Tag: Neck Shoulder

Physiotherapy Helps Postural Problems

Postural problems have always been a problem; they are even worse in the modern workplace. Too many times people have to reach for their computer mouse, putting them in unnatural positions. There is help for both kinds of postural problems in physiotherapy.

Posture is the way one stands, sits, or walks. It can refer to any normal position that the body usually holds. When the shoulders are hunched forward or the arm is extended in an awkward position, these are postural problems. They can lead to muscle and joint pain, headaches, and other unpleasant symptoms.

Some postural problems are caused because a person has pain in one part of her body. She might count on other muscles to do the work of the ones that hurt. This could lead to an unbalanced or awkward posture. It could cause more pain in the long run.

Postural problems can be treated with physiotherapy such as heat, massage, exercises, and chiropractic manipulation. The first order of business is to reduce the pain. Patients with postural problems usually go in to the doctor with painful symptoms. Heat can be used to ease sore muscles that have been holding the body in unfamiliar poses.

Next, postural problems can be treated by an attempt to reverse the affect the awkward positions have had on the muscles. This can be done by massage. The muscles that are tightened because of poor carriage of the body can be worked until they are less tender.

Some muscles may have contracted, or shortened, due to postural problems. Other muscles which oppose them might have lengthened and weakened. It is necessary to stretch the shortened muscles before trying to strengthen, or tighten, the longer muscles. Physiotherapy exercises have been invented for just this purpose.

Anyone who works with a mouse that is not close enough to their keyboard is prone to postural problems. The first step is to make a better arrangement of the work space. Then, exercises can correct the neck, shoulder, and wrist problems that have resulted from postural problems.

Surgeries, like the Carpal tunnel surgery, are the last resort, as physiotherapy can take care of most of these postural problems before such drastic measures are needed. If one wants to avoid surgery, getting physiotherapy early on is a key. Then, with adequate rearrangement of the workplace, the surgery should never be needed at all.

Chiropractic doctors practice physiotherapy techniques to put the body back into alignment after postural problems occur. They can do manipulations to help the patient regain full range of motion. They can also work on the muscles to ease tension there.

Postural problems are common for people of all ages. They can all find help for these aches and pains. A strict regimen of physiotherapy, along with a restructuring of the work and other environments, can be a positive influence on postural problems. With the right physiotherapist, these patients will be able to sit and stand comfortably again. They will not be defined by their postural problems.

Symptoms of Anxiety Attacks

Everyone worries, gets nervous and concerned, feels certain fears, and experiences apprehensions. To a certain degree, anxiousness is healthy as it enables the body to react to certain stimuli and take into action or perform better. As long as the feeling is relative to the situation or problem at hand, it is normal. However, when anxiety gets severe, chronic and irrational, you might already have an anxiety disorder and experience episodes of anxiety attacks.

Common symptoms include:

Fear of going crazy When under tremendous pressure, a person may feel that he is going crazy. This, however, is more evident during anxiety attack, but rest assured that you are not going crazy. This is because going crazy is not a conscious act; people who are suffering from mental illnesses do not even know that they have one. Again, if you are experiencing excessive fear or irrational thoughts, you are not going crazy.

Dry mouth This is a natural occurrence during anxiety attack as fluids are diverted to other parts of the body. To counter dry mouth, sip water or suck sweets to stimulate the production of saliva. In severe cases, doctors may prescribe you with liquid.

Shaking and shivering These two are necessary functions of the body as it constantly tries to keep the body temperature normal. When the body temperature drops from normal, the muscles spasmodically contract, creating friction between muscles and body tissues, thus increasing the body temperature. During anxiety attacks, shaking and shivering are normal.

Heart palpitation or the feeling that the heart is missing beats is caused by the release of adrenaline into the bloodstream during an attack. This is perfectly normal and cannot harm you in any way. However, it can cause discomfort.

Body pain such as neck, shoulder, jaw, mouth and stomach pains, as well as head headaches. When the body is under stress, parts of the body usually get tensed, which results to pain.

Chest pain is a normal body reaction to anxiety attack because of muscle tension. Sometimes, chest pain is misinterpreted as a heart attack, but it is important to identify from one another as the latter can be deadly.

Shortness of breath is the most distressing symptom of anxiety attack as it almost feels that the chest cannot expand to accommodate the necessary air that the body needs. Sometimes, it feels that someone is pushing a pillow into your face. Three important points to remember are you will not suffocate, stop breathing or pass out.

Feeling detach or unreal is a symptom of anxiety attack which alters the way you experience yourself or see reality. It makes you feel that everything around you is like a dream, foggy and unreal.

Recognizing the symptoms of anxiety attacks need not require you to understand the physiology of the human body. What is required is your awareness on each symptoms and the danger they have when ignored.

Different people manifest different behaviors when experiencing anxiety. The intensity of prevailing symptoms differs either. And since the term “anxiety disorders” is coined to refer a group of related conditions rather than a single disorder, symptoms may look different on every anxiety attack. It is important, therefore, to consult a health professional so that it will out any possible condition apart from anxiety.