Archive for September, 2010

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5 Easy Steps to Healthy Meal Planning

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

From the Desk of Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Meal planning can be a daunting task. Every week you may desire to put together a healthy meal plan for your family, but often times this decision is put off. But putting together a meal plan each week can help you to save money, eat better, lower stress and keep you organized.

Get a cookbook, or go to one website. The easiest way in putting together a meal plan, is to not be overwhelmed by 20 cookbooks on your kitchen table. With one cookbook, compiling your meals for the week is as simple as flagging the pages that you are going to use.

Get your kids to contribute. Many parents plan meals without input from their kids. Brainstorming with them for a list of 30 or more dinners they like just once will give you a list to reference.

Check your calendar. Now put each meal on your family calendar.

Check your pantry and go shopping. Having all the items on hand for the week will be key to getting those meals on the table each night.

Be flexible! If you don’t make all the meals during the week, it’s OK! Be flexible enough to know that having a plan is just a plan. Execution is not necessary.

Link: EZine Articles
http://ezinearticles.com/?5-Easy-Steps-To-Healthy-Meal-Planning&id=5056727

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Lower Back Anatomy

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

From the Desk of Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

The muscles that surround the lumbar spine on either side, particularly the spinal erectors (also called the erector spinae), are a common site for chronic pain and stiffness. However, most people have no idea how these muscles even work.

The portion around the mid-spine is actually the part of the spinal erectors that helps lift heavy objects off the ground. The portion of the spinal erectors around the lumbar spine has a completely different function. From a structural standpoint, the portion of the muscle around the lower back is way too small to exert enough force to pick up heavy objects. The erector spinae expand in cross-sectional area and get a lot thicker at the mid-spine, which is why the upper portion of the lumbar musculature is dedicated to picking up heavy objects.

The lower portion of the spinal erectors actually holds the lumbar vertebrae in place when you bend forward. This is normally a task that these muscles are built to handle.

Due to the alignment of individual muscle fibers in the erector spinae, this muscle group can only perform its function effectively when the spine is in a neutral position. If the spine is rounded, the orientation of the muscle fibers of the lumbar erectors changes, making it hard for the spinal erectors to do their job properly. As a result, the muscle has to contract much harder to keep the spine in place when it is rounded.

Link: EZine Articles
http://ezinearticles.com/?Lower-Back-Anatomy-and-Back-Pain&id=4168831

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Develop Routines for Healthy Sleep

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

From the Desk of Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Insomnia is often a symptom of stress. Anxiety keeps your mind racing, so you can’t fall asleep. Or, if you do manage to get to sleep, you wake after a few hours. The result? You drag through your days, feeling irritable. You’re unproductive at work, and act with all the charm of a wounded tiger at home.

You can get relief from your anxiety insomnia by taking a few simple steps to improve your lifestyle. When you eat better, exercise more, and go to bed earlier, you’ll overcome any tendency you have for insomnia.

Eating foods rich in calcium during the day helps you to sleep better. Try drinking milk, and eating a couple of bananas. A glass of milk before bedtime is well known as a sleep aid, bananas are less well known. However when you eat bananas not only do you get a wealth of vitamins and minerals in the package, you also make the calcium in the milk more available to your body.

When you’re stressed, stress hormones like adrenaline build up in your body. Over time, this can cause real damage, so it’s important to flush those hormones out of your system as soon as possible. Exercise is the answer. Get out of bed earlier, and go for a half hour walk each morning. You’ll feel better right throughout the day, and will fall asleep with ease.

Anxiety insomnia is easily curable when you develop a healthy lifestyle.

Link: EZine Articles
http://ezinearticles.com/?Anxiety-Insomnia—Develop-Routines-For-Healthy-Sleep&id=1933501

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End Neck Pain by Improving Posture

Monday, September 27th, 2010

From the Desk of Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Neck pain usually comes from pressure from a misaligned neck spine. When your spine is misaligned (some call that subluxated) it does not move like it should and in turn creates inflammation in that area. Either out-of-alignment spinal vertebrae (spinal bones) put direst pressure on nerves or the inflammation, or built up degeneration causes the pressure.

The most common misaligned postural pattern in the neck that will result in neck pain, stiffness and lack of mobility is forward head carriage. This is when the head posture is forward of the shoulders and almost always reveals loss of the normal neck alignment or curvature.

With people today, more than ever we are seeing a misaligned neck posture of the neck curve flattening or straightening and protruding out forward. One of the reasons is that more and more people these days are on computers for long hours. Many jobs now require you to be on a computer continually, and even the people without a desk job are on the computer for hours on end; nights, weekends, mornings, you name it.

The best postural exercise to eliminate forward head posture are Head Retractions. Pretend your head is on a sliding track and pull your head back keeping it level. For example sit fully back against a wall or chair pull your head straight back without tilting or extending your head until you touch the wall, top of chair or headrest in your car.

Be more aware of your posture. Poor posture means a poor spine and therefore pressure on nerves that will not only just cause neck pain but can cause other problems as well.

Link: EZine Articles
http://ezinearticles.com/?End-Neck-Pain-By-Improving-Posture—How-Proper-Posture-Improves-Your-Spine-Relieving-Nerve-Pressure&id=722738

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The Economic Impact of Lower Back Pain

Saturday, September 25th, 2010

From the Desk of Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

A study conducted a few years ago indicates nearly 90 billion dollars is spent each year on individuals who have pain in their lower back. The exact amount spent on pain treatment for the lower back accounted for nearly 1/3 of that total.

When you miss work, it can be sometimes written off as a one day problem.  However, as your back pain gets worse, you may actually be fired from work because no employer wants to keep a long term pain sufferer on board too long.  Let’s be real about this.  Time is money and it is hard to keep on staff that may blame their employer for the origination of a back problem.

If you have ever hurt your lower back, then it is time to start thinking about support your back to help reduce your pain.  Good posture can be promoted with the use of a low profile, light weight support and this can greatly help to prevent further back issues from happening.

Medically speaking, a quality lower back support can off load hurting spine elements by biomechanically effecting your back.  With the increase in intercavitary pressure (like feeling a hug around your mid-section) many people will almost instantly find a sense of relief.  The other great thing about back supports is that they are easily concealed by the use of a simple t-shirt. 

Link: EZine Articles
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Economic-Impact-of-Lower-Back-Pain—How-To-Get-Relief-Without-Breaking-The-Bank!&id=4987009

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Healthy Benefit of a Good Night’s Sleep

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

From the Desk of Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Everybody feels better after they’ve had a good night’s rest, but sometimes it’s hard to find the time with so much to do in a day. If you can’t get as many hours as you’d like to sleep, you can at least sleep more efficiently.

To get a consistently good night’s sleep you have to establish a regular sleeping pattern. It may be easier to establish a set waking time rather than bed time, since it’s hard to know when you’ll be tired enough to go to sleep. Be aware of what you’re body is telling you. It will let you know when you are tired enough to go to bed and fall asleep quickly. That way you won’t waste time lying in bed counting sheep.

Often people loose sleep because they wake up in the middle of the night. Pay attention if this happens to you a lot. You may want to see a doctor to determine if there is a medical reason you are not sleeping through the night. It may be caused by sleep apnea or some other health-related source.

Sometimes people find themselves waking up because something else is bothering them. This can be a noise outside or a bothersome streetlight shining through the window. Shut the windows or by light blocking shades to make sure you’re sleep is undisturbed.

Link: EZine Articles
http://ezinearticles.com/?Healthy-Benefit-of-a-Good-Night-Sleep&id=4341512

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Prevent and Get Rid of Ankle Pain and Swelling

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

From the Desk of Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Ankle pain and swelling could be due to a number of reasons. If you have twisted your ankle, the swelling comes from an excess of fluids that are sent to the injured site to protect it from further injury. If the fluid causing the swelling is left to its own devices, it will later turn into scar tissue, which is more difficult to break down, and could leave you suffering for months.

The pain can be caused by a number of reasons. If your ankle is sprained, the pain is most likely from injury to the ligaments. Depending on the degree of injury, ligaments can be stretched, torn, or even completely broken.

To reduce ankle pain and swelling, Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation are important within the first 48 hours. These four components will not only make you more comfortable in the short-term, they will also help prevent prolonged pain and recurrence of injury in the future.

While RICE helps to take down ankle pain and swelling as well as prevent further injury within the first 48 hours, after this time period become ineffective, and your left with a swollen, bruised, hurting, sprained ankle. What do you do with it? Sit around and watch TV while you wait for your body to heal itself? Although the body is equipped with tools to heal itself with time, we can use modern medical techniques to help speed the healing. It’s not magic; it’s not a miracle, just science. Ankle exercises aimed at strengthening and rehabilitating are the key to getting you on your feet sooner.

Link: EZine Articles
http://ezinearticles.com/?Prevent-and-Get-Rid-of-Ankle-Pain-and-Swelling&id=4952589

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Early Pregnancy Lower Back Pain

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

From the Desk of Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Lower back pain often occurs in the first trimester of pregnancy and is pretty common. A lot of times the pain can be one of the first signs of pregnancy. Two most common causes of the pain are your expanding uterus and the hormonal changes.

The expanding uterus can cause a change in posture putting a strain on the lower back. Hormones produced during pregnancy affect the back and can cause pain. Another reason might be your spine might be out of alignment.

A good way to alleviate the pain during your pregnancy is to pelvic tilts, they will strengthen the back and reduce the pain. Try to avoid lying flat on your back because the weight of your uterus may press on the vena cava.

Start an exercise program to stretch and strengthen back muscles, legs, and abdomen. Swimming for example is a great way to strengthen the abdomen and lower back. The buoyancy takes the strain off your joints and back.

Avoid high heels and wear comfortable shoes such as flat heels. As your belly grows and your balance shifts, high heels will throw your posture even more out of whack and increasing your chances for pain.

Posture is very important. Always stand upright. Pregnant women tend to slump their shoulders and arch their backs as their bellies get bigger, this can put an additional strain on the back.

Link: EZine Articles
http://ezinearticles.com/?Early-Pregnancy-Lower-Back-Pain&id=3759012

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Do You Wake up with Lower Back Pain?

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

From the Desk of Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Do you wake up in the mornings with aching lower back pain? Does back pain keep you from sleeping well at night? Does it take you awhile to get moving in the mornings? Does your low back hurt if you have been sitting on your couch or in your car?

Over time, our spines can develop problems just like our eyes, heart, or teeth. Due to accumulated injuries, misalignments and joint stiffness can occur. When time is added in as a factor, chronic stiffness of the joints can occur, leading to the slow deterioration of the joint surfaces. When this happens, you usually are informed that you have arthritis and there is nothing that can be done.

However, unless your joints are totally fused through damage and deterioration, there are some things that you can do to help the situation. The reason you are the sorest in the morning, while lying down, or while sitting, is that the longer period of inactivity allows your stiff joints to stiffen even more. After you are up moving around for awhile, the natural movement of your body helps to alleviate some of the stiffness and discomfort. So guess what, doing some exercises and stretches that increases the mobility of your joints, will decrease the amount of pain you experience.

Link: EZine Articles
http://ezinearticles.com/?Do-You-Have-Lower-Back-Pain-When-You-Wake-Up-in-the-Morning?-Find-Out-What-You-Can-Do-to-Help&id=4629649

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Chronic Leg Pain

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

From the Desk of Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Chronic leg pain can be a challenging condition for physicians to diagnose, since the symptoms may be produced in the affected area itself or in other regions which innervate the leg with nerve energy anywhere above the affected level. Leg symptoms usually make patients think that they have injured their actual limb, but in many cases, the pain comes from some issue which is enacting pain in the sciatic nerve or even in one or more of the nerve roots in the spine.

Of course it is certainly possible to have leg pain due to actual injury to the leg structure itself. People can damage their leg tissues in any number of ways, causing trauma to the skin, bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments or nerves anywhere in the area. However, in these cases, diagnosis is usually easy, since the patients will likely know how and when the injury occurred.

As long as the localized structures are sound, then the condition is almost always sourced in either nerve dysfunction or circulatory dysfunction. Nerve concerns are far more commonly diagnosed and often relate to spinal sources in the lumbar or lumbosacral spine. In these cases, the working diagnostic theory states that some structure is likely impinging upon one or more of the spinal nerve roots which eventually supply the leg with life energy. The causation blamed for enacting this compression, commonly called “pinched nerves”, can vary greatly.

Circulatory conditions, such as diabetes, can cause widespread or localized leg pain. These conditions are usually able to be diagnosed using standardized tests and the neuropathy condition is typically treatable using specialized medications. In many cases, the pain is not correctly attributed to its actual source, which is purposefully enacted regional ischemia.

Link: EZine Articles
http://ezinearticles.com/?Chronic-Leg-Pain&id=4947379

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Posted in Uncategorized | 1,607 Comments »

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