Regain Your Energy! FREE talk on 12th November

I am getting really excited about my first FREE talk. Finding ways to get healthier that are working for you is something I always do with my patients. It is part of their treatment just as much as needles are. This time, I want to let people know what they can do for themselves to regain their energy so they don’t even need to come and see me.

During this talk, we will be talking about practical ways of beating tiredness and regaining your energy. You will learn:

• What and How to eat so you are getting all the energy you need from what you are eating (clue: this is NOT about what you must or mustn't eat)
• How and How much to exercise so that you are able to get be both fit and healthy (clue: being fit and being healthy aren't always the same thing)
• How acupressure (that’s putting some pressure on specific acupuncture points) can help you (clue: there are no needles involved)

Who is it for:

Anyone who feels more tired than usual and is looking for practical ways to help themselves.

When and where is it:

12^th November 2012 at 7.00pm. The talk will be held at Yarm Osteopath, 16 High Street Yarm.

How to join:

Its' FREE! Book your place now. or you can confirm by telephone on 01642 694063

And don’t forget to share with friends too! See you on the 12^th!

How To Exercise And Stay Healthy

So in my last post, I was talking about how it is important to adapt the amount of exercise (and the type of exercise) to your own energy levels.

This time, I would like to talk about practicalities.

1- Check your own energy levels.

 If you have already done a 10 hours day, been on your feet all day, you are tired and only want to go to sleep, then this is probably not the right time for you to go for a 4 miles run.

2- Check the time of the day.

 If you want to go to the gym, then doing it in the morning is much better than last thing at night. I do realize that for most people  going for a run at 21h00 is the one and only time in the day where they finally have a bit of time for themselves. Except that it is also the time the body is getting ready to sleep. Instead, the body will go into a ‘woken up mode’ which is at the opposite end of what it’s supposed to do. What it also means is that, if you have problems falling asleep, it will be even more difficult to do so.

3- See how you are feeling after your work out.

 If you are feeling refreshed and dynamic after an hour at the gym, then it’s probably right for you. If you are feeling washed out and tired after a 20 minute swim, then it’s not. It can be that you need to find a more gentle type of exercise (let’s say Yoga instead of Zumba) or that you need to reduce the length of your workout (doing only 20 minutes instead of 1 hour).

4- Know how to differentiate lack of energy from stress

Both will make you feel tired. But in the first case, you want to reduce your exercise routine, whereas in the second case, you want to maintain it or to do some exercise more often. A good way to differentiate tiredness from stress and from lack of energy is the way you feel after some exercise. If you feel full of energy, bouncing around and ready to take on the world, then stress was the likely culprit of your tiredness.

5- Choose your type of exercise according the time of the month.

This is really an advice for women. It takes extra energy to menstruate and because of that, women need to be extra careful at this time of the month. It’s best to avoid strenuous exercise to let the body recover. It is also better to avoid swimming.

6- Remember that exercise isn't just about going to the gym.

 You can just walk the dog, cycle to work or with your children. You can play football with your children. You can go for a run on your own or join a running club. One of the most important thing you can do is to find something you enjoy doing at the level that is right for you.

7- And above all, ensure that exercise is part of your daily/weekly routine.

 Even if it is only 5 minutes of gentle walking because you are too frail to do more, exercise is important to become and stay healthy.

You might also like:

Is Exercise Always Good For You?

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Photo by stubailey via Flickr

Is Exercise Always Good For you?

Most of us have heard how the lack of exercise is leading us to more and more health issues. From obesity to heart problem and some cancers, a lot of today’s illnesses have been linked to our sedentary life style. So some people try to go to the gym once a week or go for a run at the end of their working day and get real benefit from it. They are fitter, more relaxed, and have more energy all together.

1- Exercise Is Good For Your Health

Exercise is a fantastic way to help the energy and the blood in your body move. After sitting for hours in our car, in front of our desk and computer, exercise allows us:

• To move the energy in the body
• To stimulate the whole body
• To strengthen and regulate the different systems in the body

 By doing so, it makes us fitter but also healthier. Exercise helps the energy moves around in the body better, a very good reason why exercise is fantastic to deal with stress and all the issues linked to it (from poor sleep to IBS or anxiety).

Stress can also lead to a feeling of tiredness. When the energy doesn't flow smoothly in the body, when the energy gets ‘stuck’, the body can’t function optimally. So we feel tired. This is why we can feel much more energetic after a workout. The exercise has helped releasing the energy that was there in the first place but wasn't ‘accessible’ anymore.

When exercise is good for you, you should feel:

• Keen to exercise (daily)
• Happy (ranging from excitement to deep contentment) immediately following exercise
• Energized and optimistic after exercise
• A gradual improvement in strength, endurance, and flexibility (physical, as well as mental/emotional)
• An improvement in all aspects and quality of life
• A gradual reduction in symptoms of any lingering illness
• An increased immune system strength, as evidenced by fewer common colds and illnesses

2- But Sometimes, Exercise Is Not Good for You.

Here is the case of Sam, a man in in his mid-30s who started to run to get a bit fitter. He enjoyed it so much, he did longer and longer runs until he decided to train for a marathon. For 5 years, he has been running an average of 5 miles a day and has been doing several marathons each year. But for some time now, he also has started to have problems with his sleep, he needs to get up to go to the loo once or twice every night, something he wasn't expecting to happen until well into his 60s. He also developed some anxiety and was catching every cold or bugs passing by. Sam was a very fit man but he wasn't healthy any more. So what was going on?

Sam has been over exercising, going over his own limits energy wise and after a while, it has started to have some effects on his health.

Look at Casey, a young woman who has been diagnosed with ME. She can still go to work but collapses when she arrives back home. She has a quick meal and goes to bed. For Casey, trying to reach the 2~3 hours of exercise a week as recommended by our guidelines would be very probably send her to bed for a few days.

You are doing too much exercise when you experience:

• Lethargy or low energy following the exercise routine
• Pain or soreness prohibiting further exercise
• Negative attitude following training or towards the exercise, in general
• Frequent exercise-related injuries
• The need to reduce intensity of the specific exercise over time
• The need for significant, regular training aids, such as equipment (e.g. wrist/knee support), liniments (pre- or post- workout), and dietary supplements.

3- So How Much Should You Exercise?

For exercise to be beneficial, you will need to find the right sort of exercise for you as well as the right intensity/length.

This will vary for one person to the next as well as from one week to the next.

You might want to use the guidelines of 2.5 hours a week as a starting point and then work out what is working best for you.

Casey, our woman with ME, might want to try a 10 min gentle walk to start with or try some gently exercise such as yoga.

Sam will need to reduce the length of his daily training and ensure he is scheduling some days rest after running a marathon.

The most important thing is to find the right balance for you between replenishing your energy through exercise and spending energy exercising so that you get the full benefit, getting fitter and healthier.

In my next blog post, I will be looking at how to best exercise (how, when, what to do).

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8 Causes of Ill Health

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6 Old Wives' Tales That Work

I am sure you have heard comments such as 'Cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis'  or 'Watching too much TV will damage your eyes'. Old wives' tales are like that, some have might have been useful at some point, some are just superstition and others actually are very useful and efficient. After all, many of the 'Old wives' tales' have been handed down by midwives and healers that were valued medical practitioners.
I have collected for you 6 'Old wives' tales' that do work.

1- Don’t go outside with wet hair or go to bed with wet hair or you will catch a cold.

According to Chinese Medicine, the damp and the cold (especially in winter) from going outside with a wet hair can lead to an invasion of cold, the start of what we normally call ‘a cold’. Whilst this sounds a bit surprising, research has recently shown that being cold actually lower our immune system, making us more prone to catch a cold.

2- If you feel nauseous, take some ginger.

This is a trick that quite a few pregnant women suffering from morning sickness have tried.  And it works, especially if the woman is tired and tends to be cold. You can buy some ginger capsules over the counter or even better, you can make a brew with about one teaspoon of grated fresh ginger in a cup of hot water. One or two ‘ginger tea’ a day is usually plenty to keep the nausea at bay.

3- Don’t eat spicy foods if you are prone to ulcers.

Mouth ulcers can be due to very different reasons. But if your ulcers look red, either very red-rimmed or pale red-rimmed ulcers, then you probably better keeping off very heating substances such as hot peppers and chilli.

4- Chicken soup will cure your cold.

This is certainly what our grandparents would have told us to do. And with good reasons. Chicken Soup is a really good way to fight tiredness and give you a boost thereby supporting your body to fight the infection off.

5- If you have a stomach ache or indigestion, drink peppermint tea.

Peppermint tea is a cooling and moving herb making the ideal solution when you have over indulged yourself. It will help the stomach to cope with the excess of food and ensure that the food keeps moving (and not stay like a huge weight on your stomach).

6- If your back hurts, put some cold/heat on it.

Actually, I am sure you have realized that the advice here is usually conflicting. Some people advise to put some heat on the painful area and others advise to put some cold.

When your back, neck or joints such as the knee hurt, both cold or heat can help relieving the pain. If the joint is hot to touch, looks red, then cold is the best solution. You can use a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a towel and put in your knee for example.

But if the area is at a normal temperature or feels cold, if the pain feels more like an ache, then a heat pad is a better solution. You can use heat pads sold at the chemist or wheat bag warmed in the microwave. Hot water bottles, whilst nicely warm, can be detrimental in the long run as they are also making the area damp, something you really want to avoid if the joint is swollen for example.

You might also like:

Protecting Yourself from Colds

IBS: 5 Tips to Ease the Discomfort

Image by iconoclast 020 via Flickr

Use Acupuncture For Tension Headaches And Migraines Says NICE

Tension headaches and migraines are affected millions of people in the UK every year. It is one of the main causes for a trip to the GP. About 80% of the population experiences headaches each year and it seems to affect women primarily.

Now, NICE is advising acupuncture to treat tension headaches and migraines, acupuncture being the only prophylactic treatment for tension headaches.

You can listen to fellow migraine sufferers Tina and Chris as to how acupuncture helped them with deal with headaches.

What can you do to help tension headaches and migraines?

1. Apply some cold.  

Wrap a dish towel around an ice pack, a bag of frozen peas, or a cold can of soda.  Apply the cold to the area(s) of pain. This can be the side of your head, around the ears or above your eyes for example.

2. Rest.

If you have a monster headache, don’t even think about trying to work through it.  Go home, lie down, and rest.

3. Stay hydrated.

Drink if possible, however, if nausea is a problem, try sucking on some ice chips.

4. Desensitise.  

Protect yourself from bright lights and loud noises.  Go indoors, close the shades, and turn out the lights.  If you can’t be at home, use sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat to filter the bright light.

5. Relax.  

Deep breathing, visualisation, and meditation may help speed the passing of your symptoms.

6. Use acupressure (aka acupuncture without needles). 

There are 2 acupuncture points you can use to ease off a headache.

- Large Intestine 4: is located on the hand, in the web between the thumb and index finger. It is a great point to alleviate headache and sinus pressure. Apply some gentle pressure (You might feel a bit of an ache with the pressure) for a couple of minutes on each hand or until the headache has started to calm down.

This point is contra-indicated in pregnancy! So don’t use this acupressure point if you think you might be pregnant. You can use the next one instead.

- Du20: is situated at the top of your head, at the crossing point in line between the nose and the top of the ears. Just put your finger at the top (Again you should feel an ache/bruisy feeling under your finger) and let the acupressure do its work.

This is something you can do yourself or even better ask someone else to do it for you.

7. Medicate. 

It would be unrealistic to expect anyone to suffer through a migraine or headache without medication ever.

If you suffer from recurring headaches, it is best to get checked up by your GP. He/she will be best able to advise both on analgesic (Usually paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin) and with any prophylactic treatment to avoid the recurring pain. 

8. Check what you can do to prevent headaches

Following the new guidelines, an even better choice would be to contact an acupuncturist to get rid once and for all of your headaches as well as stopping any medication.
You can also look at what triggers your headaches, look at diet etc... For more ideas on what to do, you can also have a look here.



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