Open your mind to Natural Cancer Treatments [article by guest writer]

Today’s world is controlled by technology, medications you can’t pronounce, and the symbol of the “white coat” doctor. It seems that as time goes on people lose their connection with nature more and more. This should not be the case.
Nature’s interactions with the body surpass any doctor’s. Nature has been around since the dawn of time, way before any medical profession. Which makes me wonder why so many people are turned off to the idea of trying a natural therapy rather than undergoing a destructive procedure?
For example, being diagnosed with cancer is a life-altering experience. At that moment, when the doctor comes in and tells you the news, your whole life and future race before your eyes. Your heart starts racing, you start to stress, and a million emotions flood your brain. Then in a few days you start treatment, and it is scary at first. Nurses take your blood, doctors talk about radiation, chemotherapy, and many more unsettling words. And you listen and believe them. Why? Because this man/woman has white coat and you trust anything they say.

But…

Let’s look at this in a different light. You get diagnosed with cancer. All those things previously stated happened, but this time instead of undergoing conventional treatment, you first go to a reiki master, an herbalist, a Nia-dance instructor, or to a masseuse. This sounds more relaxing, more enjoyable, right? This is because natural therapies are there to support and aid the body’s naturally healing process. The human body is a well-oiled machine and has been combating diseases for centuries; it knows what it’s doing.

Some might scoff at these statements but there are many clinical trials and studies that prove that natural therapies, either used alternatively or complimentary, aid the body in fighting cancer. And this isn’t just for one type of cancer. There are alternative treatments ranging from skin cancer to rarer forms, like mesothelioma or an adenoid cystic carcinoma. Not only are naturally therapies less stressful or invasive, but they improve and work with your body’s natural healing process. Unlike chemotherapy and radiation, natural therapies don’t wear you down and are not poisonous. So why not go out and try something new. Enjoy life and cherish what your body has to offer.

The above article is entirely and wholly the opinion of our guest author, please address any specific concerns directly to the author (see contact details below) who kindly offered the above text as a contributory article on this blog…
Allison Brooks
naturallie23@gmail.com

About the guest author…
My name is Allison Brooks and I am a recent graduate of the University of Mississippi. I earned my B.S. in Biomedical Anthropology and have continued my research to work towards a completed ethnography. I mainly focus on the effects of biomedicalization on different cultures and their use of natural therapies, but I do branch off into other fields of anthropology.

Looking for persons to be involved as clinical massage case studies or to receive occasional sessions (Exeter, UK only!)

I have just come back from Brighton after spending a couple of days up there at The Jing Institute of Advanced Massage Training attending the introductory module that marked the commencement of the 2nd part of a BTEC Level 6 professional diploma programme in sports and clinical massage ( http://www.jingmassage.com/Level6BTEC.asp ).  This is a post graduate qualification for already qualified massage therapist (i.e. those who have qualified to at least ITEC Level 3 standard).  The 1st part of the diploma which I completed at the end of last year consisted mainly of practical and hands-on technique modules for common musculoskeletal pain pathologies such as lower back lower, shoulder, neck, headaches (as just a few examples) which spanned a 12 month period, whilst this 2nd part of the programme will span 18 months and look further into orthopaedic assessment tests, injury and rehab exercises.  During the next 18 months I am required to give 200 hours worth of treatments, which equates to about 3 sessions (on 3 different people) every week between now and October 2012 (each treatment would therefore be a 1 hour session for each person each time).  If you are interested, I would love to hear from you, you could come in just for a one off taster, the occasional session as and when your schedule permits or a series of sessions, whatever suits you so long as you give enough notice for me to schedule in advance.  First come, first served!

In addition to the 200 hours of on-going sessions as described above which will only require an initial in-take consultation and then a signature from each recipient for each session received thereafter, I am also required to produce 6 case studies.  Each case study requires me to see the same person over a series of 4 consecutive sessions and so being case studies I’d also be required to conduct an initial consultation as well as a brief de-brief after each session which will go towards the write-up submission for each case study.  The case studies are required to be spread throughout the 18 month duration, so rather than than have all the case studies done all at once right now, I would be looking for just a single person to be a case study to be fitted within roughly 2 – 3 month blocks at a time.  As each case study will be treated 4 times on an on-going weekly basis, it is important to note that if you would like to be a case study that you can commitment to a series of 4 weekly treatment (i.e. for 1 whole month) during a particular time period that can be agreed between us.  Bearing in mind that I will be spreading these 6 case studies out between now and October 2012, if at any time between now and then you yourself or anyone you know that would suitable as a case study please do get in contact.

For both the case studies as well as occasional session recipients the main requirement in common to both is that you have some kind of muscle related or musculoskeletal pain condition that you would be wiling to receive clinical massage sessions for and provide honest feedback on.

I am very happy to answer any questions that you may have or give more detailed information about what’s involved before you commit yourself either by return email, phone or Skype.

Please pass on the information contained herein to anyone you think would be interested, provided that they live within commuting distance of Exeter (UK) of course.

Many thanks and best wishes,

Henry Tang.

Email: info@isca-therapies.co.uk

Tel: 07970 020204

Skype: henryctang

www.isca-therapies.co.uk

Important muscles involved in hand, wrist & arm pain – Part 1

There are many intricate muscles and soft tissue structures in the hand, wrist and arm which can cause various types of pain, numbness sensations, weakness, pins and needles or electric shock type of sensations when they become constricted, tight or dehydrated through physical over use or misuse, bad posture, accidents, old injuries (such as high velocity neck impact or whiplash) and deep scar tissue, and/or combined with unremitting emotional stress.

2 muscles which I’d like to draw the reader’s particular special attention to in this article are the scalenes and pectroalis minor muscles.  These are 2 very important and relevant muscles which massage therapists who have been through advanced trainings in say for example clinical massage techniques will know how to treat efficiently and very specifically.  Both of these muscles are very much neglected in most general relaxation massage work.  The scalenes muscles are located in the base of the lower neck and attach to the first and second ribs, whilst the pectoralis minor muscles covers the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rib in the region of the front upper chest.  Both muscles although located respectively in the neck and upper shoulder region are often highly relevant in hand, wrist and arm pain pathologies, one of the main reasons behind this is that the brachial nerve plexus and its subsequent other  sub branching nerves serving the arm passes directly underneath both of these muscles so any tightness in either of these muscles is going to have a direct physical effect on creating nerve related aggravation in these regions.

[Trigger Point Pain Referral Pattern for Scalenes Muscle Group]

[Trigger Point Pain Referral Pattern for Pectoralis Minor Muscle]

Signs of nerve related impingement or over simulation can include pins and needles, intermittent shooting pains over a certain region (such as down the arm), electric shock type sensations, or areas of numbness.  Nerve impingement caused by the scalenes or pectoralis minor muscles can also cause the muscles and proprioception to misfire so causing symptoms of weakness or spasm in the arm, hand or wrist.  Symptoms of carpel tunnel or other repetitive strain injury type side effects can also be triggered or caused by soft tissue tension in these apparently unrelated areas further up and away from the hand, wrist and lower arm (but which you now know after having read this article and viewing the related videos are very much related).

Tightness in the scalenes muscles can cause tingling all the way down to the thumb and first fingers of the hand, whilst pectoralis minor tension cause refer tingling all the way down to the ring finger and little finger.  Constriction of the blood supply serving the arm from a tight pectoralis minor muscle can also cause feelings of coldness or lack of circulation to the fingers.

Habitual shallow breathing, particularly whereby the type of breathing only involves the use of the upper chest (rather than full deep belly breaths) is another potential cause of chronic tightness in the scalenes muscles.  Stress management through gradual build up practice of proper relaxing deep breathing is the perfect antidote.  Notice when you’re stressed or shallow breathing, be gentle and kind to yourself, congratulate yourself for noticing and just start by receiving 3 deep breaths in and out and build up that number over time, the idea is that over time it builds up to more of an unconscious habit rather than a conscious effort.

As with all these topic, there’s always so much that could be written or linked to, this is just what I could cobble together off the top of my head and without turning this into a fully blown dissertation as well as given the fact that I would like to go to bed in a moment (!!), but if you want to know more or have any suggestions I would be glad to receive your feedback as always and compile a part 2 or further subsequent parts as a follow on to this particular article as the demand unfolds.

Be well! 🙂

Email: info@isca-therapies.co.uk

Visit the ISCA Therapies website: www.isca-therapies.co.uk

Self Treatment of Muscular Pain with Heat or Cold

There are many effective natural self treatments for common ailments which can be readily be found in most households without the need for popping into a local pharmacy.  In fact, there are many of these natural types of remedies which were in common use and remain as effective (if not more so but without side effects or overdosing issues) as any modern commercially available alternative, it’s just that most of us have grown up with the modern equivalent not knowing that there was nothing wrong with the natural alternative from yesteryear – just asking your grandparents should be proof enough of this!

One such natural remedy is the use of moist heat or cold for muscular and soft tissue aches and pains.  There is clear distinction of when heat should be used and when cold should be used, sometimes a alternating or contrast bathing procedure maybe followed, but the important thing to remember is that heat should not be used on any swollen area or an acute injury – an acute injury is one that has occurred within the past 48 hours.

So starting off with the use of heat for chronic muscular pain.  The best type and source of heat for soft tissue related pain is usually moist heat and this can be easily sourced from a hot damp flannel held in the area of pain in order to sooth it.  The heat also encourages increased blood flow into the area which brings in with it new nutrients to replace the pain causing toxic stagnated blood that can build up and get trapped in over tense muscles and soft tissues.  The temperature of the damp flannel should be hot enough to produce a deeply penetrating and soothing effect, but obviously without causing scolding. Ways of achieving this can be as simple as pouring boiling hot water over a flannel in bowl and leaving it to soak for a little bit, or placing a cold damp flannel inside a polythene bag and popping it into the microwave for just a few seconds.  Apply the hot damp flannel in the required places and hold it there still or dab and move it around occasionally as you feel it necessary occasionally for between 5 to 10 minutes.  Do this 3 times a day; morning, noon and night over a week period and see how you go.  If you find that by doing this that the pain decreases over time carry on beyond the week and as often as necessary, but if things don’t get any better at all it would be wise to seek medical attention before the week is up.

Many people are familiar with the use of cold ice packs (or more usually supermarket packs of frozen vegetables such as peas) as first aid in the case of acute injuries of muscles, tendons or ligaments.  So, in the first 48 hours it can be very beneficial to the healing process to apply a source of icy coldness to an injured area in order to alleviate pain.  Ice is also very beneficial for any type of swelling (whether acute or chronic) as the cold encourages the blood vessels to contract and thus squeeze out excess fluid that might be causing swelling.  When using ice cubes as the source of cold during a treatment, keep them moving and circulating around the affected area for between 5 to 7 minutes or until the area turns a rosey pink colour, then leave to rest.  Carry on with this method of ice application as necessary throughout your day in order to reduce pain and swelling.  If an affected area is quite large, the use of water frozen into a paper cup may be more effective, just peel back the sides in order to expose the ice and hold the cup from the base, this keeps the fingers that are holding the cup from getting damp and numb but also enables a longer lasting application of ice to a larger surface area.  Consider having these paper cups of frozen ice ready in your freezer as a standby!

It is also sometimes effective to contrast bath an area, starting off with 5-7 minutes of cold work as described in the paragraph above, followed immediately by 5-7 minutes of moist heat as previously described, then going back to cold for 5-7 minutes once again and then ending with heat again for 5-7 minutes.  This causes a pumping and flushing action to be set-up as the blood vessels are encouraged to contract and squeeze out blood and toxins during the cold phase, whilst the heat phase encourages fresh blood to flow back in and fresh nutrients to be made available to cells and tissues as the blood vessels are encouraged to open back up.  Contrast bathing is ideal for sub-acute pain, this is where the 48 hour or so duration of acute injury has passed by but where some swelling might still exist.  Sometimes, certain injuries lapse into sub-acute from being chronic, once again, contrast bathing as described here is ideal for encouraging beneficial flushing actions of the blood circulation to the troubled area and ultimately this will have a beneficial effect and act as a naturally effective method of pain management.

The appropriate use of heat and cold (as well as contrast bathing) as partially described here are just a small part of a repertoire of highly effective soft tissue pain management and pain resolution techniques that are used as an integrated part of a typical clinical massage session.  Specially sourced volcanic basalt stones are used instead or as an alternative to the hot damp flannels and ice cubes; these stones which once heated or cooled retain a stable temperature for between 20 to 30 minutes which allow these sources of heat or cold to be used for longer and more effectively without needing to re-heat or re-cool allowing for more deeply penetrating effects.

For more information on clinical massage and further self care articles, subscribe to this blog (top left hand side of this page).  If you live in or near Exeter (UK), contact Henry at ISCA Therapies (www.isca-therapies.co.uk) on info@isca-therapies.co.uk for your no obligation consultation or to book your clinical massage appointment series which will effectively put you back in charge of your own pain.

If you have any questions or comments relating to this article, I would warmly welcome your feedback below or via email.  Be well!

Muscles of the TMJ – Jaw Pain & Headaches

The TMJ or temporomandibular joint is the formal anatomical name given to the jaw joint, where the mandible bone (which forms the lower jaw) meets the skull (at the temporal bone).  There are a number of muscles which attach to and surround this joint and which are involved in mastication (i.e. chewing) as well as other facial movements involving the jaw.  Excessive chronic tension in the muscles connected with and surrounding the TMJ can cause not only local pain perception in the area of the jaw itself, but can also set-up pain referral patterns (through trigger points) causing regular experiences of headaches, migraines, involuntary teeth grinding (bruxism), gum or tooth related pain and even tiniuts (ringing in the ears).  Muscular tension or shortening in the muscle fibres resulting in restricted range of movement of the jaw joint can also cause pain and even a limited opening movement of the mouth itself (e.g. trismus).  Differences in the tensioning of the muscles on opposite sides of the face / jaw can cause uneven bite or malocclusion scenarios.

Physical trauma such as those caused by whiplash or other sudden violent impact to the skull or neck area can set-up chronic “holding” tension which then becomes “locked” into the muscles of the skull, jaw or neck as the body freezes itself up in that split second reaction of self defensive protection.  This tensioned holding scenario in muscles and related soft tissues (in any area of the body) is seen so commonly after many traumatic or sudden impact related situations (including high exertion force tooth extractions as well as many other invasive dental procedures).  What is not always commonly understood is that an effective and permanent unlocking of this tension will still not be permitted by the body itself long (week, months or years) after the perceived danger event has passed until it is satisfactorily notified that the threat has passed, and so in clinical massage therapy it is the goal to gradually introduce this notification of safety to the body to begin the process of gently unlocking itself; the muscles and soft tissues affected will be engaged in this process through safe, gentle, specific and highly focused manipulation and release work.

Apart from the physical conditions described above, unrelenting stress and emotional upset experienced by a person is another way in which muscles of the TMJ can become dysfunctional or become locked into a chronic pain pattern.  In fact, the emotional element is perhaps the most common underlying cause of TMJ dysfunction and pain, simply because there is an actual physical neurological connection between the sensory (as well as the motor) nerves within the TMJ itself which in turn interfaces with the brain and spinal chord via a branch of the Trigeminal nerve.  The feedback loop within this neurological pathway means that emotional stress can cause the muscles of the TMJ to clench or tighten up (quite a lot of people will unconsciously clench or even grind their teeth as a response to coping with or being faced with stress); likewise tightening up or clenching of the muscles in this area causes an increased perceptual registering of emotional stress to be generated in (the primitive reptilian part of) the brain and nervous system. So, as you can see that one feeds back into the other causing a potentially vicious cycle, until something comes along which can interrupt this cycle! Physical exercises which help to stretch and relax the soft tissues of the TMJ are a vital consideration as well as whole body and mind relaxation practices or activities in order to lower emotional stress and decrease sympathetic nervous system tone (and therefore increase the parasympathetic nervous system response).

As well as the perception of stress levels in our daily lives, history of invasive dental work and the related impact of other physical or emotional trauma, the type of food which makes up our diet can also have an effect.  The more prolonged and harder we have to chew our food, the higher the chances of the TMJ muscles becoming chronically tense.  Of course, as with any other set of muscles in the body, there are many effective preventative self care exercises and things that one can do in order to look after our TMJs and ease pain, preferable before it becomes chronic.

This video shows examples of just some of the self care exercises you can do in order to reduce tension in the muscles of the TMJ:

Chronic TMJ dysfunction and pain can respond very favourably to specific and effective physical therapy approaches such as clinical massage which mixes and combines elements from trigger point therapy, neuromusclar massage, myofascial release, stretching, acupressure massage, craniosacral therapy, as well as sometimes work with hydrotherapy to bring in soothing sources of moist heat and cold as appropriate all into the same session to suit the needs of the individual client.  Here is a very informative  article from a massage therapy trade journal written by a dental nurse who subsequently devised a unique clinical massage protocol for alleviating TMJ (as well as other jaw, teeth and headache) related pain conditions after training in clinical massage techniques herself and pooling this together with her dental nurse training:

TMJ & Clinical Massage Article (Today’s Therapist Magazine Dec/Jan 2009) – PDF File

Here is a very highly recommended website with lots of visual charts depicting the pain referral patterns that can be experienced and get set-up due to trigger point activity in muscles of the head and neck – have a look to see if the charts below match up with any pain patterns you might be experiencing:

www.triggerpoints.net/head-and-neck-pain.htm

A list of some the important muscles involved in jaw pain and movement restriction issues:

Masetter
Lateral Pterygoid
Medial Pterygoid
Temporalis
Digastric (plus others in the “suprahyoid” group)

These muscles are commonly indicated for frequently reoccurring headaches with pain radiating patterns which can be mapped out predictably by the person experiencing them:

Suboccipitals
Upper Trapezius
Sternocleidomastoid

Another informative site with TMJ related information and along with a helpful beginner’s musculoskeletal tutorial summarizing which muscles are involved in performing what physical movements of the jaw have a look at http://abbottcenter.com/bostonpaintherapy/2009/10/01/jaw-pain-and-tmj-final-details/

If you are interested in wading even more into some technical depth, this particular article is somewhat heavy on technical anatomical description and details, but well worth reading if you have the relevant background and want to investigate how and why clinical massage (and myofascial release work in particular) can help address TMJ related chronic pain issues:

TMJ & MFR Article (Today’s Therapist Magazine – Jul/Aug 2008) – PDF File

This entire article was prompted by some recent sessions I’d performed with a client to help them out with TMJ related pain including subconscious teeth grinding at night, regular headaches around the perimeter of the ears and down the side of the neck, malaligned bite and a very limited ability to open the mouth – so limited that opening the mouth to take a bit from a sandwich was virtually impossible such was the pain as well as just the physical restriction in range of movement of the jaw before we got to work.  Conventional MRI scans had not been able to shed any light on what was going for this client, yet we managed to produce a significant shift in jaw movement with decrease in pain from session 1 as well as reduction in teeth grinding at night, all to a degree which had not been experienced with conventional other treatments elsewhere.  Improvements continued in session 2 and session 3 will be next week (at the time of writing this article). Will aim to update with progress on this blog as we progress.  The protocols and techniques I use aim to produce effective and permanent shifts on a 4 to 6 session basis when performed on a weekly session basis – provided that the client also diligently follows the additional selfcare advice at home as well as attending the weekly regular sessions.

It has been reported by one particular source that 90% of musculoskeletal issues have an element of TMJ involvement to it, yet TMJ dysfunction isn’t necessarily the root cause (no pun intended).   “As a above, so below” provides us with a useful perspective from which we could spring board off of in order to begin looking at the picture of the body in an alternative and more holistic relationship, so according the Lovett Brothers Principle each vertebrae bone in the spine has is intimately related to a matching counterpart at the opposite end, thus the bones of the jaw, skull and neck have counterparts which they are affected by (and visa-versa) in the lumbar (lower back) and sacral areas of the pelvis.

TMD or TMJD (temporomandibular joint dysfunction) as it is sometimes referred to as is certainly a very big topic, I hope I’ve managed to cover as many of the salient issues  as possible here, but there is still so much more that I could say that hasn’t been raised in this particular article, so I would very much welcome your feedback, comments, questions and suggestions for amendments, additions and further articles on this topic.

Henry Tang (Clinical Massage Therapist) – Spaces of Possibilities Wellness Centre (Crows Nest, Sydney, Australia)

Visit the Space of Possibilities Web Page at: www.facebook.com/SOPcentre

Please leave comments below or email me at: SOPcentre@gmail.com

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Resolving back pain through spinal manipulation

When most people think of spinal adjustments, they will most likely associate this with having the vertebrae bones in the spine being “clicked” or “cracked” into alignment by a chiropractor, osteopath or physiotherapist.  There are also different “grades” of adjustment or manipulation ranging on a scale from 1 thru 5, with 5 being the most radical in terms of movement range adjustment and thus requiring the most amount of applied manual force directed at the joint.  Generally, a grade 3, 4 or 5 adjustment will be carried out by a licensed chiropractor, osteopath or physiotherapist and involve moves that are known in the trade as High Velocity Low Amplitude (HVLA) adjustment techniques – also sometimes called High Velocity Thrust techniques depending on the profession you speak to.

What most people don’t realize is that a completely spontaneous physical adjustment of the spine (or any other bone to bone joint for that matter) can occur and often does during a remedial or clinical massage session, or indeed in any situation where the soft tissue interconnecting with the joint in question is being manipulated in a precision and focused manner.  Indeed, you wouldn’t necessarily go to your massage therapist asking them specifically to manipulate or adjust your spine for you in the same way that a chiropractor or osteopath might do for example as it’s usually beyond their scope of training and practice.   However, equally beneficial indirect and spontaneous bone joint adjustments can and do occur during clinical massage and soft tissue work such as fascia release, and as well as being a lot gentler than high velocity thrust adjustments, these spontaneous adjustments themselves occur because a number of other bio-mechanical conditions (as well as mental states) have aligned themselves within that person that has allowed that change to take place – that person and their being was “ready” to allow that particular change.  Sometimes but rarely direct manipulation is required as a last resort, but even among prominent and highly experienced osteopaths and chiropractors, there are those who have ditched this part of their training and instead have exclusively taken to the softly softly approach with consistent success and hardly ever go back to performing direct physical manipulation of bones.

If you have not yet read our articles on the Psoas and Quadratus Lumborum muscles, please feel free to click the aforementioned links to convince yourself that these 2 very major muscles which attach to the spine can have a significant effect on lower back pain symptoms as well as being able to bear significant load on the spine itself and thus causing potential alignment deviation.  Precision massage therapy offered by therapists trained in clinical massage can of course help release and balance tension in these deep muscles of the lower back.

The intrinsic muscles of the spine which we have not devoted specific articles to are the erector spinae and transversospinales muscle groups, below is a diagram showing the complexity of these 2 muscle groups and their relationship with regards to their attachment points on the spinal column plus the other msucles which we have already discussed previously:

Trigger point pain pattern charts and diagrams are included below to complete this discussion on the soft tissue approach to spinal adjustment and alignment:

Important Muscles Involved in Lower Back Pain – Part 1 : Quadratus Lumborum

This Quadratus Lumborum muscle is perhaps one of the most relevant yet not always adequately treated muscle by healthcare practitioners who work directly hands-on with the body’s physical structures in relation to attempting to resolve lower back pain conditions.  I will bring to your attention other relevant and important muscles involved in lower back pain and movement restriction issues in this series of forthcoming blog articles.  These articles will feature informative videos that I have come across on YouTube giving an introductory overview of the relevant anatomy background followed by useful self help stretching exercises to facilitate release of tension in the muscle being reviewed.

In the above image, drawing C illustrates the anatomical positioning of the Quadratus Lumborum muscle, note that this muscle is actually semi deep and beneath another group of muscles called the Erector Spinae group which sit directly on top.  Drawings A and B illustrate the pain referral pattern that can get set-up when there are trigger points in this muscle, as is usual with the phenomenon of trigger points the actual apparent location of the pain or soreness experienced as defined by the shaded areas in the above diagram is referred i.e. it’s possible that no pain maybe directly felt in the muscle itself even though micro tension knots in the muscles itself are causing pain to be referred and felt in the buttocks.

Here’s an interactive anatomy lesson and an example of some exercises you can do to help stretch and free up this muscle, although to do them requires additional equipment (a swiss ball) and would not be recommended to an absolute beginner:

The self help exercises which follow in each article must feel comfortable to do at all times, there is no useful benefit to be gained and the chance of injury to occur by pushing yourself into any discomfort or further pain.  Also, remember to breath in deeply and breath out just as you’re about to go into the stretch, many people commonly (and unconsciously) hold their breath as they are about to perform stretches find that they can go a lot further as well as with less resulting pain after changing over to breathing properly as suggested.

So to finish off with, here are some simple exercises which do not require additional equipment and can be done by most, if not all when adapted to within your tolerance level.

The exercises should ideally be performed daily as part of a rehabilitation program and in conjunction with regular visits to a suitably qualified massage or physical therapist who can perform the supporting release or soft tissue manipulation work on the muscles involved.

See you in part 2!  Take care now.

Freeing up the shoulder and opening up the rib cage!

Treated a client today who came in barely able to internally rotate her right shoulder girdle and had given up doing even light exercise due to stiffness all the way down the back as well pain next to the shoulder blade which onsets when reaching her arm up.

We worked on the major shoulder girdle muscles, in particular worked on Teres Minor which was very tense and tender at both attachment points (i.e. outside edge of shoulder blade half way down and top of the arm – to use non technical anatomical descriptions) . Also did fascial release work on serratus anterior muscle on the side of the rib cage. Client was feeling slight burning or crackling sensations as the taught and dehydrated connective tissue (fascia) began to yield and begin to give us back some flexibility to allow movement to happen more freely. We ended up with greatly improved range of movement afterwards.

Wondered and asked client if she suffered with asthma as the intercostal muscles in-between the outside surface of the ribs seemed very restricted from what I was able to palpate (feel) during the time that we were working on serratus anterior, she confirmed that she did have asthma. I explained that there is a set of techniques I can perform on her during a series of future sessions in order to free up the currently restricted muscles and soft tissues of the rib cage which will help ease the asthma and help free up the breathing making it become less shallow.

West Country Massage Association Meeting

Today I attended the first biannual meeting of the year of the West Country Massage Association (here after which will referred to as the WMA).  The WMA is made of members who have trained   and qualified in massage or another recognized bodywork therapy qualification.  Most members of the WMA are alumni of The School of Complementary Health based here in Exeter, but membership applications are welcomed from people who have trained with any recognized provider of alternative and complementary health training whether within the west country region of the UK or not.  The catchment area for attendees at a typical meeting is usually made of folks mainly coming from south and mid Devon, but there are or have been members at meetings who have travelled from Cornwall or Somerset.  The format of a typical meeting consists of 2 guests speakers  along with a break for tea and cake in-between the first and second speakers, finally there is an any other business opportunity slot right at the very end plus lots of opportunity to socialize and network during the breaks as well as before the start and at the very end of the meetings.

The guest speakers are usually practitioners of an alternative or complementary health therapy modality who give us a theoretical as well usually a practical overview of what they do.  Alternatively, the guest speaker could also be talking about some other subject which practitioners might be interested in such as practice management, marketing, new approaches, etc.

Today’s first speaker was an acupuncturist who had initially trained as a registered nurse before deciding to undergo a 3 year degree program in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) based acupuncture at Westminster University in London.  She continues to practice nursing alongside supplementing acupuncture in for some of her patients which has resulted in a number of successful clinical results.  We had the basic concepts of acupuncture introduced to us: the background of Chinese medicine, ying / yang balance, meridians, excess / deficiency, tongue analysis, pulse taking, needling, as well as various other approaches of point stimulation including moxibustion and cupping.  Most of this introductory theory I was familiar with from my Shiatsu training.  An interesting side note which I took away from this presentation which will mean something to those who understand this, but if not don’t worry just let it pass on by, TCM and 5 element are 2 distinct schools and approaches to acupuncture – I always thought that 5 element was a subset of TCM?  I have yet to try out a moxibustion or cupping treatment myself, but sounds very pleasant and goes on my growing list of bodywork treatments to experience in the future.

After the intermission for tea and cake, the second speaker were a husband and wife team who run a local complementary health practice and between them have experience in Ayurvedic medicine, Ayurvedic nutrition, yoga and sports massage.  Nutrition was the main focus of this particular presentation, and whilst I decided long ago that this wasn’t an area I’d be particularly interested in specializing in, I have casually studied the various popular approaches as an occasional tasks running in the background.  Perhaps not to my surprise, I found huge contradictions between the various well respected authors on “what to eat” or “what is a healthy diet” which has only served to reinforce my own personal opinion that diet and nutrition falls much lower down the hierarchy of health addressable areas in a person than some advocates might otherwise suggest.  Having said that the type of approach to nutrition and food intake as advocated by our second set of speakers I found to be very much in agreement with my personally beliefs.  I’m not so much a fan of subscribing to a diet, where everyone can eat this, can’t eat that or worst of all deny themselves of a particular food that they’ll end up craving for an extended period of time.  So called dieting and the approach of denying our bodies something usually ends in failure as craving builds up to a head and we eventually crash in some way.

The Ayurvedic approach to nutrition is a constitution centred approach to food in take.  A constitution based approach says that it’s what we are actually absorbing through digestion from the foods which has a much bigger overall effect on our health than the isolated food items themselves that we are consuming, or put another way if we aren’t properly absorbing or digesting efficiently what we’re eating then no “healthy diet plan” that hasn’t been tailored to our own very individual constitution, metabolism and digestion needs is ever going to make a difference.  As much as we are individuals with varying personalities and personal preferences, so this recognition of diversity is equally applicable to our constitution and digestive systems.  To determine what type of constitution you have requires no more than a single visit to suitably qualified nutrition therapist who works in this way, in this case we happen to be talking about an Ayurvedic nutrition practitioner.  The practitioner will having discovered their client’s basic constitution type will then go on to educate the client in what effects certain foods have on that person’s constitution and digestive system.  Armed with this information that client is then able to make self informed choices and self monitor the feedback from their own bodies that their own food choices have.  This awareness may take some time for the client to become accustomed to tuning into, but ultimately it is designed to be self empowering and allows the client to experience what works for them as an invidual having been armed with the basic knowledge of their particular constitution and considerations thereof.  This type of system does not prescribe what exactly to eat (or not to eat) in terms of a diet traditional plan.  This approach allows also for the occasional mistake or over indulgence to be made, it’s OK, there is no need to constantly beat oneself up with stick over it, and to realize that we can give even more empowerment to ourselves by realizing that we can be responsible for rewarding ourselves for when we get things right.  The nutrition therapist’s role in this type of system is to merely coach and facilitate awareness rather than to prescribe.  This is very much the approach I prefer to take with my own clients too in regards to the bodywork therapies that I do i.e. to introduce the awareness of a new possibility and then for them to self manage from there and with further coaching to stay connected to that awareness as well as doing further self discovery themselves if necessary.

What we are thinking about when we’re eating it was proposed also plays a more significant role in our digestion and (mal-)absorption than what it is that we’re eating, another factor I’m very much in agreement with, so for example do you have thoughts of pleasure or guilt in your mind as you eat something?  What can of stress or environmental conditions do you eat under?

To end with, we were introduced to a little bit of standing, but mainly some sitting yoga moves which helped us check in with our bodies and that to self assess our postures were evenly balanced and aligned.  Some interesting exercises which I will see if I can find some examples of on youtube which will save me type a thousand or so words here!

Our 2nd set of guest speakers also talked about a new service that they had just set-up in their Totnes based clinic to offer alternative / complementary therapies to sufferers of chronic conditions such as MS who were on low incomes but who needed at least weekly if not twice weekly therapy sessions for things to be anywhere near effective.   In these cases, a contribution would be acceptable according to the amount the client could afford to pay toward each session.

All in all, a very informative half day and was great to share and network with some other like minds too.

Seededbuzz – Blog Recommendation – unburiedtreasure.blogspot.com

Just joined www.seededbuzz.com. This is a relatively new blogger’s community where all members have the ability to cross publicize each other’s between ourselves. The ability to post up individual links to new posts on your site on an on-going basis is determined by a points system, points are awarded every time you promote someone else’s blog directly on your own blog site. Available blogs and associated ideas for discussion initiation are categorized according to categorized subject areas of interest.

So every now and again I will be dedicating a post where I’ll be recommending another blogger’s site that you may be interested in if you’ve been following mine.

Here’s the inaugural from Nancy who is a lawyer, mother, wife, musician, soon to be student of massage therapy training, daily expression of gratitude plus a few more hats that we didn’t quite have the space on the stand to squeeze in: unburiedtreasure.blogspot.com