Posture - how's your middle?

I spend a lot of my time lecturing people about posture and how important it is. I am a total hypocrite though as I've had horrible head and neck pain today from falling asleep in a really awkward position in the armchair last night. It's no coincidence that pain often follows asking your muscles and surrounding tissue to do something they're not designed to do.

The musculo-skeletal system is basically a series of hinges, ropes and pulleys! Think of the vertebrae in your neck as building blocks and the associated muscles as guy ropes. If your neck is nice and straight and your head is not tilting upwards, downwards or to one side then the blocks are nicely aligned and there is no unnecessary tension in the guy ropes. This tension can overstretch or shorten muscles and over time the tissue surrounding them kindly holds them in their new position! This is when trigger points and tender spots are created which can cause a lot of pain. Tight muscles can also pull joints out of alignment which can increase wear and tear leading to osteoarthritis. Unhappy muscles can also press down on (trap) nerves causing a variety of symptoms. Apply this to the whole body and you can see why posture is so important.

Discussing posture and how to correct it can become extremely technical but you can't really go wrong if you imagine a hellium balloon attached to the top of your head pulling you upwards and creating more space between your pelvis and rib cage - it feels great!  Also gently slide your shoulder blades down your back.

Yoga, pilates and soft tissue therapies such as massage are great ways of re-balancing the body and helping you to correct your posture.

Here endeth the lesson!

Take a tablet for neck pain?

The world seems to have gone tablet crazy - I think I've been a bit slow joining this particular party but now I've got one I absolutely love it. I have been known to watch TV on it in the lounge because I'm too lazy to get up and switch the television on...

However, I don't know about you but mine gives me a right pain in the neck after a while. The nature of tablets means that you probably aren't sat at a desk in a nice upright position with good posture when you're using them. Even with a case that creates a wedge to tilt the screen up, if its on your lap or a table you are having to bend you head downwards which puts a strain on your neck muscles.

Here are a few things you can do after a tablet session to help look after your neck:

Its important to have good posture when stretching so stand nice and tall and imagine a helium balloon attached to the top of your head pulling you upwards

• head retractions - move your head slowly but steadily backwards until it is pulled back as far as you can manage - keep you chin tucked down and in as you do this - this will make sure that you are looking straight ahead and not tilting the head up. Repeat 10 times.
•  Retract your head and gently bend your neck to one side - ear to shoulder - and keep it there for 30 seconds or as long as is comfortable. Repeat to the other side
• Gently drop chin to chest (clasp hands behind head and use weight of arms if you can without it hurting) hold for 30 seconds.
• Finish with another 10 head retractions

Remember stretches shouldn't hurt so if they do reduce the stretch or stop. If you are getting persistent neck and shoulder pain or headaches its always best to be assessed by your GP.

Anyway back to YouTube - they must be some more dancing border terriers I've missed...

Happy 2013!

Well that's another year gone but I think it will probably stand out for many us. The Jubilee, Olympics and crazy weather all played their part. I had a fabulous 2012 not least because I married the lovely Gareth in April.

My massage practice has continued to go from strength to strength and celebrated its 6th birthday! Its a real joy supporting people with various conditions, aches and pains. Clients continue to come to me with a variety of conditions that can often be helped by easing restrictions in muscles and other soft tissue. Everything from carpal tunnel syndrome to Osteoarthritic hips, migraine headaches and lots of neck, shoulder and low back pain. The great thing about massage therapy is that you can combine therapeutic techniques with relaxation and stress relief. Treating in 60 minute sessions means that you can work holistically to make sure that the body can come back into balance. Often the site of the pain is not where the cause of the problem is. The more I treat people the more I learn about different conditions and how the body works - its exciting stuff!

Here's to a 2013 filled with health and happiness.

Alice x