Reflexology and Pain Management – Part 3

A common treatment for cold sores is antiviral cream called aciclovir.  A new randomised controlled trial of nearly 1,000 adults with cold sores where they either applied aciclovir cream or medical grade New Zealand manuka honey to the cold sore. There was no significant difference in the time taken for the cold sore to heal:

• 8 days for aciclovir cream
• 9 days with New Zealand medical grade manuka honey

It should be noted that cold sores can get better within 1 to 2 weeks without treatment and the trail didn't include a no-treatment group.  In addition the trail didn't show that there were any special properties of "medical grade" manuka honey as the trail didn't look at the impact of using  ordinary honey. Basically the trail results show the medical grade mauka honey worked just as well as anitvital cream. Reference https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/5/e026201

For most people know they sit all day as part of their job.  Recently there has been a spate of article in the press about the impact of sitting all day, so I wanted to take some time to look at the impact of sitting all day.

Sit up Straight

I want to start this series of articles on a positive note, as most of my clients have to sit to work, the negative impact of sitting is minimised if you sit correctly. As your Mum always said, "Sit up straight", i.e.

• Not leaning forward
• Shoulders relaxed
• Arms close to sides
• Elbows bent 90°
• Lower back should be supported
• Feet flat on floor

So what happens if you don't sit up straight?

As you would expect from a masseur I am going to start by looking at the impact on your muscles.

Strained Neck & Sore Shoulders

If most of your sitting occurs at a desk at work, craning your neck forward toward a keyboard or tilting your head to cradle a phone while typing can strain the cervical vertebrae and lead to permanent imbalances.  The neck doesn't slouch alone. Slumping forward overextends the shoulder and back muscles as well, particularly the trapezius, which connects the neck and shoulders. Here at Vitality Therapy we offer Seated Acupressure Massage to directly address these issues.

Bad back

When we move around, soft discs between vertebrae expand and contract like sponges, soaking up fresh blood and nutrients. But when we sit for a long time, discs are squashed unevenly. Collagen hardens around supporting tendons and ligaments.  So people who sit more are at greater risk of slipped disks or herniated disks.

I recommend the Yoga position cat-cow for increasing your spinal flexibility. (Click here for guidelines on how to do cat-cow.)

When you sit for a long time, a muscle called the psoas travels through the abdominal cavity and, when it tightens, pulls the upper lumbar spine forward. Upper-body weight rests entirely on the ischial tuberosity (sitting bones) instead of being distributed along the arch of the spine.  A sports massage or a deep tissue massage can release a tight psoas muscle.  

Mushy abs

When you stand, move or even sit up straight, abdominal muscles keep you upright. But when you slump in a chair, they go unused. Tight back muscles and wimpy abs form a posture-wrecking alliance that can exaggerate the spine's natural arch, a condition called hyperlordosis, or swayback.  So sitting up straight is the first step to good abs!

Tight hips

Flexible hips help keep you balanced, but chronic sitters so rarely extend the hip flexor muscles in front that they become short and tight, limiting range of motion and stride length. Studies have found that decreased hip mobility is a main reason elderly people tend to fall.  So when you are in the gym remember tohttp://vitalitytherapy.co.uk/wp-admin/post-new.php stretch your hip flexors.

Limp glutes

Sitting requires your glutes to do absolutely nothing, and they get used to it. Soft glutes hurt your stability, your ability to push off and your ability to maintain a powerful stride when walking.  They can impact your performance when you run, as all powerful glutes are the key to increasing your speed and powering you up hills.

Following on form last week's article where I explained that I believe in complementary medicine rather than alternative medicine, I wanted to share some scientific evidence. Between June 2015 to February 2016 a randomised clinical trail was carried out in the US looking at how effective reflexology was in assisting patients with colorectal cancer who received chemo radiotherapy.  60 patients were split into 3 groups.  The first group received massage using classical massage techniques.  The second group received reflexology.  The final group, the control group, only received hospital standard care.  All patients received were provided with the same clinic routine care. The researchers collectd data using an introductory form and the European Organisation for Research and Treatmend of Cancer quality of life questerionaires (C30 & CR29). The first group who receive classical massage found it was

• effective in reducing pain levels
• effective in reducing distension incidence

The second group,  the reflexology group recived foot reflexology focusing on symptom-oriented reflexes twice a week during a 5-week chmeo radiotherapy treatment schedule.  They found it was

• effecitve in reducing pain levels
• effective in reducing fatigue levels
• lower incidence of distension
• lower incidence of urinary frequency
• improved quality of life

In conclusion this randomised control trial of cancer patients on chemo and radiotherapy treatments showed reflexology lowered the impact side-effects of standard care and improved quality of life. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28176423