Tag: Nervous System

How Physiotherapy Can Help With Sports Injuries

When players have sports injuries, they turn to physiotherapy for rehabilitation. Physiotherapy, also called physical therapy, offers help whether the player is having surgery to correct the damage or not.

One example of the many sports injuries is an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. This is an injury to the knee. It is one of the common sports injuries in people who play sports that challenge their knees, such as hockey, skating, skiing, basketball, and of course, football. It can limit the range of a player’s motion in that leg, and make the leg weak.

Surgery is sometimes done for these sports injuries, but physiotherapy is always a part of the treatment. The three major exercises done to start the healing process of ACL are heel slides, quad sets, and straight leg raises.

Heel slides are exercises for ACL sports injuries that are easy to understand, but may be painful to do at first. One simply lies on the bed or floor with the foot down. Then, one slides the foot slowly towards the buttocks until it hurts a little, and slides it back. This and the other exercises help prepare the knee for surgery or to heal without it.

Another of the sports injuries that physiotherapy is used for is tennis elbow. One might get tennis elbow from playing tennis, certainly, but it can also come about from any activity that involves twisting the wrist.

Sports injuries like tennis elbow are treated with a comprehensive plan of physiotherapy. Exercises are explained and assigned. Another common procedure for sports injuries is the use of ultrasound. Ultrasound is a way of applying heat deep into the muscle for pain relief.

Electrical stimulation can be used to keep pain from being felt through the nervous system. It is used for tennis elbow and many other sports injuries. Massage and manual therapy can also be used for physiotherapy.

Massage is one of the forms of soft tissue manipulation. However, soft tissue manipulation is to muscles what chiropractic is to bones. It deals not only with muscle, but with tendons and connective tissue as well. It is a specialized field of physiotherapy that has been used for people with sports injuries on many occasions.

As many children’s sports teams are becoming ever more competitive, sports injuries among youngsters is increasing. Often, a well-meaning parent will tell the child to shake it off and keep playing. It is even more important for children to get adequate physiotherapy than it is for adults. Children are just developing, and a problem in childhood can lead to lifelong pain.

Some sports injuries happen because something physically traumatic happens to your body. Someone runs into you as you run with the football towards the end zone, for example. Other times, it is simply a matter of the physical demands you put on your body.

Physiotherapy is instrumental in the healing of many sports injuries. Many professional sports teams have physiotherapists on their staffs. In fact, either ACL or tennis elbow can become permanent conditions without the use of physiotherapy procedures.

Starting Your Essential Oils Collection

How do I know which essential oils are right for me? There are over 90 essential oils and each can have one or more (most times more) healing properties. Choices! Choices! That’s a huge selection to choose from.

The first thing to consider when making your selection is whether or not the scent appeals to you. Every scent might have a useful medicinal property for each of us, but only certain scents work for us. The aromas of the essential oils work to stimulate our nervous system and brain functions. If we are distracted by the side effect of a scent irritation in our body or the aroma simply does not appeal to our senses, then the essential oil probably is not a good choice. Try to sample the scent if possible especially if we are purchasing it for the first time. This can be accomplished by taking a trip to a local essential oils supplier or at the very least, to a local bath products retailer.

The next thing to consider is the effect we would like to create with our essential oils. The oils have long been known to promote emotional balance and stability in addition to having healing properties and just plain smelling great! Wow! Experience a physical healing in your body and mind and experience a great scent at the same time. That’s two effects for the price of one! How would we like the essential oils to benefit us? The essential oils promote several effects such as providing an atmosphere of peace and tranquility, reducing stress, anger, anxiety, and depression. In addition, the oils are also known to promote a sense of confidence, reduce fatigue and tiredness, reduce feelings of fear and loneliness, and promote memory and concentration. There are many more effects that the use of essential oils provides! It is important to note that not all essential oils promote or reduce all emotions. Time must be taken to learn which essential oil promotes or reduces which effect.

The next thing to consider is the cost associated with the use of essential oils. Not only does the essential oil have to be purchased, but if you are buying from a mainland supplier, shipping and handling costs should be taken into account. If you plan on combining the essential oil with a carrier media such as oils, creams, salts or soap costs should also be estimated as well. The oils need proper storage elements. Wooden craft boxes are relatively inexpensive and are helpful in keeping your bottles in a safe manner while making the transport of those bottles easy to do. Estimate costs for items such as bottles to store your blended oils and diluted mixes. Also knowing the costs of equipment such as distillers (if you plan on making your own essential oils) or a diffuser for refreshing a room would be helpful.

There are many things to consider when selecting your oils because there are many beneficial effects that the use of the oil provides. Do some planning and know what benefits you want to receive through the use of essential oils. Start your collection and experience a wonderful journey!

Health Risks of Essential Oils

Like anything, too much of a good thing becomes bad. There are risks associated with the overexposure of essential oils, but the proper use of them proves to be medically enhancing to our lives. It is always best to use the oils under the guidance of an aromatherapy practitioner. It is also prudent to seek medical attention should you experience any signs or symptoms of overexposure.

Most essential oils were not meant to be ingested. While the oils do have medicinal benefits, they are also concentrated. Keep in mind that there are exceptions to this rule of thumb and knowing what you are putting into your body is critical. For example, chamomile can be used in a tea to ease an upset stomach. It’s also important to note that what ever flows into your body gets processed in the liver and kidneys. Too much exposure to chemicals (even the natural ones) can be harmful to their functioning.

Many essential oils travel into the body by inhalation. The oil vaporizes into the air in the form of an aroma. We inhale those aromas and they then enter into our blood stream to affect our brain and nervous system. Prolonged effects may change the chemical make up of our tissues. Chemicals are still chemicals no matter if we can see them or not. What are the side effects of this inhalation? We may feel dizzy or light headed. We may even experience headaches or nausea. If we have experienced any symptoms like these, step out side to get some fresh air and let our body readjust. Remove the essential oil element and discard. Everyone’s body reacts differently to different things. If you’re also taking medication, using essential oils could impact that treatment.

Essential oils that are topically applied (meaning applied directly to your skin) may also create rash like symptoms or redness. These symptoms are temporary effects, but exposure to a large enough area could be darn irritating to deal with. Safely test to see if your skin can handle the oil application by applying a drop of oil mixed with a tablespoon of vegetable oil to your skin. If the skin turns red or if there is burning or itching, cease the use of the oil immediately and flush the area with water. Consult with your doctor and aromatherapy practitioner. Essential oils that are applied topically can heal many skin conditions like acne, eczema and athlete’s foot.

It is especially important that if you have a medical condition or are pregnant or nursing, that you consult with a medical professional before using essential oils. In addition, it is recommended that you read all the safety information before using the product.

While there are risks involved, the use of essential oils to promote health and wellness has been a growing market as people seek to find natural methods for cures. We find that risks vary from person to person and that moderation is best practice. Remember to be under the guidance of a doctor and / or aromatherapy practitioner while using the oils. Make the most of what nature provides and minimize risk by understand what is involved and how to correctly use the product.