PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY AND MASSAGE

What is Peripheral Neuropathy?
Peripheral Neuropathy is a condition that is caused by damage to the peripheral nervous system within the body. The peripheral nervous system, or PNS, consists of all of the nerves outside of the brain and the spinal cord. Although the Peripheral Nervous System is most of the nerves throughout the body, peripheral neuropathy is mostly located within the hands and the feet although it is important to note that it can happen sometimes in other parts of the body. 

What Causes Peripheral Neuropathy?
Like many conditions, there is a variety of different causes, and peripheral neuropathy is no different. According to Mayo Clinic, it is most commonly caused by traumatic injury and pressure put on the nerves, such as a car accident or a sports accident, and

autoimmune diseases, like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Some other conditions that can cause peripheral neuropathy, alcoholism, bone marrow disorders, tumors, inherited disorders, such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, diabetes, and some medications. Even though these can possibly cause peripheral neuropathy, they do not always cause this condition. 

What are the Symptoms of Peripheral Neuropathy?
It is hard to determine exactly what symptoms will come from peripheral neuropathy because of how many different nerves this condition can affect. There are three different kinds of nerves that can be affected by peripheral neuropathy- sensory, motor, and autonomic. Sensory nerves receive sensation, like temperature, pain, vibration or touch, from the skin. Motor nerves are in control of movement. The last type of nerves are autonomic. Autonomic

nerves are in charge of managing basic functions, such as blood pressure, heart rate, digestion, and the bladder. These three different types of nerves can cause an array of symptoms from pain to tingling to loss of movement in some parts of the body. Other symptoms can include extreme sensitivity to touch, lack of coordination, bowel or bladder problems, changes with blood pressure, and heat intolerance. 

How Can Massage Help With Peripheral Neuropathy?
It is still being researched, but there are many studies that point to these benefits from massage in helping to deal with the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy, according to the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy.

• Help with low back pain and range of motion issues throughout the body
• Lessen anxiety and depression that is caused or worsened by the condition
• Helping to build up immunity, which can be affected by peripheral neuropathy 
• Reducing the feeling of nerve pain throughout the body
• Helping to reduce the sensitivity to touch
• Managing the changing of blood pressure throughout the body

Although massage cannot cure peripheral neuropathy, it can help to reduce the symptoms. Many doctors recommend massage as a complimentary treatment, but it is important to talk to your doctor before beginning any complimentary treatment for your neuropathy.

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HEAT ILLNESS

Summer is such an exciting time. The air is warmer, the sun is shining, and it is time to have fun! Even with all the great things about summer, there are bad things, too, like heat illness. Heat illness is very common every wear throughout the hot, summer months and knowing about them and how to manage them can help to save you or another person's life one day. One of the best preventions of
heat illness is to drink plenty of water when in the heat for prolonged times. Even if you are not exercising just being in heat can cause heat illness. 

There are three stages of heat illnesses that everyone should know about and how to manage them.

• Heat Cramps- Heat cramps are caused by fluid and electrolyte loss. Most of the time, heavy exercise in a hot place is the way that you can get them, but even things like going to a theme park in the heat can cause heat cramps. They are characterized by muscle spasms throughout the body. They are most commonly located in the calves, arms, abdominal wall, and back. However, they can be located in any muscle group that is used in exercise. Although this condition is not life threatening, it is very uncomfortable and can lead to more serious conditions if not taken care of. If you think that you are experiencing heat cramps, the first thing that you need to do is to rest and try to lower your internal body temperature, according to Mayo Clinic. Next drink clear juice and/or electrolyte-filled sports drink. This will help o replenish your lost electrolytes that are causing the cramps. Finally, do some light stretching and range of motion exercises to try and reduce the severity of the cramping throughout the body. Make sure that you do not resume exercise for several hours or longer as the cramps may come back. 

• Heat Exhaustion- Heat exhaustion is caused by high temperatures and dehydration. Heat exhaustion is extremely common but is not something that should be taken lightly. Heat exhaustion can turn deadly if not taken care of in a timely manner, according to WebMD. You can get heat exhaustion from exercising, going to theme parks, going to the beach, going to concerts, and anything where you are around high temperatures and are not drinking enough water. There are two types of heat exhaustion- water depletion and salt depletion. Water depletion can cause symptoms, such as excessive thirst, weakness, headaches, passing out, fatigue, and pale skin. Salt depletion can cause symptoms, like nausea, vomiting, muscle cramps, dizziness, dark colored urine, and profuse sweating. If you or someone you know is having symptoms if heat exhaustion, the first step is to get out of the heat and rest. After that, you can try drinking lots of water, taking off any unnecessary clothing, applying cold compresses, and taking cold baths or showers. The point of these step is to try and lower your core body temperature and get rehydrated. 

• Heat Stroke- The worst of all of the heat illnesses is heat stroke. Heat stroke is caused by extreme dehydration and hyperthermia, where the core body temperature is raised to dangerously high levels. Medicine Net explains that heat stroke is a medical emergency, so if someone is suspected of having a heat stroke, 911 needs to be called immediately. Symptoms of heat stroke include confusion, agitation, disorientation, the absence of sweat even if extreme heat, passing out, and coma. Heat stroke is most common in the elderly, infants, and outside workers, but anyone can fall victim to a heat stroke. After calling 911, try to cool the person down through removing clothing, getting them into cooler conditions, spraying or wetting them with water, putting ice packs under their arm pits and groin, and getting them to drink plenty of water if they are conscious and able to drink. Heat stroke, if left untreated, can cause serious medical problems, like brain damage, seizures, and death. 

It is important that everyone knows the differences between these three heat illnesses! Knowing this and hot to treat them can help to save someone's life one day. 

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EYE STRAIN

Your eyes are such a vital part of every day life. They are how you are reading this blog right now and how you can navigate throughout this world with such ease. With how helpful our eyes are to your everyday life, there is no doubt that your eyes can get very tired. Every one has felt eye strain- after reading or focusing on something for a long time, looking at too bright of a light, not wearing your contacts or glasses. This eye strain can be extremely annoying and can cause some other issues.

Eye strain is described by Medicine Net as "ocular fatigue, tired eyes, blurring, headaches, and occasionally doubling of the vision are brought on by concentrated use of the eyes for visual tasks. By clenching the muscles of the eyelids, face, temples, and the the jaw after extended use of the eyes,  there can become discomfort and pain of those muscles. Other symptoms of eye strain are soreness of the back of the neck, blurry vision, teary and watery eyes, dryness of the eyes, light sensitivity, and headache, which is the most common of all of the symptoms. For people who commonly get headaches, eye strain can cause even worse headaches or possibly migraines. 

Your eye doctor can diagnose you with eye strain if you are experiencing some of these symptoms. From there, they will be able to help you to determine the root of your eye strain, such as an incorrect prescription or astigmatism. Since you are not able to immediately go to the doctor (usually), there are some helpful step-by-step instructions on how to help you to deal with the annoying symptoms of eye strain.

1. Close your eyes.

This may sound simple, but the first step to relieving the eye strain is to stop making your eyes strain. The only way to truly do this is by closing your eyes. This also makes the next few steps WAY more comfortable to do.

2. Gently massage your upper eyelids against your brow bone using your index and your middle finger. 

The image to the right shows where the two fingers should be resting during this gentle massage. Make sure to not hurt yourself or put too much pressure on that area as it is very sensitive and only requires a light pressure to feel results. 

3. Gently massage your lower eyelids against your lower eye socket bone using your index and your middle finger. 

The image to the right shows where the two fingers should be resting during this gentle massage. Follow the same guidelines as the prior step. 

4. Massage the outside of each eye.

Use one finger on both sides to give a gentle massage to the outside of the eyes where the eyeball meets the side of the eye socket. 

5. Massage the front of your temples. 

Use two fingers on both sides of the front of your temples and apply a good amount of pressure. Massage for at least 60 seconds. 

Massage is a very beneficial at-home tool to help with eye strain. If you continue to experience these symptoms, contact your doctor to seek out a further explanation and treatment plan.

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ORANGE ESSENTIAL OIL

Orange!

Orange Essential Oil is a very popular oil that is used throughout the world for it's beneficial properties and can be included in your AromaTherapy session today. DoTerra explains that orange essential oil has a variety of different healing properties for both the mind and the body. 

What is it?
Orange essential oil is the oil extracted and cold pressed from the peel of an orange, a very common variety fruit that can be found in many different places today, but is native to China. Orange is known as the oldest and the most common tree fruit throughout the whole world. Although oranges originated in China, they did begin to move around the world when Christopher Columbus brought orange seeds to the Caribbean and the United States. When the fruit moved to England in the 16th century, oranges were first valued for their medicinal properties before they were even thought of as a fruit. Since the beginning of oranges, people throughout China, the Middle East, and India have used oranges for it's curative effects. According to New Directions Aromatics, some of these conditions that were cured include depression, flu, indigestion, and anorexia.

What does it do?
The most common use of orange essential oil is to improve one's mood and be used as an antidepressant. There are many different mood problems that lemon oil helps. This includes depression, anxiety, and saddness. Because of the calming properties that orange oil holds, it is extremely helpful in all of the mood issues listed before, according to Natural Living Ideas. 

Another common use for orange oil is to help relieve fatigue. Orange oil has extremely uplifting properties, which is one of the reasons it helps with mood issues, as well. Orange oil has been used since the beginning of it's history for how much it can help one to feel more awake. By using orange oil on your wrists or by aromatically diffusing it in the morning, it can be almost as awakening as your morning coffee, without all the caffeine jitters. Not to mention, orange being diffused around your house is such a beautiful thing to be awakened to every day. 

There are countless uses for orange essential oil that people have found over the years. Some other common uses are to help control any acne and reduce acne scarring. The antiseptic properties helps to clean and reduce the chance of acne on someone with oily skin. This can be done by putting a few drops into a cup of water and washing your face with it every night. Another benefit is how it can help with seasonal allergies and sinuses by inhaling the scent when you feel that you are beginning to get an itchy nose or if your sinuses begin to get clogged. Many people carry around a cottontail with the oil on it to inhale when they start to feel themselves about to sneeze or any other allergic reactions.

How do you use it?
Like discussed in a past blog, essential oils can be used through topical application, ingestion, or aromatic application. The same goes for orange essential oils. Topically, one could use orange oil to help acne, however, would not be recommended for some skin conditions due to the acidity. It can be added to water like for some it's internal benefits.  It can even be used through aromatic diffusion to improve overall emotions, mood, and upset within the body and mind. 

As you can tell, orange essential oil is an essential part of everyone's natural kit of remedies. Through the proper use of orange and other essential oils, you can improve your overall health- the natural way! If you would like to learn more about orange or any other essential oils, feel free to click here to be brought to the official doTerra page.

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HISTORY OF MASSAGE

I don't know about you, but when I love something, I want to know EVERYTHING about it. This is definitely the case when we are talking about massage. There have plenty of blogs that discuss the many aspects of massage, but there have been none that discussed the history of massage. Today, we are going to be changing that!

1500 and 500 BCE: India was the first place that there is a written record of massage being used. They describe the use of the healing touch to treat diseases and conditions in part of the Ayurvedic

medicine, which means life health. This is the beginning of holistic medicine, which combines the use of meditation, relaxation, aromatherapy, and massage for their healing properties, according to The Allied Health Schools. 

2500 BCE: The Egyptians are credited with pioneering Reflexology, which is a common technique that is used throughout the massage world even today. This was very influential to other cultures, like the Greeks and the Romans. The Egyptians used hieroglyphics to describe their use of massage and reflexology to treat many different ailments and conditions. 

2600 BCE: There was the first written record of Chinese massage being used for it's medical benefits. According to the National Institutes of Health, this was written by the Chinese emperor, Huangdi, and was called the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine.

This book was written to help traditional practitioners learn about medicine and how to help common diseases and conditions. One of these treatments includes massage, acupuncture, acupressure, and herbology, which is highly recommended throughout the book and throughout traditional Chinese medicine. However, it is known that massage had been used for many of years before than even if there was not a written text record of it. 

1800s: It wasn't until about this time that massage passed over to the Western world in Sweden specifically. Pehr Henril Ling, a doctor, gymnast, and educator, developed what is called the Swedish Movement System. This was the beginning of what we now commonly call a Swedish massage in the United States and what is called  a Shiatsu massage in Japan.

Since then, massage has continued to change and develop into a very popular form of treatment throughout the world. Massage continues to grow into a more and more popular alternative treatment to many conditions. With such a rich and vivid history, it is no surprise that massage is and will continue to be such an important healing aspect of countless people's lives throughout the world.

 

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PAIN SCIENCE

Pain is a very complicated concept that we have discussed before on our blog. When talking about chronic pain there are so many different things that can cause that chronic pain, that it gets difficult to decipher what is relevant to you. In this scenario, we are strictly discussing chronic pain that there is no medical explanation for. For example, if someone is having shoulder pain and there have been countless tests that come up with nothing. In this case, the person is having medically unexplainable pain on a daily or every other day basis. Pain science gives two possible explanations for this chronic pain.

The first one is that the connections between the area that is in pain and the brain. These connections are what cause pain, and if there was past issue that was causing pain, it makes those connections stronger. This is because the more that the stimuli goes to the brain from these connections, the more they are used, which makes the connection stronger. As the connection gets stronger, it takes less stimuli to cause a reaction through the connection. For example, if

you are hiking through an unmarked part of the forest, it will be difficult at first. As you and friends continue to go through that same path, the once difficult path will start to become less and less difficult to travel through. The same thing goes for these pain pathways. As the pathway is used more and more, it is easier for the stimuli to reach the brain. Now as your actual physical trauma goes away, you may still feel pain even if there is no physical reason for it because these pathways are paved out and your body is used to sending stimuli through it to your brain. 

The second possibility that is explained by pain science is more psychosocial. This can be a hard statement because no one wants to hear that their pain is not physically real, but in some cases, the pain is a psychologically driven pain that is not physical connected. It is important to understand that it is not saying that you pain is not real, it is that your pain is not caused by physical factors, but physiological factors. 

Pain science is a continuing research program that is trying to understand more about pain, it's causes, and how the pain can be stopped. Just because one may not have a medical reason for their

pain, does not make it "made up" or not "real." Pain can be misunderstood sometimes, and it is pain science's mission to try and understand the chronic pain in everyone's life.

All of the information above was referenced from the article in Massage and Bodywork called "Pain Science Research Meets the Massage Therapy Profession" and was written by Whitney Lowe.

 

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OUR TEAM WORKING TO BETTER YOUR RESULTS!

We are excited to discuss one of the many ways that we are working to better your experience and results here at Massage La Mesa. Yesterday, all of our therapists attended a continuing education

together. The purpose of having our therapists go to continuing education together is to not only better their expertise and knowledge, but to also ensure that every therapist that is at Massage La Mesa is able to give you a wonderful experience every time, no matter what you are looking for. That requires everyone to be constantly working to better their knowledge and keep up with all of the industry changes. We did that this week by attending the Summit on Active Release Techniques, Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Manipulation, and Kinesiology Taping.

Active Release Techniques, or ART, are booming within the massage world right now. It is used to help better break up knots throughout the body through specific movements and techniques. Although this is something that all of our therapists are familiar with through their schooling, it was great for them to be able to really dive in and refresh their memory on a technique that is proven to help clients get better results from their massage.

Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Manipulation, or IASTM, is the use of certain tools during the massage to help release some of the soft tissue, adhesions and any issues within the fascia. This is done by increasing the circulation of the surface of the muscle by using tools on the surface of the skin. They were able to test out many different types of tools and found which ones that they think would benefit you all the most. With this being said, we will be adding the use of a tool into the many different techniques that your massage therapist may use during your massage. This is something that can help you get better, quicker, which is always our goal here at Massage La Mesa. We want you to be out of pain and enjoying life as quickly as possible!

Lastly, Kinesiology Taping, or KT Taping, is actually a service that we already offer at Massage La Mesa. If you haven't heard, we offer a 15 minute and a 30 minute KT Taping sessions. However, it was still great to ensure that all of our therapists are at industry standards regarding their knowledge of KT Taping. They were able to test out different tapes on parts of the body that they maybe haven't done before or need a refresher on. Kinesiology Taping is such a great resource for everyone that we hope everyone tries it out at least once. 

All of our therapists are highly trained and knowledgeable to begin with, but one of the most important things when looking into quality care from a massage therapist is growth. Just like many other professions, in order to stay at their A game, it is so important to constantly be learning. Here at Massage La Mesa, we make sure that all of your therapists are able to give you the best massage, experience, and results possible.

 

Contact us at: 619-917-4675 OR  massagelamesa@gmail.com 

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