Welcome to Brian Fulton: Registered Massage Therapist
5 Colbey Street, St. Catharines, ON
(905) 329-6226
brianbfulton@gmail.com
Practitioners
Click here to access information and knowledge in the field of massage therapy. Read MoreWorkplace Programs
Here you'll find useful information and links about preventing and caring for the stress that the workplace can have on your body. Read MoreOur Recent Posts
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New site up and running
I am very pleased to say that my new website is now up and running. New content will be soon be added. Please excuse missing images. The transition from my previous website had several hiccups and images somehow evaporated. Over time, images will be added back in to posts and pages. The good news is
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Dealing With Lower Back Pain
Eighty percent of North Americans will experience lower back pain at some point in their life. How do you know if your lower back pain is a muscle strain or something more serious? The fact is that you are probably the best judge of just how serious your injury is. Back pain can be anything
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The Optimum Amount of Exercise
How much should you exercise? This is a good question, and like all good questions, it is best to look at the available evidence to come to a determination. One would hope that current evidence is the basis from which all guidelines are created, however for various bureaucratic and political reasons, guidelines of all
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Inflammation and Diet
(*Click on the many links provided in this article to take you to evidence-based videos to learn more about the role of diet in inflammation, and to examine the supporting evidence.) The Role Of Diet in Inflammation Inflammation is the root cause of many of the conditions that I treat as a massage therapist. Any
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Are Fish and Chicken Healthy Foods?
(* Note – many hyperlinks in this article will take you to Nutritionfacts.org, a vetted website that provides evidence-based articles and videos on nutrition. To view the study sources, click on “Sources cited” to view the evidence source for the video information.) Make no mistake… fish is meat. – And yes, chicken is meat too!
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Nutrients Of Concern In America
As a plant-based eater (vegan), people often ask me, “Where do you get your protein?” This always makes me smile, because I know two things: Studies show that most vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores consume 170% of their protein needs.[i] This means that like everyone else, I am probably getting 70% more protein that I actually
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History of the Plant-Based Diet
In December 2013, I watched a documentary entitled Forks Over Knives. This movie follows the lives of five people with different medical issues and tracks their progress after they adopt a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet, a dietary regime that contains no animal products, and contains food that is either unprocessed or minimally processed.
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The Ultimate Junk Food (That you never even knew was a junk food!)
Junk food – noun. Simple Definition of junk food: food that is not good for your health because it contains high amounts of fat or sugar Source: Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary Full Definition of junk food – Merriam-Webster 1 : food that is high in calories but low in nutritional content (micronutrients) 2 : something
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Myofascial Triggerpoints: What has changed?
Guest blog by Richard Lebert RMT Evidence informed massage, encourages the integration of current research into our practices, this requires reviewing the scientific literature as it relates to a number of concepts that are held near and dear in the world of massage therapy. As healthcare professionals, I think that it is important that
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What is the Placebo Effect?
Just mentioning the placebo effect can cause many health professionals to get quite defensive. There is good reason for this- the placebo has had a long and coloured history, including many snake oil salesmen exploiting this phenomenon. It is only within the last 60 years that it has been studied, and only within the last
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Understanding the Placebo Effect
Some therapists shudder at the mention of the term placebo effect, others are curious as to what it might be, still others embrace the concept. Where do you lie on this spectrum? Sticking one’s head in the sand and denying that it exists in your treatments is actually not helpful to you or to
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Can Contextual Factors Improve Clinical Outcomes?
Years ago I heard about the impressive results from placebos in several clinical trials and decided to explore the subject further to see if it was something that I, as a massage therapist, should know more about. The first book I read was The Placebo Response[i], by Howard Brody. This was an interesting read
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Weight Management Lessons I Learned on my Health Journey
My Journey Maintaining one’s weight within a healthy target range can become increasingly difficult as we age. It would appear to be easier from some than for others. If you are one of those people whose body tends to pack on the pounds, then let me say that I truly empathize with your challenge on
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Twenty Eight Ways To Save Your Back And Body When Doing Yard Work
Well, spring is finally here and the gardening season is in full swing. If you are like most of us, you get out there and overdo it, then pay for it the next day. Worse yet, you could find yourself paying much longer than that due to a muscle spasm or strain. To help
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Twenty Reasons to Not Eat Within Your Own Kingdom
There is now a mountain of evidence suggesting that eating more fruits and vegetables in your diet offers many health benefits. Most of the benefits come from the addition of whole food of plant origin, (fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, seeds etc.) because of all of the increased fibre, antioxidants, and phytonutrients available in
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Fat- How Much Do We Need in our Diet?
Fat affects the taste and texture of food in a manner that could almost be described as seductive. We are drawn to fats for ancient survival reasons. In nature, and in our bodies, fat is a concentrated form of energy. The body uses it primarily for energy storage in preparation for periods of food
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Understanding Carbohydrates
*The fact source for this article is THE STARCH SOLUTION by Dr. John McDougall. Roedale Inc. 2012. Dr. McDougall has written and lectured extensively on the role of carbohydrates in the human diet. There is no one with more knowledge or clinical experience in the area of carbohydrates on the planet. His 2012 book,
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How to Read Food Labels
Label Reading 101 – Advice from Jeff Novick MS, RD, LD, LN The above picture is probably enough to scare anyone off of this topic. This is why I have created this post, which is a summary of label reading information presented in Jeff Novick’s DVD, ‘Should I Eat That?’ If you are interested
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Plant-Stock 2014
My Weekend at Plant-Stock, August 2014 In August of 2014, I attended the third annual Plant-Stock weekend retreat on site of the Esselstyn Family farm, in the bucolic setting of the foothills of the Catskill Mountains in upper New York State. What is Plant-Stock you say? It is a two-day long, immersion gathering featuring
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Dealing with Plantar Fasciitis
Plantar Fasciitis The plantar fascia, as seen above, is the flat band ligament that connects your heel bone to your toes. It supports the arch of your foot. If your plantar fascia is subject to stress, it can become inflamed. (This is where the ‘itis’ comes in.) The inflammation typically begins where the fascia
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The Pleasure Trap
The Pleasure Trap As an alternative health provider, I generally believe that if one follows one’s general intuitive sense about what feels good, that it will serve you well in life and in health. Listening to your own heart and your own mind is extremely important, since you are living YOUR life. This inner voice
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Have we Gone Overboard on Protein?
Have we Gone Overboard on Protein? What does the Science Say? *Reader’s note: Much of the content of this article is drawn from the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine. Their website, http://www.pcrm.org/ is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the science of healthy eating. We all need to eat to live, so let’s
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Are you getting enough…. Vitamin D?
In November 2013, I attended a medical seminar at McMaster University on the topic of Vitamin D put on by Grassroots Health, a consortium of scientists, institutions and individuals acting to fund studies, raise awareness and solve what they believe is a vitamin D deficiency epidemic. There were several speakers at this event including
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Managing Back Pain With The McKenzie Method
From The Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (2005)9,40–42 SELF-HELP: PATIENT’S ADVICE McKenzie self-treatments for sciatica Author- Craig Liebenson, DC, 10474 Santa Monica Blvd., #202, Los Angeles, CA 90025, USA One of the most painful and disabling back problems is sciatica. This is a pinched nerve in your lower back that causes buttock, thigh, lower
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Sleep Hygiene and Your Child
As a kid I remember my dad saying, “Early to bed, early to rise makes you healthy, wealthy and wise.” Well I don’t know about the wealthy part, but lots of research supports the healthy and wise result. Getting your kid to go to bed at a regular time is always a chore, but
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The Role of Vitamin D in Your Body and Your Muscles
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin which is responsible for enhancing intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphate and is therefore plays and extremely important role in calcium regulation and bone health. Emerging literature indicates vitamin D’s central role in other vital body processes, such as: signalling gene response, protein synthesis, hormone synthesis, immune response,
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Understanding Frozen Shoulder
Frozen shoulder, known medically as adhesive capsulitis, causes pain and stiffness in the shoulder joint. Over time, the shoulder becomes progressively harder to move. Statistically frozen shoulder occurs in about 2% of the overall population; most commonly affecting people between the ages of 40 and 60 with women more affected than men. Anatomy of
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Frozen Shoulder Exercises
Frozen Shoulder (Adhesive Capsulitis) is a stubborn condition that creates pain and limits movement of the shoulder joint. To understand this condition click on the following link: Frozen Shoulder. The following exercises are effective for self-treatment of Adhesive Capsulitis, also known as Frozen Shoulder. Before beginning an exercise/stretching regime be sure to consult a
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Smart Gardening- Pull Your Weeds Out; Not your Back
Twenty Eight Ways To Save Your Back And Body When Doing Yard Work Well, it’s now Spring and the gardening season is in full swing. If you are like most of us, you get out there and overdo it, then pay for it the next day. Worse yet, you could find yourself paying much longer
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Go Barefoot- The Importance of Grounding Yourself
There is always a treasure trove of wisdom available to us simply by looking back at how we as humans lived in our tribal days, whether we look at our social structure, our politics (which was truly democratic because everyone got to vote on issues), our diet, or our lifestyle. Because we spent tens
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Shovelling Snow Safely
One of the things that I love about winter is all of that beautiful white snow. Well, I actually like looking at it. Driving in it and shovelling it is another matter. Keeping your sidewalk and your driveway clear is not only recommended for personal safety and convenience, it is also your civic duty.
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Registered Massage Therapy versus Massage
Is there a difference between massage and massage therapy? What does the word massage mean to you? Like any word, it can mean many different things to many different people. Touch therapy is documented as far back as 2000 B.C., but undoubtedly predates writing and maybe even language. The actual word massage has French
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Sit/Stand Workstations
A new approach to the standard desk is the sit/stand work station. It not only allows for people to have a tremendous variety in their day by sitting or standing, it also allows people with chronic back pain to have an alternative seating position which places far less strain on their back. These types
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Workstation Seating and Your Spine- A New Paradigm
As a massage therapist I am treating back pain on a regular basis. If you have occasional back pain you can get by with traditional seating, the big fat lazy chair, but if you deal with constant back pain it is probably time to rethink your seat. We are going to begin with a bit
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Treating Neck Pain With The McKenzie Method
The McKenzie Method was developed in the 1960’s by Robin McKenzie, a physical therapist in New Zealand. While much time has passed since then, his exercises still form the cornerstone of treatment for both neck and back pain. What follows are his core exercises for treating neck pain.His book, currently in its fifth edition is
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Advanced Interval Training
An interval-training workout is one in which you alternate periods of hard work, with periods of easy or recovery work. In my previous post I looked at some of the benefits of interval training such as weight loss, as well as increased strength, speed, and heart rate recovery. The best way for beginners to
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Interval Training- Maximizing Your Workout
Working as a massage therapist, I often get asked questions about exercise. There are three basic components to an exercise program; cardiovascular exercise, strength training and stretching. Interval training is a specific type of cardiovascular exercise that employs short bursts of exertion followed by short recovery periods. This strategy allows one to achieve exercise goals
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Cardiovascular Health Without a Gym Membership
“I have two doctors; my left foot and my right.” – G. M. Trevelyan I recently visited my parents in Huntsville. While up there I joined my dad for his morning walk. He set a healthy pace doing a 30-minute circuit before returning home. It was a great way to start the day. Did
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Walking- The Oldest Form of Exercise
“I have two doctors, my left leg and my right.” – George Trevelyan, 1913 Walking seems so ordinary, so relaxed an activity that it’s hard to believe that it has so many health benefits. What benefits you ask? Well, studies show that regular walks can significantly lower the risk of heart attack, diabetes, stroke,
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Epsom Salts For Your Health
Epsom Salts For Your Health — Folklore or Fact? The medicinal use Epsom salts dates back centuries, but then again, so does bloodletting and trepanation (drilling a hole in the patient’s skull). Centuries of use by lay folk or even doctors doesn’t necessarily guarantee efficacy. Unless science can back up claims made by the purveyors
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Mild Dehydration Impairs Coginitive Functions
Two recent studies have found that mild dehydration can alter a person’s mood, energy level, and ability to think clearly. Mild dehydration appears to affect people in the same manner whether they are exerting themselves or are sitting at rest. One study looked at twenty-five women aged 23 on average and was published in The
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Living in a Chemical Soup
The topic of chemical exposure has re-entered the news these days with leading stories of major retailers yanking bisphenol A (BPA) off of their shelves. BPA is a synthetic chemical compound found in some hard clear plastics, (e.g. Lexan) and is used as liners in many metal cans. After several studies in peer-reviewed journals
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Cold and Flu Prevention
We’re not out of the woods yet. It’s still cold and flu season here in Canada. The common cold (rhinitis or coryza) is probably the most prevalent infectious disease that occurs in humans. It is estimated that there are up to a billion colds per year in the United States[i]. That’s an average of
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Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
Do you experience tingling or pain in your arm or hand? It is possible that the culprit may be Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS). This condition is caused by compression of nerves or blood vessels (or both) through the area between the base of the neck and the armpit (the thoracic outlet). This area is surrounded
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Migraine Headaches and Massage
Rather than describe this condition myself, I am going to let the Mayo Clinic describe it, after which I will tell you what massage can do for you. If you are a migraine sufferer, I highly recommend the Mayo Clinic’s Migraine Page as a resource for you in this matter.
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Exercise Safe — Exercise Smart
You often hear about the benefits of exercise, but it is just as important to be aware of the hazards of improper exercise. It is common in my profession to see people who have injured themselves while working out or playing sports. Exercise is fraught with hazards, but choosing the right activity and approaching
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Shedding Light on Seasonal Affected Disorder
Easing The Winter Blues Everyone’s psycho-emotional state has ebbs and flows, hence the word ‘mood’. Moods vary, and for some of us, the swings can be quite large. Light exposure, weather and change of seasons are among the many factors that can trigger dips or peaks in mood. Most of us feel the affects
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Dealing With Fibromyalgia
The twentieth century brought tremendous advances in medicine. Antibiotics, in particular, helped to change the medical paradigm to one of belief in ‘magic bullets’. Science and medicine, like technology, were the new gods that were going to solve all human suffering. They certainly have solved many problems, and tremendous advances have been made, however
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Exercise and Your Brain
Research has long shown that moderate exercise protects against an array of chronic diseases and slows the effects of aging, but did you know that exercise also improves brain function, reduces the risk of strokes and can protect the brain from degenerative changes?
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Everything is Connected
What follows is an article that I wrote in June of 2005 for Dalhousie Peer magazine, but I think that the message is a relevant today as it was then. – Brian Fulton I suppose that it might be simpler if everything on the planet weren’t so deeply connected. That way we could do just
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Simple, Safe Exercises For Your Back
A term that you may have heard used around fitness is core strength. However, when you try to find out exactly which muscles are the core muscles, you find that everybody has a different list. Suffice it to say that they are generally the deeper muscles in the torso and hips rather than the
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Preventing Repetitive Strain Injury
TWENTY- TWO WAYS TO PREVENT REPETITIVE STRAIN INJURY Overuse of any area of the body can lead to a repetitive strain injury (RSI), also known as cumulative trauma. One way of looking at this is that the body area is being used so much that the body has trouble keeping up with tissue oxygen needs,
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Computer Workstation Ergonomics
Ergonomics is the field of study that attempts to minimize the negative impact of work on our bodies. While ergonomics primarily looks at the work environment, the principles may be applied to anything that we do, from the physical set-up of our home computer to the shape of your snow shovel handle.
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Nocturnal (Evening) Leg Cramps
Nocturnal leg cramps are a complaint that I’ve heard from several of my clients. Nocturnal myoclonus is a sudden, involuntary contraction of the calf muscles that occurs during the night, or while at rest. These cramps can affect persons in any age group, but they tend to occur more often in middle-aged and older
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Tingling in the Arms and Hands
That Pins-and-Needles Feeling! A common complaint in this modern computer age is tingling in one’s fingers, hands or forearms. It is not uncommon for people to experience this feeling, particularly as the aging process begins to affect the body and circulation becomes impaired. Is tingling something to be taken seriously? Absolutely!
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Treating and Avoiding Shin Splints
One common running injury is “shin splints”, a phrase that really tells you nothing. As with most body pain, inflammation is involved and needs to be minimized. In the case of shin splints, inflammation is occurring in a muscle compartment that has little room for expansion, and it is occurring right where your muscle
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Neck and Shoulder Tension
The Art of Letting Go One of the most common complaints I hear as a massage therapist is concerning neck and shoulder tension. We are all actually hardwired to store tension in this area of the body. If you look at anyone surprised by a loud noise or any sudden stressor, you will see their
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Golfer’s Elbow (Medial Epicondylitis)
The rapid arm and wrist movement required in many jobs and sports can lead to sprains, strains or persistent tendonitis in the elbow area. Most of the muscles that create hand or wrist movement originate in our forearm. Muscles that close our wrist and hand (flexion) are located on the inner portion of our forearm
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Using Exercise to Reduce Pain
As a massage therapist, I have heard many of my patients speak about how increasing their activity levels, reduces their body pain. Well it turns out that this isn’t just anecdotal information. A fourteen-year study of 866 runners aged 62 to 76 showed 25% less musculoskeletal pain in active participants versus a sedentary control group[i].
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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
A Light at The End of The Carpal Tunnel Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) results in the highest number of work days missed among all work related injuries. We hear the term CTS thrown around a lot these days, but just what is it?
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Acupressure
Practicing an Ancient Art Acupressure is an ancient healing art developed in Asia over 5,000 years ago that uses the fingers to press key points on the skin to supposedly stimulate the body’s own natural defences. Of course, science didn’t exist in those days, so acupressure is more of an art than a science. But
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Tension Headaches
Dealing With Tension Headaches More than $1 million is spent in Canada each year on over-the-counter medications for headaches. Recent figures indicate that 70-90% of the population suffers from occasional tension-type headaches. There are several types of headaches mind you, but the most common by far is the ‘garden variety’ tension headache, a band-like pressing
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Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis)
Coping with Elbow Pain One soft tissue problem that I commonly encounter is mouse elbow (a.k.a.lateral epicondylitis). Years ago this condition was coined tennis elbow, when the backhand swing in tennis was a common cause of the condition. However, nowadays computer use is one of the main culprits involved with this condition..
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Dealing With Muscle Cramps
Virtually everyone experiences a muscle cramp at some point in time. They can be mild or extremely painful. Strictly speaking, a muscle cramp is an involuntarily and forcibly contracted muscle that does not relax. This causes a palpable hardening of the involved muscle. Our immediate instinctual (and correct) reaction would be to try to
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Dealing With Muscle Pain and Soreness
Everyone has aches and pains, some more than others. Whether your soreness is due to posture, activity, aging or even genetics, you need to get relief from pain that lasts more than a day or two. A muscle that does not get enough rest time is a common cause of soreness. This can be
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Neck Pain
Pain in the Neck! If you’ve ever experienced severe neck pain, you know exactly why this term came into popular use. If you’ve only experienced generalized pain, count yourself lucky. Once the body senses misalignment in neck vertebrae, it tells muscles in the area to tighten up. The body’s intent is to protect the area,
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Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ Pain)
This title is a real mouthful isn’t it? (chuckle, chuckle) This is why you hear people refer to it as TMJ dysfunction. The temporomandibular joint is the joint formed by your jaw (mandible) and the temporal bone of your skull. As with any joint in the body, if problems develop with alignment or wear,
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Treating Sprains and Strains
Sooner or later, every one of us ends up “pulling” something in our body. It usually happens so fast that it is over before you realize that you’ve injured yourself. You’ve probably heard the two terms sprain and strain and wondered if it is sort of like tah-may-toe or tah-mah-toe. As it turns out, they
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Stretching Basics
101 Reasons to Stretch . . (okay maybe twelve) More than 40% of our body mass is skeletal muscle, the muscle type that is under our conscious control and that is responsible for body movement. Fortunately, muscle is prone to very few diseases, but it is prone to dysfunction. Dysfunction is very common, but readily preventable,
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The Importance of Exercise
Exercise Schmexercise Why exercise? It takes time, effort, and sometimes it just plain hurts. Worse yet, you can easily injure yourself doing physical activity. After all, when have you heard of people injuring themselves watching television? Well, just read these excerpts pulled from various articles on the subject of exercise and decide for yourself.
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Breathe Easy
“The simplest and most powerful technique for protecting your health is breathing,” Dr. Andrew Weil director of the Integrative Medicine Program, University of Arizona. We can survive weeks without food, days without water, but only minutes without air. Breathing is so integral to every moment of our life that we almost take it for
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