Learning to Relax

Tension causes injury. Breath and stillness of the mind cause relaxation. Every day it is imperative to have time with yourself to allow healing and to promote wellness. Time with yourself can include meditation, setting intentions or it can be as simple as watching yourself take 5 deep breaths in the mirror. We all have busy lives and it often seems there is no extra time to waste ... but taking a little time to refocus, breathe deeply and take control of your mind is no waste of time. In fact, many studies prove that brief relaxation can result in ...

Inflammation – what is it, and why do I have it?

Inflammation is, like pain, a cyclic event. Once one is in an inflammatory cycle there is only one way to get out of it - NSAIDS taken as notated on the bottle. Inflammation begins with the release of histamines and other chemicals that build up in the system and infiltrate the tissues. This infiltration is difficult to relieve unless the vessels around affected tissues can move out the inflammation. In these cases I recommend three days of NSAIDS for inflammatory conditions such as bursitis, tendonitis, arthritis, ankle sprains, etc. Ice only works 24-48 hours after ...

Breaking the Pain Cycle

I see patients that are "stuck" in the pain cycle every day, and I find there is often one common pain culprit - poor posture. We all know about posture and can usually straighten up to the desired position when around others who are walking tall or when verbally cued; however, the pain cycle occurs when good posture is not a habit. Making good posture a habit means retraining postural muscles. Postural muscles are strengthened in a lengthened position ... not in a shortened position. In other words, when you do crunches to try to strengthen ...