Backpacks and Back Pain

Did you know that choosing the right backpack can help prevent serious back pain and injury? Did you also know that the way your child chooses to wear your bag can also affect back pain? Here is a simple list to follow on what to do and what not to do when it comes to choosing and wearing a backpack.

1. Look for a backpack made out of a lightweight canvas material. The lighter, the better.
   
2. Find a backpack with thick, padded straps. Wider straps provide optimal support.
   
3. Adjust the shoulder straps so that the bag sits close to your child's body.
   
4. If you find a backpack with an extra waist strap, make sure your child uses it for even better for weight distribution.
   
5. When wearing the backpack, your child should use both straps, and not carry it on one shoulder. If he/she does do that, it will lead to uneven weight distribution and can lead to long term back problems in the future.
   
6. When filling the backpack, make sure to put the heaviest items in first so they are closest to your child's body. This will help keep your child standing upright and minimize leaning forward.
   
7. Make sure your child's backpack isn't too heavy for them. The full bag should not weigh more than 15% of his/her body weight. So for a 100 pound child, their bag shouldn't weigh more than 15 pounds.
   
   
   While you are purchasing all the basic school supplies such as pencils, pens, notebooks, rulers and so on, make sure that the backpack they keep everything in is right for them.
   
    
   

How to fit in exercise with newborns and toddlers

I've been getting the same questions a lot lately from other moms:  How did you loose all that baby weight? How can you have time to exercise when you are taking care of your kids all day?

The following quote pretty much is the answer.

"PLAY with your kids.  Playing can be the single best way to really get to know your kids.

Get down on the floor, follow their lead, and PLAY with them."

~Lyle Perry

Do you need some ideas on how to get your exercise in while playing with your kids?  It is all about unstructured play.  If you have a newborn, get on the floor with her, and roll around, crawl, laugh.  Just get moving.  Hold him in your arms and dance around.  If you feel like you aren't moving because you are so tired, then that is more reason to get moving.  It will give you energy.

Lay on your back, have baby on your belly, and raise your knees up.  Now raise up baby over your head and lower down again, keeping your legs raised.  This will work your arms, back, abdominal, and thighs.

Do you have a toddler that has so much energy that you get tired just by watching them?  I have those days too.  There are so many things you can do with your tot that will get you moving, having fun, and enjoying time with your child.

• Play tag -Depending on the age of your child, tag may just be chasing them around and around until someone gets caught, and you will just do that over and over again.
• Freestyle dancing - turn the radio on, and dance like a crazy person with your child.  Do this for a few songs and I promise you will feel your heart beating faster
• Dance and freeze - a variation of the previous bullet.  Turning it more into a game. Also teaches your child how to follow directions
• Skipping - Teach your tot how to skip.  When was the last time you skipped?  I bet its been a while.
• Jumping Rope - There are a lot of games that you can play with a jump rope.  If your child is really young, you can lay the rope on the floor and jump over it from side to side. Teach them their left from their right.
• Hopping - An older toddler will be appreciative of learning this one.  Once you have the basics down, count how many hops you can do in a row without losing your balance.
• Hula Hoop - Your toddler may not be able to hula, but you can use a hula hoop to jump through, crawl around, learn inside/outside, and when your child is tired, you can try to hula yourself.  =)

What are some ways that you play with your child?  Post your ideas in the comments below.

Make your own foam roller

Have you heard about foam rolling and its benefits? It is basically a way for you to be able to massage your muscles on your own.  It is a great way to save some money, and take care of yourself between massage appointments.  The use of foam rollers has become widely popular to athletes and workout enthusiasts, but you don't need to have an intense workout routine to get the benefits of self massage through foam rolling.

Foam rollers come in different sizes, and vary in density.  There are ways to make your own by covering pvc pipe with layers of foam, but I have found an even cheaper way to make one.  You know those pool noodles that keep you afloat?  they make monster size ones, and that is what I used.  To give it a bit of support, insert a broom stick, or a skinny pipe, or you can even cut the noodle in half and use one half cut to size to fit inside the other.

Here is a picture of the homemade foam roller that I created.  It works great and better yet it cost less than $5 to make.  I cut the noodle in half, and took a plastic broom handle to add support.

Here it is!  My DIY foam roller.

That's it.  How simple is that? 

Now you want to know how to use it?  A quick search on youtube will get you many results, but we found this very well put together video.  http://life.gaiam.com/video/roll-it-out-myofascial-release
I would just suggest going a bit slower to really feel out the areas that need extra attention, and when you find one, sit there for a while with your foam roller pressed into that area and breath into that spot until it relaxes a bit.

Quick Ways to Relieve Stress

We all have had those days where we were so stressed out that we couldn't think straight. We couldn't concentrate on anything. It was just not possible to be productive at work or at home. We became easily aggravated, and we felt like we were just mad at the world. These are the short term affects of dealing with a lot of negative stress.

Photo courtesy of ABMP.

Quick Ways to Relieve Stress:

Take a moment to laugh, even if you have to force one out. Did you know that if you start laughing on purpose, eventually that laugh will become a real laugh.

Give yourself a timeout. Close your eyes, picture yourself surrounded by your favorite things, or picture yourself surrounded by nothing at all. Take a few deep breaths, and concentrate on your inhale and exhale.

Act like a kid. Put on your favorite show when you were a kid. Odds are it had some music in it that you can still sing along to. Pretend like no one is watching and sing and dance along, just like when you were a kid.

Spend some quality time with some animals. Petting your dog or cat has a very relaxing effect, even if only for a few minutes. Seeing their unconditional love for you helps you to feel happier, decreasing the stress hormone cortisol, and increasing oxytocin.

Clean up! Being surrounded by a messy area can be very distracting and nerve wrecking. So take some time to clean a bit of it up, whether it is a drawer, a closet, or your workspace.

10 Reasons to Get a Massage Today!

Here are my top 10 reasons to get a massage:

1. Reduce Fatigue – If you are really tired, a massage can give you a few moments to relax, even if it is just a few minutes out of your day. That can leave you feeling re-energized!
2. Increase Mental Clarity – At some point I'm sure you have felt mentally exhausted either from a project you are working on, or from a personal problem that has taken all of your energy. You may feel like you have a foggy brain. The simple act of touch, as in a massage, will help you to focus your energy. All that tension you had been experiencing begins to dissipate. Once that mental stress is reduced, you will feel more alert and energized.
   
   
3. Reduce Stress - Recent scientific research has found that massage affects the immune system in the following ways: it decreases arginine vasopressin, a hormone that contributes to aggressive behavior, and also decreases the amount of cortisol also known as the stress hormone.
   
   
4. Relieve Muscle Tightness and Tension – This one is no secret. You make an appointment to get a massage because your body is sore from working out, gardening, or moving boxes, etc... and after the massage is over, you feel like you can climb Mt. Everest. Maybe a bit of an exaggeration there, but if you have ever had a really good massage, you know what I mean. And if you haven't, then make your appointment now.
   
   
5. Increase your Range of Motion (ROM) – When a muscle is so tight that it begins to hinder your range of motion, say to raise your hands over your head, or behind your back, it can really start to affect your daily life. Getting regular massage will help you to regain and keep your full ROM.
   
   
6. Reduce Muscle Cramping – Have you ever ran a race, and afterward you begin to cramp up? If there is a massage therapist on site, he/she can take care of the cramp right away. Being hydrated will help too!
   
   
7. Boost Immune System – Massage increases the amount of lymphocytes in your body, cells that help the immune system defend the body from harmful substances. 
   
   
8. Improve Posture – Ever really notice when you are slouching during the day? When you do, do you find your self automatically stretching your arms back behind you? Your body knows which muscles are feeling tight, and that is your automatic response to slouching. Now, getting a massage on those tightened muscles can help you improve your posture so much more. Ask me to assist you with a Snow Angel stretch for your pectoral muscles, and you will notice your upper back feeling less tense.
   
   
9. Get Healthier Skin – Depending on the massage people are getting from me, I use different emollients. Most of the time it is pure jojoba that I use. Technically not an oil, it is a liquid wax ester from the jojoba plant. This emollient is the closest to our natural oils. It does not clog your pores and it soothes and conditions the skin. Jojoba is naturally full of Vitamin E.
   
   
10. Improve your workout - Think of a cold rubber band. If you stretch it what will happen? Probably will snap and break off. Now think of your muscles. If you don't warm them up, stretching them can be harmful. They say to 'never stretch a cold muscle' for a reason. Getting a quick sports massage right before a 5k walk/run or marathon, or game, or even a workout can help to warm up your muscles so that you can have a longer endurance and work stronger.

So tell me, why do you get massage? Enter your comment below to let us know.

Deep Tissue vs. Deep Pressure Massage - Do you know the difference?

Have you ever become nauseous from a massage before? To my knowledge none of my clients ever have, but I had someone the other day ask me about that very thing. A friend of hers had a very “deep tissue” massage while on vacation and became very ill right after the massage. Notice I put “deep tissue” in quotes here. Here is why:

Myth: Deep tissue massage should hurt, and have a huge amount of pressure.

Truth: Deep tissue massage is not deep pressure massage!!! Rather, it is quite slow and not so painful, unless the therapist and client are working through some trigger points. Trigger points can be painful, but should never go above the 4-6 range on a pain scale. (0=no pain and 10=worst pain you have ever felt) Deep tissue massage is also not a full body massage. It is contained to only a couple of areas of the body.

There are a few possible reasons behind why this person became sick after her massage.

1. She was dehydrated. You definitely want to make sure you are drinking enough water each day, and especially before and after a massage. Not because it removes toxins from the body, but because keeping hydrated helps your body do what it needs to do on a cellular level. When you are dehydrated, your body has a difficult time coping with anything you put it through. If you don't like water, then read my post about how to give your water some excitement.

2. It wasn't a deep tissue massage, but a deep pressure one. Much too deep a pressure of one. When causing so much pain to someone through a full body deep pressure massage, the body can go into shock. This can cause the nausea that this person was feeling.

3. The face cradle was not positioned correctly. I stress to my clients of how important it is for them to tell me if they are ever uncomfortable before, during and after a massage. This is a key in point reason. If the face cradle was positioned so that it was hitting pressure points on the client, it can cause sinus pain, headaches, dizziness, and of course nausea. Please don't be afraid to speak up to your therapist if you are ever uncomfortable on the table, or in a massage chair for that matter. Even if you started out comfortable, but after a few minutes, or even halfway through the massage, let your therapist know. A skilled therapist will be able to work on your muscles in any position that you need to be in. I can work on your back, even if you are laying on your back.

So now you have a bit more information about why a massage could not make you feel so great afterward, and what do to to make sure that doesn't happen. Drink plenty of fluids, talk to your therapist about his/her pressure, and let your therapist know if you are ever uncomfortable during the massage. If you do become sick after a massage, please let your therapist know about it, so you can figure out why that happened, to prevent it from happening again.

We all love a little chocolate!

When people think of dieting, they think of things they are going to stop eating.  One that comes to mind are sweets, especially chocolate.  Well, I've figured out a way to cure that chocolate craving, without any of the guilt!

Introducing Melrose Muscle Therapy's newest offering:

Chocolate Indulgence Massage

Chocolate Indulgence Massage in Melrose Park, IL

No, I will not be rubbing chocolate syrup all over you, or anything messy such as that.  What this massage is - is a Swedish or Deep Tissue (or a combination of the two) massage with a special oil.  This oil is infused with cocoa, and the smell will just take you away to the most decadent place.  You can book your appointment by clicking here.  The 60 minute massage is only $90, and if you 'Like' Melrose Muscle Therapy on Facebook, you will get 10% off any and all massages!