Relief from Gastrointestinal Disorders with Massage Therapy

Gastrointestinal disorders include more than 40 acute and chronic conditions of the gastrointestinal tract, ranging from common ailments such as indigestion and flatulence (gas) to serious, life-threatening diseases, such as colorectal cancer.

Even if it is not related to a serious health condition or disease, gastrointestinal dysfunction is typically quite painful and has the capacity to interfere with daily activities and overall quality of life. Patients looking for an alternative or complement to pharmaceutical solutions may seek out the expertise of a massage therapist to effectively manage chronic digestive disorders.

Accredited massage therapy colleges teach a range of modalities that may help limit the aggravation of existing gastrointestinal conditions, alleviate painful symptoms, and relieve discomfort after diagnostic screening.

Relaxation Massage to Reduce Gastrointestinal Flare-ups

People who suffer from chronic conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Colitis and Crohn’s are often challenged to achieve genuine and sustained relaxation. In addition to withstanding painful symptoms, continual worry about gastrointestinal dysfunction can result in significant anxiety and stress. Unfortunately, stress is known to trigger a range of digestive issues, and can contribute to flare-ups of more serious conditions. Administered regularly as a complementary treatment, gentle modalities like Swedish massage and Lymphatic Drainage can help limit the frequency of flare-ups, reduce painful symptoms, and lower stress levels - encouraging patients with gastrointestinal disorders to reach deeper levels of restorative relaxation. Massage college graduates use their knowledge of assessment best practises to coordinate with patients’ medical team, selecting the massage modality most appropriate for each individual case of digestive dysfunction.

Abdominal Massage to Alleviate Gastrointestinal Dysfunction

Whether symptomatic of a serious disease like Crohn’s or the result of daily stressors, millions of Canadians suffer from constipation on a regular basis. In order to minimize reliance on laxatives, some people turn to a massage therapist to improve digestive performance with gentle abdominal massage.

Besides stimulating blood flow, massaging the affected area helps encourage the spontaneous movement of the digestive tract (a process called peristalsis), which helps alleviate cramping, bloating, gas, and constipation.

Massage to Support Recovery from Colonoscopy

One of the most serious gastrointestinal diseases, colorectal cancer, is 90 percent preventable if detected early. According to Colon Cancer Canada, over 24,000 new cases were diagnosed in Canada in 2014 - and more than 9,000 patients lost their lives that same year. Screening is one of the most valuable defences against this disease, but many patients avoid colonoscopy because of potentially painful side effects following the examination.

Gentle abdominal massage has been found effective in minimizing some of these bothersome and painful side-effects, specifically bloating, flatulence, and cramping. Students who have completed massage therapy training and are ready to launch their career can share this technique with patients who seem anxious about an upcoming examination - potentially helping saves lives by encouraging early detection.

Whether the goal is prevention or the alleviation of disruptive symptoms, massage therapy is an ideal complementary approach for encouraging optimal gastrointestinal performance.

This article original appeared on ovcmt.com

Manual Osteopaths: Your Ally in Complete Health Care

Osteopathy is a form of drug-free non-invasive manual (therapy) medicine that focuses on total body health by treating and strengthening the musculoskeletal framework, which includes the joints, muscles and spine. Its aim is to positively affect the body's nervous, circulatory and lymphatic systems.

This therapy is a unique holistic (whole body) approach to health care. Osteopaths do not simply concentrate on treating the problem area, but use manual techniques to balance all the systems of the body, to provide overall good health and wellbeing.

Dr. Andrew Taylor Still established the practice of Osteopathy in the late 1800s in the United States of America, with the aim of using manual 'hands on' techniques to improve circulation and correct altered biomechanics, without the use of drugs.

What does osteopathy treat?

Osteopaths treat more than you think. Many patients present with complaints of aches in the head, back, neck, and heel/ foot pain; sciatica; shin splints; tennis elbow and repetitive strain injury. Other patients suffer from asthma; arthritis; digestive problems; carpal tunnel syndrome; whiplash and postural problems.

Osteopaths also deal regularly with patients who have been injured in the workplace, at home or while playing sport.

What are the qualities of Osteopathy

The philosophy of Osteopathy is what sets it apart from other (manual therapy) disciplines. The key principles are based on all parts of the body functioning together in an integrated manner. If one part of the body is restricted, then the rest of the body must adapt and compensate for this, eventually leading to inflammation pain, stiffness and other health conditions. When the body is free of restrictions in movement, Osteopathic treatment assists the body with pain minimisation, reduced stress and greater mobility providing the body with the opportunity to heal itself.

Osteopaths use a broad range of gentle hands-on techniques including soft tissue stretching, deep tactile pressure, and mobilisation or manipulation of joints.

In some cases, Osteopaths can complement the advice given by GPs. For example, people who suffer from arthritis are often prescribed medication by their GP. In addition to that, Osteopaths can ease the pain caused by joint and muscle stiffness, by improving joint mobility and the flow of blood to the joints, and show arthritis sufferers how to prevent causing injury to themselves...

Benefits of Osteopathy

Osteopathic treatment in itself is not 'preventative'. Osteopaths respect the body's natural ability as a self-regulating mechanism and only intervene when pain or discomfort is present. The benefits of osteopathy are the general improvement in mobility and structural stability of the body. In turn, other systems of the body such as the circulatory, nervous and lymphatic systems function more effectively and for a number of general conditions, minimal treatment is required.

Osteopathy and sleep

A key indicator of pain or discomfort is lack of sleep or restless nights. An effective osteopathic treatment outcome often reflects the first signs of recovery with a good night's sleep. Poor sleep patterns only serve to magnify the body's inability to function adequately and reduce our psychosomatic (Psychosomatic illnesses are those in which physical symptoms are caused or aggravated by emotional factors) ability to cope with pain.

Osteopathy and the nervous, circulatory and lymphatic systems

Osteopathic treatment positively affects the nervous, circulatory and lymphatic systems, to deliver a more balanced body and better health overall. This combined with good dietary and /or exercise prescription can enhance a patient's well being and often leads to a positive approach to individual health responsibility.

This article originally appeared on medicalnewstoday.com and was written by Christian Nordqvist

Meet Our New Acupuncturist: Céline Sandberg

Céline Sandberg, R. Ac. completed MacEwan University’s 3-year acupuncture program, and is registered with the CAAA to practice acupuncture in Alberta. She also completed a 3-week internship at the Beijing Hospital of TCM to study the integration of TCM with Western medicine. Having grown up leading a very active lifestyle being involved in different sports, she has made it her passion to help people return to health after injury. Whether you’re suffering from post-concussion syndrome, other traumatic injuries or a repetitive strain injury to anything in between, she has the training to help your body recover from these injuries. What drew her to TCM acupuncture was the holistic approach to healing; she strongly believes in the power of the mind-body connection and strives to help you achieve mental, emotional, and physical health. 

She has a special interest in treating sports injuries, concussions, migraines and headaches, as well as mental health, gynecological and digestive problems.

Céline is adept with testing and effectively treating your symptoms to produce global effects in the body. She provides strategies for improving your health, consulting you on lifestyle, dietary, and exercise changes. Complimenting tools are integrated in to her treatments to treat specific issues thoroughly:

Myofascial / Fire cupping – same idea as suction cupping, only heat (fire) is used to create the vacuum seal rather than a suction pump. A small flame is inserted to a glass cup long enough to heat the air inside, and then quickly removed before the cup is placed on the skin. As the air cools, a vacuum is created, and the cups are either left stationary, or can be moved around. This technique has both Western and TCM applications.
When used in TCM, the cups are generally used along the acupuncture channels, or on specific points to elicit a certain response. It is beneficial in a multitude of conditions including: pain, digestive disorders. When used with Western ideologies, the cups are often placed around target musculo-skeletal areas. This is perfect for a variety of bone/joint injury or discomfort.

Auricular therapy – this is a type of reflexology using the external ear as a micro system to treat most disorders. This is extremely effective in helping with quitting smoking, and also enhancing and complimenting the treatment done on the rest of the body. Either needles are used, or ear seeds are used in the style of acupressure.

Gua sha – is also known as “skin scraping” or “coining”; either a gua sha tool or a soup spoon is used to “scrape” or massage the skin to remove adhesions and muscle tightness, or can be used along certain acupuncture channels to relieve pain, headaches, and increase mobilization of joints.

IMS/dry needling – are combined with TCM style acupuncture to help treat muscle imbalances. Trigger point and motor point release are used to increase mobility, strength, and flexibility. These techniques are used alongside TCM acupuncture to treat using a more systemic approach. Combining the two results in a prolonged effect due to the reduction of inflammation, the activation of the immune system and a more normalized endocrine system.

Meet the rest of our Reset Wellness Team here.

What Does Acupuncture Treat?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) acupuncture has been found effective in treating the following conditions:

Musculoskeletal: muscle/joint pain and weakness, sprains, injuries, sciatica pain, arthritis, rheumatism

Circulatory: high blood pressure, angina pectoris, arteriosclerosis, anemia

Gastrointestinal: constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, ulcers, nausea, vomiting, colitis, spastic colon, food allergies, hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

Neurological: headaches, migraines, facial paralysis, post operative rehabilitation, multiple sclerosis, neuralgia, bell's palsy, cerebral palsy

Emotional: insomnia, depression, nervousness, anxiety

Dermatological: eczema, psoriasis, acne, herpes zoster, skin rashes

Immune Disorders: candida, chronic fatigue, HIV and AIDS, epstein barr virus, allergies, lupus, hepatitis, rheumatoid arthritis

Gynecological/Genitourinary: menopausal symptoms, PMS, infertility, menstrual irregularities, endometriosis, fibroids, morning sickness, complications in pregnancy, chronic bladder infection, kidney stones, sexual dysfunction, impotence

Respiratory: rhinitis, sinusitis, cold, bronchitis, asthma

Other conditions: addictions, stress management, weight loss, fatigue, chemotherapy/radiation side effects, diabetes.

Acupuncture is a gentle and sophisticated approach for unlocking stress built up in your body. It's application is excellent as preventative care and works in conjunction with other therapies to compliment a wide range of treatment plans.

Céline is available at Reset Wellness Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Book Online.

15 Not-So-Obvious Ways To Cure Jet Lag Once and For All

Astonishing truth: Wearing sunglasses inside is a way to cure jet lag. So is exposing yourself to the outdoors in the afternoon.

We already know we should stock up on sleep, and we already know to stay hydrated, but there have got to be more creative ways to zap that terrible jet lag sleepiness. Behold, the folks at travel agency Thomas Cook outline some of their most effective cures (“anchor sleep,” anyone?):

This article originally appeared on Huffington Post and was written by Suzy Strutner