Pain Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Acupuncture in the Park

Five Things to Know About Back Pain

Like a lightning bolt out of the blue, back pain seems to strike at the most unlikely of times. It can be set off by some seemingly harmless activity like reaching for soap in the shower, trying to grab something from under the bed, or simply by putting on your shoes. When it happens, the pain is sudden and sharp and can’t be ignored. When my back goes out, the episodes of pain are intense, short-lived, and muscular in nature. I realize that I am lucky when it comes to the health of my back. There are millions of people with back issues, who struggle with chronic back pain on a daily basis, often for years at a time.

If you suffer from back pain, here are a few things you might not know:

-In many cases, stretching can not only help with the pain, but it can help prevent injuries in the first place. Stretches to flex and extend your back, open up your sacrum, low back, and hip flexors can be invaluable in keeping back pain away.

-Most people believe that there is only one single cause of their back pain, when in reality, there may be a number of things going on. Like a perfect storm, issues like tight muscles, inflammation, trauma, muscle imbalances, misalignment, and inactivity may all be contributing to your pain. We have found that many patients come to us with a diagnosis of disk problems who have found a great deal of relief from our work on soft tissue (muscles).

-Similarly, while many people look for the one answer to their back pain, it may actually take a combination of therapies to get the job done. I have seen patients who have stopped all therapies except one, so they could see which was working for them. The reality is that a

combination of physical therapy, acupuncture, massage, stretching, and heat may work better to relieve back pain than any single one therapy one its own.

-Diet may also be a player in back pain. While what you eat and the condition of your back may seem to be unrelated, the reality is that your diet plays a role in back health on a couple of levels. First, when you blow out your back, either from a muscle pull, bulging or ruptured disk, or any other injury, inflammation is involved. Eating a diet geared toward reducing inflammation can help reduce the pain and the time it takes to heal. In addition, your spine needs a good supply of blood to bring vital oxygen and nutrients to the area. Unfortunately for many people as they age, the arteries to their spine are blocked with atherosclerotic plaques (blocked arteries) that inhibit blood flow. The end result is that vertebrae and disks that need nourishment to heal are increasingly cut off from an adequate blood supply.

-In Chinese medicine, low back pain is associated with your Kidney organ system. Your Chinese Kidneys are responsible for your body constitution—things like how healthy you will be, how you will mature, fertility, and how you will age. A chronically achy lower back is a sign that your Kidney system is depleted. A trip to your acupuncturist or practitioner of Chinese medicine can help with acupuncture, food therapy, and lifestyle tweaks to get you back on track.

-Finally, even though acupuncture can’t change the structural causes of your back pain, it can help with pain relief in a couple of ways. First, acupuncture alters your brain chemistry by increasing the circulation of feel-good endorphins, up-regulating your body’s own opioid system, and limiting pain signals to your brain. Acupuncture also has the effect of increasing circulation, and that increase brings inflammation-reducing white blood cells to the area to support healing and reduce pain.

The bottom line is that even though you may have a diagnosis of a structural problem in your back, that doesn’t mean that you can’t be pain-free. Often, increasing the circulation to the area, relaxing the surrounding muscles, and calming down the inflammation can effectively help to relieve your back pain.

Take Care of Your Legs with Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine

Your legs are incredible things. They walk, run, dance, take stairs two at a time, and carry a lot of weight. You probably don’t think much about your legs until they start to give you problems. In addition, you may not think much about acupuncture when your legs are acting up, but you should. There are a number of conditions related to your legs that acupuncture can really help. Among them:

Restless Legs. If your legs are running, jumping, and twitching all night long, chances are you have Restless Leg Syndrome. The jury is still out as to why this happens. You may find your symptoms are worse when you exercise or maybe when you don’t. Either way, once you’re in bed for the evening, your legs start up. In Chinese medicine however, restless legs tend to be a pattern of depletion. In other words your energy is low, you may feel fatigued overall, and while it may sound counter intuitive, there’s not enough energy to hold things still.

Hip or Knee Pain. At Acupuncture in the Park, we have worked with many patients who are experiencing knee and/or hip pain. Many know that they have a joint replacement looming on the horizon, but just aren’t quite ready yet. Others are recovering from surgery, and some just need relief from a tweak or an overuse injury. We have found acupuncture to be effective for both pain relief and inflammation. Locally (around the joint) a few well-placed needles increase the circulation of white blood cells which help counter inflammation, and systemically, acupuncture acts to block the transmission of pain signals to your brain.

Gout. Anyone who has suffered from gout is no stranger to the painful, red swelling that most commonly occurs at the base of your big toe. Gout is the build up of uric acid crystals which settle in the joint, causing you all kinds of grief. While your big toe is the most common site of gout inflammation, it can occur in other joints. In Chinese medicine, the redness and swelling indicate that gout is a pattern of dampness (the build up of fluids, often from eating too much rich food) plus heat. This is a problem that your acupuncturist will treat both locally, but also by dealing with the retention of dampness and heat in your body.

Leg Qi. This one has a funny name, but it’s a condition of red, swollen, and hot legs and feet. It’s similar to gout in that the pattern of imbalance in Chinese medicine is dampness and heat. However, while gout affects just the joints, Leg Qi presents as redness and swelling of the feet and lower legs. Like gout, the treatment would involve getting rid of your dampness, which will decrease the swelling, and cooling off the heat.

Ankle Sprains. A couple of years ago, I rolled my ankle while working out in the yard. It was a mild sprain, but I was surprised at how much it hurt! Acupuncture can help patients with sprained ankles in a couple of ways. While we don’t needle into a bruised and swollen ankle, once the swelling has gone down, acupuncture can help with pain relief and the inflammation associated with the sprain. In some cases, an ankle sprain can linger for months and even years, with weakness, poor range of motion, and even persistent pain. I have seen more than my share of surprised patients who have believed that their ankle pain is just something they are stuck with, only to find that a couple of acupuncture sessions has restored ankle function and rendered them pain-free.

Your legs are the work horses of your body. Keep them healthy by exercising and stretching. When they act up, pay attention. In many cases acupuncture and Chinese medicine can be the answer to restoring function when your legs become sore, swollen, twitchy, or traumatized.

Acupuncture for Pain Relief

At Acupuncture in the Park, pain relief is one of the most common treatments we perform. Many people believe that pain is a very simple thing: you have pain, and you want it to go away. Or at least you want it to be better.

For some people, pain is anything but simple. It can be debilitating, and it can take over your life. Over the years that we have worked with people in varying forms of pain, we’ve learned that the consequences of that pain can be far-reaching. In this post, we’d like to share a few things that we know about pain and relief from pain from the standpoint of Chinese medicine:

-Pain can wipe you out. It can seriously and completely deplete your energy, and here’s why: In Chinese medicine, pain is considered a blockage. Whether your pain is caused by a tight muscle, loss of circulation, infection, inflammation, or trauma, if you have pain, it means that your circulation of blood and energy is impaired. Pain is like a dam that blocks the flow of water in a river, There is a lake upstream from the dam and a trickle of water on the downstream. Your energy on pain is that little trickle of water. When you hurt, you’re not firing on all cylinders.

-Your pain has a personality. It has a quality and can be sharp, stabbing, dull, achy, burning…you get the picture. Your pain may also respond better to heat or it may feel better when you ice it. Sometimes you have pain that likes pressure–like a trigger point in a muscle. However, there are types of pain where touching it will send you through the roof. As an acupuncturist, the quality and circumstances of your pain matter, and it tells me a lot about how best to treat it.

-Pain can show up far away from it’s source. For example, many people who come in with symptoms of sciatica have a piriformis muscle injury in their butt. The muscle is pressing on the sciatic nerve, causing pain to occur down the side or back of their leg, sometimes all the way into the foot. When this happens it’s called referred pain, and our job is to treat this referred pain at its source.

-The longer you’ve had the pain, the harder it is to treat. Your body likes habits, and it’s no different with pain. The pain symptoms you’ve had for years are treatable, but it’s a little more of a challenge because your body is “stuck” in a pattern of pain.

-The better your overall health, the better able you are to heal. Children seem to heal before your very eyes, mostly because they’re young and usually pretty healthy. Likewise, adults who are healthy in general respond better to acupuncture and tend to heal faster. As you get older or if you’ve had health problems, it can take a little longer to find relief from acupuncture.

-There are physiological reasons behind acupuncture’s effectiveness in treating pain. Researchers have found that acupuncture alters your brain chemistry–in a good way. It increases the circulation of your body’s natural pain-killing opioid and endorphins. Acupuncture also blocks the circulation of a chemical called adenisone which transmits pain signals to your brain. Locally, at the site where an acupuncture needle is inserted, the concentration of white blood cells is increased, which helps to clear out the inflammatory process in that area. That’s why if your elbow is hurting, your acupuncturist is likely to place a needle near the point of pain.

The Role of Acupuncture in Joint Replacement

Dan* called Acupuncture in the Park out of the blue a couple of months ago. I had seen Dan for low back and hip pain a couple of years ago, but now his hip was really bothering him and he wanted to know if I could help. Apparently he had been limping along with really intense hip pain for the past 18 months. He had gone the conservative route; along with acupuncture, he had tried physical therapy, massage, and chiropractic. He finally landed in the orthopedist’s office, had seen the X-rays, and had resigned himself to having the hip replaced.

Dan’s issue was that he had a couple of major projects at work that he needed to complete, and could not schedule the surgery until about four months from now. His question? The pain was considerable and getting worse; could acupuncture keep him functional until his surgery? While there are no guarantees, I told Dan that acupuncture can be fairly effective for pain, and that it would be reasonable to give it a try.

I saw Dan every week or two until his surgery. I performed acupuncture combined with electrical stimulation, and added heat therapy to the mix. We kept him comfortable, functional, and on some days, even pain-free. Like many patients, Dan would say that there is a role for acupuncture in supporting people who are undergoing hip or knee joint replacement. Clearly acupuncture cannot reverse joint damage from arthritis or replace cartilage. However, there are a couple of ways that acupuncture can help someone who already has or will soon be undergoing this kind of surgery:

Pain relief. Like Dan, many people see the writing on the wall. They know that they will need their joint replaced; they’re just not ready yet. Acupuncture treatments can be an effective and drug-free way to reduce the pain until replacement surgery. In some cases, I have treated patients who were able to hold off on surgery for months, and even years. In addition, acupuncture can be a great way to reduce post-surgical pain.

Getting ready for surgery. Acupuncture can optimize your health prior to surgery. Joint replacement surgery is a huge physical stressor on your body. Working with a practitioner of Chinese medicine with the goal of being in the best health possible prior to the event can help minimize the impact of surgery on your body. I consider these pre-surgical patients to be in training for a major event.

Let the healing begin. Once surgery is complete, acupuncture is a great supportive therapy to assist in the healing process. It can speed healing, reduce pain, and help restore your body to its pre-surgical health. In fact many hospitals offer acupuncture to their patients in the day or two after their surgery. In addition, some patients who go through post-surgical physical therapy decide to schedule an acupuncture treatment after their PT session for pain relief and balance.

Long term support. While many patients are just fine months and years after their joint(s) have been replaced, some people experience aches and pains in the joint when the weather turns cold or damp. When this happens, the options are to tough it out, take a pain reliever, or…that’s right, get some acupuncture.

Many people don’t think about acupuncture when they’re facing joint replacement because acupuncture can’t change the basic structure of the joint. However, those patients who do choose acupuncture as a supportive therapy find that the benefits are surprisingly effective.

*Names and identifying details have been changed.

Treating Elbow Pain with Acupuncture

I (Lynn) have been going to a boot camp class for the past six months. Twice a week, I get up at 5:45 am. to be at class at 6:15, so I can have my butt kicked for an hour. It’s a great workout, and over time, it’s getting a little easier.

Yesterday morning, when my alarm went off at 5:45, I turned it off and went back to bed. Five minutes later, the guilt of not getting up pulled me out of the sack. I brushed my teeth, got dressed in my workout clothes, and…went back to bed.

It’s not that I didn’t want to get up. It’s that my elbow was hurting. Just the thought of planks, burpees, and bicep curls made it hurt more. As an acupuncturist, I know exactly what’s going on; I have Tennis Elbow–without ever hitting a single tennis ball.

The technical term for Tennis Elbow is lateral epicondylitis, which simply means the tendons on the outside of my elbow are inflamed. Tendons attach muscle to bone, and the muscles involved in Tennis Elbow are those at the top of my forearm. Tendonitis is usually the result of overuse or repetitive movements that put extra pressure on the tendon. The constant stress on the tendon causes small tears, which my body will repair…if I just give it a rest. While the thought of a little more sleep yesterday was appealing, it was knowing that boot camp would slow the healing process that sent me back to bed. Honest.

Typically, the pain you feel with Tennis Elbow is on the outside of your elbow, and it becomes worse when you’re grasping or twisting objects, like a tennis racquet, hammer, or opening jars. The pain often is worse in the evening and can even make it difficult for your to sleep. Over time, the pain may radiate up or down your arm, especially as you try to compensate for the pain by using other parts of your body. Interestingly, there is rarely swelling associated with Tennis Elbow.

Golfers can also develop Tennis Elbow, but it presents itself in a slightly different way (besides being caused by golf, not tennis). Tendonitis associated with tennis most frequently affects the outside of your elbow with the pain radiating down the outside of your forearm and into your wrist. Golfer’s Elbow usually affects the inside of your elbow (closer to your body) with the pain radiating down the underside of your forearm and into your wrist.

Whether from tennis, golf, boot camp, or anything else, tendonitis is a fairly common condition. Its prevalence increases with age as our tendons become less flexible. The incidence of tendonitis is higher in athletes for obvious reasons, and Golfer’s elbow is more common in men.

Our bodies are programmed to heal themselves, but sometimes that doesn’t happen, or we just don’t give it a chance before going out and aggravating the injury. When that happens, acupuncture can be very effective, either as an adjunct to standard Western treatments or on its own. One of the theories of how acupuncture works is that the tiny needles, when inserted, create a microtrauma, or tiny injury, that signals your body to get busy and heal itself. Researchers have also documented that acupuncture blocks the production of adenisone, which is a chemical that transmits pain signals to your brain. According to Chinese medical theory, however, acupuncture works because it increases the flow of energy and blood to the injured area, helping your body to heal.

Other tools that an acupuncturist may use to heal tendonitis include heat therapy to increase circulation; electric stimulation or microcurrent (devices that stimulate healing through electric impulse); massage; and in some cases Chinese herbs.

So, as an acupuncturist, what will I do for my…uh, boot camp elbow? A little acupuncture, some heat, some microcurrent , and rest. Also, I’ll lay off the burpees and push-ups for a couple of days, and should be as good as new asap.

Should You Use Heat or Cold?

The other day I pulled a muscle in the front of my thigh during a boot camp class. I felt a painful “ping” in my leg while I was doing some lunges. When I went home, I knew the muscle needed some attention, but what? Should I put ice on it or heat? One of the most frequent questions we get from our acupuncture patients is whether to apply heat or cold to an injured or painful area. This seems like a simple enough question; except it isn’t all that simple. There are a few things to consider when deciding between a heating pad or a bag of frozen peas.

First, the properties of heat in Chinese medicine are that it creates movement. This means that fluids, blood, and energy in an injured area flow better with heat. This movement serves to dilate the blood vessels, loosen tight muscles, increase range of motion, and promote healing.

This sounds pretty good. So why wouldn’t you put heat on just about everything? Well, because good health is all about flow, practitioners of Chinese medicine tend to recommend heat in most circumstances. However, there are a few instances in which cold might be a better choice.

The Chinese think of cold as a river freezing up in the winter–it contracts and slows down. This is also what happens in your body when you apply ice to an injured area. It constricts the vessels and minimizes swelling. During the first hours and days after a traumatic injury, it’s actually a good idea to use ice to keep the swelling down.

Choosing between hot and cold becomes a little trickier in cases of inflammation. In general, inflammation is hot, so you should put cold on it, right? Well, not always. Remember that heat increases blood flow to the area, and increased flow promotes healing.

So how do you determine which to use? Here are a couple of guidelines:

-In general, use what feels better and pay attention to the weather, especially with chronic pain. If your pain is worse in the cold, damp weather, apply heat. If it’s worse in the warm weather, use cold.

-Feel the area of pain. Actually touch it. Frequently it will feel cold from lack of circulation or warm from inflammation. If it feels cold, warm it up. If it’s swollen and hot, use some ice.

-Don’t be fooled by the numbing properties of cold. Your injury may feel better for an hour or so after you’ve iced, but if applying cold makes it worse in the long run, go for heat.

-For sports injuries, physical therapy exercises, or just using your injured area; warm it up for ten minutes or so before use. This will loosen the muscles and increase your range of motion. Then cool it down for five or ten minutes after your workout.

-Do not apply ice to a muscle spasm; it will make it worse. Remember, cold contracts, so icing a painfully contracted muscle will make it hurt more. I learned this the hard way. By the time I figured out that the cold was aggravating a spasm in my lower back, I could hardly walk. How do you know if it’s a muscle spasm? Generally, the pain is pretty sharp, comes on quickly, and inhibits your movement. A high percentage of back pain is caused by muscle spasms.

-If you have a traumatic injury, apply ice for the first 24 to 36 hours to keep the swelling to a minimum. After that time, apply ice if there’s still swelling, if not go with heat, or alternate between heat and cold.

As for my pulled quad muscle, I decided to start with cold. The muscle wasn’t in spasm, just sore that first day. After one day of icing in the morning and evening, I switched to heat for a couple of days, and after two days, the muscle felt pretty good and ready for more boot camp punishment.

Your Health and the Color Purple

Throughout the world and its many cultures, different colors have meaning. In Chinese medicine, various colors offer up clues to the state of your health. For example if you have a rash that is very red, you can assume that there’s some heat to it. If you know someone who is very pale, it means that they run on the cold side or their energy is depleted.

In Chinese medicine, good health is associated with flow, and when that flow is obstructed in some way, it causes illness and pain. The color purple is frequently seen in cases where there is lack of movement or flow; something we acupuncturists call stagnation. In many cases, purple indicates a stagnation of blood.

A few weeks ago, one of my regular patients* came to me because her back was really acting up. In her early seventies, I had treated this woman for a number of aches and pains, but had not spent much time treating her lower back. This particular patient is one of strong opinions, and on this particular day she was clear; her back needed attention.

When I got her onto my treatment table, I took a look at her lower back and saw that there were quite a few purple spots near the surface of the skin. They weren’t bruises, but it looked like varicose veins in the area of her low back and sacrum. The spots were a little bit unusual, but the purple color told me what I needed to know; blood stagnation was causing her discomfort.

You know that your blood moves; it’s pumped by your heart and travels throughout your body in your veins and arteries. So how can it not move? Actually, there are a number of conditions that are directly associated with stagnant blood, including bruises, varicose veins, menstrual cramps, blood clots, and coronary artery disease (blocked arteries). In addition, masses, lumps, abscesses and ulcers are also considered to be caused by blood stagnation in Chinese medicine.

There are a couple of hallmark signs of stagnant blood. First, it’s usually painful. The pain tends to be fixed in one place and feel deep, sharp, or colicky. Secondly, in many cases, there is some presentation of the color purple. For example, varicose veins are visibly purple. More subtly, someone who is suffering from blood clots or coronary artery disease will usually have a purple looking tongue or a purple hue to their fingernails.

In Western medicine, blood stagnation is usually associated with hematology, such as clotting issues, strokes, and heart disease. As you get older, your doctor may advise you to take an aspirin a day, which helps your blood move by making your platelets (which help clotting) a little less sticky. If you’ve had a history of blood clots, you may be prescribed a stronger blood thinner, such as Coumadin.

In Chinese medicine, there are a number of herbs that are used to move blood. Frequently, they are site specific. For example, Szechuanlovage root (chuan xiong) is used for gynecological problems like menstrual cramps or amenorrhea (no periods). Salvia root, (dan shen) is used for blood stagnation in the lower abdomen or the chest. A more familiar herb, Turmeric (yu jin) is used for a variety of conditions associated with stagnant blood, and is gaining attention as a supplement in treating inflammation and in the prevention of Alzheimer’s and certain kinds of cancers.

My patient with low back pain was taking a number of prescription medications, and was not interested in an herbal formula. However, knowing that her condition was related to stagnant blood, I included a couple of acupuncture points in my treatment known to help move blood and relieve pain. I also did a little Chinese bodywork, called Tui Na to get the blood moving in her lower back. While she wasn’t ready to go out dancing, she was definitely feeling better when she left my office.

*Names and identifying details have been changed.

Seven Steps to Faster Healing

A twisted knee, a blown out back, or an unexpected illness are all it takes to put your life on hold and abruptly curtail you activities. Whether your recovery takes days, weeks, or even months, there are things that you can do to help or hinder how well or quickly you will heal.

More than once, I have treated patients who have had illnesses or injuries, in which they slowed or actually reversed the healing process. One that comes to mind is a woman who was an ultra-distance runner. She came to me because she was training for a 100-mile race while nursing a foot injury. She was healing just fine with a little acupuncture and rest, but felt compelled to test the foot out with a 50-mile training run, just to see how it was holding up. The results were predictable—on race day, she started out well, but was ultimately hobbled by her injury and had to drop out of the race.

While it may seem fairly simple to just get out of the way and let your body heal, there are actually a few things you can do (or not do) to help the healing process along. Among them:

Listen to your body. With its incredible wisdom, your body has everything it needs to heal, and will let you know when you’re good to go. If you’re still feeling fatigued, in pain, or just not quite right, you’re still in the healing process, so don’t push too hard. Let your body do its thing.
Get enough rest. Your body heals while you rest and sleep. In fact, you may feel deeply fatigued after an illness or surgery. So grab a book, watch TV, sleep, and allow your body to use its energy to heal.
Let the glue dry. Allow your injury or illness to heal completely. Resist the urge to “test” your injured limb or your ability to function at 100 percent. You’ll be back soon enough.
Realize that the older you are, the longer it takes to heal. Children tend to heal before your eyes due to their expansive nature and the fact that they are growing very quickly. As you get older, your body will still heal completely, but it takes a little longer. Don’t compare yourself to your 12-year-old with a broken arm.
Eat to heal. While you’re healing, it’s even more important to eat as healthfully as possible. Your body is using building blocks to heal based on the food you eat. Make sure you’re getting enough protein, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits. At the same time, if you’re laid up and worried about gaining a few extra pounds, realize that once you’re up and around, that weight will come off fairly quickly.
Heal your spirit. Stress, depression, boredom, fear, and frustration are all common feelings associated with illness and injury. Recognize that these feelings are normal under the circumstances. Talking to friends, family members, or a health professional can be extremely helpful. In addition, finding activities that are relaxing and enjoyable (reading, old movies, learning something new) can help, too.
Get some acupuncture. Acupuncture can speed up the healing process, alleviate pain, and is excellent for treating stress and mood disorders. It works by affecting brain chemistry in a number of positive ways, as well as increasing the concentration of white blood cells locally where the needles have been inserted. While you’re healing, let your acupuncturist help—you’ll feel better and heal faster.

Knock Out Knee Pain

Are you one of those people who learn that you’ve overdone it by receiving a special delivery notice from your knees? Have you ever had a knee just go out and fold up like a card table? Maybe you’ve had a knee lock up, blow up, blow out, or just plain hurt. For knee pain sufferers everywhere, this blog’s for you.

Knee pain and problems are probably only second to back pain in incidence. If you have knee pain, you’re not alone; over 50 million Americans suffer from knee issues. The causes of knee pain are varied, and can stem from overuse, overweight, weak leg muscles, trauma, or deterioration from wear and tear.

Acupuncture can be an effective treatment for knee pain. In Chinese medicine, knee pain is a sign of stagnant energy. The Chinese believe that our body’s energy moves in pathways, and when there is pain of any kind, it means that the flow of energy is impeded. Knee pain or weakness can also be a sign that the Chinese Kidney system is weak. When this is the case, the pain in your knees is frequently accompanied by dull achy pain in your lower back. For a full explanation on the Kidney system and Chinese medicine, go here.

The good news with knee pain is that there are things that you can do to alleviate that pain and even prevent episodes in the future. Among them:

-Strengthen your leg muscles. The muscle groups that move your knees include your quadriceps on the front of your thigh, and your hamstrings on the back. To strengthen your quadriceps, start with some simple leg lifts: lie flat on the floor, keeping your legs straight, turn your right foot outward about 20 degrees. Lift your right leg off the floor a few inches, hold for the count of three and bring it down. Start with 20 repetitions and work up to 50. Repeat with the left leg. For your hamstrings, you can do simple leg curls: begin either lying face down on the floor or standing, attach an ankle weight (start with one pound and work up) to your right ankle. Slowly bend your right leg at the knee 90 degrees hold for three seconds then slowly lower your leg back to your starting position. Repeat the set with your left leg. Start with 20 repetitions and work up to 50.

-Go easy on the activities that are hard on your knees. Activities such as running, hilly hiking, and stair climbing aggravate knee pain because the movements involved forcibly push your kneecap against your thigh bone. Avoid any activities that aggravate your knee pain until you have strengthened your leg muscles and your pain has calmed down.

-Check out your shoes. Make sure you’re wearing the right shoes for you and your sport. In addition, look for signs of wear on the soles of your shoes and replace sports shoes frequently. Sales people at a good athletic shoe store can look at your gait and help you choose the right shoe for you—it’s worth spending a little more to not have knee pain.

-Lose a little weight. This is pretty self-explanatory – if you’re sporting some excess weight, it’s hard on your knees.

-Know when to brace and when not to brace. Wearing a knee brace can help stabilize your knee early on in the injury cycle. However, if you depend on a knee brace too long, you won’t build up the muscles that support your knee. Once you’re on a healing track, give the knee brace a rest so you can build up knee strength.

-Know when to check with your doctor. If you have injured your knee, if you notice swelling, your knee locking, giving out, or pain that goes beyond mildly achy, it’s time to get your knee assessed by your doctor. While these symptoms may be garden-variety knee pain, they can also be signs of serious internal damage to your knee.

Eight Ways to Ease That Pain in Your Neck

We’ve all heard the figurative term that something is a pain in the neck, but the reality of neck pain can cause sleepless nights, limited range of motion, and make your life miserable in general. There are a number of causes of neck pain, including trauma, turning and reaching at the same time, drafts, and bad ergonomics.

The most common cause of neck pain, however, is stress. Most people who are overwhelmed and under a lot of stress will tell you that they physically carry that stress in their neck. This has been the case since caveman times, when our furry ancestors raised the hackles on their neck in threatening situations. While a cranky boss, looming deadline, or a failing relationship isn’t the same as the threat of being eaten, your body still reacts in the same way, resulting in a tight, stiff neck.

In Chinese medicine, your stiff neck is a classic case of stagnation. The tightness in your upper back and neck create a slowdown in the circulation (stagnation) of blood and energy in the area. In addition, as that area becomes tight, it can move upward causing headaches, tooth grinding, and jaw pain; or move downward and cause back pain and tightness.

The antidote to neck pain in Chinese medicine is acupuncture, which works on two levels. It can help relieve the pain and tightness in your neck, and it can also help relieve stress.

You should check with your Western doc if your neck pain is accompanied by confusion, fever, or drowsiness. Also, if your neck pain radiates into your arms or hands, or if you feel numbness or tingling, it may be the sign of disk involvement and should also be checked out.

Some things you can do on your own to relieve neck pain include:

-Get some heat on it. Take a warm shower, use a heating pad, warm rice bag, or a towel soaked in hot water. By putting heat on your neck, you are increasing the circulation, loosening tight muscles, and enhancing your range of motion.

-Increase your flexibility. After you have warmed up your stiff neck, move your head up and down as if you were nodding yes. Then slowly move your head from side to side as if you were saying no. Tilt your head, moving your ear toward your shoulder on each side. These stretches will help increase your range of motion, but remember, don’t do anything that is intensely painful.

-Sleep on it. Sleep on your back with a pillow under your knees. This helps you maintain the natural curvature of your spine, and will help you avoid sleeping on your side, which can aggravate a stiff neck.

-Hold the phone. Keep the phone off of your shoulder. If you’re on the phone a lot at work, get a headset or hold the phone with your hand.

-Take a break. If you’re on your computer all day, make sure you take regular breaks to get up, stretch, and walk around.

-Eyes forward. Make sure that your work station is ergonomically correct. This means that you shouldn’t have to look sideways to see your computer screen, look downward all day long, or be sitting in an uncomfortable position.

-Stay away from drafts. Cold air blowing on your neck can be an underlying cause of a stiff neck. Avoid sleeping in a draft, and be sure to wear a scarf on cool, cold and windy days.

-Get some acupuncture. In most cases, your stiff neck will be gone in a few days. However, acupuncture can be extremely helpful in speeding up the healing process.

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !

Share and Enjoy !