Category Archives: head, neck and back

Circulation II

Leave a reply

Just as water stagnates when it stops flowing, your blood which is mostly made out of water starts to decompose when it stops flowing. When the circulation in your tissues (flesh and muscle) significantly slows  you have problems because the tissues have a diminished function and are not as good at repairing themselves.

Heart attacks and strokes are about as scary (and common) as circulatory problems get. If you know someone well who has suffered a stroke or a heart attack you may have noticed that even if the incident was relatively minor it really shakes people up and affects their confidence, it can really make people question their own sense of self identity and worth and make them suddenly feel very old.

One can adopt a fatalistic attitude about if your time is up there is nothing you can do about it so you may as well die doing something that you love, the only flaw in this logic is if a heart attack or a stroke does not kill you it may leave you feeling like you wish it had because there is a good chance that you will never be the same again afterwards.

Taking a bigger interest in your health is no guarantee that you won’t meet such a fate, you might be unlucky enough to have poor circulatory DNA but all that any of us can do is to minimise the risks, you wouldn’t knowingly drive on bald tyres now would you?

Heart attack and stroke rate amongst the top four killers of Australians each year, (cancer and medical malpractise make up the other two) but at the other end of circulatory disease spectrum are less life threatening but still concerning problems like how you look for instance.

A persons’ skin usually shows the effect of years of sun baking, smoking and eating fatty food but even if you don’t do any of these things if your circulation isn’t good because you don’t exercise regularly (for instance) you may not have a very good colour or lustre about your skin. The whole cosmetic industry is about how your skin looks and all the cosmetic products under the sun are a poor substitute for good circulation in the blood vessels just under your skin.

Your eye sight is very much subject to your circulatory health too, glaucoma, the number one cause of blindness in this country is most often caused by by capillary damage in your retina. Having diabetes is the number one reason why people get glaucoma, and it is not the only circulatory problem that diabetics get, capillary damage can give you diabetic ulcers on your extremities and can even cause impotence in men.

Even though diabetes is an endocrine disorder it can have big circulatory consequences, with diabetes growing faster than all other diseases more and more people will be forced into taking greater care in their circulation as well as their diet.

Your circulation really is a big deal and effects your whole body, it is yet another reason why we must exercise, eat and hydrate well and pay close attention to our posture.

Surfer’s Neck

Leave a reply

It is a shame that we cannot hold our heads up the way cats, dogs, tigers and goats do, all of these creatures and many others have an extra band of muscles in their necks that allow them to do this, humans alas do not. Get on your hands and knees and see how long you can look up and watch the TV for before your neck starts to hurt and needs a rest.

This is probably the most common reason why surfers get sore necks. If your lucky enough to get towed out behind a boat or a jet ski your neck may last longer before it gets tired but clearly for most surfers most of the time paddling out and waiting for waves can put a real strain on those muscles at the back of the neck. Headaches can result from this too which are not exactly helped by glare coming off the water on sunny days.

Fortunately because the water is such a healing place to be, the satisfaction to be had from a good ride and the sheer fun of it, the sacrifices are worth it but you will be able to do it much longer into your life if you look after your neck (see neck blogs). There are heaps of things you can do to help yourself, get a good pillow, do neck stretches regularly, get massage, osteopathy, chiropractic, physio whatever it is that you find works best for you.

Surfers neck can be an issue for motorcyclists, hang gliders and lounge lizards who like to watch the TV lying on their bellies too, any activity that puts your neck into that hyper extended position can do it. Tree loppers and arborists, painters, electricians, scaffolders, bird watchers and spectators at air shows all over- work their sub occipital muscles (the muscles attached to the back of your skull) and like surfers, cyclists and hang gliders should get the necessary therapy and remedial exercises for their necks.

Regular surfers usually have strong physiques and in many ways surfing is good exercise but like the neck the hips and lower backs of surfers need attention too.

Having one foot forward and one foot back places the hips in a constant twisted position which works the hip muscles in a lop sided way. If you can surf in an ambipedal way (surf alternating between right foot and left foot forward) it is better for your lower back and hips, this is much easier said than done though unfortunately.

There are many sports that have this problem, cricket, baseball, golf, lacrosse, snow boarding, wake boarding, skate boarding, snooker, darts, javelin etc can all place alot of stress on the sacroiliac and lumbosacral joints in your hips and lower back.

If we could step into a new perfect body like we can get into a new perfect car every few years body maintainence would be no big deal but sadly this is not the case. Like cars bodies need alot more maintainence if we drive them hard too.

Your Wrists and your Keyboard.

Leave a reply

While it is true that no single solution is going to equally suit all people, one thing that did catch my attention recently was an email newsletter that I received last week about ergonomic posturing for computer use.

The advice was quite simple, it invited you to try using your computer keyboard in the “flat” position (NOT propped up at the back on it’s retractable legs) irrespective of what type of keyboard you are using. Included in this advice was discarding any comfortable looking wrist rest that you may normally use.

The rationale for doing this is that it is your best chance of keeping your wrists as straight as you can while using your keyboard, middle finger tip in direct line with your elbow (no sideways bending of wrists) and your hand neither bent forward or backward at the wrist. Over the last 4 weeks I put this to the test.

To my surprise my wrists did feel better using the computer in this way, it did seem counter-intuitive at first to fold the legs of the keyboard up and to do away with the gel wrist rest but because the wrists are used in this flat way there is no  point of pressure exerted on the wrist. The weight of your forearms are more evenly distributed on the desk top too.

Whether you give this way of typing a try or you elect to continue using your computer in the usual way do stretching exercises for your wrists and fingers. Arm out straight infront of your body, fingers bent upwards with your other hand pulling back your finger tips, you should feel the muscles on the palm of your hand and on the under (pale) side of your wrist and forearm stretching.

Alternate this stretch with arm straight out infront of your body again except with your other hand pulling your fingers downward giving you the sensation that the muscles on top of your forearm are stretching now.

If you experience any sharp or restrictive pain doing this you should desist and find out why this is happening, carpal tunnel compression in your wrists (please see the sore and tingling hands blog) is one possible reason why this can happen. Another condition that can make stretching your hands difficult is having a Dupuytrens Contracture which can slowly cripple your hand over a long period of time. If the contracture is serious you may need to see a hand surgeon.

Whatever your method of typing everybody needs to know their limits, a few short walking or stretching breaks each hour will sooth your wrists and hands. If you work on computers all day and then use them for study or recreation when you get home, you are even more likely to experience wrist pain.

It is a great shame that more thought hasn’t gone into ergonomic computer design with. Industrial diseases such as RSI are no longer the exclusive domain of poorly educated, non-English speaking people working on assembly lines, highly qualified professionals get RSI too now because of computer use.

Self Massage

Leave a reply

The main reasons that people do not get massages more often is that they don’t think they can afford the money or time for them. On the other hand not many people who have had a massage from someone who knows what they are doing are unimpressed. How to get the benefits without the costs?

Do a massage course yourself, make some friends there and swap massages with one another, the cost of the course can vary widely depending on the length of the course and where you study but if you don’t mind giving some massage to get some back yourself this can be a satisfactory arrangement.

If you can’t (or won’t) spend time and money on a massage course buying a massage machine may be an option for you. There are massage appliances ranging from basic wooden and plastic hand operated roller style tools that cost a few dollars right up to electric heated massage couches that can cost thousands. They are all good to a point (so long as you buy them from someone reputable) but they have limitations too. Massage machines cannot think for themselves (not yet anyway) you still have to know how to place them. Falling asleep on one can chafe your skin, mechanical massagers with timer switches are safest. .

There are cheaper cash only massage stalls around the place that do not operate under health department regulations, some of which offer adult services (you might not want anyone you know to see you walking out of such a place). Your health fund is unlikely to pay for these appointments and there is no guarantee the masseur/masseuse is even trained.

Even if you think massage is an indulgence rather than a muscle therapy, it is a healthy indulgence. Most other indulgences will put you into an early grave. Massage is good for your general circulation, it can shorten muscle recovery time, it can calm you down when you are stressed and it frees up body stiffness.

Self Massage & +40 Fitness has been written for everybody who likes getting massage. By using simple leverage with your own body weight and posturing yourself correctly using the best angles and tools you can give yourself the benefits of massage for no cost.

Lifting and Carrying

Leave a reply

Lifting even moderately heavy objects the wrong way can injure you, this is a well known fact. You may perform the lift well but then you may trip or twist when you are carrying your load and the result will be the same- pain, inconvenience and the fear that you might have done yourself serious damage.

Work place safety is taken seriously by responsible employers because they have a stake in you not hurting yourself, lost productivity and increased compensation insurance premiums are costs they like to avoid. So think about how you lift things when you are not at work and  how much it might end up costing you.

Sometimes a weight that you have easily lifted a thousand times before (that isn’t that heavy at all), can give you a sudden shock of pain one day. Momentarily you stop you in your tracks and wonder what just happened. This is usually due to poor lifting (and carrying) technique but may also be a repetitive strain injury too. Some small loads can be very hard to hang onto to like a squirmy toddler or a dog trying to avoid his bath. Lifting and carrying injuries can be very unpredictable.

Then there are lighter things that we lift and carry everyday like  laptops, handbags and brief cases. How we carry these things can have an undesirable effect on our spines too but in a more gradual less noticeable way. The constant carrying of even light objects over a long period of time, always on the same side of your body can change it’s balance and distort the shape of your spine. The shape of our bones over a long period of time can change because of uneven posture.

I wish I had a backpack when I was a school kid, they are so much better for your back than our hand carried cases and even better if you use the chest strap. If you wear a pack always the carry the load as high as you can and evenly.

If a backpack makes your business suit look too casual or it doesn’t match your beautiful dress please be conscious of frequently and evenly swapping your purse or case from hand to hand to share the load. Handbags can make women’s shoulder suffer just as surely as her high heels can cause her back pain, fashion has it’s price.

You don’t have to carry anything at all to be lop sided, poor general posture can do it to you too.

We are very lucky to have so many labour saving devices available to us it is ridiculous to risk our spinal health by not using them. The next time you see an African woman carrying a big water jug on her head it is because posturally it is the safest and most efficient way of carrying it over a medium to long distance without the aid of a vehicle or a trolley.

In a way we have become a little spoiled by our labour saving devices, when we do not have them at our finger tips we can be a liitle useless at lifting and carrying.