Here are some more excellent tips from Joe DiVincenzo on the Gloucestertimes.com website.
We usually concentrate on various methods of pain relief once we already have a bad back or other painful condition. These tips are more preventative and aimed at trying to avoid back pain altogether. That said, if you are already suffering from a bad back, or recovering from one, I’m sure you will find these strategies useful.
To read all about them, go here.
6 Essy Exercises to Help Your Neck
Neck pain can be miserable. Fortunately there is much we can do ourselves to ease our neck pain and I have found these simple exercises on thephysiotherapysite.co.uk.
If you do these three or four times a day you should see a great improvement. The exercises are quick, and simple, and are also illustrated to make it really easy.
Anyone with muscular neck pain should try these. Just use this link.
Can a Shakti mat help your back pain?
If you are like me you are probably saying to yourself, "What’s a Shakti mat?" Apparently, it’s a cushioned mat with thousands of plastic spikes on the top. And according to website abclocal.com, it is soon about to be the subject of a major marketing campaign.
According to the story by Ali Gorman, the mat works for back pain (amongst other things) by using the principle of acupressure.
For back pain you lie on the mat either in a thin T-shirt, or preferably nothing, then the 6,200 plastic points get to work.
The first three to seven minutes can feel uncomfortable (surprise), then it feels good. Using the mat for 15 to 20 minutes a day can help relieve back pain, reduce stress, help you sleep better, give you more energy, plus other benefits, says Jeff Schnoll of Shakti USA. Well, he would, wouldn’t he?
Still, it does seem to have positive benefits for many people. I have checked and found that these are available in most places. They seem to range from around £13.00 upwards in the United Kingdom. Not too expensive to give it a try.
If you want to learn more, and watch a video demonstrating the mat in use, click here. If anyone tries one, or already has tried one, let me know how you get on.
Lastly for today, as many of you will learn to know, osteoarthritis that led to having my knees replaced. It also is responsible for many back problems as the spine is one of the locations very often affected.
Osteoarthritis
I have recently put together a short report “Osteoarthritis: What it is, and what you should know." I have tried to include an answer to most of the common questions about it, and what you can do if you have it.
You can download a free copy here.
