Equilibria Therapies Limited

Equilibria Newsletter No 2 October 2003 MARTIN BALE MIIST Welcome to all my clients past and present. Here’s the Autumn edition of the newsletter. Please let me know if this is an intrusion you don’t want. Email me with ‘delete’ in the subject box info@equilibria4u.co.uk and I’ll take you off the list. I’d appreciate your feedback, too.  This issue includes Physician, heal thyself, better still don’t crash in the first place Product review – Thera Cane® a case study comparing surgery and massage for treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome Special offer – time for wellness a question answered about ‘referred’ pain Reflexology: an overview Feedback My thanks to those who responded to my first newsletter; I think you’ve all had the free treatment I offered. Most of you picked the ‘Your questions answered’ section as the best section. Nobody had any comments saying what they didn’t like, so you are either being very polite, not interested, or I’ve got the mix about right. Got this far? Read the rest, send me your comments, and I’ll send you a trial treatment voucher for you to give to a family member or friend. Sunday Morning On a sunny Sunday morning in September I completed the annual Oasis Triathlon. From the muscular point of view I learned a lot from the first hand experience. The effect on muscles that have to cope with the change from swimming to cycling to running was an eye opener. A longer training period would have helped as would have setting a slower pace in the early stages of each discipline during the race.  The Triathlon is a charity event for the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. Therapist Group members were kept busy when they manned the post-event massage. They also gave prizes of free treatments for winners. Log on to the Internet at  www.thetherapistgroup.co.uk to learn more about the group. Arnold Physician, heal thyself During my triathlon cycle training I came a cropper just as I launched myself up Ragman’s Lane, Marlow Bottom, a daunting climb by anyone’s standards. My jaw took the first impact, followed by both hands and wrists, a knee and an ankle. I was concerned about the damage done, particularly to the hands and wrists. Initially, I was unable to make a fist, spread my fingers or lift anything with the left hand and the swelling on the right was impressively large. The accident gave me the opportunity to test the advice I dish out to my patients. Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation (RICE), Arnica 30, Lavender oil and Reiki. It works. Within 36 hours I was back to work; Monday was a heavy work day but I got through without much difficulty. Reflexology treatments were more difficult as my left thumb had to be worked slowly. About a week later, I topped off the self-treatment with a chiropractic session (my pelvis was misaligned) and I believe that I’m now in the clear and in a couple more weeks I’ll have forgotten about it. Product Review – Thera Cane® A crook-like cane with knobs on is a fairly accurate description of this self massage tool. It allows you to apply deep pressure massage to hard-to-reach muscles on your own. The cane was developed by a chronic pain patient to help relieve his own discomfort caused by neck surgery and a herniated disc. I bought one (c £50) to try out and have had a couple of occasions to use it for acute muscle problems of my own. It was very useful sorting out a nasty problem caused by trying to carry unwieldy chipboard shelving for about quarter of a mile. It’s a common enough injury after overloading the quadratus lumborum (lower back muscle) while bending and twisting at the same time. It’s a suitable tool for those who have time for self help and to learn something about their muscles. A useful manual comes with it. Please call me if interested, I have some in stock.   Case study. Was surgery necessary? Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).  The carpal tunnel is a narrow passage at the wrist, which contains the median nerve and the long flexor finger tendons, which are attached to lower arm muscles. These tendons can become compressed, then inflamed,  leading to painful and disabled hands and wrists. There are several causes, in this case possibly keyboard work. Mrs A came to me in April 2003 for corrective treatment for various muscular problems, among which was CTS in both wrists. ‘The pain and numbness in my hands is debilitating. I’ve had to take painkillers most mornings to get through the first hour’ said Mrs A. I worked the muscles of the lower arms and felt them release, which allowed them to lengthen and reduced tension, inflammation and pain. Another treatment followed a few days later; Mrs A reported relief in both wrists. The following day Mrs A underwent surgery in the right wrist, which resolved the problem, albeit taking four months to recover. During May, Mrs A had three further massage treatments, which included work on the left arm. The pain was reduced to such a degree that Mrs A doesn’t consider it necessary to go through surgery on that wrist.  Says Mrs A ‘If I’d known the results earlier, I would have cancelled the operation to my right hand and continued with massage treatments to correct CTS in both wrists. For the full story, click here. Time for wellness How long since your last treatment? Depending on the original problem, I recommended a wellness treatment every 3 to 6 months. Have you had yours yet? Call me on 01628 472802 or email info@equilibria4u.co.uk Your questions answered - referred pain Here’s a question often posed by my clients. During the massage treatment why do I sometimes feel pain in an area remote from the muscle you are working on? This is known as referred pain. A common example is the pain experienced down the inside of the left arm during a ‘heart attack’. The heart is served by the same group of nerves that serve the inside left arm; nerve impulses sent by the heart during an ‘attack’ get involved with arm nerves and the brain misinterprets what is going on. A major characteristic of referred pain is the oppressive deep ache, sometimes sharpened by movement. Examples are tension headaches, jaw pain from a neck problem, leg pain from a back problem and vice versa,  Running too hard can bring on a stitch; again it’s referred pain.  Take the gloriously named Sternomastocleidoid muscle. It links the breastbone, the collarbone and the mastoid bone (prominent lump behind the ear). Problems in this can create crown, frontal and temple headaches, eye, sinus, jaw, tongue, throat and ear pain, aches in the side of the neck and back of the head. It doesn’t trouble the back of the neck though! Yet this muscle rarely hurts even when it’s in big trouble. So during massage I will not necessarily be working on the area that is giving you pain. It may feel good if I do but it may not be doing any good in getting rid of the cause of the pain. When I find the part of a muscle causing the pain and put pressure on it, not only will that point be painful but it can also recreate the presenting pain by referral. Reflexology Reflexology is a natural holistic therapy. There are areas and points on the feet, hands and ears that relate to systems, structures and organs in the body. The relationship is called a reflex. Practitioners gently massage and put pressure on the reflexes to stimulate the corresponding systems, structures and organs. The aim is to help you achieve the optimum balance in your mind, body and spirit. Reflexology was the first therapy I studied and it remains my favourite. I guess that the sheer simplicity of the treatment together with sometimes startling cures make it an intriguing therapy. Of course, it doesn’t work for everybody, but even the sceptic can be in for a surprise. For more information and a fascinating case study go to the website www.equilibria4u.co.uk Martin Bale is a member of the Federation of Holistic Therapists. 57 Oxford Road Marlow SL7 2NN 01628 472802          07966 024561 Any comments and feedback welcome info@equilibria4u.co.uk