As we all know well, anyone will tell you, when there is foot pain, we hurt all over. Our feet are the foundation or our structure, or body. If there is a problem with that foundation, everything else – knees, hips, back – will be thrown off.
Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the connective tissue referred to as plantar fascia. This fascia runs along the sole from the bottom on the heel to the toes. Many will say that it feels as if the arch of the foot is tearing.
Risk factors, causes, incidence and Symptoms
When the tissue that is referred to as plantar fascia has been over stretched or overused, it can become inflamed. Once the fascia is inflamed, it can be painful and make walking more difficult.
Some of the risk factors for plantar fasciitis include:
• Foot arch problems (both high arches and flat feet)
• Obesity
• Repetitive loading on the feet when long-distance running, especially when going downhill or uneven surfaces
• Sudden weight gain
• Tight Achilles tendon (tendon that connects the calf muscles to the heel)
• Shoes with poor arch support or soft soles
Plantar fasciitis is commonly seen in middle-aged men and women, but it can be found in all age groups. The most common complaint is diagnosed with the classic symptoms of pain in the bottom of the foot in the heel area. Often the pain caused by plantar fasciitis is more severe when you first get out of bed in the morning. This pain will often subside quickly, only to return after periods of prolonged standing or walking. By the end of the day the pain may be replaced by a dull ache which improves with rest.
Signs and tests
Typical physical exam findings may include:
• Mild swelling
• Redness
• Tenderness on the bottom of the heel
Treatment
Conservative and Alternative treatment is almost always successful, when given enough time. Treatment can last from several weeks to 2 years before symptoms get better. On the average most patients are better in about 9 months. According to the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, in 90 percent of people, heel pain improves significantly after two months of treatment.
Initial treatment usually consists of:
• Regular treatment with a Reflexologist or Massage Therapist(a massage therapistis well trained in foot care)
• Heel stretching exercises
• Education in self care
• Hydrotherapy twice daily (10-15 minutes, more often the first couple of days your therapist will instruct you further in Hydrotherapy)
• Rest as much as possible for the first week.
• Wear properly fitted shoes.
Expectations
Nearly all patients/clients will improve within one year of beginning therapy, with no long term problems.
Sources:
• Reflexology, Health at your fingertips
by Barbara and Kevin Kunz, Dorling Kindersley, London, 2004
• Riddle, DL, et al. “Risk Factors for Plantar Fasciitis” J. Bone Joint Surg. Am., May 2003;85: 872 - 877
• Gill LH. “Plantar Fasciitis: Diagnosis and Conservative Management” J. Am. Acad. Ortho> Surg., Mar 1997; 5: 109 – 117.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Take care of your Feet...
.....Your Feet will take care of you!
Promoting Your Good Health
Reflexology promotes the body’s marvelous ability to adjust and balance during times of stress. Simply taking time out to relax can help you let go of tension and enjoy a feeling of restored balance.
Beyond relaxation, reflexology has been shown to improve circulation. Increasing circulations boosts the supply of oxygen and nutrients to your muscles and other tissues and speeds the eliminations of waste products such as lactic acid and stress hormones. This, in turn, reduces muscle tension and soreness, decreases healing time for injuries, and reduces swelling from injures and illness. Immune function, skin tone, and the ability to concentrate also improve when circulation is increased.
Why work on the feet?
We have over 7200 nerve endings on the soles of our feet, making them quite sensitive-and responsive to the sensory input of reflexology.
If you are stressed, overworked, or injured, a Reflexologist can send a calm and intentional message to the nervous system through his or her skilled touch to the feet. Because your nervous system is designed to respond to new input, your reflexologist’s relaxing touch refocuses your attention from the stress you’ve been experiencing. As you begin to unwind and enjoy new and pleasant sensations, tension decreases and pain subsides.
The feet are accessible and easy to work. You only need to remove your shoes and socks and your Reflexologist can address the needs of your entire body. If your feet cannot be worked for any reason, you can receive the same benefits from stimulating the reflexology points in your hands.
An abundance of evidence complied over centuries from such diverse areas as Egypt, India, Japan, China and Europe suggests that your body is reflected in your feet. That is when pressure is applied to the feet, predictable positive changes occur elsewhere in the body.
Reflexology in health care
Because it promotes overall health, reflexology is used as complementary care for people with a variety of conditions. For example, reflexology can help alleviate headaches, reduce arthritic and back pain, decrease the symptoms of addiction withdrawal, ease the swings of premenstrual syndrome, and reduce the symptoms of diabetes.
In Switzerland, nurses working with terminally ill cancer patients routinely use reflexology to decrease pain and make patients more comfortable. In Great Britain, reflexology is part of the National Health Service. Of the 26% of Danes who have tried reflexology as a complementary therapy, 73% of these experience benefits, including a gain in energy, improved mood, and improved sleep.
A holistic approach
When considering reflexology as complementary care, it is important to understand that reflexology approaches the body as a whole with interrelated systems. For example, applying pressure to the sinus points by themselves will not necessarily relieve a headache. Your Reflexologist stimulates all you reflex points, enabling your body to mobilize healing energies wherever in the body they are needed.
Promoting Your Good Health
Reflexology promotes the body’s marvelous ability to adjust and balance during times of stress. Simply taking time out to relax can help you let go of tension and enjoy a feeling of restored balance.
Beyond relaxation, reflexology has been shown to improve circulation. Increasing circulations boosts the supply of oxygen and nutrients to your muscles and other tissues and speeds the eliminations of waste products such as lactic acid and stress hormones. This, in turn, reduces muscle tension and soreness, decreases healing time for injuries, and reduces swelling from injures and illness. Immune function, skin tone, and the ability to concentrate also improve when circulation is increased.
Why work on the feet?
We have over 7200 nerve endings on the soles of our feet, making them quite sensitive-and responsive to the sensory input of reflexology.
If you are stressed, overworked, or injured, a Reflexologist can send a calm and intentional message to the nervous system through his or her skilled touch to the feet. Because your nervous system is designed to respond to new input, your reflexologist’s relaxing touch refocuses your attention from the stress you’ve been experiencing. As you begin to unwind and enjoy new and pleasant sensations, tension decreases and pain subsides.
The feet are accessible and easy to work. You only need to remove your shoes and socks and your Reflexologist can address the needs of your entire body. If your feet cannot be worked for any reason, you can receive the same benefits from stimulating the reflexology points in your hands.
An abundance of evidence complied over centuries from such diverse areas as Egypt, India, Japan, China and Europe suggests that your body is reflected in your feet. That is when pressure is applied to the feet, predictable positive changes occur elsewhere in the body.
Reflexology in health care
Because it promotes overall health, reflexology is used as complementary care for people with a variety of conditions. For example, reflexology can help alleviate headaches, reduce arthritic and back pain, decrease the symptoms of addiction withdrawal, ease the swings of premenstrual syndrome, and reduce the symptoms of diabetes.
In Switzerland, nurses working with terminally ill cancer patients routinely use reflexology to decrease pain and make patients more comfortable. In Great Britain, reflexology is part of the National Health Service. Of the 26% of Danes who have tried reflexology as a complementary therapy, 73% of these experience benefits, including a gain in energy, improved mood, and improved sleep.
A holistic approach
When considering reflexology as complementary care, it is important to understand that reflexology approaches the body as a whole with interrelated systems. For example, applying pressure to the sinus points by themselves will not necessarily relieve a headache. Your Reflexologist stimulates all you reflex points, enabling your body to mobilize healing energies wherever in the body they are needed.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
There are still openings this week for Massage, Reflexology, Aromatherapy, and Reiki sessions! Check us out now at schedulicity.com and see what is still open. Mention our Facebook page and receive $15 off your session. We accept cash, checks, debit and credit. Be sure to ask about a savings pain for those who want to earn free sessions.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Keep It Moving
There’s more proof that exercise can help people with arthritis stay fit enough to perform everyday tasks like cooking, dressing and bathing.
In a two-year study of more than 5,700 adults with arthritis age 65 and older, researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago found that the sedentary adults were twice as likely to have to limit their movements because of arthritis than the active participants.
Exercising more—by gardening, swimming or walking—could prevent a good deal of physical decline in people with arthritis, lead author Dorothy Dunlop, M.D., of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern wrote in the April issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism. Other research has found exercise can also help ease the joint pain caused by arthritis. —AARP Bulletin June, 2005
In a two-year study of more than 5,700 adults with arthritis age 65 and older, researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago found that the sedentary adults were twice as likely to have to limit their movements because of arthritis than the active participants.
Exercising more—by gardening, swimming or walking—could prevent a good deal of physical decline in people with arthritis, lead author Dorothy Dunlop, M.D., of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern wrote in the April issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism. Other research has found exercise can also help ease the joint pain caused by arthritis. —AARP Bulletin June, 2005
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Fascinating Fascia ...
Do you know what fascia is?
Most people have never heard of it, yet it’s literally everywhere throughout your body. And the role it plays is an important one.
What is fascia? The World Book Dictionary defines fascia as “a usually thin band of fibrous connective tissue covering, supporting, or binding together a muscle, part, or organ; tissue of this kind.” The word comes from the Latin fascia, meaning a band or girdle.
This connective tissue forms a continuous net throughout the body, from head to toe and from skin to the deepest levels. “If all the other tissues were extracted, the connective framework alone would preserve the three-dimensional human form in all its details,” writes author and bodyworker Deane Juhan in his book Job’s Body.
All of the body’s components that we are more familiar with—the blood vessels, nerves, muscles, etc.—make their way through this maze of fascia. And found in all the tiny spaces throughout the connective tissue is a fluid called ground substance, a viscous liquid resembling raw egg whites.
Ground substance is the medium in which all those cellular body functions—nutrients and hormones being delivered to cells, wastes being carried away, etc.—take place.
So, what does all this have to do with massage and your overall health? Because fascia is a continuous web spreading throughout your body, it can play a major role in how your body functions. Since it’s a gel, ground substance can change in consistency. When a body is active (through work, exercise, stretching, etc.), it generates heat that creates a more ideal condition for the ground substance—one in which it becomes thinner or more liquid. This allows for better metabolic exchange to take place throughout your body, helping your body to better maintain proper health.
If a body is less active, the connective tissues are not as warmed or energized, allowing the ground substance to thicken; the tissues become sluggish and lose their ability to stretch, soften and flex.
One of the health benefits of massage is the positive effect it has on this process in the body. “By means of pressure and stretching, and the friction they generate, the temperature and therefore the energy level of the tissue has merely been raised slightly. This added energy in turn promotes a more fluid ground substance ... in which nutrients and cellular wastes can conduct their exchanges more efficiently.” 1
The substance that gives connective tissue its strength is the protein collagen (derived from the Greek word meaning glue). The collagen molecule is the longest molecule that has ever been isolated. These collagen fibers derive their strength from their ability to form strong chemical bonds with each other. Over the years, these fibers tend to pack more tightly and strengthen their bonds, especially in places with more compression and strain. “These areas of chronic stress in the connective tissue thicken and rigidify, bunch up, lose their range of motion, and impose their limitations on the movement of the body as a whole. ... This unwanted bonding is one of the major factors in the stiffness associated with old age, repeated strain, or poorly healed injuries.” 1
Because fascia is continuous throughout your body, when one area is affected (becomes tight, for example), its effects can manifest in other areas as well. Imagine pulling on a corner of your shirt and the numerous distortions this causes across the length of the fabric. Fascia can react in a similar fashion. Areas of restricted fascia can lead to various complaints, such as postural problems and restricted movement.
So, in addition to massage benefiting your tight or sore muscles while soothing and relaxing you, it also is playing another vital health role. “The pressure, motion, and friction created by deep manipulation raises thermal ... levels far beneath the surface. In addition, the squeezing, stretching, and contorting of the connective tissues creates a cleansing, flushing effect, similar to that of rinsing out a sponge... Large amounts of toxins and wastes ... can be thus moved out of the intracellular fluids and into the bloodstream, from which they can then be eliminated.” 1
This information only scratches the surface on fascia and the roles it plays in your body, but it should give you a better understanding of how your regular massage sessions can benefit you. If you have questions, just ask!
1. Deane Juhan, Job’s Body, 1987
Most people have never heard of it, yet it’s literally everywhere throughout your body. And the role it plays is an important one.
What is fascia? The World Book Dictionary defines fascia as “a usually thin band of fibrous connective tissue covering, supporting, or binding together a muscle, part, or organ; tissue of this kind.” The word comes from the Latin fascia, meaning a band or girdle.
This connective tissue forms a continuous net throughout the body, from head to toe and from skin to the deepest levels. “If all the other tissues were extracted, the connective framework alone would preserve the three-dimensional human form in all its details,” writes author and bodyworker Deane Juhan in his book Job’s Body.
All of the body’s components that we are more familiar with—the blood vessels, nerves, muscles, etc.—make their way through this maze of fascia. And found in all the tiny spaces throughout the connective tissue is a fluid called ground substance, a viscous liquid resembling raw egg whites.
Ground substance is the medium in which all those cellular body functions—nutrients and hormones being delivered to cells, wastes being carried away, etc.—take place.
So, what does all this have to do with massage and your overall health? Because fascia is a continuous web spreading throughout your body, it can play a major role in how your body functions. Since it’s a gel, ground substance can change in consistency. When a body is active (through work, exercise, stretching, etc.), it generates heat that creates a more ideal condition for the ground substance—one in which it becomes thinner or more liquid. This allows for better metabolic exchange to take place throughout your body, helping your body to better maintain proper health.
If a body is less active, the connective tissues are not as warmed or energized, allowing the ground substance to thicken; the tissues become sluggish and lose their ability to stretch, soften and flex.
One of the health benefits of massage is the positive effect it has on this process in the body. “By means of pressure and stretching, and the friction they generate, the temperature and therefore the energy level of the tissue has merely been raised slightly. This added energy in turn promotes a more fluid ground substance ... in which nutrients and cellular wastes can conduct their exchanges more efficiently.” 1
The substance that gives connective tissue its strength is the protein collagen (derived from the Greek word meaning glue). The collagen molecule is the longest molecule that has ever been isolated. These collagen fibers derive their strength from their ability to form strong chemical bonds with each other. Over the years, these fibers tend to pack more tightly and strengthen their bonds, especially in places with more compression and strain. “These areas of chronic stress in the connective tissue thicken and rigidify, bunch up, lose their range of motion, and impose their limitations on the movement of the body as a whole. ... This unwanted bonding is one of the major factors in the stiffness associated with old age, repeated strain, or poorly healed injuries.” 1
Because fascia is continuous throughout your body, when one area is affected (becomes tight, for example), its effects can manifest in other areas as well. Imagine pulling on a corner of your shirt and the numerous distortions this causes across the length of the fabric. Fascia can react in a similar fashion. Areas of restricted fascia can lead to various complaints, such as postural problems and restricted movement.
So, in addition to massage benefiting your tight or sore muscles while soothing and relaxing you, it also is playing another vital health role. “The pressure, motion, and friction created by deep manipulation raises thermal ... levels far beneath the surface. In addition, the squeezing, stretching, and contorting of the connective tissues creates a cleansing, flushing effect, similar to that of rinsing out a sponge... Large amounts of toxins and wastes ... can be thus moved out of the intracellular fluids and into the bloodstream, from which they can then be eliminated.” 1
This information only scratches the surface on fascia and the roles it plays in your body, but it should give you a better understanding of how your regular massage sessions can benefit you. If you have questions, just ask!
1. Deane Juhan, Job’s Body, 1987
Thursday, March 17, 2011
GRAB the Savings!
Check out the following special for the next 3 months!
MARCH - $70 for Spring Fling! 90 minute session for under the price of an hour! Reflexology, Massage, Raindrop at Massage with Style ($100 Value)
APRIL - $50 for Tax Relief Special! 1 session any service at Massage with Style ($90 Value)
MAY - $65 for 90 minute session using 2 services of any of the following: Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Massage at Massage with Style ($110 Value)
JUNE - $15 off purchase of any session (hour or longer) with this coupon.
Also checkout the current 'RIGHT TIME, RIGHT SPOT' specials. Found on both FACEBOOK and TWITTER ONLY!
MARCH - $70 for Spring Fling! 90 minute session for under the price of an hour! Reflexology, Massage, Raindrop at Massage with Style ($100 Value)
APRIL - $50 for Tax Relief Special! 1 session any service at Massage with Style ($90 Value)
MAY - $65 for 90 minute session using 2 services of any of the following: Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Massage at Massage with Style ($110 Value)
JUNE - $15 off purchase of any session (hour or longer) with this coupon.
Also checkout the current 'RIGHT TIME, RIGHT SPOT' specials. Found on both FACEBOOK and TWITTER ONLY!
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