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Body Intelligence
The Body Bar's Monthly E-Newsletter
Each edition of our newsletter - Body Intelligence - contains detailed information about your body, your health, and the benefits of massage. We email this newsletter once a month (or once every two months) to our clients and to anyone else who requests to receive them. If you'd like to sign up for our newsletter, please submit the sign-up form below. We will confirm your subscription via email.
Below are a few articles from recent issues if Body Intelligence. We hope you find them interesting.
Below are a few articles from recent issues if Body Intelligence. We hope you find them interesting.
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A Pain in the ... Head?
Many Americans suffer from chronic, frequent headaches. And many of us are so used to the headaches, we think they are something we simply have to live with. What many of us don't understand, however, is that frequent headaches are not normal ... and, with a little proactive planning, there is something that can be done to manage and even prevent them.
Headaches come in many varieties. Do you have any of these?
Migraine headaches occur when the blood vessels in the brain become dilated, usually due to a chemical reaction, such as food allergies or a stress response. They often start with visual disturbances and quickly develop into severe head pain accompanied by nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and sensitivity to light. They're usually felt on one side of the head, but can be on both sides. Migraines are often managed with medications and avoidance of foods known to trigger them.
Tension headaches are exaggerated by stress, and are often related jaw problems (such as temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJD) and neck pain. Many people describe a headache that starts at the base of the skull and then moves in an arc over the ears and behind the eyes. Tension headaches are often caused or exacerbated by poor posture, awkward work station positions, and improper body mechanics, creating undue stress on the upper neck muscles.
Mixed headaches is a term that describes tension headaches that lead to migraines. Typically, the tension headache starts first and the chemicals produced from the pain of it create conditions for a migraine to develop. In people with patterns of mixed headaches, the best way to avoid the onset of a migraine is to treat the tension headache as quickly as possible.
Whatever kind of headaches you may experience, there are bodywork options available to help. Better yet, a full body-awareness regimen that includes bodywork, attention to body position, and stress management can help prevent or greatly reduce the frequency of headaches, in turn reducing your reliance on medication and the need to avoid food triggers. There are many different bodywork techniques, each with specific approaches for treating headaches.
Swedish massage reduces stress by promoting relaxation and relieving muscle tension. Rolfing, Hellerwork, and Structural Integration are designed to improve posture and structural alignment. Deep tissue therapy, as well as neuromuscular therapy and myofascial release, use techniques that break up the connective tissue "glue" to creating a new way for muscles to function freely. Reflexology, like acupuncture, works to move energy blockages in the body by stimulating points on the feet that correspond to organs in the body, promoting relaxation, reducing pain, and restoring energy flow. Craniosacral therapy addresses the inherent, gentle, rhythmic movement of the bones in the skull and their effect on the fluid that surrounds, bathes, and cushions the brain and spinal cord and runs throughout the body, working to restore the normal movement of the cranial bones and fluid.
By addressing the root of the problem, regularly scheduled bodywork sessions can greatly reduce your number and severity of headaches as well as your need for medication.
Please remember, headaches are not normal, and you don't have to live with them. Schedule your next bodywork session today!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Massage Can Benefit Your Mood!
Of our five senses, touch is the only one that is essential to life. Positive nurturing touch has been linked to many health benefits, including decreased pain and increased immune system strength, enhanced alertness and improved physical and mental performance. Additionally, massage lowers blood pressure, improves circulation, decreases heart rate, and increases joint mobility and overall flexibility.
Three new studies on massage reinforce the importance of touch to our lifelong health and well-being. These three studies found evidence of specific support for depression, anxiety, and helping clients through the death of a loved one.
According to a March study in the American Journal of Psychiatry, massage can help to alleviate symptoms of depression. This study reviewed 17 trials involving almost 800 people, comparing massage therapy with other approaches, including herbs, rest, or no treatment. The researchers hypothesized that touch may help reduce depression by inducing relaxation, reducing stress, and by increasing the production the feel-good hormone oxytocin.
Similarly, a study of 68 patients published in the journal Depression and Anxiety showed that patients had half the symptoms of anxiety and stress three months after getting a series of 10 hour-long massages. This is one of the first studies to look at the benefits of massage on generalized anxiety disorder.
With all of the proven health benefits, it is interesting that in studies evaluating the frequency of touch in various countries, the United States and Britain had the least amount of touch in human interactions. Unfortunately, we do not live in a society that celebrates nurturing touch. Social isolation, and therefore touch isolation, is most likely to occur in the groups that can derive the most health benefits: the sick and the elderly.
So if you or a loved one faces depression or illness, consider the healing power of massage. It's a very important part of the healing process.
Many Americans suffer from chronic, frequent headaches. And many of us are so used to the headaches, we think they are something we simply have to live with. What many of us don't understand, however, is that frequent headaches are not normal ... and, with a little proactive planning, there is something that can be done to manage and even prevent them.
Headaches come in many varieties. Do you have any of these?
Migraine headaches occur when the blood vessels in the brain become dilated, usually due to a chemical reaction, such as food allergies or a stress response. They often start with visual disturbances and quickly develop into severe head pain accompanied by nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and sensitivity to light. They're usually felt on one side of the head, but can be on both sides. Migraines are often managed with medications and avoidance of foods known to trigger them.
Tension headaches are exaggerated by stress, and are often related jaw problems (such as temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJD) and neck pain. Many people describe a headache that starts at the base of the skull and then moves in an arc over the ears and behind the eyes. Tension headaches are often caused or exacerbated by poor posture, awkward work station positions, and improper body mechanics, creating undue stress on the upper neck muscles.
Mixed headaches is a term that describes tension headaches that lead to migraines. Typically, the tension headache starts first and the chemicals produced from the pain of it create conditions for a migraine to develop. In people with patterns of mixed headaches, the best way to avoid the onset of a migraine is to treat the tension headache as quickly as possible.
Whatever kind of headaches you may experience, there are bodywork options available to help. Better yet, a full body-awareness regimen that includes bodywork, attention to body position, and stress management can help prevent or greatly reduce the frequency of headaches, in turn reducing your reliance on medication and the need to avoid food triggers. There are many different bodywork techniques, each with specific approaches for treating headaches.
Swedish massage reduces stress by promoting relaxation and relieving muscle tension. Rolfing, Hellerwork, and Structural Integration are designed to improve posture and structural alignment. Deep tissue therapy, as well as neuromuscular therapy and myofascial release, use techniques that break up the connective tissue "glue" to creating a new way for muscles to function freely. Reflexology, like acupuncture, works to move energy blockages in the body by stimulating points on the feet that correspond to organs in the body, promoting relaxation, reducing pain, and restoring energy flow. Craniosacral therapy addresses the inherent, gentle, rhythmic movement of the bones in the skull and their effect on the fluid that surrounds, bathes, and cushions the brain and spinal cord and runs throughout the body, working to restore the normal movement of the cranial bones and fluid.
By addressing the root of the problem, regularly scheduled bodywork sessions can greatly reduce your number and severity of headaches as well as your need for medication.
Please remember, headaches are not normal, and you don't have to live with them. Schedule your next bodywork session today!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Massage Can Benefit Your Mood!
Of our five senses, touch is the only one that is essential to life. Positive nurturing touch has been linked to many health benefits, including decreased pain and increased immune system strength, enhanced alertness and improved physical and mental performance. Additionally, massage lowers blood pressure, improves circulation, decreases heart rate, and increases joint mobility and overall flexibility.
Three new studies on massage reinforce the importance of touch to our lifelong health and well-being. These three studies found evidence of specific support for depression, anxiety, and helping clients through the death of a loved one.
According to a March study in the American Journal of Psychiatry, massage can help to alleviate symptoms of depression. This study reviewed 17 trials involving almost 800 people, comparing massage therapy with other approaches, including herbs, rest, or no treatment. The researchers hypothesized that touch may help reduce depression by inducing relaxation, reducing stress, and by increasing the production the feel-good hormone oxytocin.
Similarly, a study of 68 patients published in the journal Depression and Anxiety showed that patients had half the symptoms of anxiety and stress three months after getting a series of 10 hour-long massages. This is one of the first studies to look at the benefits of massage on generalized anxiety disorder.
With all of the proven health benefits, it is interesting that in studies evaluating the frequency of touch in various countries, the United States and Britain had the least amount of touch in human interactions. Unfortunately, we do not live in a society that celebrates nurturing touch. Social isolation, and therefore touch isolation, is most likely to occur in the groups that can derive the most health benefits: the sick and the elderly.
So if you or a loved one faces depression or illness, consider the healing power of massage. It's a very important part of the healing process.
Massage for Menopause
The Basic Facts
More than 40 million U.S. women are currently in the throes of a midlife rite of passage that we know as menopause. According to a recent Cox News report, approximately 4,000 women enter menopause each day. The need for comfort and relief for these women follows them from the first stages of perimenopause through to the final transition.
Menopause is certainly not an easy passage for women or their partners. Those infamous hot flashes are the most recognizable symptom, but the effects of menopause include a host of other problems: dry skin, night sweats, poor memory, urinary incontinence, insomnia, anxiety, mood swings, headaches/migraines, bone loss, erratic menstrual cycles, vaginal dryness, painful intercourse, and depression. For women in the midst of change, menopause is a daunting laundry list of symptoms that only seems to produce greater challenges each day. The good news is that there are many natural ways to make the transition a little easier.
Taking Menopause Back
It's important to remember the resources available to women during this often tumultuous time. Menopause can generally be a natural passage for the vast majority of American women. Nurturing and the healing power of touch are two valuable components in a treatment regimen for today's menopausal woman.
Massage therapists and bodyworkers, whose purpose is to touch, nurture and heal, are in a perfect position to fill this need. They can emply numerous therapies that can diminish the worst of the symptoms and improve your ability to deal with the challenges you're still sure to face. Some therapists (depending on their resources) are offering their menopausal clients some of the following: therapeutic massage with special attention to the abdomen and lower back; relaxation techniques, including guided meditations, to alleviate stress; aromatherapy massage with clary sage; seaweed wraps or body wraps for dry, sensitive skin; acupressure to rebalance hormonal systems, as well as shiatsu and lymphatic drainage; hydrotherapy baths with algae to detoxify and rebalance the body; and reflexology as a natural alternative to synthetic hormones.
Besides the physical and emotional comfort, a woman going through the life-changing forces of menopause can find the needed reassurance of her strength, beauty, and womanliness in massage and spa treatments. Massage and body treatments offer both a time for solace and inner thought, as well as a chance to attend solely to her own body and spirit. Don't underestimate the very basic need for comfort and support that can be so important in a hormone-ravaged body.
It's Still About Stress
An Internet-based survey recently found a correlation between stress and menopausal symptoms -- the greater the stress, the greater the symptoms. (As we have seen
here, this is actually true of many body-related challenges!) It only makes sense to implement as many stress-reducing activities as possible, which puts massage and spa therapies at the top of the list.
If you are going through menopause, ask your therapist what she/he can do to help
you through this trying time. And don't forget your own role in the process. Recognize your symptoms, find ways to walk away from stress, attend to your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, research your options, and, above all else, relax. As they say, this too shall pass.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
What is IT?
Some people call them IT bands or IT tracts. Some people call them ITBs or ITTs. But did you know that the first two letters stand for Ilio-Tibial?
Here at The Body Bar, we see many clients with pain and/or tightness in the IT bands. Lots of you have heard the name, but we felt that it might be helpful to show you a diagram and explain a bit about what it is and its function.
The IT band is a superficial thickening of fascia (connective tissue) on the lateral side (outside) of the thigh, extending from the top of the pelvis, over the hip and all the way past the knee, and inserting just below the knee on the lateral side. Basically, it connects bone and muscle tissue from the iliac crest of the pelvis (hence the ilio in its name) to the tibia (hence the tibial in its name).
The IT band tissue, unlike muscle, is non-contractile, but it is crucial to stabilizing the knee during running and walking. The band moves from behind the femur (the large bone in your thigh), to the front of the femur with each forward step. Due to the continual rubbing of the IT band over the bone, combined with the flexion and extension required of the knee, the tissue can often become inflamed, and thus painful. When this happens, it is called IT Band Syndrome, and is a common injury associated with running, cycling, hiking, or weight-lifting (especially from squats).
Symptoms of this syndrome can range from a stinging sensation just above the knee joint (and possibly along the entire length of the band up to the hip), to a swelling and thickening of the tissue at the point where the band is continually rubbing over the femur. The pain can occur immediately, but may also intensify over time, especially as the foot strikes the ground. Pain is sometimes also felt below the knee where the band attaches to the tibia (the bone in the outside of your lower leg).
Treating the pain and inflammation of a painful IT band is relatively easy. Massage therapy is extremely beneficial to keeping the tissue free from adhesion on surrounding tissues and bone. Stretching before and after sports, and using the R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, elevation) technique if there is inflammation is also recommended.
We at The Body Bar are always happy to show you specific stretches, or to answer any questions that you might have about your body and any discomfort that you experience, either in day-to-day life, or while enjoying a particular activity.
Take care out there, and please come see us again soon!
The Basic Facts
More than 40 million U.S. women are currently in the throes of a midlife rite of passage that we know as menopause. According to a recent Cox News report, approximately 4,000 women enter menopause each day. The need for comfort and relief for these women follows them from the first stages of perimenopause through to the final transition.
Menopause is certainly not an easy passage for women or their partners. Those infamous hot flashes are the most recognizable symptom, but the effects of menopause include a host of other problems: dry skin, night sweats, poor memory, urinary incontinence, insomnia, anxiety, mood swings, headaches/migraines, bone loss, erratic menstrual cycles, vaginal dryness, painful intercourse, and depression. For women in the midst of change, menopause is a daunting laundry list of symptoms that only seems to produce greater challenges each day. The good news is that there are many natural ways to make the transition a little easier.
Taking Menopause Back
It's important to remember the resources available to women during this often tumultuous time. Menopause can generally be a natural passage for the vast majority of American women. Nurturing and the healing power of touch are two valuable components in a treatment regimen for today's menopausal woman.
Massage therapists and bodyworkers, whose purpose is to touch, nurture and heal, are in a perfect position to fill this need. They can emply numerous therapies that can diminish the worst of the symptoms and improve your ability to deal with the challenges you're still sure to face. Some therapists (depending on their resources) are offering their menopausal clients some of the following: therapeutic massage with special attention to the abdomen and lower back; relaxation techniques, including guided meditations, to alleviate stress; aromatherapy massage with clary sage; seaweed wraps or body wraps for dry, sensitive skin; acupressure to rebalance hormonal systems, as well as shiatsu and lymphatic drainage; hydrotherapy baths with algae to detoxify and rebalance the body; and reflexology as a natural alternative to synthetic hormones.
Besides the physical and emotional comfort, a woman going through the life-changing forces of menopause can find the needed reassurance of her strength, beauty, and womanliness in massage and spa treatments. Massage and body treatments offer both a time for solace and inner thought, as well as a chance to attend solely to her own body and spirit. Don't underestimate the very basic need for comfort and support that can be so important in a hormone-ravaged body.
It's Still About Stress
An Internet-based survey recently found a correlation between stress and menopausal symptoms -- the greater the stress, the greater the symptoms. (As we have seen
here, this is actually true of many body-related challenges!) It only makes sense to implement as many stress-reducing activities as possible, which puts massage and spa therapies at the top of the list.
If you are going through menopause, ask your therapist what she/he can do to help
you through this trying time. And don't forget your own role in the process. Recognize your symptoms, find ways to walk away from stress, attend to your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, research your options, and, above all else, relax. As they say, this too shall pass.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
What is IT?
Some people call them IT bands or IT tracts. Some people call them ITBs or ITTs. But did you know that the first two letters stand for Ilio-Tibial?
Here at The Body Bar, we see many clients with pain and/or tightness in the IT bands. Lots of you have heard the name, but we felt that it might be helpful to show you a diagram and explain a bit about what it is and its function.
The IT band is a superficial thickening of fascia (connective tissue) on the lateral side (outside) of the thigh, extending from the top of the pelvis, over the hip and all the way past the knee, and inserting just below the knee on the lateral side. Basically, it connects bone and muscle tissue from the iliac crest of the pelvis (hence the ilio in its name) to the tibia (hence the tibial in its name).
The IT band tissue, unlike muscle, is non-contractile, but it is crucial to stabilizing the knee during running and walking. The band moves from behind the femur (the large bone in your thigh), to the front of the femur with each forward step. Due to the continual rubbing of the IT band over the bone, combined with the flexion and extension required of the knee, the tissue can often become inflamed, and thus painful. When this happens, it is called IT Band Syndrome, and is a common injury associated with running, cycling, hiking, or weight-lifting (especially from squats).
Symptoms of this syndrome can range from a stinging sensation just above the knee joint (and possibly along the entire length of the band up to the hip), to a swelling and thickening of the tissue at the point where the band is continually rubbing over the femur. The pain can occur immediately, but may also intensify over time, especially as the foot strikes the ground. Pain is sometimes also felt below the knee where the band attaches to the tibia (the bone in the outside of your lower leg).
Treating the pain and inflammation of a painful IT band is relatively easy. Massage therapy is extremely beneficial to keeping the tissue free from adhesion on surrounding tissues and bone. Stretching before and after sports, and using the R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, elevation) technique if there is inflammation is also recommended.
We at The Body Bar are always happy to show you specific stretches, or to answer any questions that you might have about your body and any discomfort that you experience, either in day-to-day life, or while enjoying a particular activity.
Take care out there, and please come see us again soon!
2676 North Park Drive
Lafayette CO 80026
303.665.2242
info@mybodybar.com
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