Squatting exercises have long been touted as the magic behind everything from total body fitness to weight loss. Basically, squatting exercises involve bending at the waist and bending your knees, with or without additional weight. Trainers everywhere inject squats and squat combinations into exercise routines for their clients often. But are squatting exercises doing more harm that good? Continue reading “Are Squats Hurting Your Back?”
Tag: lower back pain
What is Deep Tissue Massage, Really?
What is deep tissue and how is it beneficial?
Many people think “deep tissue” means “huge amounts of pressure” and “it should hurt a lot”. The fact is, deep tissue really means neither of those. True deep tissue work is a type of massage therapy that focuses on realigning and invigorating layers of muscle and connective tissue that are deeper inside the body. With deep tissue, the therapist can use specialized techniques to reach muscles positioned “under” or “behind” surface muscles.
Deep tissue is especially helpful for chronic aches and pains and issues like a stiff neck and/or shoulders, sore upper back, low back pain tight leg muscles, and more.
According to the August 2005 issue of Consumer Reports magazine, 34,000 people ranked deep tissue massage more effective in relieving osteoarthritis pain than physical therapy, exercise, prescription medications, chiropractic, acupuncture, diet, glucosamine and over-the-counter drugs.
What happens during the session?
Relieving Lower Back Pain
In any given year, one in 10 (10%) of men and women in the US experience lower back pain. Some just deal with it, others are more proactive.
Lower back pain is one of the top reasons people seek medical attention in the U.S., and it is notoriously tough to treat. Most lower back pain comes from injury or overuse of muscles, ligaments and joints. Less common are pressure on nerve roots, compression fractures and infections.
Studies show very few medical therapies, from medications to injections to surgeries, reliably relieve it, and some can aggravate the problem. A new study randomly assigned 400 adults with moderate-to-severe low back pain lasting for at least three months to either weekly whole-body massages for relaxation, weekly massages that focused on specific muscle problems around the lower back and hips, or usual care (“control group”). Continue reading “Relieving Lower Back Pain”
It’s About How You SIT
How you sit when you’re working is something 100% in your control. Poor sitting posture can result in lower back injuries and contribute to the poor positioning of other parts of the body, such as the arms, wrists, and legs. You can make some small changes that can have a big impact on your posture and in turn reduce chronic pain in your arms, fingers, lower back and legs.
There are three main factors that influence your sitting posture: vision, reach, and postural support.