General & Alternative Medicine Blog

Featured Articles

Stretching to Avoid Back Pain

4:07 pm by Admin in Back Pain

Stretch exercises is a great way to avoid back pain, since it stretches the muscles, joints, bones, etc, thus promoting fluid and blood flow. Stretch workouts include shoulder shrug, triceps, arm, leg, trunk, torso, and other stretches. To help you avoid back pain we can perform a few workouts to help you stretch those muscles.
Starting with the shoulders, stand erect. Rest your hands upon the hips and shrug them shoulders. Rotate the shoulders in slow motion and to the back up to ten counts. Next, perform the same actions; yet rotate the shoulders in slow motion toward the front.
Working the triceps:
Triceps is the extensor muscles, which require stretching to avoid tension. Stand erect and lift your arm (Right) and rest the tips of your fingers on the shoulder. (Right) Use your free hand and push it against the opposite elbow. If possible, lower the fingers down the length of your back while pushing the elbow. Count to eight and perform the same actions on the opposite side.
Next, stretch them arms. Form a circle. First, stand erect while keeping your feet at shoulder length. Level the arms and stretch them outward in sync with the shoulders. Circle and bring the arms ahead. Count to ten and perform the same actions on the opposite side. Circle the arms largely as feasible.
Now work that torso. Stand erect, keep your feet at in alignment with the shoulders and gradually rotate (Starting at the waist), and then stretching to one side. Stretch ahead and move your body in rotation to the opposite side. Extend back and around again to the opposite side. Continue on each side.
Work that trunk:
Stand erect, keep the feet the length of your shoulders and slightly apart. Bend the knees slightly. Lock the fingers behind the head, and bend starting at the waistline, touching your right knee, joining it with the elbow on the right side. Next, rotate the torso, or trunk, rotating it to the left and then touch your left knee. Extend backwards to you are standing erect again.
Once you are standing erect, slightly move your feet apart and bend the knees somewhat. Lift your arms to the height of your shoulders and grip the hands while turning to the side, starting at the waistline. Hold, count to five and do the same on the opposite side. Next, keep the hips and legs motionless as you turn the upper section of your body, only.
Stand erect, while extending the hands down at the sides. Bend the knees somewhat and gradually lift the arm as far as you can reach over the head. Slowly, glide the free arm, sliding it down to the leg, and pull the arm so that it is over the head as high as you can reach. Push down and onto the thigh, returning to standing position. Continue on the opposite side and do three reps.
Stand erect, keeping the feet at length with your shoulders. Bend the elbows at the height of your shoulders. Join your fingertips and gently fling the arms toward the back, staying consistent with the height of the shoulders. Continue the action on each side, counting to ten as you move along.
Continue:
Stand erect, and grip your hands, joining them and extending them behind the back. Lift the hands up and out as high as you can reach. Count to five and lower. Stand erect and keep the feet at the length of your shoulders. Bend the knees somewhat and lock your fingers, while raising the arms to the height of your shoulders. Once in position, push the arms ahead. Do not lean to the front. Stretch and count to ten. Perform the same actions, counting to five.

Comments (0)

Osteogenic Sarcoma and Back Pain

4:06 pm by Admin in Back Pain

When doctors access osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, they will also consider Osteogenic sarcoma, or Osteosarcoma. The symptoms are amazingly similar in comparison, yet different in several ways. For instance, if osteoporosis is present the patient will experience back and joint pain, fatigue, and so on. Likewise, if Osteogenic sarcoma is present the patient may feel pain, limited range of motion (ROM), immobility, and so on.
Osteogenic sarcoma is a malignant or benign bone tumor, yet when Osteogenic sarcoma is present, the bone malignant is present. The tumor causes invasion of the ends that rest at the elongated bones. Etiology aspects claim that Osteogenic sarcoma may limit certain activities, such as osteolytic and osteoblastic.
The physical aspects are considered when the cell growth is unregulated and controlled by linking cell divisions. If lack of control and regulation is present, it can result in growth of abnormal tissue, which contains a tumor and/or tissues. Osteoblastic activities may cause bone-forming cells (Osteoblastic) to overdevelop or under develop the bones. Anytime the connective tissues are interrupted, it causes intense problems over the entire body.
When osteoblasts start, the tumor begins dissolving the soft tissue and the bones, which presents danger, since the growth can travel to the lungs. (Tumors may be growth that develops into cancer, which emerges from lumps or swelling)
Symptoms:
When Osteogenic sarcoma is present, the patient may experience pain. Limited mobility is present as well, which causes weakness and can lead to fractures. The soft tissues often mass, spreading over the site where the tumor resides and causes the tissues to heat. The body temperature will elevate, which increases the symptoms.

How doctors diagnose Osteogenic sarcoma?
Doctors will often use a variety of tests, such as bone scans, aspirations to test bone marrow, biopsy, CT (Computerized Tomography) scans, blood chemistry, and so on.
Once the tests are completed and if increases in alkaline phosphatase, cancer cells, mass, etc are noted, a diagnostics is set in motion. The diagnostic leads to medical management, nurse intervention, care, etc, which doctors will then monitor the patient to weed out further complications.
Further complications may include metastasis and/or fractures. Fractures are severe, yet metastasis is spreading of cancer that starts from the tumor. Once it begins to spread, it travels through the body, exporting its tiny clumps to the cells and transports itself via the blood or in the lymph. The tumor is malignant, which develops and spreads if cancer is present. Osteogenic sarcoma then is dangerous.
Treatment:
Doctors often recommend a high-protein diet. The patient is also monitored, and treated with heparin lock therapy. As well, the patient is recommended radiation therapy, lab studies, etc. Calcium and phosphorus is also prescribed. While Osteogenic sarcoma can cause back pain, it is wise to seek information from ACS. (American Cancer Society) Having an overall view of your diagnostics can help you focus on finding a cure, or better health.
ROM exercises, painkillers, and so forth are often prescribed when Osteogenic sarcoma is present. While the pain often starts in the various areas, thus it can spread throughout the body. The patient is often prescribed NSAID. Some activities are limited, since it can increase the pain. The patient is also advised to avoid infectious people.
Nurse intervention often includes various treatments, which the purpose is to avert further complications, such as paralytic ileus, urine retention, sensory/motor deficits, infection, and muscle spasms.
In addition to Osteogenic sarcoma causing back pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, spinal fusions, gouty arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis can all cause back pain. Rheumatoid arthritis is perhaps an autoimmune disease. Ultimately, it is transmitting through genetics.

Comments (0)

Menopause Symptoms - Are You Suffering From One Or More Of These?

11:00 am by Admin in Menopause

34 menopause symptoms? Really? It is a logical question to ask. After all, millions of women are experiencing one or more of the 34 menopause symptoms right now! What is going on? We all remember a grandmother or older aunt, how they made the transition into menopause. The so-called change will happen, but something tells us that experiencing many of the symptoms of menopause as early as ages thirties or forties is not normal.

First, here is a list of the most common 34 menopause symptoms. Take a moment to consider each one, as some are subtle and at first glance may appear to have no relation to being menopause symptoms:

1 - Aching joints and muscles

2 - Allergy symptoms

3 - Breast tenderness

4 - Chronic fatigue and morning sluggishness

5 - Cold or tingling hands or feet

6 - Craving sweets, caffeine, carbohydrates and unstable blood sugar levels

7 - Depression, anxiety and mood swings

8 - Dizziness, lightheadedness

9 - Dry, thin or wrinkly skin

10 - Endometriosis

11 - Facial hair growth

12 - Fibrocystic breasts

13 - Hair loss, thinning hair

14 - Headaches, migraines

15 - Heart palpitations

16 - Heavy or light periods

17 - Hot flashes

18 - Incontinence

19 - Irregular periods

20 - Irritatibility, inability to handle stress

21 - Lack of concentration, foggy fuzzy thinking, memory lapses

22 - Leg cramps

23 - Low metabolism

24 - Lower sex drive, loss of sex drive

25 - PMS and menstrual cramping

26 - Night sweats

27 - Osteoporosis

28 - Ringing or buzzing in ears (tinnitus)

29 - Sleep disturbances, insomnia

30 - Spotting, light bleeding

31 - Symptoms of hypothyroidism with normal T3 and T4 levels

32 - Uninary tract and yeast infections

33 - Uterine fibroids

34 - Water retention and unexplained weight gain, especially in hips, waist and stomach

Menopause is a natural process for a woman, not an illness. As a woman ages, there will be an expected slowing and ultimately shutdown in the reproductive cycle and system. This is normal. However, most of the 34 menopause symptoms are indications of underlying hormonal imbalance or damage to the body from poor eating habits, stress, obesity and other factors. Millions of women in the industrialized countries experience one or more of these 34 menopause symptoms many years before the normal age of menopause, which is about 51 years of age.

Why? There are several reasons. Women often put tremendous demands on their bodies, much more stress than it was designed to handle, and then do not give it the support it needs. Women have demanding and stressful careers. There are family responsibilities. The relationship with the spouse or partner may not be the best. Aging parents can add to the burden. All of these and other responsibilities are cumulative in the toll they take on the body and health of a woman.

And at the same time, the womans body may not be receiving the support it needs to function as it was designed to do. Poor eating habits, lack of exercise, obesity, excess caffeine and alcohol add to the problem instead of helping the body cope with the demands placed on it. This lack of balance between the demands made versus support given contributes to many of the 34 menopause symptoms.

Then there is the issue of the menstrual cycle and hormone production in the body. In the normal menstrual cycle and a healthy woman, estrogen is the dominant hormone that is produced for the first 10-12 days following the previous menstrual flow. If ovulation occurs, ovulation then signals the female body to produce progesterone, which happens for the next 12 days or so. If pregnancy does not occur during ovulation, progesterone and estrogen levels will drop at around day 28, allowing menstruation to begin. However, if you do not ovulate, you will not produce progesterone that month. This event, called an annovulatory cycle, is a typical occurance today for women even 10 to 20 years before the normal age of menopause. This leaves the woman with an excess of estrogen and a deficiency of the vital hormone progesterone which can only be produced if ovulation occurs.

Many women in their thirties or forties are actually having fewer ovulations, creating hormone imbalance, resulting in many of the 34 menopause symptoms. And once ovulation ceases at menopause, progesterone levels fall to virtually zero. At the same time, estrogen is still being produced, again leading to hormone imbalance and the resulting symptoms. If a hysterectomy has happened, surgical menopause means the woman no longer produces progesterone.

Besides the problems created by missed ovulations or hysterectomy, excess estrogen is regularly obtained from other sources. Birth control pills, household chemicals and pesticides, certain foods that have been sprayed or given chemicals and many construction materials used in homes are all sources of unhealthy estrogen. Doctors call this hormone imbalance condition where excess estrogen exists - estrogen dominance. What are the symptoms of estrogen dominance? The symptoms are nearly the same as the 34 menopause symptoms!

When your estrogen and progesterone hormones are balanced, you feel more alert and energetic. And balancing family, career, stress and your own needs becomes much easier to do, like it was when you were younger.

How can a woman tell if the symptoms being experienced are because of hormone imbalance? One easy and effective way is to take an online test for early signs of menopause and the 34 menopause symptoms. Used daily in their practice by a leading womens health clinic, the health test takes just a few minutes online and the test is free. By taking the clinic health test, you can find out more about your health, symptoms you have, what the symptoms are telling you and what to do about it. Take the online hormone health test and read more about hormone imbalance, estrogen dominance symptoms, hysterectomy side effects and physician-recommended treatments for premenopause symptoms and the 34 menopause symptoms.

Comments (0)