Photo: woods wheatcroft photography

IMG_3771How many hours a day do you sit? If you are like most Americans, it’s too much. U.S. adults spend, on average, between 4.5 and 5 hours a day sitting.[1] Those who sit more than 11 hours per day have a 40%higher risk of chronic diseases than those who sit fewer than 4 hours per day.[2

A recent article in the New York Times, “The Posture Guru of Silicon Valley,” describes how Esther Gokhale teaches the geeks and executives in Silicon Valley techniques for maintaining better posture. Changing simple behaviors, such as slouching in a C curve verses sitting up relaxed on your sits bones, makes a huge difference.

You need more than good ergonomic furniture. You need to adjust that furniture to fit your body so that there is no strain. Realize that body size and structure vary, what works for your co-worker will probably be different for you. Before buying an expensive ergonomic chair, test drive it. A good office furniture store will guarantee the fit. If after a few days, it doesn’t feel good, try another chair.

Some bodies are so tight and misaligned that postural adjustments, exercise, standard physical therapy and chiropractic adjustments will not work. Those bodies need their soft tissue to be released. The chronic fascial adhesions (or, as I often call it, gristle or scar tissue) from a history of stress, injuries and poor posture needs releasing and realigning--more than a standard massage.

Once you have a new structure, move it. “The more still [you are], the higher [your] risk of chronic diseases.”[3] Sitting “for an extended period of time, your body starts to shut down at the metabolic level,” says Marc Hamilton, PhD, associate professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Missouri.[4] It’s not just how you sit, it’s how long you sit. You can have the best posture, but still freeze up because you’re not moving. Research shows that an athlete is worse off if she sits all day compared to a nonathletic person who gets up and moves regularly.

Some people are solving this problem by getting stand-up desks and work stations. A client of mine has had one for 4 months and swears by it. “I’m at my computer about 6 hours of my 8-hour day. Since I got the standing desk, I have so much more energy, and I know it’s because I’m standing straighter and breathing better. I don’t get home exhausted anymore. I have a high stool, so I sit if my feet get tired, but as the months have passed I’ve used it less and less. I have a lot less back discomfort, too.” Stand-up desks are inexpensive. If you want to drop a lot of cash, though, you can always join the latest craze: get a desk that has an attached treadmill. NPR recently did a story on that progression of the office space.5

The British Journal of Sports Medicine concluded that each hour spent watching television after the age of 25 reduces your life expectancy by nearly 22 minutes. To put this into perspective, the authors compared it to smoking – each cigarette reduces your life expectancy by about 11 minutes.[5] To heal and prevent chronic problems – get the best furniture for your body, release your chronic tension, learn from someone who understands natural posture what posture is best for you and move.

Owen Marcus, MA Certified Advanced Rolfer, with 33 yrs experience www.align.org.  Call if you have questions: 265.8440. This article and many more health and wellness articles are at the blog: www.sandpointwellnesscouncil.com. Go to the blog to ask questions or add your comments on any article.

photo by: joelogon

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Joli pied-à-terreNow that our luscious warm weather has arrived I am beginning to see in my massage practice the rise of quite scruffy, scaly feet, calluses, cracked skin around the heels, imbedded dirt, and toenail fungus.  Left untreated such foot conditions can lead to more serious problems such as fungal spread and loss of toenails.  Foot fungus and toenail fungus can cause inflammation, swelling, pain, yellowing of the nails as well as thickening and/or crumbling of the nails.

Some causes may be due to wearing synthetic socks, having feet daily in moist environments such as shower rooms in gyms and spas, repeatedly wearing damp or sweaty shoes, low immune function or abnormal pH on the skin of the affected area.

Several effective home remedies exist but most importantly one needs to follow good foot hygiene.  Keep handy a special foot brush or loufah sponge, a pumice stone, and a cuticle stick to clean under and around nails.  Use these tools daily in your shower and your feet should be socially acceptable all summer.

 

Some of the easiest remedies listed here are from Top 10 Home Remedies found at www.top10homeremedies.com.

  1.  White vinegar and Listerine in a 50/50 mixture.  Listerine has strong antiseptic properties.  Soak feet two or three times daily.
  2. Pure Tea Tree Oil.  Place 20-25 drops in warm water and soak feet three times a day.
  3. Garlic oil and white vinegar.  Mix a 50/50 solution, apply to toenails and cover with socks.  You can make your own solution by crushing a clove of garlic and mixing with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Let this mixture sit for 24 hours before applying.
  4. Orange oil.  Apply this daily all around toes and nails.  Leave on for one hour.  Watch for any signs of sensitivity as orange oil may cause an allergic reaction for some people.
  5. Oregano Oil.   This oil is antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic, and antibacterial.  Mix 2 drops of oregano oil with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and apply.  Results may take about 3 weeks but will be worth the daily effort.
  6. Lemon juice.  Apply fresh lemon juice directly to affected areas and leave on for 10-15 minutes.  Then rinse in warm water.

If applying these pure essential oils to scaly and cracked skin, dilute it first with olive oil, grapeseed oil, or almond oil.  Essential oils are strong and direct application to skin may cause serious problem.  The olive oil will soften the skin while the few drops of oil will do the antifungal work for you.

These ideas should help relieve the discomfort of any fungal infestation.  Be sure to keep your shoes clean and make sure they are completely dry before wearing again. Having nice soft feet will be much appreciated by your massage therapists.

Krystle Shapiro, LMT, MSHN owns Touchstone Therapeutic Massage and Nutrition Plus!  She can be reached at (208) 290-6760.

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Laughter: The Best MedicineThere are many physicians in town who specialize.  Some are board certified in family medicine, internal medicine, chronic pain, or orthopedics.  Physical therapists also specialize.  There are therapists in town that specialize in aquatics, geriatrics, pediatrics, work hardening, sports, joint replacements, and chronic pain.  Personally, I have no treadmill, bike, or any other type of sports equipment.  I specialize in joint and soft tissue mobilization usually of the cervical or lumbar spine.  I  also treat shoulders and have a special interest in coccyx or tailbone injuries.

Cranio-sacral Therapy is a treatment modality that uses the force of a nickel, 5g, to release fascial restrictions within the skull following trauma or prolonged dental procedures and is very effective for treatment of vertigo, TMJ, headache, migraine, and concussion.  Visceral Manipulation is also a gentle technique that releases fascial restrictions around the organs.  This may occur following abdominal or pelvic trauma, infection, or following surgery.  Women’s Health is advanced training for urinary and fecal incontinence.  This treatment is also used for men who have had their prostate removed.  Research shows  they will be incontinent for 6 months following surgery, but will have better outcomes if they receive pelvic floor muscle training prior to surgery.

It is also important to consider the setting in which you want to be treated.  Many therapists treat in an open gym setting which is great for athletes or patients with joint replacements.  Some  patients, however, would prefer to be treated by the same therapists each time in a wellness center environment.  I recently had two patients who reported to me last week that this was the case.

When choosing a therapists don’t be shy about interviewing them.  Many therapists now have websites that you can visit to get information about schooling and specialty area.  Call and talk to the therapists, inquire about their schooling, and how much continuing education they take.  Also remember that Idaho has “direct access”.  This means that you can go directly to your PT of choice without going to the MD first, except for Medicare.  Also, if your doctor suggests one clinic, you can still go to the clinic of your choice.

For questions about choosing the correct PT to fit your needs, call Mary Boyd, MS, PT at 290-5575.  Mary is a member of the Sandpoint Wellness Council and owner of Mountain View Physical Therapy.

 

photo by: NazarethCollege

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216036Chronic stress can lead to our brains getting into a rut and causes us to oftentimes repeat dysfunctional behaviors such as overreacting or arguing with imaginary others in the bathroom mirror over challenges or emotional traumas we feel we face.  Chronic stress initiates a response cascading a stress hormone release into the bloodstream and this lowers our brain function in order to meet the needs for addressing the “fight or flight” response our bodies require.  High levels of stress chemistry, especially cortisol, damages the hippocampus, a brain structure responsible in making memory, in turning short term memory into long term memory as well as affecting our emotions connected to our experiences.  In David Perlmutter’s book, Power Up Your Brain, The Neuroscience of Enlightenment, he reports the following important information regarding this stressful condition affecting the brain:  “Research using animals has shown that an elevated level of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is a protective brain hormone, increased by such activities as calorie reduction, fasting, and mental and physical exercise [and] imparts a high level of protection for the hippocampus making it resistant to damage from elevated cortisol . . .”

Research also associates that higher levels of cortisol from stressful situations increase with age and has been seen in Alzheimer’s patients.  Reducing these levels has been an important focus for researchers as to how to reduce the level of cortisol production that can damage the hippocampus.  The catch-22 is that the hippocampus controls the adrenal glands’ production of cortisol-potentially damaging itself. What is a body supposed to do then?

The key appears to be in protecting the hippocampus to reduce its signal to the adrenal glands to produce cortisol in stressful situations.  Research has discovered that when positive and loving experiences occur early in life, the hippocampus becomes less sensitive to the effects of cortisol, thus not overreacting during higher stress situations later in life.  Early positive and loving experiences develop a “set point” in the hippocampus that tends to last throughout life.

If, however, one’s life experience has been more traumatic from early years forward, it is still possible to reset the set point sensitivity of the hippocampus.  As stated above, it is important to initiate the BDNF hormone release as a protection and to stand back from one’s experiences and try to see it from a different perspective.  See how it can teach you something, see the positive that could come out of it helping you to change something in your life or remove troubling people or events that create the chronic stress in the first place.

By changing one’s perceptions and using the lessons received, the hippocampus begins to establish new nerve (neural) networks.  A person does not need to be forever tied to earlier stressful situations that damaged the hippocampus.  Our brains are capable of change, of adapting, and of evolving new perceptions.  We just have to give it a boost to do so by making active choices to increase BDNF and reducing our stressful situations; maybe not easy but always possible.

Krystle Shapiro owns Touchstone Massage Therapies and Nutrition Plus!  She can be reached at (208) 290-6760.

photo by: El Bibliomata

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Microwaving Harms Nutrients in Foods

April 17, 2013

For many years we have all enjoyed using a microwave oven to warm or cook our foods.  Today research is beginning to reveal the damaging effects this type of cooking is having with the quality of the food, especially for fats and proteins that causes them to become more difficult to absorb.  Great health requires [...]

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A Simple Solution for Constipation

April 2, 2013

This is a touchy subject that can be embarrassing for people to talk about. But it is a wide-spread problem. Physicians write more than one million prescriptions for laxatives each year, costing over $700 million.  And more than 400,000 people are hospitalized each year in the United States because of untreated constipation. We are familiar [...]

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Our Brains Can Help Us Change Our Moods

March 30, 2013

I read an interesting idea about our brains and a technique to improve our moods from John B. Arden, Ph.D in his book “Rewire Your Brain.”   With so much distressing information coming at us each day and frustrations mounting as we face our challenges, I thought you would enjoy this idea. As background, different areas [...]

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Food Allergies Can Interfere with the Joy of Eating

March 26, 2013

The joy of tasting food is something we all look forward to experiencing.  For some people, however, food allergies and sensitivities can interfere with this joy creating barriers to selecting certain favorite foods.  Signs and symptoms of food allergies may include sneezing, itching, headaches, digestive disturbances, sleep irregularities, concentration problems, and ongoing fatigue.  Two foods [...]

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Healthy Brain Aging

March 12, 2013

As we begin to recognize the signs of aging, we also begin to worry about the health of our brains.  We worry that we might be seeing the signs of mental decline when we forget names and faces, where we put our keys or glasses, or sometimes feel confused over things we were never confused [...]

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The Importance of Detoxification

March 7, 2013

Many people today are sharing conversations about how to take better care of themselves and improve their health.  Every day we read in newspapers and magazines about the rising numbers of people suffering from various cancers, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and especially the rise in obesity in young people.  And we then ask ourselves, “How is [...]

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