Diaphragmatic breathing coupled with pelvic or core breathing will help relax muscular tension throughout our body, decreasing pain and reducing stress. That’s a pretty big statement! How does diaphragmatic breathing and pelvic breathing accomplish that? Diaphragmatic breathing is also called belly breathing or abdominal breathing. The diaphragm is the primary muscle for respiration. Its [...]
Neutral pelvis is important to help protect our lower back, eliminate low back pain and have a healthier spine. I am a Physical Therapist and work with people who have chronic pain. My primary mode of treatment is manual therapy, especially myofascial release. Manual therapy addresses the muscular and structural imbalances in the body that [...]
The belt stretch is a great self help pain relief for neck and shoulder pain. A typical posture in our modern culture is a forward head, slumped posture. This means that the upper back is rounded and the head is forward with the shoulders rounded forward. Forward head posture [...]
This is a really important self care tip because of it’s widespread effects for eliminating myofascial pain almost anywhere in the body. It's especially effective for relieving low back pain when used in the abdominal region. We have two hip flexor muscles called the iliopsoas or psoas for short. They tend to get tight [...]
The topic is temporomandibular joint disorders. More commonly referred to as “tmj”, the disorder, with its variety of symptoms, received national attention in the 1980’s as the new “dumping” diagnosis. In some social circles it was even fashionable or trendy to have TMJ. Myofascial Release has been found to be an effective treatment for TMJ. Nevertheless, [...]
A recent case report in the Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy outlined the case of 47 year old male with chronic pelvic pain/epididmmitis. This man could not sit or stand more then 15 minutes without increased pain which limited all of his functional movement and activiites of daily living. His treatment focused on internal [...]
The Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy, Jan/April 2013 published a research study which showed the importance of Physical Therapists evaluating the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) in women with low back pain (LBP), as well as asking questions regarding urinary incontinence. They cited the following statistics: Low Back Pain is the most common type of pain [...]
We have discussed what the benefits of hypopressive exercises are in the last article, (Safely building your core: Hypopressives vs. traditional abdominal exercises), and how they differ from standard abdominal and core exercises. They can be especially therapeutic in a woman who suffers from pelvic floor dysfunction such as a prolapse, heaviness in the pelvis, [...]
If you are in that group of 70% of Americans that spend most of their waking lives either sitting behind a steering wheel or behind a computer screen and wonder why you are in pain, you need to read on. Studies have shown that constant sitting is dangerous to your health. Learn the importance of [...]
Repeated poor posture and body mechanics causes more of a forward head posture. Neck and back pain are common with a forward head posture because of the increased rounding of the upper back muscles which stretches and weakens them. The muscles on the front of the body (neck, front of chest), become tight and weak. [...]
