Here is a fun exercise to help you practice your body language reading skills. Turn on a movie or tv show, but turn the sound off. It is amazing when there are no words to distract us, how much better we can read the body language and understand the feelings and emotions of the communication.
The implications for contralateral effects are tremendous. Any patient/client who has had an injury, and therefore immobilization / disuse for a period of time, should be able to preserve the strength of the musculature of the immobilized limb by performing resistance training of the healthy, non-immobilized limb.
The fact that simple stretching for only 10 minutes per day could reduce cancer tumor growth by 52% in this study involving mice is pretty amazing! Being a manual and movement therapy physician, author, and educator, it is clear to me that the human body needs movement. But to see a 52% improvement was incredible!
The following is a blog post article contributed to us from Daisy May Hartwell. In this blog post article, Daisy discusses 20 simple and straight-forward tips that we can employ to improve our memory and improve our learning!
The authors stated that Michael Jackson challenged our understanding of the modes and mechanisms of movement, the limits of movement, and therefore mechanisms of spinal injury. Dancers often try to perform increasingly challenging moves that may create stresses on the spine that can cause injury.
Once your life is more balanced, it will be easier to maintain a workout routine for the long-term. Not to mention, you won’t be missing out on other aspects of your life — or compromising your health. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to self-care and achieving a healthy lifestyle as everyone has different needs.
Regardless of the underlying mechanism, there seems to be a growing number of studies that do show a correlation between massage therapy and blood circulation. Although these studies at present seem to be inconsistent in their findings, the fact that many of them do show a causal relationship is encouraging.
When working, we place a demand on the body and the body responds by adapting to meet those demands. However, every tissue, has a limit to the mechanical stress that it can accept during physical activity without injury. It would seem likely that the demands of some professions are too great for the human body.
The authors suggested that experienced dancers demonstrate safer landing strategies compared to recreational athletes. Dance training experience may provide protection against high-risk movement patterns. And thus, dance training may be modeled to prevent ACL injuries.
This study seems to show a relationship between iliotibial band (ITB) syndrome and knee adduction (genu varum) and the activation of the TFL. A relationship can be two incidents that occur together, termed a “coincidence.” Or there can be a causal relationship between them; i.e., one causes the other to occur.
In today’s video, let’s have a look at Mortons Test for Mortons Neuroma. Enjoy! This video plus 100s more are available on DCOMT: learnmuscles.com/product/digital-comt-subscription/
A proposed biomechanical explanation is that restricted ankle joint dorsiflexion directly results in overpronation of the foot, which causes internal rotation of the lower extremity, which strains the external/abductor musculature, which can then no longer prevent femoral adduction; hence genu valgus.
So, if hip abductor group on one side is tighter at baseline tone than the hip adductor group on that side, the pelvis will be pulled into depression on that side, resulting in a lumbar scoliosis that is convex on that side. Similarly, tight opposite-side hip adductor musculature can cause the same scoliotic curve.
Absence of evidence is not evidence of the absence. Following is how a research review of the effectiveness of parachutes might be concluded: “There is no conclusive evidence that parachutes are effective at helping skydivers.” Ridiculous? Yes. Yet accurate and absurd!
And perhaps the biggest problem I have with this study about backpacks and adolescent back pain is that an overuse syndrome usually does NOT cause pain in the early stages. When the body is physically stressed by something like carrying a backpack, it often requires many years before the overuse results in pain.
Dynamic stretching’s improvement seems to be related to the increased tissue temperature and increased neural facilitation. Therefore, if the goal of a warm-up is to increase joint ROM and to enhance muscle force and/or power, dynamic stretching seems to be a preferable alternative to static stretching.
In today’s video, let’s have a look at Childs Restorative Pose with Lumbar Flexion Joint Mobilization. Enjoy! This video plus 100s more are available on DCOMT: learnmuscles.com/product/digital-comt-subscription/
The results indicated that the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures in the massage group were significantly lower in comparison with the control group. The results also showed that the lowered blood pressure was still observed 72 hours after the treatment.
Diabetes is no longer a dreaded condition that confines people to a life of bland foods, self-injections and the constant monitoring of glucose and insulin levels. By observing some basic dietary rules, individuals with diabetes can lead perfectly happy and normal lives.
For most of our clients who present with the postural distortion pattern known as upper crossed syndrome, it is important, perhaps absolutely necessary, to include thoracic spinal joint mobilization technique into extension as part of the treatment plan to address the thoracic hyperkyphosis.
I would like to propose that there are certain tangible factors, and perhaps a few intangible factors, that make a teacher great. I believe these factors are knowledge, clear and linear presentation, passion, entertainment, the ability to apply, and caring.
In today’s video, let’s have a look at Bilateral AC Stretching for the Neck. Enjoy! This video plus 100s more are available on DCOMT: learnmuscles.com/product/digital-comt-subscription/
One precaution is that when we do need to use the thumb or fingers, it is a good guideline to always try to contact the client with the pad of the thumb or fingers, instead of the tips of the fingers. In other words, do not lead with the fingertips.
Spinal flexion loads the anterior aspect of the spinal disc, driving the nucleus pulposus posteriorly against the stretch-taut annular fibers. This can increase a bulging or herniated disc pathology. In today’s video, let’s have a look at Anterior and Posterior …
Tight hip flexor musculature causes excessive anterior tilt of the pelvis… hyperlordosis of the lumbar spine… hyperkyphosis of the thoracic spine… hypolordosis of the lower neck with hyperextension of the head at the atlanto-occipital joint… forward head carriage… tight posterior neck muscles… headache.
According to NBC News, nearly 18 percent of all deaths in the US can be directly contributed to the obesity epidemic. While a little extra weight may offer some protective benefits for senior citizens, everyone else — children, adolescents, and adults — should strive for a healthy weight.
The scapula and clavicle are usually referred to as the shoulder girdle, but do they really comprise a “girdle”? In this free Digital COMT video, I make the case that the shoulder girdle would be better termed the shoulder corset. This video plus 100s more are available on DCOMT.
Traction for the cervical spine is indicated for the client with a pinched nerve in the neck because it opens up the intervertebral foramina to decompress the spinal nerves. Dr. Joe Muscolino demonstrates how to easily perform neck traction using a towel.
This is not a list of precautions or contraindications for massage therapy. Rather it is list of miscellaneous, somewhat random, “dos and don’ts” that I believe would improve massage therapy sessions with clients.
It is ironic and bittersweet that this article recognizing the importance of the interstitium, reveals its ignorance of any research already published about that very soft tissue. By describing it as “previously unrecognized,” this demonstrates the long-standing bias against soft tissues by the Western Medicine.
