Gentle Reader,
One of the disappointments in my pain management for my back and the spinal stenosis, arthritis and osteoarthritis residing there and in other joints was the need to abandon yoga practice with a group. I was a 3 x weekly participant in the early morning 8 Limbs yoga studio here in West Seattle, walking distance from my house. I loved the discipline of falling out of bed, putting on my yoga clothes, walking the mile down and then up hills, entering the quiet sanctuary to take my place on the mat. Twisting into those beautiful poses exacerbated rather than healed affected joints and I had to stop.
Since then I have incorporated a few yoga stretches into my daily routine including down dog and the cat-cow sequence, happy baby and the lunge, with a couple planks, and tree. I missed warrior and triangle and worked hard to replace regret with gratitude for what I could still do.
A couple weeks ago, a friend reminded me of Peggy Cappy, the older woman whose "yoga for the rest of us" program is sometimes aired on our public television station during their fund drives. After visiting her web site and watching a few demonstrations, I decided this could be for me. When the DVD's arrived in the mail, I quickly made an hour or so in my day to practice. I am so thrilled to be following the kind, steady voice of a yoga teacher again. Her Back Care Basics includes a full hour of restorative and strengthening floor yoga exercises. My ham strings are really loosening up, the T band down the outer thigh is lengthening. I am taking fewer Pain Relief Complex.
I bought the 3 DVD set and have checked out the other two programs which are calm and peaceful and yet push me to greater core strength and fuller movement WITHOUT straining the damaged discs. Her students are well over 50 (not to worry, if you are younger) and their bodies less than glamorous, but they are flexible. They show you how to modify moves if you can't go the whole way.
I recommend Peggy Cappy highly.
I also bought her CD call Back Care Deep Relaxation for the Rest of your Life. Oh, my. If you have trouble sleeping or quieting your mind, this will do it. I put the 22 minute mediation on my ipod. I don't think I have ever been that deeply relaxed except in yoga class when a good instructor really takes you deep in the final rest position.
I can't tell you what joy it gives me to be able to pass on this information.
I know two women in Seattle who may just be Peggy Cappy's equals. Perhaps you have instructors who know cranky backs where you live. If you are, like me, able to carve out a full yoga practice time right in your own living room, then get her DVDs and claim the flexibility you crave.
Be well, Do Well and Keep Moving.
Betsy
PS. Here is a web site with every yoga pose ever developed described in detail, in case you are looking.
206 933 1889
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www.hihowealth.com (biz opportunity site)
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No Wheel Chair: Managing arthritis without medication or surgery
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Take a swim
Gentle Reader,
Everything hurting? Can't get enough exercise to lose those 15 pounds that promise to make a difference? Walking is hard because of the knee, the hip, the back so you are spending too much time sitting in front of the TV, the computer, the window. What's a person to do? Everyone says you must exercise. Don't I end every post with Keep Moving!?
Have you tried going to the water aerobics class for arthritis sufferers? Go. You will find a convivial group of people, mostly women but with a few handsome men in the pool. Every shape imaginable is there so don't be held back by a too large bathiing suit growing mold in the bottom drawer. Get it out or go to Costco and buy one of theirs. I haven't checked, but this is about the time of year when there are tables full of bathing suits. I myself picked up the perfect suit a couple years ago and have been very happy with it.
For me buying a bathing suit is tricky because I wear a breast prosthesis. I long ago stopped bothering with sewing in a pocket for the thing (it's been 40 years since I had breast cancer. I can't remember how many falsies I have worn out.) The style I like has a gathered cross over so the material itself fills out even if there isn't anything helping push the cloth from the inside. More than once swimming off the coast of Mexico, I saw my very expensive prosthesis bobbing along in the waves just beyond my finger tips. Thus I chose suits that fill out without it.
If you have a fuller figure and only one remaining breast, you'll have to sew in a pocket. There is a large bosomed life guard at the salt water pool here in Seattle who had a mastectomy a few years ago. She sat up on top of the life guard stand in her Speedo, the right side of her chest flat and the other amply filled out. It's life. When you have it still, losing a body part is insignificant.
Didn't mean to get off on the cancer business. We're here to talk about arthritis and moving for health to avoid surgery if we can. Pick a pool that is warm if you can find one. Public pools and YMCA's and club pools nearly all have water aerobics classes for people who suffer from arthritis. Google it.
I can't swim, you protest. This is not about swimming. This is about water holding you up. You are in a near weightless environment with the water supporting you so you can to kicks, bends, twists, arm and leg raises, walking back and forth across the pool with NO pain. The good teachers are very encouraging. The best ones get to know you and are in the water with you. You spend about 45 minutes warming up, moving all your joints, building up to pretty strong movements and then cooling down and stretching the way any aerobic workout class is conducted. The difference is that you are being held in the supportive arms of water. You will astonish yourself with what you can do when you are in the pool.
Personally I have not taken water aerobics for arthritis on any consistent basis. My late husband Chuck, however, was a regular. He was trying to manage terrific pain in his right hip and faithfully walked the 1 1/2 miles to the Y here in West Seattle, down Genesee Hill and up the hill to the Junction and on. He loved the class and the ladies all loved him. He had the sweetest brown eyes, a thick head of graying brown hair, a winning smile and was flirtatious, making them all feel appreciated. He sat in the hot tub after the class, loving the bubbling heat on his joints. He would buy an apple and take the bus home.
He did end up with a hip replacement and the surgery was successful. Because he had worked out in the pool regularly, he was an excellent candidate for surgery. Even though Chuck was on medication for a bad heart, had 5 stents in his arteries and had suffered the occasional TIA (mini stroke), he sailed through the operation and the recovery with the physical therapist coming several times to monitor his return to normalcy.
He continued with the arthritis water aerobics after his hip replacement as it helped his cardio and his over all strength.
When I did go to the water aerobics class a couple years after his death from cancer, the ladies recognized me from the few times I had joined him in the past. The teacher even called him by name, saying "aren't you Chuck's wife? Where is he?" I had never gone to the Y to tell them that their favorite student had died. It was a kind of home coming and memorial service all at once. I was there to work on healing my own body with these ladies. I had developed an neuroma in the ball of my left foot that was so painful, I couldn't walk. Happily a good podiatrist and specially orthotics have alleviated this problem I have water aerobics available to me any time other exercise is impossible. So do you. So go for it.
If you'd like to read what the Arthritis Foundation has to say about water aerobics, here's the link: http://www.arthritis.org/water-exercise.php
Be well, Do Well and Keep Moving.
Betsy
BetsyBells Health4U
206 933 1889
1 888 283 2066
www.HiHoHealth.com shaklee shopping site
www.HiHoWealth.com home business opportunity site
www.HiHoHealthandWealth.blogspot.com blogging on health topics and home business
Everything hurting? Can't get enough exercise to lose those 15 pounds that promise to make a difference? Walking is hard because of the knee, the hip, the back so you are spending too much time sitting in front of the TV, the computer, the window. What's a person to do? Everyone says you must exercise. Don't I end every post with Keep Moving!?
Have you tried going to the water aerobics class for arthritis sufferers? Go. You will find a convivial group of people, mostly women but with a few handsome men in the pool. Every shape imaginable is there so don't be held back by a too large bathiing suit growing mold in the bottom drawer. Get it out or go to Costco and buy one of theirs. I haven't checked, but this is about the time of year when there are tables full of bathing suits. I myself picked up the perfect suit a couple years ago and have been very happy with it.
For me buying a bathing suit is tricky because I wear a breast prosthesis. I long ago stopped bothering with sewing in a pocket for the thing (it's been 40 years since I had breast cancer. I can't remember how many falsies I have worn out.) The style I like has a gathered cross over so the material itself fills out even if there isn't anything helping push the cloth from the inside. More than once swimming off the coast of Mexico, I saw my very expensive prosthesis bobbing along in the waves just beyond my finger tips. Thus I chose suits that fill out without it.
If you have a fuller figure and only one remaining breast, you'll have to sew in a pocket. There is a large bosomed life guard at the salt water pool here in Seattle who had a mastectomy a few years ago. She sat up on top of the life guard stand in her Speedo, the right side of her chest flat and the other amply filled out. It's life. When you have it still, losing a body part is insignificant.
Didn't mean to get off on the cancer business. We're here to talk about arthritis and moving for health to avoid surgery if we can. Pick a pool that is warm if you can find one. Public pools and YMCA's and club pools nearly all have water aerobics classes for people who suffer from arthritis. Google it.
I can't swim, you protest. This is not about swimming. This is about water holding you up. You are in a near weightless environment with the water supporting you so you can to kicks, bends, twists, arm and leg raises, walking back and forth across the pool with NO pain. The good teachers are very encouraging. The best ones get to know you and are in the water with you. You spend about 45 minutes warming up, moving all your joints, building up to pretty strong movements and then cooling down and stretching the way any aerobic workout class is conducted. The difference is that you are being held in the supportive arms of water. You will astonish yourself with what you can do when you are in the pool.
Personally I have not taken water aerobics for arthritis on any consistent basis. My late husband Chuck, however, was a regular. He was trying to manage terrific pain in his right hip and faithfully walked the 1 1/2 miles to the Y here in West Seattle, down Genesee Hill and up the hill to the Junction and on. He loved the class and the ladies all loved him. He had the sweetest brown eyes, a thick head of graying brown hair, a winning smile and was flirtatious, making them all feel appreciated. He sat in the hot tub after the class, loving the bubbling heat on his joints. He would buy an apple and take the bus home.
He did end up with a hip replacement and the surgery was successful. Because he had worked out in the pool regularly, he was an excellent candidate for surgery. Even though Chuck was on medication for a bad heart, had 5 stents in his arteries and had suffered the occasional TIA (mini stroke), he sailed through the operation and the recovery with the physical therapist coming several times to monitor his return to normalcy.
He continued with the arthritis water aerobics after his hip replacement as it helped his cardio and his over all strength.
When I did go to the water aerobics class a couple years after his death from cancer, the ladies recognized me from the few times I had joined him in the past. The teacher even called him by name, saying "aren't you Chuck's wife? Where is he?" I had never gone to the Y to tell them that their favorite student had died. It was a kind of home coming and memorial service all at once. I was there to work on healing my own body with these ladies. I had developed an neuroma in the ball of my left foot that was so painful, I couldn't walk. Happily a good podiatrist and specially orthotics have alleviated this problem I have water aerobics available to me any time other exercise is impossible. So do you. So go for it.
If you'd like to read what the Arthritis Foundation has to say about water aerobics, here's the link: http://www.arthritis.org/water-exercise.php
Be well, Do Well and Keep Moving.
Betsy
BetsyBells Health4U
206 933 1889
1 888 283 2066
www.HiHoHealth.com shaklee shopping site
www.HiHoWealth.com home business opportunity site
www.HiHoHealthandWealth.blogspot.com blogging on health topics and home business
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
what about the chiropractor?
Gentle Reader,
When struggling with arthritis pain, did you turn to a chiropractor? It depends on what sort of arthritic pain you are having--an acute traumatically induced pain, or a chronic low level arthritis ache. My first approach after massage was to get to the chiropractor to see if she could ease the L 5 enough so that it would slip back into place.
A ruptured disc, in my opinion, can be helped a great deal by a chiropractor. In my case it certainly improved my pain level to have several adjustments of the lower back and other sections of the spine within a few days of the injury. I was not calling my suffering "arthritis" induced pain. I was only 54 and had no other symptoms.
Arthritis or injury that results in sciatica and other tingly sensations and loss of feeling in the lower limbs can be helped by a good chiropractor. According to an alternative medicine web site, the basis for chiropractic care is centered in the body’s ability to heal itself. By correcting joint and spine dislocations, a chiropractor helps increase range of motion in the body, which assists in movement.
The neurologist who treats the University of Washington sports teams was my doctor after the herniation of L5. You can read about that trauma here. He advised me to build strong muscles and keep the poor quality bones in my spine lined up by chiropractic and pilates. I don't remember him actually suggesting chiropractic, but I found one whose technique included gentle tapping with an activator.
Dr. Dave Kirdahy of Pinehurst Chiropractic is not a bone cracker. He diagnoses misalignment by energetically moving his hands just above the surface of the body. He can tell where the patient is out of alignment, gently pulse the skeletal structure back into position. And he can take a reading to see when you need to return. It seems I can stay lined up pretty well with the various things I do here at home and a very occasional visit to him.
There are several methods or schools of chiropractic. You can read about them here. I am not really sure how Dr. Kirdahy would categorize his practice.
I have also gone to the traditional Palmer School chiropractor where 3 visits a week were prescribed and paid for by the auto insurance I carried. An auto accident can activate every pain path you ever had from whatever injury you suffered in the past. This more common frequent adjustment, interspersed with massage and later electric pulse acupuncture, made for faster healing from the auto accident and was paid for by the insurance company. Dr. Malinda Maxwell's practice on Capitol Hill in Seattle was a Godsend for me. My first husband had recently died and I was not totally present when driving, resulting in several minor crashes. Not good. On the other hand, the beautiful care and positive environment of a chiropractor's office can be the perfect medicine for a distraught and grieving widow. After my 2nd husband's death, I found another caring office where my body received tender care and my doctor, Dr. Steve Polenz, guided my nutrition for better emotional stability, digestion and internal balance. I have experienced the whole range of chiropractic care. Each has given me something of great value.
Let our readers know your experience with chiropractic and arthritis, or for any other physical condition. We would like to hear your story in the comment section.
Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving,
Betsy
Betsybells Health4U
4455 51st Ave. SW
Seattle, WA 98116
www.HiHoHealth.com shopping for Shaklee
When struggling with arthritis pain, did you turn to a chiropractor? It depends on what sort of arthritic pain you are having--an acute traumatically induced pain, or a chronic low level arthritis ache. My first approach after massage was to get to the chiropractor to see if she could ease the L 5 enough so that it would slip back into place.
A ruptured disc, in my opinion, can be helped a great deal by a chiropractor. In my case it certainly improved my pain level to have several adjustments of the lower back and other sections of the spine within a few days of the injury. I was not calling my suffering "arthritis" induced pain. I was only 54 and had no other symptoms.
Arthritis or injury that results in sciatica and other tingly sensations and loss of feeling in the lower limbs can be helped by a good chiropractor. According to an alternative medicine web site, the basis for chiropractic care is centered in the body’s ability to heal itself. By correcting joint and spine dislocations, a chiropractor helps increase range of motion in the body, which assists in movement.
Dr. Dave Kirdahy of Pinehurst Chiropractic is not a bone cracker. He diagnoses misalignment by energetically moving his hands just above the surface of the body. He can tell where the patient is out of alignment, gently pulse the skeletal structure back into position. And he can take a reading to see when you need to return. It seems I can stay lined up pretty well with the various things I do here at home and a very occasional visit to him.
I have also gone to the traditional Palmer School chiropractor where 3 visits a week were prescribed and paid for by the auto insurance I carried. An auto accident can activate every pain path you ever had from whatever injury you suffered in the past. This more common frequent adjustment, interspersed with massage and later electric pulse acupuncture, made for faster healing from the auto accident and was paid for by the insurance company. Dr. Malinda Maxwell's practice on Capitol Hill in Seattle was a Godsend for me. My first husband had recently died and I was not totally present when driving, resulting in several minor crashes. Not good. On the other hand, the beautiful care and positive environment of a chiropractor's office can be the perfect medicine for a distraught and grieving widow. After my 2nd husband's death, I found another caring office where my body received tender care and my doctor, Dr. Steve Polenz, guided my nutrition for better emotional stability, digestion and internal balance. I have experienced the whole range of chiropractic care. Each has given me something of great value.
Let our readers know your experience with chiropractic and arthritis, or for any other physical condition. We would like to hear your story in the comment section.
Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving,
Betsy
Betsybells Health4U
4455 51st Ave. SW
Seattle, WA 98116
www.HiHoHealth.com shopping for Shaklee
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