Surfer’s Neck

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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.

Dupuytrens Contracture

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Dupuytrens Contractures are a progressive condition that effects the palm of the hand, they usually occur under the ring finger and pinky but can effect other fingers too.

The progressive thickening of the fascia and tendon ( tough fibrous tissues) under the skin makes it more and more difficult over time to straighten the affected fingers out, often it appears that the skin is stuck to the tissue underneath, a bit like a stitch that has been put in the wrong place on a garment, like an adhesion from surgery or a deep cut that healed long ago. Sometimes Dupuytrens Contracture (DC)  is referred to as Trigger Finger.

DC is more common in men than women, usually has a hereditiory link, rarely starts before the age of 40, is more common in people with Nordic ancestry, more common in alcoholics and in diabetics and is thought to be an auto-immune disease. DC starts off painlessly but becomes increasingly debilitating over the years as the affected finger/s bends more and more towards the palm.

Sometimes DC sufferers get tendon shortening on their soles (called Lederhausen Disease) and men may develope a bend in their penis (called Pyronie’s Disease). Medical texts often state that DC has no known cause but DC is much more common in the right hand than the left so you may want to try not over using your “good” hand and see if it makes a difference.

DC is operable but may come back even worse than before because of the high risk of scar tissue formation (which DC resembles). There is also a procedure performed now in some clinics with enzyme  injection therapy performed under a local anaesthetic ( Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto has a website that shows it in action) that is considered by many to be a superior treatment to surgery.

Surgery and enzyme injection therapy may be what you need in the long term to fix DC but if you are at the stage of the first nodule forming on your palm well before it reduces your dexterity, there are other measures you might like to try.

Hand massage and exercise is good for your hands anyway and is definately worth trying if you have the early signs of DC and if you go to a physio for it you might ask them about ultrasound too. Warming your hands up in warm water before you stretch your fingers and hands will probably make them more pliant too and best of all it is something that you can do for yourself.

If you start to notice some nodular swelling on your palm, particularly if you have seen this in an older family member it might be a good idea to start massaging and stretching them as a daily ritual, your hands are far too important to neglect. If the stretching and Self Massage doesn’t prevent DC it may slow down it’s progression and gives you more time before it really becomes problematic.

Your Wrists and your Keyboard.

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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

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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.

Aging- your Muscles and Joints

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As we age our bodies go into decline, if we are smart though we will prepare for it with making appropriate lifestyle choices. Even if you have pushed your luck with drinking, smoking and not exercising you can improve on what’s left if you really want to. Whenever I say this to one of my massage clients I always think about a former businessman and client “T”. T retired at 60 overweight, flabby and short of breath from years of long boozy lunches and no exercise at all. Rather than carry on his self destructive path into retirement he got fit, very fit, much to the amazement of his friends he created a physique many 20 year olds would like to have.

What you need is a plan, even if you have been very fit in the past the same activity now may injure you, this is what T did. As cartilage wears down, our joints can’t absorb shock like they used too, even worse if you have had a cartilage injury that has never been that good since. Our joints don’t bend and straighten as they should when the adjacent muscle, ligament and tendon have weaknesses and have scar tissue also .

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common musculo-skeletal condition which affects about 8% of the population over 55,  polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) affects people in the 50-70 year age group, adhesive capsulitis (Frozen Shoulder) affects people in 45-55 demographic, rheumatoid arthritis usually starts in the 40-60 year age group and osteoporosis is most often diagnosed in the 50+ age group. This is far from a definitive list of all the painful things that can slow you down and make you groan when you get out of bed of a morning and even a fit person can suffer from them but fit people recover faster and better.

The body requires some mild impact activity to help maintain bone density but high impact can cause you problems. This might be the difference between walking and running or between running on the road or on grass.

Massage and Self Massage, like good exercise are things we need increasing amounts of as we age if we wish to remain able bodied.

I worked in a nursing home for about 15 months and it left quite an impression on me, all those stiff bodies taking short shuffling steps. We think of this as normal because it is so common but it isn’t. I have personally known elderly people who are still flexible, energetic and mobile, they are not common but they do exist and are living proof that taking care of yourself does make a difference.

Part of the problem is that many health professionals only get to see old people who are sick, they never get to see the healthy ones. This creates negative expectations about aging, that sickness and weakness are synonymous with getting old. A person can be healthy and old for a long time before they decline, if everyone else gives up on you it is tempting to give up on yourself too….please don’t.

If your joints and muscles are getting stiffer please investigate the possible ways others can help you and you can help yourself. Think about what you love doing most and what you have to do to keep participating. Try some Self Massage.