Can Massage Help Heal Frozen Shoulder

Frozen Shoulder is also known as adhesive capsulitis. The capsule that holds the bones, ligaments and tendons of your shoulder thickens and tightens around the joint causing a restriction in movement.  The symptoms start gradually, get worse over time, and include stiffness and pain in your shoulder joint. Some people might notice their pain getting worse at night when they are sleeping.

There are typically three stages of Frozen Shoulder:

Painful stage. This is the stage where pain and limited range of motion start.

Frozen stage. In this stage the pain might decrease and, unfortunately, your limited range of motion and stiffness gets worse.

Thawing stage. During the thawing stage, the range of motion in your shoulder begins to improve.

Massage can break up the holding associated with Frozen Shoulder. Massage incorporated with exercises and stretches a therapist can give you, will help you to be well on your way to recovery.

Some others things that have been known to help heal Frozen Shoulder:

1. When lifting with just one arm, lift with your unaffected arm.
2. When lifting with both arms, do not lift over your head.
3. Ice your shoulder after heavy activity for up to but no longer than 15 minutes.
4. Heat your shoulder by taking a shower or using a heating pack in the morning.
5. Heat your shoulder, if you are not inflamed, before doing your exercises.
6. Ice your shoulder several times a day when you are inflamed or in a lot of pain.
7. Support your elbow with a pillow when you sitting and your arm with a pillow when you are sleeping so that gravity does not pull your shoulder down.
8. In the first painful stage, don’t do something that causes pain. Be very gentle.
9. Do the exercises you get from your treatment massage therapist every day. The improvement might seem slow but this is very important.
10. Acupuncture has been known to be helpful with decreasing the pain and symptoms that come with Frozen Shoulder.

Thanks for taking the time and reading this post. If you have Frozen Shoulder, I hope you recover quickly. PJ Harri, LMP http://www.pjharris.com/

What is Reiki

Reiki is a healing approach that uses light touch from the practitioner to channel the healing life force energy of the universe to the recipient. Used to relieve physical and emotional pain and to promote spiritual clarity and relaxation, Reiki also speeds the healing process and balances the body’s energy.

What a Reiki session might be like can vary from practitioner to practitioner. Some sessions might start with the practitioner placing their hands in a set pattern. Other sessions the hand placement might be more random with the practitioner using a more intuitive approach. Reiki can also be given from across the room. This is known as beaming.

Reiki training usually comes in levels of 3-4 ending in the Master level where the practitioner can teach others the art of Reiki. It is a good idea that a practitioner practices Reiki for a while between levels to gain a greater understanding of this amazing healing tool within each level.

As a Seattle massage practitioner, one of the things I appreciate about Reiki is you can treat any condition. I can not give massage to the severely wounded or on a broken bone. With Reiki that is not an issue. I have had great results giving Reiki to folks in Seattle with conditions that are not advisable for massage.

Another wonderful facet about Reiki is that a practitioner can actually give Reiki to themselves. As a matter of fact, it is encouraged to give yourself Reiki everyday and why wouldn’t you?

Thanks so much for reading this week’s post about Reiki, PJ Harris, LMP and Reiki Master http://www.pjharris.com/reiki.htm#classes

What Can You Do for Restless Leg Syndrome?

Before we launch into how to relieve Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS), it is important to know you don’t have another condition. There are no test to find out if you have RLS, but there are tests your doctor can give you to rule out some other things. That could be important information because the treatment for those other conditions would be very different.

Some of the symptoms of RLS include:

~A creeping, crawling, jittery, tingling, burning, aching in legs at night or during inactivity

~Irresistible urge to move the legs

~Persistent leg movements during sleep hours

~Sleeping difficulty

~Not usually a muscle cramp or numbness

~Symptoms will have temporary relief with movement

Unfortunately, there is no known cure for RLS and they are not sure what causes it. There are a few treatments that have  provided some folks with RLS relief. If your physician suspects you have RLS check with them to see if you could try these treatments.

~Make sure you are eating a healthy diet.

~Avoid caffeine.

~Exercise has been known to help. Make sure you don’t overdo or excercise too late in the evening.

~Massage can help you relax.

~Try other relaxation techniques like yoga, a warm bath or meditation.

~Make sure you have a regular sleep cycle and are getting enough rest.

~Alternating heat and cold packs or just one or the other can lessen the sensations.

~Have your iron levels checked.

~Cut back on alcohol and tobacco and see if that helps.

Hopefully these ideas can provide you with some relief. The RLS Foundation is also a font of information. Thanks for reading PJ Harris, LMP http://www.pjharris.com/

Can Massage Help Relieve Your Cold Symptoms?

You wake up in the morning sore and stiff because you were in bed all day yesterday with a cold. You then realize you have a massage schedule today. Aaahhh, that will  provide relief to your achy muscles and give you a brief hour of feeling good instead of feeling terrible.

Actually, getting a massage when you are sick with the flu or a cold is a bad idea. Depending on what stage of the illness you are in, the massage can send the virus zooming through your body by increasing your circulation. Maybe you might get better faster, but it is more likely you will feel a lot worse. Also, when you go to a massage with a cold you put your practitioner at risk to catch your cold.

I was a child care provider for many years and would often get sick from being around the kids and babies. While I am not a doctor and can not prescribe cold treatments, I have found these natural remedies to be quite helpful.

Echinacea ~ This wonderful super herb stimulates the immune system and promotes T-cell activation. Remember when this herb was first available? It was in a horrible tasting tincture. Yuck. Some still swear that is the best way to take it but there are many other forms now found like tablets, capsules, teas…

Vitamin C ~ My favorite source of Vitamin C is Emer-gen C. Yummy powdered drink that helps hydrate you as well as give you lots of Vitamin C.

Zinc ~This is great to help with sinus type colds. Not so great for nausea. Be careful how much you take.

Drink lots of fluids ~ Water, herbal tea or any other clear liquid is best. They help replace fluids lost during mucus production or fever. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can cause dehydration, and cigarette smoke, which can aggravate your symptoms.

Chicken soup or Pho ~ The warmth of these soups helps to move that mucus out of your nose and on to your kleenex and provides nourishing hydration.

 Get lots of rest ~ Stay home from work, keep warm and sleep as much as you can. Your body needs all of its strength to heal and you reduce the risk of infecting others.

Gargling with warm salt water  ~ Not sure why this helps. It might be that the salt draws out the inflammation. Doing this several times a day can really help relieve your sore throat.

Saline nasal drops or Neti pot ~ Either one of these methods can help relieve nasal congestion. The drops are found at most local drug stores. Be careful when using the Neti pot and follow the provided directions. If you are not careful you can get water in your ears.

Thanks for reading and feel free to share remedies you might have in the comment section. PJ Harris, LMP http://www.pjharris.com/

Can You Get a Massage If You Have Cancer?

There are so many ways someone with cancer can benefit from massage. Massage is incredibly nurturing. This is much needed by a person living with cancer. They often feel isolated, depressed and positive touch deprived. Many times their loved ones can not support them due to living far away or sometimes they are afraid of the stigmas attached to the disease.  Loved ones also might feel afraid that they might hurt the cancer patient if they touch them. Massage provides relief from stress and restlessness, sleep improvement and pain relief. Fortunately, there are many hospice and cancer support organizations that have massage practitioners who donate their time.

Old school beliefs were based on the opinion that massage increases circulation and can promote the spread of cancer. We now have seen many studies that state that massage does not promote the spread of cancer, though some types of massage are inadvisable for certain types of cancer. For example, we need to be especially gentle when touching people with bone cancer, so deep tissue massage is a very bad idea. Another example might be someone undergoing cancer treatment might have nausea and jostling their body or aggressive movement of their limbs could agitate their symptoms. So, as always, talk to your oncologist about whether or not massage is a good idea for you. If your oncologist gives you the green light, make sure you find out what parameters the therapist should work within. I also suggest you see someone who is trained in how to address the special needs of someone dealing with this disease.

If you know someone with cancer, suggest to them to get a massage. They especially deserve some enjoyment from life. Thanks for reading, PJ Harris, LMP. http://www.pjharris.com/

Balance Your Body With A Simple Energy Exercise by Fred Krazeise

Fred is one of my favorite bloggers. I thought I would share one of his posts with you. You can read more of his work at his Empowered & Fit site or follow him on Twitter @empoweredandfit. Enjoy! PJ Harris LMP

Balance Your Body With A Simple Energy Exercise by Fred Krazeise

Your body is naturally hard-wired to react to threats in a way that is meant to protect you (think of encountering lions, tigers and bears, oh my!). But your body and your mind may pay the price if your “fight-or-flight” reaction – a natural protective mechanism – is constantly “on.”

Stress today comes from different sources than that of our ancient ancestors. It may come from fighting traffic during the daily rush hour, the rush of getting yourself, your family off to work and school everyday, from pressures related to job and career and managing your workload, and from worry about making ends meet in this difficult economy. And while these daily stresses may not be immediately life-threatening, if left unchecked and uncontrolled, if you allow your body’s natural stress mechanism to be left continuously in the “on” position, you will begin to pay a price over the long haul.

When your body perceives a threat, and is under stress, it releases a combination of nerve and hormonal signals that prompts your adrenal glands, located atop your kidneys to release a surge in hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. According to an article from the Mayo Clinic, here’s what happens when these hormones are released:

Adrenaline increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure and boosts energy supplies.

Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, increases sugars (glucose) in the bloodstream, enhances your brain’s use of glucose and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues. Cortisol also curbs functions that would be nonessential or detrimental in a fight-or-flight situation. It alters immune system responses and suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system and growth processes.

Fortunately, your body’s stress response is usually self-regulating. As the perceived threat goes away, blood pressure returns to normal, adrenal glands stop producing cortisol and adrenaline and your body returns to normal functions.

The problem occurs when levels of stress are constantly present in our lives, even at low levels. When this happens, the subsequent overexposure to cortisol and the other stress hormones begins to create health problems. Such problems include:

o Hypertension
o Heart disease
o Sleep problems
o Over eating, which can lead to weight gain
o Skin problems, rashes, eczema etc.
o Short-term memory loss

So, how do we cope with the stress that is a part of our daily lives? As the woman and primary care-giver in most families, you have to put yourself first. As I am fond of telling my clients, “If you are going to constantly write checks off of your wellness account, we have to put some deposits into the bank from time-to-time!”

It’s all about achieving balance in your life, finding the time you need to maintain your optimum health, while at the same time caring for your loved ones. Some of the things you can do include:

Exercise – finding 30-minutes a day, at least 3-4 times a week doing an activity you enjoy. Walking is a great form of exercise. Remember, exercise isn’t punishment! As human beings, we are meant to move, to walk, to run, to stretch, to jump, to throw. Incorporate simple, joyful activity into your life

Get plenty of sleep – this is one lifestyle factor that you can directly control, not just for yourself, but for your family. Turn off that TV early, and set a goal to get 7-8 hours of rest every night. Your body needs this time to recharge and re-energize

Find time to meditate or use other relaxation techniques – I lead a very busy life, but I’ve mastered the art of the “5-minute meditation!” Ideally, I will find more time each day, but I have also found that taking short, little meditation breaks, as short as 3-5 minutes, really help me become calmer, more grounded, balanced, and focused. Just find a quiet spot, turn off outside distractions like the TV or radio, focus on your breathing, and let your mind find that calm, quiet space it needs

Surround yourself with friends – there are few greater joys in life than good friends. Surround yourself with them and they will help you find comfort

Counseling – Talk therapy really works. If you find that you cannot manage the pressures of your life on your own, please do not be afraid to go out and find a professional that can help you. Start with your doctor and get a referral. If she can’t help, here is a good resource for you.

Finally, here is a simple energy medicine techniques that I think you will find helpful.

Connecting the Central and Governing Meridians

This is a technique that strengthens the Central Median, which will help you stabilize your body’s energy systems, and will help you to center and ground yourself.

1) Stand with your arms loose at your sides, feet comfortably apart
2) Breathe in through your nose, and then out through the mouth several times until you begin to feel a sense of calm taking over your body
3) Place the middle finger of one hand between your eyebrows and the bridge of your nose (this is the point of your third-eye chakra)
4) Place the middle finger of your other hand in your navel
5) Gently press each finger into your skin, pull it gently upward and hold for about 20-30 seconds while continuing to breathe deeply through your nose and out through your mouth.

You can repeat this technique 2-3 times or until you feel a sense of balance and grounding.

6 Tips for Strong Ankles

The importance of strong ankles is far reaching. It greatly affects the fluidity in your walking stride. A disjointed stride can cause knee, hip, low back, mid back or even neck pain. Many of the people who come to me for knee pain can trace the cause to their ankles. In order to have strong ankles you must also have flexible ankles. Flexible and strong ankles are especially important if you run, play basketball, soccer, football, ride bicycles… or just want to stay active for many years to come.

 Here are a few exercises to retain or regain ankle strength and flexibility:

1. The first exercise is called calf raises. Here are a few examples on how you can do these at home:

2. This video includes the exercises of ankle circles and alphabet ankles:

 

 3. Another great ankle strengthening exercise is balancing on one foot:

 

 4. This exercise involves sitting in a chair with your feet flat on the floor in front of you. With you heels firmly planted on the floor, slowly raise your toes up and down.

 

 

 

5. Here is a great stretch for the front of the lower leg and ankle:

6. Keeping your calves flexible are also important to ankle health. You can do this stretch with the back leg straight and then do it again with the back leg bent.

 

 

 

 

 Always check with your doctor before you begin a new exercise routine. If you find your ankles or lower legs are pretty tight and stiff, call your injury treatment massage therapist to help you find relief. Thank you for reading, PJ Harris, LMP. http://www.pjharris.com/

What Can You Do for Whiplash?

If you are in a motor vehicle accident and feel any of the symptoms listed below, get to a doctor immediately. Do not attempt to treat yourself. You may have whiplash. Sometimes whiplash symptoms might not show themselves for over 24 hours or even for a few days. As I have stated before in previous posts, the sooner you get treatment, including massage, the greater your chance for recovery. Until you see a professional, make sure you ice several times a day to help keep the swelling down.

Whiplash isn’t only caused by motor vehicle accidents. It can be caused by anything that abruptly jerks the neck. I treated a client once who had whiplash due to falling down.

In most cases, cervical collars are a bad idea. They promote stiffness and do nothing more than remind you to not turn you neck. The sooner you can start turning your neck the better. Using slow movements and stopping when the pain gets too severe is better than full immobilization.

These are the most common symptoms of whiplash:
~Neck pain and stiffness
~Headaches
~Pain in the shoulder or between the shoulder blades
~Low back pain
~Pain or numbness in the arm and/or hand
~Dizziness
~Ringing in the ears or blurred vision
~Difficulty concentrating or remembering
~Irritability, sleep disturbances, fatigue

The treatment massage work I suggest to do on clients in the first stage of whiplash includes: 
*Gently massaging the neck
*Gentle passive neck stretches
*Work on the torso with massage and stretches to free up the rib, cage, shoulders and arms
*All followed by icing for 10-15 minutes in the acute stage.

If you have any questions about the post material, feel free to ask in the comment section below. Thanks for reading, PJ Harris, LMP. http://www.pjharris.com/

Common Culprit of Wrist Pain

Do you have frequent wrist pain? Do you spend a lot of time on the computer or playing video games? Do you do strength training but ignore your wrists?

You might be one of the many people who have wrist pain because they have tight wrist flexors. What are wrist flexors? They are the muscles on the inner side of your forearms and are responsible for bending your wrist inward. Most of the people who come to my Seattle Treatment Massage practice with wrist pain need work on their wrist flexors. Often the work I do in tight wrist flexors is Myofascial work. This will help stretch the wrist flexors and the connective tissue around them.

If you have tight flexors you could probably benefit from stretching them. Always check with your health practitioner before you try any new stretching exercise. Here are a few movements that can help you alleviate your pain:

 

AND

 

 Slowly move your hands and arms into this position breathe and hold for 20 seconds.

Many folks who do strength training have tight wrist flexors and weak wrist extensors. Make sure that you are strengthening the whole wrist in all four (up, down and both sides) linear wrist movements, especially if you work on a computer all day. Ask a personal trainer to help you with this.

There is a lot more we can say about the wrist, but that will have to wait for another post. Thanks for reading, PJ Harris LMP. http://www.pjharris.com/

Can Massage Help Alleviate the Discomfort Associated with Arthritis?

Yes and most definitely, massage can help with alleviating the discomfort of arthritis. It is not a cure and will not stop the progression of this disease, but many find relief on the massage table.

The Arthritis Foundation list more than 100 forms of arthritis and related diseases exist affecting approximately 46 million Americans today. But first off, lets cover the two main types of Arthritis:

1.  Osteoarthritis is sometimes called degenerative joint disease and occurs when cartilage in your joints wears down over time. It can affect any joint in your body, though it most commonly affects joints in your hands, hips, knees and spine. Osteoarthritis typically affects just one joint, though in some cases, such as with finger arthritis, several joints can be affected.

2. Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory form of arthritis that causes joint pain and damage. Rheumatoid arthritis attacks the lining of your joints (synovium) causing swelling that can result in aching and throbbing and eventually deformity. Sometimes rheumatoid arthritis symptoms make even the simplest activities — such as opening a jar or taking a walk — difficult to manage.

Here are some of the ways massage can ease the symptoms associated with inflammation and help improve the quality of life of someone affected by arthritis.

The benefits of massage include:
• increase in circulation
• increase in flexibility and mobility
• decrease in pain and inflammation
• relief of muscle aches and stiffness
• a sense of overall relaxation and wellness

Massage is just one of the ways sufferers of Arthritis can find relief. Ask your ND for some other tips. Thanks for reading, PJ Harris LMP http://www.pjharris.com/