muscles

How a Stubborn Soccer Player Changed How we Think About Healing

by Jonathan



This is slightly counter intuitive – but once you think it through it makes perfect sense.

How you use your body when you’re recovering from surgery will have a big effect on how your scar turns out. It’s known as ‘relative rest’ and runs counter to the old ‘lie in bed and don’t move’ form of recovery.

Using relative rest, your scars heal in a way that makes them smaller, more flexible and stronger.

{ 3 comments }

The Top 3 Posture Mistakes that Cause Trigger Points

by Jonathan



Many years ago, I attended a course on Alexander Technique, in a beautiful retreat center on a mountainside in New Zealand.

After that weekend in the mountains, my life changed.  I became an evangelist for good posture – constantly correcting both mine and my family’s posture.

They did sometimes get annoyed with my constant reminders to ‘tuck your chin in’ and ‘extend your head upwards’  but I know they appreciated it in the long run…. :)

The thing is, posture isn’t just about standing straight. It’s how you move, how you sit, drive, do daily activities. And good posture creates ease of movement, flow. You look good, you feel great, and you’re not creating unnecessary tensions that lead to muscle pain.

For a primer on posture to relax the most common place we all hold tension – just watch the video below.

 

{ 0 comments }

Vitamin Supplements and Chronic Pain – What’s the Verdict?



This is another short excerpt from my talk with Dr. Ian Wallbridge where we discuss whether it’s necessary to take vitamin supplements. It’s particularly important to have a balanced perspective now – with so many supplements marketed aggressively. Miracle cures and big claims aside, Ian shares his more down to earth approach to using supplements [...]

Read the full article →

Vitamin D – Are You Getting Enough to Stop Muscle Pain?



This is an excerpt from an interview I did with my good friend and colleague Dr. Ian Wallbridge. In the video below we discuss Vitamin D – the sunshine vitamin, and the vital role it has to play in general wellbeing and muscle pain. We’ve both seen the effects of vitamin D deficiency in our [...]

Read the full article →

Musicians and RSI Part II



When you  start to get pain while playing your instrument – there is a list of things to check through. It’s all basic common sense stuff – but when you take care of the basics, the complications tend to disappear. Get the Flash Player to see this content. Check list for Playing Posture – optimum [...]

Read the full article →

For Musicians – RSI Warning Signals you should Never Ignore



As a musician, you are also and athlete and a performer. Too many musicians try to ‘push through’ pain when they play – not knowing that pain is the first warning sign of a problem that could get much worse. I ran a clinic for musicians for 8 years, and this is one lesson I [...]

Read the full article →

Core Muscle Strength



Weak core muscles can have a lot to do with whether you get trigger points, or not. This is tied back to the basic structure of the human body. The core muscles in your body are situated in your lower back and your abdominal muscles. Therefore, these are the centre of your axial skeleton. They [...]

Read the full article →

Trigger Points & Muscle Strain – How to Tell the Difference



When you get a sore muscle, it can be hard to diagnose just what’s causing it. Here’s a few quick tips on how to tell the difference between a muscle strain and a trigger point.

Read the full article →

The Tantalizing Balance Between Treatment & Exercise



HI Jonathan I just read your passage on weak core muscles and I totally agree. The one question I have and have asked several times recently while attending a Pain Management Course is: Don’t you want to first release any trigger points in the core and make sure that they are completely relaxed and gone [...]

Read the full article →

The Kinetic Chain (and what this means for Trigger Points)



If you were to look at an anatomy book, you would see the individual muscles beautifully described. What you’d miss though is that the body is a beautifully integrated structure. All the movements (even the most basic) are so complex that they require a perfect orchestration of groups of muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints and nerves. [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries