Category: General Health

Ashiatsu Massage: Putting Feet to Work to Relax Your Back

Daily life, our posture and our routines can be awful on our backs. You may experience aches and pains that only increase day by day. When such problems persist, it can begin to have a detrimental impact on your livelihood, as it can sap your energy and become mentally draining when you think about dealing with the pain for another day.

For decades, the art of massage has been proven to give relief to a person’s body. The strokes along the muscles can loosen tension, improve posture and help with blood flow. There are a range of massage techniques available and most rely on the hands to provide the massage process, but there is another technique that uses the feet for the treatment. This technique is called Ashiatsu massage.

What is Ashiatsu Massage?

Ashiatsu is a barefoot massage technique that requires the therapist to use their feet instead of their hands to perform the massage.  A therapist will have a person lay face down on a massage table. The therapist will use ropes, bars, stools or benches to balance themselves above the client. Then the therapist will use their feet to give strokes across the client’s body. The gravity and pressure allow the therapist to provide deep, long strokes over the body. Often oils, creams or lotions will be applied to the body prior to the Ashiatsu massage technique to further release the tension in muscles and to provide a more satisfying experience.

The Benefits of Ashiatsu Massage

Ashiatsu massage is a deep tissue technique used to provide pressure on the muscles to help elongate them. Since the therapist’s foot is broader than the hand as they are using their weight and pressure to target muscles, it provides wider strokes without causing enduring pain. In addition, the deep tissue technique can help improve blood circulation while relieving stress and aches that can cause muscle spasms.

Another area of the body that benefits from Ashiatsu massage are the lumbar nerves. The nerves along the lumbar region can gain more space when the foot pressure opens up and elongates the spinal region. Lastly, Ashiatsu massage allows the client’s body to have a freer range of motion and better posture with more relaxed muscles.

Learn More About Ashiatsu Massage

Not everyone should try Ashiatsu massage due to the added weight and pressure that is applied to the body with this deep tissue foot technique. Women who are pregnant or trying to conceive should avoid this treatment. In addition, people with high blood pressure, advanced diabetes, a compromised immune system, acute kidney and liver conditions, are using certain medications, or had surgical implant surgery recently should also be aware of the dangers of Ashiatsu massage. If you have these conditions, speak with a therapist before obtaining treatment.

Create a Morning Routine to Set You Up for Success

You live in a world filled with routines. There are certain ways to perform your specific job and you may have an evening routine to put the kids to bed. Yet don’t forget about creating a morning routine to improve your health. When you make a morning routine, you can get your body in shape, relieve stress, and build up your energy. Here are some things that you should make sure to have in your morning health routine. 

Get the Small Things Out of the Way the Night before 

To have more time and to not feel stressed and rushed when getting up, do those small tasks the night before. Pack your lunch and meal prep for dinner items so you can get everything easily cooked up when getting home later. Also take out your attire for the day. 

Become Hydrated with Water 

Coffee is good when you need to wake up in the mornings. Yet water is better to hydrate your body. A nice glass of water can get rid of headaches and fatigue. 

Eat Breakfast Every Morning 

It is easy to skip breakfast when you are in a rush. Make it a morning routine to have something to eat, and to relax during the meal. You can build up your energy level so you don’t become tired by midmorning. Make sure you have a balanced diet. 

Put in Some Exercise 

Since you were able to free up more of your morning by doing some tasks the night before, you can now use that extra time to exercise. You can go for a jog, put in some yoga, bicycle around the block, or perform a range of other exercises to keep your body mobile and muscles strong. 

A morning routine is just what you need to make yourself feel better in the mornings and to keep up that energy level throughout the day. These simple tasks will become a great habit that the whole family can enjoy. 

3 Ways to End Work-Related Back Pain 

Whether you work behind a desk and at a computer all day, or in a factory or at a job site, you can experience work-related back pain that can begin to impact your work activities and home life. Tackling back pain has to become a priority as you will start to feel worse the longer that the back pain persists. Here are 3 ways to stop work-related back pain. 

Modify Activities to Stop Repetitive Movements 

Most often the pain occurs because you are doing a certain task so often without occasionally resting your back. Identify the movements that may be the reason for the back pain. Then modify your activities to relieve the tension in muscles so you are not doing the same movements and actions that exacerbates the problem. 

Lift and Carry Objects Carefully 

Using your back to lift heavy objects and carry them can cause aches and strains to muscles. Before picking up any object, evaluate the item’s weight and obtain help if it is too heavy for one person to lift safely. Then you want to lift the object using your legs as you stand up. Tighten the core muscles while carrying the object and hold it close to your chest while maintaining the natural curvature of your back. 

Improve Your Posture While Sitting and Walking 

You can relieve work-related back pain by not slouching while walking or sitting in front of a computer. You want to balance your weight evenly on your feet while standing. When sitting, have a chair that offers back support and remove bulky objects from pants pockets, such as thick wallets, that can cause unnecessary pressure to your back muscles. 

It is always advisable to see a medical professional if you are dealing with work-related back pain to determine the reason for the issue. The back pain could be an indication of a more serious medical condition or illness that needs to be immediately addressed. Once you have identified the cause, you can then use the best methods to stop the pain so you can feel better. 

Why You Should Try Chiropractic Before Back Surgery

If you are experiencing chronic back pain from an old injury or other condition, it might feel like surgery is the only way out. Maybe you’ve tried medications and physical therapy with less-than-optimal side effects and lackluster results. We’re here to tell you, surgery is a major decision and you should be sure it is the right path for you. If you haven’t tried chiropractic yet, we urge you to give it a try before surgery. Often, just a few appointments can have dramatic effects. And the best part? It’s non-invasive.

Here’s why you should try chiropractic before surgery.

1. The AMA (American Medical Association) recommends patients should try chiropractic adjustments before back surgery.
2. In a study of 2,000 Washington State employees who suffered from a back injury at work, more than 40% who saw a surgeon first ended up having back surgery within three years. Only 1.5% of the patients who went to a chiropractor first ended up have surgery in three years.
3. Surgery does not always work. And even if it does, you need to think about what your recovery time will look like. Strong drugs to help with post-surgery pain relief, mobility issues, time away from work and family and the things you love to do, are some of the downsides to surgery.
4. Chiropractic should be your first line of defense against musculoskeletal pain. Your Bend chiropractor will work to find the root cause of your pain and treat your total body health, without drugs or invasive procedures.
   

If you are suffering from back pain and considering surgery, give your Bend chiropractor a call first. Let us take a look at your spine and listen to your story. There could very well be a path to health that does not involve an operating table.

5 Ways To Help Soothe A Headache

Headaches are not fun. When the pain presents itself as a migraine, your day-to-day activities can become even more of a problem. If you’re suffering from headaches and/or migraines, we want you to know that there are ways to help ease the pain. Chiropractic care is incredibly effective for headaches and migraines and often eliminates this debilitating condition.

Here are five ways you can help soothe a headache or migraine.

1. Meditation or relaxation exercises

One of the keys to helping your headache condition is to minimize the stress in your life. When you are stressed emotionally, your body responds with muscle tension and tightness. This process happens without you even realizing it because you are so wrapped up in your own stress. When certain sets of muscles tighten and tense, especially around the head and neck, headaches can become more prevalent. So, think about your life and work stress levels and eliminate what you can. Also, try to work in some relaxation techniques into your day. Whether it’s yoga, meditation warming baths, cardio exercise or outdoor activities, find something that calms your mind and your spirit and do it regularly. Massage is great too.

2. Heat or cold

Before, during or after a headache or migraine, heat or cold might feel good on the neck and shoulders, or even the forehead. Discover which temperature feels best and make it a part of your routine when the pain begins to surface. Wrap an ice pack or heating pad around the neck and rest in a relaxing position.

3. Stretching

Often, headaches and migraines can start from muscle tension. Working a daily stretch session into your routine is a great idea. Either first thing in the morning or before you go to bed, take a few minutes to stretch the muscles in your neck and shoulders, lower back and legs. These movements will help relieve muscle tension and also encourage you to relax. Both benefits will be helpful to soothe your headaches before they happen.

4. Massage

We often recommend regular massage to our patients suffering from chronic headaches and migraines. The relaxing benefits of regular massage are incredibly helpful, but more importantly, loosening those areas of tension and trigger points can have dramatic effects on your headache issues.

5. Chiropractic care

Chiropractic adjustments and our total body approach are incredibly effective in relieving patients from headache and migraine pain. Your Bend chiropractor will first work to discover the root cause of your pain.  Then, through spinal manipulation, massage and other chiropractic interventions, she will work to achieve optimal spinal and joint function.

If you are suffering from chronic headaches or migraines, we want you to know that help is here. Total Body Chiropractic & Massage helps patients with varying levels of headache pain. We see incredible results and we’d love to help you rid your head of pain and get back to living life to the fullest, pain-free.

How To Help Your Headaches & Migraines With Chiropractic Care

Headaches and migraines can feel like a never-ending cycle of nightmares. The debilitating pain can keep you from doing your best at work or from participating in your favorite activities. The good news is that Bend chiropractic care can be very effective at reducing the number of headaches and migraines you experience and often, eliminate them all together. If you’re suffering from ongoing headaches or migraines with no relief in sight, it’s time to try chiropractic care.

Here’s how to help your headaches or migraines:

Find a chiropractic physician who can help you manage your pain without medication.

Medication can be an effective band-aid to pain. Unfortunately, a reliance on drugs alone can quickly become a crutch instead of a long-term solution.  A total body approach to chiropractic treatment discovers and treats the underlying issues at work in your complex system. This in turn allows us to treat the root cause of your pain, instead of simply covering up the symptom of pain.

Learn about your total body health and how it affects the cycle of your headaches and migraines.

Your chiropractic physician will walk you through the discoveries she makes during your initial visit. Your migraines might be due to poor alignment, referral pain from an old injury, or dietary deficiencies. After our thorough exam process, we will come up with a treatment plan based on your unique situation.

Include regular massage treatments into your chiropractic routine.

Massage helps by easing muscle spasms and tension, a common source of tension headaches and migraines. The massage therapists at Total Body Chiropractic & Massage are very experienced with headache sufferers and see great results with regular therapy.

If you are suffering through your days or nights with unbearable headache or migraine pain, please know that drugs are not the only answer. A comprehensive total body chiropractic approach will get you feeling better. Let Total Body Chiropractic & Massage help you avoid a reliance on over-the-counter or prescription medication. Let’s create a long-term plan for health together. You are worth it.

4 Surprising Conditions That Respond To Chiropractic Care

When people think of chiropractic care, what’s the number one thing that comes to mind? Whiplash. While this is a very deserved conception as chiropractors are quite effective when treating whiplash, there are many other conditions that respond very well to chiropractic care. And many in fact, are not focused on neck and back pain.

Here are four conditions that you might not know are very treatable with chiropractic care.

1. Headaches and Migraines

Often, the source of a headache or migraine can be found in another part of the body. Your Bend chiropractor will take a look at your total body health and work to find the source of the stress or tension that is causing the chronic headaches. When coupled with massage, chiropractic care can be a very effective treatment for headache sufferers.

2. Plantar Fasciitis

Two million people suffer with plantar fasciitis. In fact, it’s one of the most common causes of pain in the heel and arch. Plantar fasciitis is incredibly painful and can become chronic if not treated. Chiropractic interventions, including the Graston Technique, are very effective at reducing stress in the plantar fascia and getting patients feeling better fast.

3. Vertigo

Vertigo is a very uncomfortable, extreme sensation of dizziness. When you are having a bout of vertigo, you feel like the world is spinning around you. Many physicians point to problems in the inner ear as the root of vertigo and that is often true. But sometimes it is caused by poor neck alignment, a vitamin B12 deficiency or dehydration. Your Bend chiropractor can help.

4. TMJ Pain

One thing we bet you’d never connect with a chiropractor? Pain in your jaw. In fact, chiropractic care is one of the best ways to treat TMJ dysfunction. The temporomandibular joints, or TMJ, connect your jaw to the skull and are responsible for opening and closing your mouth. Trauma to the jaw, gum chewing, teeth grinding, stress, poor posture, bite issues and arthritis can cause TMJ dysfunction (pain, popping, headaches and ear pain). Myofascial release and jaw adjustments can be very effective.

When you think of chiropractic care, we urge you to think outside the whiplash box. Total Body Chiropractic & Massage helps patients with all kinds of pain and mobility issues. If you’re experiencing chronic pain and other interventions have not worked, it’s time to try chiropractic. Our whole body approach is just the thing you need to get back to doing the things you love, pain free.

Prepare For An Injury Free Ski Season

Ski season is here. Are you ready? And by ready, we’re not talking about your jazzy new gear and Mt. Bachelor season pass. We’re talking about your body – is it ready? Or do you have underlying issues, injuries or pain points that need addressing?  Before you head to the hill this winter, take the time to check in with your total body health. It will be well worth avoiding the cost of injury later on.

Before you hit the slopes, it is important to check in with your chiropractor about any underlying problems in your:

• Knees
• Hips
• Back
• Neck
• Shoulders
• Wrists/Ankles

If you are weak in one of these areas because of an old injury or muscle pain, you could do additional damage on the slopes without even being aware of it. You might overcompensate for pain or fear of re-injury and lose some of your effective and safe skiing techniques. This in turn might cause a fall or increased tension elsewhere in the body.

It is also a good idea to start conditioning and strengthening your core and lower extremities. Working squats and planks into your regular exercise routine is a great way to prepare. Aerobic exercise is important too so try increasing your cardio activities a few weeks before the ski season begins.

If you do suffer an injury while on the slopes this winter, see your Bend chiropractor as soon as possible to get on a path to healing and recovery.

At Total Body Chiropractic & Massage we help skiers and snowboarders of all levels stay healthy and pain-free during one of the best seasons in Bend, Oregon.

5 Ways To Help Your Tennis Elbow Feel Better

Tennis elbow is a pain, literally. If you’ve ever felt the effects of this common condition, you know the pain can vary from nagging to debilitating. And it’s not limited to the tennis court. Tennis elbow can affect anyone who does repetitive forearm movements, making it the most common explanation for elbow pain. The good news is that there are ways to effectively treat tennis elbow and get you back to doing the things you love, pain-free.

What is tennis elbow?

Tennis elbow occurs when there is inflammation in the tendons of the forearm. Also known as lateral epicondylitis, tennis elbow is often the result of overuse and repetitive stress. The signature symptom of tennis elbow is pain on the outside of the elbow. You can also experience poor grip strength and pain while lifting or grabbing objects.

How to help your tennis elbow feel better:

1. Schedule an appointment with your chiropractor.

If you’re feeling pain on the outside of your elbow and it’s not getting better, get in to see your chiropractor. Tennis elbow can become a chronic issue if not attended to. Often, issues in the cervical spine, upper ribs and shoulder are contributing factors of tennis elbow. First, we’ll assess your situation, diagnose, and suggest a recovery plan. The Graston Technique is a great treatment for tennis elbow patients because of its ability to mobilize soft tissue and relieve pain quickly.

2. Ice it

Ice is your friend. As soon as you start to feel pain, put an ice pack on the elbow for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. Do this several times a day. It can also help to elevate the elbow on a pillow.

3. Brace it and/or tape it

A counterforce brace can be extremely helpful for tennis elbow. When you come in for your chiropractic appointment, we will teach you how to correctly brace your elbow. The point of the brace is to reduce tension in the inflamed tendons by transferring force farther down the arm. Some braces come with ice pack components that allow you to ice it and brace it at the same time. Kinesio tape also works very well and can be used with or instead of bracing.

4. Massage

Massage is a fantastic treatment for someone experiencing tennis elbow. Your massage therapist will work on trigger points to help relieve any referred tension and pain. Including massage in your recovery plan can decrease recovery time and increase comfort.

5. Rehab exercises

While rest from pain-inducing activities is key, it is important to practice regular stretching and strengthening exercises. A stiff elbow will only add fire to the flames. Range of motion exercises will reduce stiffness and increase flexibility. When you see your chiropractor, he or she will show you the safest exercises to do during your recovery period.

 Are you struggling with elbow pain? It could be tennis elbow. Schedule an appointment with Total Body Chiropractic & Massage. We’ll take a look at your specific situation and recommend a total body plan to get you pain relief and back to enjoying your favorite sports and activities.

Help! Do I Have Text Neck?

Text neck is an all-too common ailment these days, for both adults and children. Hours and hours spent looking down at a cell phone or tablet every day takes a toll on the muscles in your upper back and neck and can lead to both acute and chronic neck pain.

A study showed that 79% of the population between 18 and 44 years of age have their cell phones with them almost all of the time, and only two hours of the waking day spent without a cell phone in hand.

What are the symptoms of text neck?

Text neck most often presents itself as neck pain and soreness, however, pain can often be felt in other areas. Upper back pain, shoulder tightness, even pinched cervical nerves are all conditions that can point back to bad habits with digital devices. If left untreated, text neck can lead to inflammatory issues in the neck, nerve irritation, and even increased spinal curvature.

Common symptoms of text neck include:

-Upper back or neck pain that starts the minute you pick up your hand-held device.

-Sharp pain in the neck or shoulders at the end of the day.

-General shoulder pain and tightness.

-Headaches that get worse when using your hand-held device.

How is text neck treated?

Similar to other neck pain issues, chiropractic care and massage therapy can be very effective for treating text neck. First, we’ll want to pinpoint the cause of your text neck. Is it your posture while you are using your device? Is it the amount of time you’re spending on your device? Or is it a combination of both? Are there other injuries or issues that could be adding to the acute or chronic pain? Once we have a solid understanding of what is causing the pain, we will come up with a plan to get you feeling better fast.

Beyond chiropractic care, neck stretches can be incredibly helpful in reducing the strain from text neck. It’s also important to reevaluate your posture and usage habits.  We can help you make sure you are in a safe position when using your cell phone or tablet. We can also help you make a plan for better cell phone habits.

Are you feeling the painful effects of text neck? Total Body Chiropractic & Massage treats adults and children and unfortunately we see many patients damaging their bodies with bad posture and overuse of digital devices. Let us help you manage the pain and your cell phone so text neck will be a thing of the past.