Posts from — September 2008

Back pain can be one of the most chronic and debilitating forms of ill health a person can experience. When someone is experiencing back problems it tends to make life a challenge, and nothing else seems to go right. Whether it is disk problems, sciatica, scoliosis, or muscles spasms, the pain can be so distracting that your whole day is formed around trying to get around the annoyance and discomfort. Does this ring a bell with you, or with someone you know?

As a CranioSacral therapist, I see many people in your position, and understand what it means to experience chronic, nagging tightness, soreness, inflammation, and pain. The good news is that CranioSacral Therapy has helped countless people be relieved of their suffering, and regain their joy and zeal for life.

Back pain can stem from several causes. One such cause if called the “layering effect”. During a person’s lifetime many small traumas can occur to the body, and they are continually encapsulated and absorbed into the muscles and soft tissues. The body does this so that the whole body is not incapacitated and you can get up in the morning and get to work! But the body can only take so much before it begins to complain in a big way. So, maybe you are bending down to pick up a newspaper and your back seizes up. Well, that can be because it’s your body’s way of saying it is the last straw to all of the abuse it has taken over the years. So, when you come to me, I would work on releasing those muscles and soft tissues so that not only your pain is relieved, but the underlying causes are treated and released as well.

Another cause for back pain can be a sudden, large trauma, such as a car accident or major surgery. Someone once told me that a car accident is surprise trauma to the body, and surgery is organized trauma to the body. Either way, the body reacts in the same manner. Again, it will seize up and encapsulate the affected area, and try its best to function through the pain. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. When it doesn’t, that is where CranioSacral Therapy can help.

CranioSacral Therapy is a light touch healing modality, in which the client is clothed on the treatment table. How can light touch be so effective? Well, I have been extensively trained to listen to your body and pinpoint where the root cause of your discomfort is coming from. I do this by reading the flow of your cerebrospinal fluid - the fluid surrounding you spinal chord that runs up and down your body from your sacrum (lower back) to your brain. Your body flexes and extends to this rhythm, and where there is an obstruction in the rhythm, I know that area needs treatment. In CranioSacral Therapy it is all about soft tissue release, so that the affected area can relax and realign. A really good CS therapist can find the exact locations that are causing the pain, and treat accordingly. In CranioSacral Therapy it is all about soft tissue release, so that the tightness, inflammation, and soreness can relax and release. I also treat other areas in the body that have compensated for the pain, so that all of your body parts can once again be realigned and work as a whole. We call this “integrated therapy”.

Does this sound like the treatment you (or a friend) have been looking for? CranioSacral Therapy has been around in the health field for about 35 years. It was developed by Dr. John Upledger, who established the Upledger Institute for CranioSacral Therapy’s continuing development and research. There are thousands of CST practitioners around the world, many of them incorporating CS skills within their professions. I treat clients by primarily using CranioSacral Therapy, and also by incorporating CST in therapeutic massage sessions. When you sign up for an appointment we can determine which approach is best for you. My goal is to have you get “back” into the swing of things ASAP!

Ilani Kopiecki, BA & CMT is a CranioSacral Therapist and Therapeutic Massage Practitioner. She has been in practice for over eight years. She maintains her office at Stepping Stones Wellness Center, 803 Pine Street, right here in Sandpoint. To arrange an appointment with Ilani, please call her practice at: 610-2005. To find out more about CranioSacral Therapy, please go to www.upledger.com on the web.

Feet are an adventure when you’re a Reflexologist and a journey of discovery for you, the client. When my fingers begin to walk all over your feet, following the map of reflexes that connect your feet with every body part, I find lumps, crystals, soft and hard places, tender, numb and empty spaces. These unbalanced reflexes with their differing textures and temperatures feel tender, tingly or numb and they reveal stress, tension, congestion, exhaustion, inflammation, degeneration, and much more, in your related body part. Your life is in your feet to be revealed and healed! Using my thumb and forefinger to apply a sensitive pressure, I spend extra time on these unbalanced reflexes. This stimulates energy to flow, in a domino effect, correcting vibration rates throughout your entire body/ mind/heart / spirit. You are very relaxed, genuinely changed and renewed by this effect.

You don’t need to be ill or suffering with a particular complaint or condition to benefit from reflexology. We can all use relaxation and balancing in any state of wellness. But, if you do have a health issue, reflexology is always beneficial and there are no contraindications to having reflexology.

“Can working on my feet help my back pain?” Absolutely! Rest your foot on the outside edge and examine the inner edge. The area from the middle of your big toe down to your inner heel area is the spine reflex. ‘Walking’ and ‘working’ the reflexes with my fingers up and down this whole length along several different paths reaches all parts of your back-vertebrae, spinal column, sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves- and relieves tension, pain, stiffness, inflammation and even misalignment. “It’s like you’ve oiled my neck” people will say or “I feel like I’ve had a back massage.” Some clients make amazing discoveries. An aching knee, numb feet or painful leg is actually a lower back or hip problem.

People sometimes ask if reflexology actually helps with foot pain while it’s having such a profound affect on every other part of your body. Good question. Yes, it does. Reflexology improves the pain of inflammation and stagnation with the increased circulation it brings. It helps stretch tight, stiff and cramped muscles and relieves inflamed ligaments and pinched nerves. For these reasons, discomfort associated with many different conditions such as bone spurs, plantar fasciitis, arthritis and more are helped by foot reflexology. “When your feet hurt, you hurt all over”. It is wonderful to help with foot pain and in so doing, help someone feel better all over.

Penny’s business is Your RELAXATIONDESTINATION and she can be reached at 208 597 4343. You can also visit her at www.cureforthecommonspa.com . To access other articles by Penny, please visit www.sandpointwellnesscouncil.com.

There’s an 80% chance you will see your doc about back pain during your life. In the last article, you learned the distinction between acute and chronic back pain, and how to not cause either. And you learned that breathing is the key to preventing and healing back tension. This article will explore, in greater depths, what is behind chronic back pain and what you can do about it.

As a Rolfer, I tend to treat people after they tried everything else. This in not because other treatments are ineffective – it’s because the tension that is causing the persistent problem is old. After many years of repeated back problems, the entire body gets tighter and more distorted. The original problem might have been from a childhood injury. Over the years, the body has more stress, more injuries and more patterns of compensation that all add to increased tension. At some point, the body exhausts its ability to counteract the original strain pattern. Now you are worse off – you have the original tension plus years of coping with it.

The Often-Overlooked Source of Back Pain

We all know we get shorter as we age. But it’s not our bones shortening—it’s the soft tissue shortening and screwing down. Here is a quick test to evaluate what your low back is up against:

Stand up, and place your fingers on your pelvis.

Push in a little until you feel that lower twelve rib.

Optimally, you should have the space of three finger widths between your pelvis and your lower rib.

Rarely do I find that much space. Two finger widths is great, one is adequate. When you are at no space or having your ribs inside your pelvis, you have a problem.

This is where we lose most of our height. Our discs are like jelly donuts being space fillers between the vertebras allowing the spine to move. They become pancakes from this compression. When the discs compress and the tissue around them tighten, they dehydrate from lack of circulation and movement. This sets up the bulging or ruptured disc that may require surgery. This chronic tension and shortness just makes you more vulnerable to back injury and pain.

Strengthening your back will often give your short-term gain; you’ll have increased movement, and you may develop a new pattern of compensation. Over time, the soft tissue just gets tighter.

We need to go in the other direction. We need to release and lengthen the tissue. Unfortunately at this point, stretching does not work for most people. Stretching these muscles is like stretching a steel cable. We need to make the soft tissue soft again.

What Is Possible

If the body created soft tissue strain, it can usually un-create it. When the correct amount of pressure is applied to the right area, the tissue begins to release. Over time, hydration, subtleness and movement returns. The body begins to unwind as it lengthens out. The space in between the pelvis and the ribs returns.

Once the body attains a level of order and relaxation, the change becomes sustainable. All our bodies prefer pleasure to pain. When we are so used to pain, it can take a while for our bodies to trust that our backs can be as they were when we were younger.

Part of returning this vibrancy to our tissue comes from changing simple behaviors. The first is learning not to protect your back. The natural behavior of holding to avoid or reduce your back pain over time only makes your back tighter. I have seen people where their pain is long gone, the back is loose, but the person still protects out of habit. Noticing how subtlety we hold is huge. A lot of little holding all the time adds up to be significant. A lot of subtle letting go adds up also.

Rolfing is certainly not the only means to releasing chronic tension; it just may be quickest, though. Teaching the entire body to deeply and consistently relax can do a lot. As mentioned in the previous article, learning to breath and dealing with stress can significantly improve chronic pain.

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Owen Marcus as Sandpoint’s local Rolfer (www.align.org) focuses on turning around chronic conditions.

Physical Therapists may be known traditionally for their role in rehabilitation; however physical therapists play an important role in prevention, health maintenance, and in the promotion of health, wellness and fitness. Within the health and wellness industry, you may find physical therapists working in personal training studios, gyms, fitness centers, athletic facilities, and in corporate or industrial health centers.

Physical Therapists are movement specialists with an advanced clinical knowledge of the human muscular and skeletal system. Physical therapists diagnose and treat all types of movement problems. They also maintain and promote optimal physical function, wellness, fitness, and quality of life as it relates to movement and health.

There is a movement in physical therapy in general that focuses on prevention rather than treatment. Physical therapists working within the field of health, wellness and fitness have an incredible opportunity to help individuals improve their health, well-being, and quality of life. Providing expert exercise program design along with nutritional and lifestyle guidance can make a huge impact on individuals with existing health concerns and/or people who are just interested in maintaining or improving their current health. Not only will the individual’s health, vitality and quality of life increase but health care costs over the long term will be substantially reduced with preventative care.

Both people with existing injuries or illnesses and those with no health issues at all may choose a physical therapist as their guide to design a weekly exercise regimen and to provide them with helpful tips on lifestyle choices such as nutrition, sleep, and stress reduction. Employers may hire a physical therapist to teach their staff safe lifting techniques or to set up their workstations optimally to improve posture and decrease worksite injuries.

If you are searching for expert guidance for your health, wellness and/or fitness concerns, consider a physical therapist as your practitioner of choice.

Kristine Battey is a licensed physical therapist, a certified athletic trainer, a certified strength and conditioning specialist (personal trainer) and a holistic lifestyle coach. She owns Divine Health & Fitness and can be reached at (208) 946-7072.

It’s inevitable. Like death and taxes. Back pain.

Second to colds, the most likely reason you’ll visit a healthcare provider will be back pain. Fifty percent of Americans report back pain each year.

Are you in pain right now? Is your movement limited? Are you reducing your activities because of the pain or the fear of the pain? Let’s look at why.

A lot of back pain comes from overexertion. If that’s you, you’re lucky. Your pain will go away once your body recovers from being pushed. And there’s a good chance it won’t return—unless you overdo it again. In time, you’ll be fine.

For pain due to overexertion, traditional remedies work well. Cold compresses can reduce swelling. Warm, moist heat helps muscles that feel tight. Alternating the two can be beneficial. And of course, massage and gentle stretching relax the tightness, and the movement prevents further stiffness. Rest always supports the body in healing, and topical ointments will give you warmth and local pain relief.

Chronic Back Pain

Chronic back pain is a different animal. Pain often occurs without physical exertion; it just shows up. As the frequency and intensity of episodes increase, each incident leaves a tension residue that sets up the next attack of pain. Pain pills and muscles relaxers can help, but many people don’t like their side effects. One thing is clear: just treating the symptom is not enough—particularly when the problem is likely to return.

Prevention and Treatment

The best way to treat chronic back pain is to prevent it. Learn to lift using your legs. Sit on your sits bones. Stop slouching! It will all reduce back strain. Use ergonomic furniture that adjusts to your unique body, instead of forcing your body to adapt to the furniture. Moving helps, too – get up and walk around, take breaks.

And the most critical behavior—the one we never think—about is breathing. I know, you are breathing. The question is how well.

When I taught Mindfulness Stress Reduction courses in Scottsdale, AZ, the principal reason people came to us was back pain. At the time, we were the largest company offering these courses in the country. Most of our students for the 8-week course were referrals from hospital networks or corporate clients.

We taught the students to breath. As easy as it might sound, the first few weeks were tough. Doing very simple relaxation exercises would actually create stress. The students’ old habits prevented them from relaxing and breathing fully. Once they realized how tense they were, they saw and how much they were limiting their breath—even when they believed they were relaxed. With daily homework and coming to the weekly class, their awareness and breathing increased as their stress and pain declined.

What does this mean for you? If these very tense people can dramatically change their stress and pain in 8-weeks, so can you. The first step is to become aware of how you hold your body and your breath. If you are holding one, you are holding the other. As your breath becomes fuller, slower and more relaxed you begin to train your body not to hold stress, but to release it.

In keeping with letting go, I suggest to my clients that they do not do “back strengthening” exercises. I have not seen a back that was muscularly weak; I see many that are structurally weak. Our bigger back muscles are not meant to be posture muscles, they are designed to move us, not hold us. The constant holding makes them tighter. Rather than getting stronger form sit-ups or back extensions, practice breathing and stretching.

My next article will build on this one and begin to explore how Rolfing turns around chronic back pain.

Owen Marcus as Sandpoint’s local Rolfer (www.align.org) focuses on turning around chronic conditions.