The Homeopathic Approach for the Treatment of Patients with Cancer

Introduction

Homeopathy's roots emerge from the findings, teachings and writings of German Doctor Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). Hahnemann graduated from medical school in 1779 and started his own medical practice.

In 1790, as a result of his disillusionment with such common medical practices of the day (allopathy) such as purging, bloodletting, and the use of toxic chemicals, he gave up his own daily practice to begin working as a chemist while translating medical texts.

It was when Hahnemann began working on a project to translate William Cullen's Materia Medica into German that he began his quest for a better and gentler form of treating disease using the principles of "Similars." While working on this project, he became fascinated with a species of South American tree-bark (cinchona) which was being used to treat malaria-induced fever. Hahnemann ingested the bark and discovered that it caused symptoms similar to malaria. He continued his research into "cures" and the idea of "similar suffering," and began compiling his findings. Similia similibus curentur, the Latin phrase meaning "like can be cured with like" is one of the many principles of homeopathy. A homeopath searches for a substance that produces in a healthy person those same symptoms a patient experiences.

The Homeopathic Model

The homeopathic model is based on 8 principles (table 4); the first of them is the vital principle which is known as the vital force which is in charge of keeping the balance between the body and the mind (figure 1).

Table 2. The Homeopathic Principles

1.   Vital Principle 2.   Natura morborum medicatrix 3.   Similia similibum curantur 4.   Pure experimentation 5.   Individuality of the illness 6.   Individuality of the medication 7.   Minimum dose 8.   principle of the Miasmas

Source: Ortega 1997.

   

Figure 1. Outlines the balance between mind and body. 

Homeopathically speaking, illness is the disequilibrium of the vital force which will cause an unbalance on the relation between body (organs) and mind (emotions).  According to this model the sequence of illness starts with the disequilibrium of the vital force, followed by manifestations at the level of the mind, and once the body is not able to cope with these manifestations it will express the physical problem.

A physical problem will be manifested once a mental problem has been developed and your own nature is not able to heal it; both of them, the emotional problem and the physical manifestation will be in direct relation. Therefore, the physical manifestations are going to be of the same kind (defect, excess or destruction) as the manifestations of the mental symptoms.

It is important to recognise the mental/emotional aspects of both the person and also the state of suffering a remedy produces in a person, the idea of a remedy as being a feeling, as producing a feeling or very particular set of feelings. To give a remedy that is homeopathic is to give a remedy that produces the same feeling to that which is observed to be, in the suffering person. Therefore somehow suffering is related to feelings.

The attempt to distance oneself from the feelings of self is what creates stress and is the most significant origin of all pathology. Whether someone is suffering from an acute ailment, an infectious disease or chronic illness, it is the feeling that has emerged before or with the affliction, which gives to the person the true information within themselves.  Recovery and healing is the process of acceptance of our feelings and as this happens the stress and conflict within, which can manifest as illness and disease, becomes transformed into an inner integration and health. What Samuel Hahnemann calls "our Vital Force" includes the process of our very being wanting us to heal and it needs us to not resist our feelings as an enemy and rather to accept them as our friend.

When we talk about cancer, the first thing to think about is the emotional background that, in homeopathic terms, is the very first expression of the illness and therefore the real cause of the problem, treating this real cause the probability for the cancer to come back is very low. If once treated this problem we treat any other emotion that could have been originated by the diagnosis itself (cancer) like fear, death thoughts, low self-esteem, etc then the probabilities to suffer from a metastasis or recurrence are even lower.

Why Homeopathy?

Homeopathy has been described as a system for treating diseases based on the administration of minute doses of a drug that in massive amounts produces symptoms in healthy individuals similar to those of the disease itself. Allopathy on the other hand, is a method of treating disease with remedies that produce effects different from those caused by disease itself. Therefore, if a person suffers from a headache, the homeopath will prescribe a substance which, in a well person, will cause a headache of the same characteristics while an allopathic doctor will treat the same headache with a substance which causes effects different from a headache. 

Homeopathy restores health safely and permanently; while allopathy (conventional medicine) is used to suppress symptoms thinking that a symptom is the disease and the problem, homeopathy looks at the symptom as an expression of a condition that the body is fighting. The homeopath will choose a remedy that will cause the body to activate itself restorative mechanism and overcome the disorder.

Homeopathy could be described as an art more than as a science because homeopaths develop a great intuition and insight to get all the symptoms with accuracy, as an example, when someone suffers of headache it could have many variants so the homeopath has to patiently look for the exact symptoms to treat to be sure that the remedy chosen is the correct for that patient.

After all the experience developed through the years and the search for improvement, homeopathic doctors now are sure that they have to take into consideration, as very important symptoms, the emotional and spiritual state of the patient, meaning that these kind of symptoms are essential to the physical aspect of the patient, as a difference with the allopaths, which failure comes, simply from their lack of consideration of this important aspect of our lives.

In addition, if we compare both therapeutics, we will find that in most chronic diseases and many acute ones, conventional treatment merely covers up the symptoms, while homeopathy covers the totally of them.

Homeopathy can cure many chronic conditions that regular doctors only medicate. Conventional treatment causes adverse side effects, including long-term disabilities while homeopathy restores health safely.

Homeopathy is perfectly safe because it gives customized medicines which are selected on the basis of the individual’s symptoms, not on the condition, in very small doses.

Homeopathy helps the body to heal itself and can be used to prevent getting sick; it is cheaper in the short and long term because it cures. Many conditions in conventional medicine will require you to be on medication for the rest of your life, with routine blood test to make sure that you are not suffering from the side effects of the drug.

Ion Cleanse

on cleanse is a technique used to purify the body through the electrolysis of the water. It is designed to help our organism release toxins in our body (toxins are substances that are harmful to human beings). 

Ion cleanse can effectively detoxify your body by soaking your feet in an ionizing foot bath. It works off of positively and negatively charged ions.

This technique is often use for individuals entering in a weight management program, however we have proven the efficacy of this technique as a therapeutic aid in the treatment of patients with Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Allergies, Arthritis, Diabetes, Migraines and more.

The treatment consists on placing the array into a basin of clean water with a little bit of salt added to increase conductivity and to improve the ionization effect; the array will then generate a stream of positive and negative ions; you will soak your feet for 30 minutes, (depending on the reason of your treatment it could be during or after the homeopathic consultation) then just relax and enjoy your treatment.

We use this technique to assist in the treatment of multiple conditions but mainly to treat Cancer patients.

Far Infrared Heat Therapy 

Infrared rays are bands of light or energy that we perceive as heat, totally invisible to the naked eye, capable to penetrate into the body elevating its surface temperature and activating major functions.

Infrared therapy is safe for the body and effective for the treatment of many conditions due to the fact that it

•  Stimulates increased blood flow, circulation and oxygenation
• Promotes the elimination of fats, chemicals and toxins from the blood, therefore, it is good for detoxification
• Promotes the killing of many pathogens (bacteria, virus, fungi and parasites);
• Promotes rebuilding of injured tissue, increasing the growth of cells, DNA syntheses and protein syntheses;
• Relieves nervous tension, relaxes autoneuro muscles and reduces soreness on nerve endings and muscle spasms;
• Stimulates the production of white blood cells by the bone marrow and killer T-cells by the thymus, therefore, the immune system gets stimulated.

Risk Factors vs the Homeopathic Model to Find the Real Cause of Breast Cancer

Introduction

Breast cancer has been denoted as the most frequently diagnosed life-threatening cancer in women, as well as the leading cause o cancer death among women. In 2008, the American Cancer Society estimated around 1.4 million new cases worldwide1.

Because there are many types of breast cancer, we are not going to mention all of them; we are just going to talk about breast cancer as a general entity.

The Cause of Cancer

Until now, for conventional medicine, the real cause of the majority of breast cancers has not been discovered. There are many theories trying to explain the cause, including genetic mutations, environmental exposure and inherited tendencies. However, any of these theories has being concluded. Every woman is at risk to develop breast cancer.

Risk Factors

Many risk factors have been identified; some of the risk factors include early menarche, nulliparity, and late menopause in premenopausal women, while obesity and hormone replacement therapy account for postmenopausal women. However, approximately 70 to 80 percent of the cases occur in women with no obvious risk factors3.

Table 1 denotes a very detailed list of risk factors made by the BCI Westmead Breast Cancer Institute.

Table 1 Established risk factors for breast cancer in women

Factor	High-risk group	Low-risk group
	Relative risk >4.0	Relative risk <1.0
Age	Old	Young
Country of birth	North America, Northern Europe	Asia, Africa
Mother and sister with history of breast cancer, especially if diagnosed at an early age	Yes	No
Biopsy-confirmed atypical hyperplasia and a history of breast cancer in a first degree relative	Yes	No
	Relative risk=2.1B4.0	Relative risk <1.0
Nodular densities on the mammogram	Densities occupying >75% of breast volume	Parenchyma composed entirely of fat
History of cancer in one breast	Yes	No
Mother or sister with history of breast cancer, diagnosed at an early age	Yes	No
Biopsy-confirmed atypical hyperplasia without a family history of breast cancer	Yes	No
Radiation to chest	Yes	No
	Relative risk=1.1B2.0	Relative risk <1.0
Socio-economic status	High	Low
Place of residence	Urban	Rural
Race/ethnicity breast cancer at >45 years breast cancer at <45 years	White Black	Hispanic, Asian Hispanic, Asian
Religion	Jewish	Seventh-day Adventist, Mormon
Oophorectomy before age 40	No	Yes
Nulliparity, breast cancer at >40 years of age	Yes	No
Age at first full-term pregnancy	>30 years	<20 years
Age at menarche	<11 years	>15 years
Age at menopause	>55 years	<45 years
History of primary cancer in endometrium, ovary	Yes	No
Obesity breast cancer at >50 years breast cancer at <50 years	Obese Thin	Thin Obese

Source: BCI

Furthermore, the table 2 examines the probability for women to develop breast cancer according to the group of age
.

                                                 

Table 2. Probability of Developing Breast Cancer Within the Next 10 years
By age 20    By age 30    By age 40    By age 50    By age 60    By age 70    Lifetime	1 out of 1,760   1 out of 229   1 out of 69   1 out of 42   1 out of 29   1 out of 27   1 out of 8

Source: Among those cancer free at age interval. Based on cases diagnosed 2000-2002. "1 in" are approximates. Source: American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Facts & Figures, 2008-2009.

According to the statistics, the older a woman is, the greater the probabilities to develop breast cancer. Around 77% of breast cancer cases occur in women over 50 years of age.

According to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute, (Table 3).

• White, Hawaiian, and African-American women have the highest incidence of invasive breast cancer in the United States.
•  Korean, American Indian, and Vietnamese women have the lowest incidence of invasive breast cancer in the United States.
• African-American women are more likely to be diagnosed with a later stage of breast cancer than White women.

Table 3. Incidence Rates by Race
Race/Ethnicity	Female
All Races   White   Black   Asian/Pacific Islander   American Indian/Alaska Native   Hispanic	127.8 per 100,000 women   132.5 per 100,000 women   118.3 per 100,000 women   89.0 per 100,000 women   69.8 per 100,000 women    89.3 per 100,000 women

Source: National Cancer Institute, SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 2007. Statistics based on data, 2000-2004. See www.cancer.gov for more information.

That means that approximately the incidence will be as follows:

• White women 1 in 755.
• Black women 1 in 845.
• Asian/Pacific Islander 1 in 1123.
• American Indian/Alaska Native 1 in 1432
• Hispanic 1 in 1119.

However, since a real cause has not been found, and the risk factors cannot determine if someone is at real risk to develop cancer, we would like to exemplify according to the homeopathic model the relation between the emotional conflicts and cancer.

Case study

A 28 year old lady who was diagnosed with breast cancer of the right breast, lumpectomy had been already performed and she was about to start with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Her risk factors according to the western model:

28 years old: 1 in 1760.

Hispanic race: 1 in 1119

No family history of breast or ovarian cancer: low probability.

Low socio-economic status: low probability

Seventh-day Adventist religion: low probability

Menarche at 14years and 10 months: low probability

In general, all her risk factors are too low to think that she could be at high risk, even at risk to develop breast cancer.

The Homeopathic Model

The homeopathic model is based on 8 principles7,8 (table 4); the first of them is the vital principle which is known as the vital force that is in charge of keeping the balance between the body and the mind (figure 1).

Table 2. The Homeopathic Principles

1. Vital Principle 2. Natura morborum medicatrix 3. Similia similibum curantur 4. Pure experimentation 5. Individuality of the illness 6. Individuality of the medication 7. Minimum dose 8. principle of the Miasmasprinciple of the Miasmas

Source: Ortega 1997.

BODY

MIND

Figure 1. Outlines the balance between mind and body.

Homeopathically speaking, illness is the disequilibrium of the vital force which will cause an unbalance on the relation between body (organs) and mind (emotions).  According to this model the sequence of illness starts with the disequilibrium of the vital force, followed by manifestations at the level of the mind, and once the body is not able to cope with these manifestations it will express the physical problem.

A physical problem will be manifested once a mental problem has been developed and your own nature is not able to heal it; both of them, the emotional problem and the physical manifestation will be in direct relation. Therefore, the physical manifestations are going to be of the same kind (defect, excess or destruction) as the manifestations of the mental symptoms7,8.

The real cause of cancer

As mentioned before, if we follow the homeopathic model, we have to find the reason why, the vital force was disturbed in the first place, the disturbance can be caused by any emotional conflict at any level, once you find the emotional problem that caused the disequilibrium of the vital force and you get the relation of emotional manifestations, you will be now, able to make the relation in time and kind of the emotional problem with the physical problem, in this case we talk about cancer, but it could be any other kind of pathology.

Our patient who has a very low risk to develop cancer, developed breast cancer even with that low risk, but once we dig into her emotional state, we discover the relation of an emotional disturbance during her childhood and youth with the way she manifested her physical problem.

Her emotional problem started at a very young age with problems with her mother, who she felt never gave her affection and support, our patient grew in the middle of low self-esteem and lack of self-worth9, because of that she found very difficult to have relations with other people, becoming a very lonely person.

She grew, finding her relation with her mother too difficult to cope with it and finally leaving her home and migrating to another country in an effort to put some distance in between; once in another country she felt more comfortable and with more peace of mind even getting to the point of missing her mother, but every time that she tried to contact her, she received the same answer coming from her to the point of putting her down again on her mood.

Finally she developed breast cancer of the right breast, lower quadrant; the manifestation was very subtle, a very small mass not very developed but with enough negative stimulus to be malignant.

The characteristics of the mass were similar of that of the personality; her personality was the one of timidity, very reserved person with low self-esteem but with enough resentment to her mother to make that little lump malignant10.

Conclusion

When we talk about cancer, the first thing to think about is the emotional background that, in homeopathic terms, is the very first expression of the illness and therefore the real cause of the problem, treating this real cause the probability for the cancer to come back is very low. If once treated this problem we treat any other emotion that could have been originated by the diagnosis itself (cancer) like fear, death thoughts, low self-esteem, etc then the probabilities to suffering from a metastasis or recurrence are even lower.

Biography

 

1. Jemal A, Siegel R, Ward E, Hao Y, Xu J, Thun MJ. 2009 “Cancer Statistics, 2009” CA Cancer J Clin; 59(4): 225-49.

2. Elmore JG, Armstrong K, Lehman CD, Fletcher SW. 2005 “Screening for Breast

    Cancer” JAMA; 293(10):1245-56.

3. National Cancer Institute (2006). “Probability of Breast Cancer in American Women” http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Detection/probability-breast-cancer.

4. BCI. Westmead Breast Cancer Institute  “Risk Factors for Breast Cancer” http://bci.org.au. 

5. American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Facts & Figures, 2008-2009.

6. National Cancer Institute, SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 2007. Statistics based on

    data, 2000-2004. See www.cancer.gov.

7. Ortega PS. 1997 “Introducción a la medicina homeopática teoría y técnica” 2nd ed.

8. Hahnemann S. 1982 “Organon of Medicine” 6th ed, Los Angeles: JP Tarcher, Inc.

9. Bartel H.  1987 “Synthetic Repertory” Vol I, Ed. B. Jain Publishers (P) Ltd.

10. Bailey PM. 1995 “Homeopathic Psychology: Personality Profile of the Major Constitutional Remedies” Ed. North Atlantic Books.

Balance - Don’t lose yours!

Do you have trouble keeping your balance, be it in sport or just general day to day movement?  You may be experiencing muscular imbalance.

Muscular imbalance can be a predisposing factor in instability in dynamic and static posture. The consequences can lead to not reaching your optimal performance in executing a skill, or commonly seen today pain or stress in your ankles, knees, hips, spine or shoulders.

We’ve all heard or have even said ourselves “I have one leg shorter than the other” There are two categories this can fall under: Structural (being born this way or having a structural component altered by means of surgical intervention) or Functional (a result of a movement pattern that has been adapted to suit your environment). Many of us due to our lifestyle fall under the second category.

The more important thing here is to understand what is happening within our body mechanically and how it can affect us in the short and long term. I’m not only talking about the above mentioned activities, but in all our day to day motions at work rest and play.

So what (dys)functional factors can lead to muscular imbalance?

1. Under-activation of our core muscle group

2. Prolonged repetitive movement e.g. Typing at your computer

3. A tendency to lean on one leg instead of standing equally on two

4. Infrequent stretching to allow for overall flexibility

5. Improper technique when performing a skill

6. Any type of injury that has lead to prolonged rest or a change in your natural movement

7. Repetitive lifting i.e. shopping, heavy objects at work, using one arm instead of two.

8. Conditioning only the same muscle groups at the gym e.g. only doing push-ups, bicep-curls or bench-press and not doing any exercise for your back. Or only exercising for your upper body and not your lower body. This could be why you experience back pain.

When our body begins to experience imbalance; changes in strength, endurance, power and quality of movement (to name a few) occur.  All of these qualities can affect your ability to simply balance in your sport or day to day movement. Without balance, all of these qualities mean nothing.  Certain muscles may shorten and thicken, causing their opposing muscles to forcefully lengthen in an attempt to counteract the changes happening in your body. As you feel the symptoms kicking in it then becomes a vicious cycle between the two muscle groups until something is done to help it.

One of the key symptoms that may help you recognise muscular imbalance is that you may always be feeling tension or pain in the same muscles. 

Massage therapy can help release these tense and painful areas to help restore balance in your body.  It will address your posture and movement patterns and design an effective treatment for you. If it’s been a while or you’ve never had a massage treatment let me work with you to help improve your ability to balance. Call 02 92 333 800 and ask for Ricky or email me: ricky@backonyourfeet.com.au

Cure two people with one jab!

Giving blood has its positives and negatives, let me explain;

Blood, the liquid of life, it's what circulates through our body and keeps us warm, it's what transports oxygen to our brain so we can function, it's what brings nutrients to our injuries to have them heal; without blood we cannot survive. Without "enough" blood we have restless sleeps, suffer from constipation, feel irritable, age rapidly and have dry dehydrated, have trouble seeing, feel dizzy and light headed, and feel cold when others are warm. 

In Chinese Medicine, many people fall into the category of 'blood deficiency', meaning their body is not producing enough blood and need to consider strengthening their digestive system, especially the spleen. The spleen (from a Chinese Medicine point of view) is responsible for taking the nutrients from the food we consume and transforming it into blood. If we have a bad diet; have an eating disorder; or are continually under stress, the function of the spleen will be challenged and therefore will not do its job in producing enough blood. 

When a 'blood deficient' person gives blood they are in effect compromising and causing more injury to their health by making themselves more blood deficient.  A sure sign of this is, soon after giving blood, the 'blood deficient' person will feel even more tired, lethargic and even dizzy.  Whilst they aren't in need of a blood transfusion, they are not physically in the best condition to be giving away blood.

To look at the other end of the spectrum, if someone who is angry all the time, suffers from headaches, severe pimples, insomnia (of the excess type), has blood clots, pain in the legs from blockages (to name a few symptoms) then giving blood could be provide a win-win situation - cure two people with one jab! The above symptoms are of an 'excess' type nature.  Here, the body is showing pain and heat because the blood is not moving and circulating properly. The liver's job is to have the blood move but if we are stressed all the time then the blood will back up like a traffic jam which causes the above excess symptoms to surface.  When someone cuts themselves the blood loss forces the body to respond by moving the blood to the injured area for healing. When this happens all tension is released and in many cases the dis-ease is will be alleviated.  A classic example is when a woman has period pain due to emotional tension and once the period comes and the blood is released, and all the pain disappears.   There are countless examples of patients with illnesses or severe pain that simply disappears straight after they have had a blood test for their doctor. The drawing of the blood has moved the stagnation!

So if you want to give blood please be sure your own honey pot is full first and then by all means give blood to help save the lives of others. If you are blood deficient or have the symptoms that I spoke of earlier then look to have blood strengthening herbs and or acupuncture to build your blood reserves.

Stretching

Do you experience tight or tense muscles? Do you feel that even though you do your exercise at the gym, park, beach or home you still have these tight or tense muscles? 

You may not be devoting enough time to stretching. 

Stretching is as equally important as strengthening - but how much attention do you pay to it?  Most people are aware that they should be stretching but they don't do it enough. There are a few reasons for why this may be:

1. Too tired - before or after work (or during!)

2. Not sure how to do it properly

3. Are afraid of 'pulling or tearing' a muscle from attempting to stretch

4. Not enough time to stretch

5. Don't feel the need to stretch

6. Don't like stretching

7. Not sure why they should stretch

If you can relate to any of the above reasons, you are not alone and you are not in the wrong. These barriers to stretching are realistic and it is important to address these so you can get the most out of your stretching regime as possible. One of the priorities with stretching which can help overcome many of the above barriers is the education about stretching and the steps to take to perform it correctly. Once you are aware of how and why to do it, your insight becomes deeper and you are likely to enjoy it and do it more often.

To help you understand more about stretching, here are the benefits listed below - much more than just ease of movement:

1.Increased Range of motion and flexibility of your muscles

2.Improved posture and posture awareness

3.Improved circulation

4.Maintenance of suppleness of muscle and healthy muscle tone

5.Reduced risk of injury and also reduced risk of falling

6.Relief from anxiety

7.Enhanced recovery

8.Relief from pain

9.Smooth and efficient function and movement

10.Improved breathing and awareness of breath

11.Enhanced relaxation and focus

12.Improved Quality of life

A sound musculoskeletal system will compliment every other system in your body and will also create a deeper awareness of your own body.

In my clinic I cater for your very own stretching session. I do this because I believe that all of the above mentioned benefits can be reached. It is a part of my mission to enhance body awareness, through education and empowerment, that I want to help people better understand this component of health. By using quality and good application, any age can achieve a good state of flexibility.

If you feel you have tight or tense muscles and you want to effectively stretch, give me a call and we can go through it together. The stretching you will learn here is practical and will help you at work, rest or play. 

Please call 02 92 333 800 and ask for Ricky. 

You can also email me at ricky@backonyourfeet.com.au

Cold hands and feet, what to do?

Well, the colder seasons are creeping up now and already we are feeling the coldest temperatures for the year. Well, at least that's what the news is saying. People are starting to layer up with thicker jumpers, thermals and warmer pants. Let's face it, summer is over for now.

So, what else comes with cold weather? runny noses, sore throats, aching muscles and lots of shivers! 

Our bodies are warm blooded, so for the warmer seasons, that's great, but when autumn and winter settle in our bodies need to work harder to keep our body systems regulated. To do this, we need to generate more energy to meet higher demands. One reason it's important to be eating the right foods this time of year! 

One of the more important systems around this time is our immune system and its important role in keeping us on our game. Consequently from the colder weather and winter chills our body functions slowly and takes longer to move things around.  That's right, when you catch a cold, it takes more than one day to get rid of it. For some of my clients... Two weeks can do the job. 

Circulation is important now and blood is rich in nutrient, oxygen and water. Blood is transferred all around the body and our muscles are on high demand for this most important substance. It provides our muscles with the source required to produce the force we need to perform our daily activities. What would we do if we didn't have the energy needed to get up out of bed?

So what happens when circulation to our muscles is reduced? When our muscles are depleted of blood and its important properties their ability to contract and produce a force is limited and at worst inhibited. Consequently our level of strength is reduced and we wouldn't be able to work at the same intensity as before and also for the duration in time.  How much easier is it to warm up for sport in summer or spring compared to Winter?

  

 Your muscles rely on good circulation to grow, repair and function. There are 3 types of muscle tissue in the body:

1. Skeletal muscle - For movement (and several other roles below)

2. Cardiac muscle - found in the heart

3. Smooth muscle - found in the digestive system to move food along.

In the scope of massage, we directly treat the musculoskeletal system. Additionally, we stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and this allows for your body to enhance its ‘self-healing’ process. This is commonly known as the ‘rest and digest’ system. We all know not to run around straight after we eat a meal.

It's important to know that our musculoskeletal system has several functions:

Locomotion, Dynamic and static postural support, Thermoregulation, support of our skeletal structure, assisting in shock absorption, producing force, resisting force, directional change, protection of vital organs, respiration, muscle tone.

The musculoskeletal system, with all of these functions has a vital role in maintaining our well-being. Amongst the postural and movement benefits, the importance in supporting our immune system should always be considered.  Movement, moves things around and that is one (important) way to eliminate unwanted and foreign substances from our body, keeping our system a continuous flow which allows us to grow and adapt to changing environments.

Particularly now, is when I see more muscular tension than I do any other time of the year. Mainly, because of the body’s attempt to keep warmth ‘in’ and coldness ‘out’. You may have also experienced muscular aches and pain when you have caught a cold. This is not uncommon when you are ill. Massage is an ideal way to help prevent and also enhance your body’s ability to deal with these symptoms.

The benefits of massage are beyond improved movement, but also improved immune functioning and more importantly a sound mind. However, amongst healthy movement is a healthy diet and the two complement each other. In my practise to relieve tension I encourage people to eat more green leafy vegetables as they are rich in magnesium - great for relieving muscular tension and assisting in your circulation. For those who aren't keen on vegies, magnesium supplementation is a safe alternative, which is available in my clinic. 

Give yourself the time you need, stay warm and eat well, sleep well, play well and work well. 

If you need a massage (you deserve one) book in to see me at Back on your feet in Sydney cbd . To make an appointment please call (02) 9233-3800. 

Low back pain

Do you experience low back pain but aren’t sure why?  Have you struggled to reach the end of the day at work, or had to push through the final stages of your exercise program because of this pain?

In the scope of massage one of the commonest causes that I come across, for tension or pain felt in the lower back region is due to muscular imbalance, postural dysfunction and/or incorrect movement. This can be accompanied with pain from muscle, neuromuscular and/or joint structures.

Our spine is connected to our hip at the sacrum, making the sacroiliac joint.  To allow for smooth and efficient movement through this joint, muscles responsible for flexion, extension and rotation (all movements in the spine and hips) to any degree need to be balanced in their ability to lengthen and shorten simultaneously.  

To control these movements a group of muscles known as the ‘core’ muscles exist. Their role in preventing injury and allowing for smooth, optimal movement in our trunk and our limbs is vital. 

Underactivity or inhibition of this muscle group can reposition your hips to sit improperly and can lead to any of the symptoms you may be feeling in your low back region, especially if it becomes an on-going change.

The two important core muscles (there are more) that provide the fundamental structure you need to move efficiently, optimally and to help prevent injury and pain are your transverse abdominis muscle (not your six pack) and your pelvic floor muscle group. 

In my clinical experience most people have ‘heard’ about the core, but aren’t exactly sure of how to ‘switch it on’.   

Massage therapy will address your low back pain by assessing your posture to find out the associated muscles linked to your symptoms.  An important consideration in treating your low back pain is your flexibility. If you aren’t a frequent stretcher this can overload your muscles ability to help you carry out your daily activity. By also observing your technique in specific activities you do throughout the week I can give you useful tips on how to improve your movement.

If it’s been a while since you have had massage and you are suffering from low back pain give me a call before it becomes a chronic condition. I may be able to give you some exercises as well.  Please phone 02 92333800 and ask for Ricky.