-free range.

Here are some basic principles. The movement should be pain free (or at least cause minimal pain while being performed). When you have finished doing the exercise, your pain should be somewhat diminished. You should feel that you can move more freely. Your back should feel straighter and less "kinked."

Backward bending is a great exercise when you're suffering from low back pain. Start on the floor or other stable surface (top picture), then slowly raise your upper body up while keeping your lower body stationary (bottom picture). The final step involves extending your arms up (much like a push-up). Basic Exercises for Low Back Pain
Here are two basic examples of self-care exercises that have stood the test of time. Many of my patients have found variations on these and other types of movements that act as "reset" buttons for their typical pain. You are the one living in your body; you are the most likely one to know what is working for you.
Lower back diagnosis is often very difficult and confusing. For the sake of this article, let's divide low back pain exercises into two categories: exercises that make your back feel better when you bend backward, and exercises that make your back feel better when you bring your leg toward your chest.

Backward Bending (extension of the lumbar spine). An exercise called the McKenzie extension is the first thing you should try if you have sciatica (pain running down your leg). If these exercises work, your pain will diminish and may centralize, which is a good thing. Centralize means your pain goes less far down your leg, and you may feel it closer to the spine. Bending backward may not feel good at first, but you should feel better immediately afterward. If you feel worse afterward or the pain goes farther down your leg, stop, as this is not the exercise for you.

How to Do It: Lie face-down on the floor, arms bent at your sides (sort of like a starting push-up posture). Straighten your arms up slowly, lifting your upper body off the floor as you do so.

Your legs and feet should stay on the ground. Hold for 3-5 seconds, then slowly lower your upper body back down. Repeat 10 times, as often as once per hour.

If your pain or restriction is on one side, a variation on McKenzie extension (lying on a raised surface with one leg on the floor, slightly bent) may be more comfortable (keep the elevated leg straight).


Flexion Exercises (bringing the leg toward the chest). People with lower back pain can also feel better with various types of leg flexion, bringing the bent leg toward the chest, or doing contract-relax and then bringing the bent leg toward the chest. These people usually have sacroiliac joint problems. (The SI joints are located on either side of the spine in the lower back.) These are also called Tigny exercises.

How to Do It: Lie on your back with one leg bent and then other flat on the floor. Bring the bent leg up toward the chest. Wrap your arms around the leg and then try to lower it toward the floor for 3-5 seconds, resisting with your arms. Relax, and then pull the bent leg up farther toward the chest. Repeat the entire process three times.

Flexion exercises are another great way to relieve lower back pain. Lie on your back with one leg bent and the other leg flat on the floor. Raise the bent leg toward the chest, wrap your arms around the bent leg, and then try to lower it toward the floor as you resist with your arms. Repeat with the opposite leg. I have included a series of links at the end of this article; the first two go to videos describing the basics of McKenzie extension. The third one goes to an article I wrote describing the basic McKenzie extension exercise, and a couple of other variations. The fourth link goes to Dr. Craig Liebenson's site, LA Sports and Spine, where you can download his article and pictures on McKenzie self-treatment for sciatica. The fifth and sixth links relate to the Tigny flexion exercises, including a one-minute video demonstration.

So, here is the bottom line: When your lower back starts to hurt, find one or more simple movements or exercise that helps. Do the exercise over and over until you are back to normal. If you are not getting better quickly, call your chiropractor.

With that said, please use common sense. Stop immediately is you hurt more during or after doing any exercise. Exercise is not without risks. These or any other exercises may cause pain or injury. As with any exercise program, if at any point during your routine you begin to feel faint, dizzy, or have physical discomfort, you should stop immediately. To reduce your risk of injury, consult with your doctor before doing these exercises for the first time, particularly if your pain is new and/or you would like further explanation of how to perform the exercises correctly.

Links to Exercise Demonstrations and More Information

• Video of McKenzie lumbar extension.
• Sciatica self-care, by Dr. George Best, six-minute video.
• "Pain-Relief Exercise: The Lower Back."
• See the McKenzie self-treatment for sciatica; the other exercises are also useful.
• "Sacroiliac Joint Correction - A Different Model." A description of the Don Tigny model of the SI, with pictures of his various exercises.
• Video of flexion exercises.

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Marc Heller, DC, maintains a chiropractic practice in Ashland, Ore. He is a nationally recognized expert in treating tailbone, sacroiliac and lower back pain.