Health Related Reading

Massage therapy has become one of the more popular treatments among those with fibromyalgia, and is actually turning out to be one of the most effective methods for treating fibromyalgia pain and fatigue. A number of studies have been done involving massage therapy and fibromyalgia patients. These studies have concluded that those who participated found the following relief of their fibromyalgia symptoms:

• Blood circulation was improved in the muscles which enabled faster healing
• Improvement in motion range and flexibility
• Reduction in stiffness
• Reduction in pain
• Reduction in stress
• Reduction in depression
• Improvement in sleep

What is massage therapy?
Massage therapy is one of the oldest forms of treating mental and physical illnesses. It is the process of using structured or unstructured tension, pressure motion, or vibration to the body’s soft tissue (muscles, tendons, joints, ligaments, and vessels) to help alleviate tension, stiffness and pain in affected areas.

It is still not entirely understood how massage therapy works to relieve pain, but many believe that massages effect the central nervous system. Thus, this therapy encourages the production of hormones that are the body’s natural painkillers such as endorphins and serotonin, and is why pain relief is often so successful.

What types of massage therapy is best for fibromyalgia?
There are many different types of massages that can be used as massage therapy. The following are a few different massages that may be effective for providing relief from fibromyalgia symptoms:

Deep Tissue Massage – This is a vigorous form of massage therapy that works to relax stiff or inflexible soft tissue. The deep tissue massage concentrates on the deep layers of muscles and tendons to release chronic tension and pain. The massage therapist uses pressurized strokes across or along the affected muscles. Due to the fact that this massage is designed to deeply penetrate muscles and tendons, it is common to feel pain directly following treatment, but this pain usually subsides in a day.

Myofascial Release – Myofascial release is designed to alleviate the stiffness and tension in the fascia that has been caused by myofascial pain (pain caused by myofascial syndrome which can affect the entire body but is usually present in the face and jaw). Many people who suffer from fibromyalgia also have myofascial syndrome, which is a condition that can aggravate the already unpleasant symptoms of fibromyalgia.

The fascia, a thin tissue layer, covers all of the muscles and organs in the body. The fascia of some fibromyalgia suffers can become exceptionally tight and short causing pain. Myofasical release message therapy works to relieve this pain through stretching methods. This is achieved by a therapists finding the tight area of the body and gradually stretching and holding this area to help the fascia relax. This massage is continued until the fascia is successfully relaxed.

Swedish Massage – This is one of the most popular forms of massage therapy. Its purpose is to increase oxygen flow within the muscles. The increase in oxygen helps improve the health of the muscles by clearing out toxins and increasing flexibility. Swedish massage is performed by stroking the body with the palms, fingertips or thumbs with long, smooth flowing movements. That being said, this massage can also be performed with tapping or kneading techniques to allow the body to benefit from vibration.

If you would like to give massage therapy a try, you should first speak with your doctor. Secondly, you must make sure that you obtain massage therapy from a qualified massage therapist who has experience with treating fibromyalgia symptoms. Although a massage may appear easy to perform, it can be done incorrectly. Therefore, in order to receive the best relief, trust a professional.

For more information on other effect methods for reducing Fibromyalgia pain please visit EliminateFibromyalgia.com and sign up for the free newsletter.

Taking care of your body, for the most part, is common sense. Avoiding chronic knee pain is no exception. Follow the suggestions below and you’ll be well on your way to a lifetime of healthy knees.

Control your weight: Remember, your knees support almost all of your weight. Every extra cupcake and order of fries may seem to go to your belly or thighs, but in reality, the weight goes to your knees. Eat right and try to stay as close to your ideal weight as possible and keep the strain off of your joints, ligiments and tendons. Obesity can even lead to the development of osteoarthritis.

Get in shape: As a compliment to the previous suggestion, keeping your muscles strong and flexible is a great way to stave off the effects of chronic knee pain. Weak muscles are the leading cause of knee injuries, so instead of lounging in front of the TV, head to the gym for a workout or go for a brisk walk, your knees will thank you in the end. Also, try to incorporate flexibility into your workout regimen. Make sure you stretch before any workout, no matter how benign it might seem.

Exercise the right way: If you already have chronic knee pain or arthritis in your knees, you need to tailor your exercise regimen around your current situation. Remember, even if you have chronic knee pain, it’s not an excuse to not be active, you just have to be active in a way that will help your situation, not hurt it. Things like swimming or water aerobics can be just as helpful and are low-impact compared to jogging, or playing a game of basketball. If you love a game of hoops, try playing less often and doing other low-impact activities more frequently. The most important thing is to stay active.

Know your shoe size: This one seems like a no-brainer, but a startling large amount of people don’t wear the correct size shoes. Or they chose the wrong type of shoes for the activity they are participating in. Shoes designed for running aren’t made for the sharp pivots and turns that are common in basketball, while shoes designed for tennis are. They say the shoes make the man, and in this case, the shoes can make or break the health of your knees.

Kneepads and braces: Make sure you utilize these joint-saving pads when you need them. If you’re playing a sport that causes a lot of trauma to the knee, like basketball or volleyball, wear a knee brace. If you’re on your knees hooking up a computer or laying carpet, wear knee-pads. And believe it or not, most shattered kneecap injuries happen in auto accidents, so wear a seatbelt, and protect your knees as well as your life.

Your body knows all: Plain and simple, if your knees hurt, relax and read a book. The likelihood of injuries to your whole body, knees included, rise dramatically when you’re tired or if your joints are fatigued.

Remember, your knees can take a beating but you only get two. Treat them right and they will be there to treat you right

If you are looking for more ways to experience Knee Pain relief please go to BanishKneePain.com where you can sign up for a free newsletter.

Like acupuncture, hypnotherapy is another popular natural remedy for ISB that many people are turning to. Hypnotherapy allows a person to tap into a special mental state (the subconscious level of their mind), allowing them to alter the way in which they consciously perceive their health problems, and encourages them to respond to these problems in new ways.

How? While they are in this special mental state, the person is given verbal suggestions or provided imagery to assist them in finding relief from their symptoms. The stimulation that the person under hypnosis receives from words and images has a significant impact on the way they function mentally and physically.

For instance, imagery used during hypnotherapy for an IBS patients would be images that encourage healing. Depending on what the image is, the patient may imagine their intestines expanding and relaxing to let fluids flow through. Hence, this imagery is meant to help the patient with their constipation problem.

Why is hypnotherapy an effective IBS treatment?
The reason is because hypnosis is a therapy that can help both the body and the mind. Think of hypnosis as a treatment that helps a person put mind over matter. In other words, it’s a way to use the mind to help heal physical ailments. Furthermore, many researchers believe IBS is a primary disorder of the brain/gut axis.

The what? The brain/gut axis is the term given to the important relationship between the events that have an affect on the way the central nervous system (brain) functions, and how this resulting function affects the way the intestines function through the intestinal specialized enteric nervous system. Essentially, the mind and body are connected. The state of one’s mind can have positive or negative affects on the way the body functions.

For many IBS sufferers, one of the best benefits of hypnotherapy is its ability to reduce the hold stress has on them. Most people with IBS are plagued by negative emotions such as anxiety, tension, and depression, all symptoms of stress that are caused by having to live with an incurable condition. Stress can cause chemical imbalances within the brain that can undermine the immune system and cause an IBS flare up. Hypnosis can decrease the stress one feels about IBS and help a person realize and explore new thoughts and strategies about how to cope with the illness. Hypnotherapy turns the negative to positive.

Over the course of 15 years, numerous studies have been conducted on the effects of hypnotherapy on people with IBS. The results have been very successful. In fact, hypnotherapy regularly generates long term positive results in more than 80% of those who are treated with it. As an additional bonus, hypnotherapy is safe for all ages, and works on 90% of the population.

Keep in mind, that like most types of natural remedy for IBS, hypnotherapy usually requires more than one session to be successful and maintain its effectiveness. Furthermore, although you can learn self-hypnosis, it’s a good idea to first undergo clinical hypnosis with a qualified and licensed professional to achieve the best experience and to find out if hypnotherapy can really help you.

If you are looking for information on different types of natural remedy for IBS symptoms please visit NaturalIrritableBowelSyndromeRelief.com and sign up for a free newsletter.